I don't think there's anything inherently damaging about Obama voting present in the Illinois State Senate, but it does play into a certain narrative.

That Obama can talk a big game about votes where he didn't actually vote (like the Iraq War vote that pre-dated him) but that he doesn't take a stand and pick a side when it matters. He didn't vote on Mukasey's nomination for Attorney General. He didn't vote on the sense of the Senate resolution about Iran. He didn't vote on the sense of the Senate resolution about MoveOn and Petraeus.

The narrative is that where Hillary Clinton has the guts to make unpopular votes, Obama plays it too safe and is afraid to take a stand when there are consequences.

I don't care what Romney saw or didn't see his father do.

Romney is trying to show his civil rights bonafides ("just because I'm Mormon doesn't mean I think black people are inferior") by saying what his father did. Let's suppose Romney Sr. did march with Dr. King--where was Junior? Mitt was 20 yrs. old. What was he doing to advance equality for blacks?

This isn't the only occasion where Mitt tries to get kudos for his parents' achievements. When he ran for the Senate, Romney cited his mother Lenore Romney's work for abortion rights to prove he was pro-choice. He also cited the death of a family member due to an illegal abortion for his pro-choice beliefs. Of course, now, death by back-alley abortion is irrelevant to him.

Romney uses his family to prove his own worth. He uses his father, he uses his mother, and he uses his sons extensively in his campaigns. He uses their deeds and words when it's convenient for him and excludes or distorts them when it isn't.

Perhaps the reason Romney has so much trouble with the truth is that he doesn't even have a sense of who he is as an individual. He's 60. He ought to have a clue by now.

Maybe it's just that I'm no fan of Dubya, but whenever anyone mentions cocaine I don't think Obama. I think George W. Bush.

He's never admitted to cocaine use but somewhat credible rumors exist. Does Huckabee, running as a Bush knock-off, really want to go dipping his fingers into the cocaine pool? Besides, I thought a little youthful indiscretion with The Blow was okay if you found religion after.

You know, rivals are trying really hard to toss sideways mud-balls at Obama and nothing is sticking. They'll have to get nastier if they want a chance of tarnishing him, but I'm not sure they can do it without looking racist (it's "okay" to attack Hillary Clinton and be accused of sexism, by the way).

Make no mistake--Huckabee is coming off as Mr. Nice Guy because he's only just started getting national attention. But those who know him have seen a real nastiness to him. His digs at Romney for being Mormon were just the start. Now he's going after Obama by proxy. And we'll see more mean-spiritedness in the months to come. But will the Religious Right care?

It's true in Romney's gut. It's true in his heart. Romney on Black History Month 2007:

This month, we celebrate the many contributions and achievements of African-Americans. As a nation, we are inspired by courageous leaders and heroes like Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jackie Robinson who tore down barriers and moved our country forward. Their legacy lives on in all of us. http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/African-American_History_Month

The legacy of brave people doing bold things lives in us. By the transitive property of do-goodery, we are brave people who've done bold things.

It's not the fact that she had sex at 16 that's necessarily "bad." It's that she had sex at 16 and we know it because the proof is in the pregnancy. And she has seriously derailed her future. In modern America, being pregnant at 16 is not a good thing. It makes things that much harder for you in terms of furthering your education and career goals. Jamie Lynn, as a semi-celebrity, has more financial support, etc. than other teen moms but this is still not-good.

Which is not to say she's a slut who's ruined her life. But she's got a lot to deal with now and it isn't what I'd wish for my own child. Jamie Lynn made choices with her partner that led to her pregnancy (having sex). We don't know what choices she made about birth control, so it could have just been really bad luck. It's not just "stupid girls" who get pregnant. Maybe that's the lesson. No matter how careful you are, there's only one 100% foolproof way not to get pregnant. And you should take that into account if you choose to have sex.

If you're gonna be a dumbass slut who gets knocked up at sixteen, at least have the good sense to quietly get an abortion so no one knows about it.

Sincerely,

The Judgmental Community That Does Not Know You Personally

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We need to be careful about the message we send in "shaming." For those who believe abortion is immoral, this isn't the message they should be sending. For those who believe pregnant teens shouldn't try to hide their pregnancies from their parents, it's also the wrong message.