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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I will have to agree with some of the first letters I read. If this were Obama's teen age daughter that was pregnant there would be no end to the screeching from the Republican 'holier than thous' that infest this country! The Republican Slime Machine would be running full bore. But, considering the fact it's a Republican's daughter who wasn't taught any form of birth control. Obviously received literally no sex education at home or anywhere else. We can only assume all she received was 'Absentance only' education. We are supposed to turn our heads and respect her privacy????? I don't think so!!! The Republican's have never once respected a woman's privacy to decide if she wants to bear a child or have an abortion. They have never once respected her right to birth control. They have never once respected any Gay's right to live the way they choose. Or anyone else with differing views for that matter! Even though I can understand why Obama said what he did to his campaign people. I respect him for having a few ethic's and not turning this into a mug slinging contest. I don't think he necessarily included the rest of us in that directive. I see the girl as fair game. If the Republican's want to live in glass houses then need to stop bellyaching when someone throws rocks at them! Maybe they should get out of the 'birth control' business!
This should not be about a pregnant teenager. This discussion should really be about the Mother/Governor/would-be vice- president. Sarah Palin is a governor who has said she would only support abstinence-only education in Alaska's schools. She said no one should even approach her about "sex education" in the schools because she would not consider those proposals. And we are talking here about only one issue - who knows how many other issues she takes inflexible positions on...I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg. I don't know about everyone else, but this inflexibility and unwillingness to consider other points of view is not a characteristic I view as suitable in a leader of any kind. An effective leader takes the time to weigh all options and opinions and makes educated decisions. A strong leader does not dictate policy based solely on his or her isolated beliefs, he or she works to build consensus. The bottom line is, Sarah Palin is not the type of leader this country needs as the person who is one step away from being President.
I found it interesting that the pregnancy issue was handled by a press release and McCain's hired talkers. McCain, of course, was busy trying to convince us he was more than an irritatiing wannabe in the hurricane evacuation and relief effort. But why couldn't he step away from his packing task for a 30-second statement: yes, he knew of the pregnancy; yes, careful consideration was given to the emotional strain this would impose on Bristol Palin; and, that said, she and her boyfriend are off limits to the press and the campaigns.
Instead it was Barack Obama who told everyone to back off. He was the one who reminded us that this was a private, family matter not open for public debate. He, not John McCain, insisted this had no relevance to Palin's ability to govern her state or her bid for Vice President.
So who's the leader here?
Sung to the tune of "Shot Through the Heart")
Your daughter's knocked up -
and you're to blame!
You give abstinence
A BAD NAME...
I am not married to my kid's dad. Even Senator Obama says his Mom was 18 when she had him and married his father after they found out. Big deal. I don't even know if that Kos nerd knows where babies come from. I do know I can identify more than ever with Gov Palin--all through HS and now into her 20s, my kid might have brought home a little bundle for me to raise and support. It hasn't happened yet, but I can relate.
Republicans: "its Obama's fault." I have now heard that Obama is responsible for the Leftwing blogs and the Leftwing blogs are responsible for Bristol Palin.
For the party of responsibility Republicans are big on shifting it as fast as possible.
it is true that the Obama campaign savaged the Clintons even as Obama stayed above the fray, but the Palin gossip seems to have moved far faster than the Obama camp could possibly move.
This, in it's own way, is every bit as creepy as the Texas Polygamy Cult stories that have been in the news lately.
a 17 year old girl getting pregnant.....stop the presses!!!
I wonder if it would by OK with conservatives if the Obama's had a pregnant teenage daughter? Illegitimacy seems OK only if you're white.
I am a feminist and progressive, and I want to scream "ENOUGH!"
I want women to have their own choices and I don't want other people to pass judgments on the choices I have made in my life. I am willing to give up passing judgment on the choices of other women. If a woman wants to have an abortion, it is her choice. If a woman want to have a baby and give it up for adoption, it is her choice. If she wants to marry, it is her choice.
If a woman wants to continue a high powered career despite being a mother of five children, including a special needs child, it is her choice. In my career in social services, I knew mothers with five children including special needs children, who worked as many hours a day as Palin works, in jobs they found as stressful as Palin finds hers, because they made the choice to work (often two and three jobs) rather than spend their lives on welfare "raising their children".
I agree that the Republicans probably would not give a Democratic candidate the pass Obama is giving Palin and her daughter. However, I think that is a basic difference between the right and left, and that difference should be celebrated. How can we take the moral high ground on issues such as poverty, the war, health care and the like, and then roll around in the mud and slime like a Republican on Palin's family?
I do not want Palin to be vice president. She lacks the experience a president needs and McCain is 72. I do not want McCain to win the election because I do not support the ticket's values and stands on issues.
The only thing about this whole thing that should concern us is McCain's judgment in choosing Palin.
Palin's family's issues are Palin's family's issues, just as the Clintons' family's issues concerning infidelity were the Clintons' issues and not any of our business.
ENOUGH!
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Salon headlines in your mailbox
