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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Sarah Palin´s pregnant daughter would not be an issue if Republicans weren´t such sexually repressed holier than thou hypocrites. Ironically, they are the ones who are usually against condoms or sexual education in schools. Regardless of what Obama says about family being off limits, the media should hit hard on this issue. Why? Because this situation sets a key precedent and goes against everything responsible sex educators are trying to do. Undoubtedly, from here on, many teenage girls are going to say, if it´s all right for the vice president´s daughter to have unprotected sex before marriage why can´t I?
the one of Bristol holding what is supposed to be her mother's baby - that doesn't look right. Why isn't Sarah's husband holding their baby? There is something in Bristol's face that makes me think that Trig is her baby, and not Sarah's.
I don't we're done with this.
You read the letters here, and it's clear that our public education system has failed.
Bone-headed morons, continuing to speculate that Trig is not the child of Sarah Palin, despite the fact that those morons rely on salon to understand their world, and salon has essentially dispelled the "Trig is NOT Sarah Palin's child" rumor.
The daily kos rumor, the latest in a string of lies, is idiotic and hate-filled.
Pure hate. From the party that cares....HA!
Bristol and Britney
Look like they were seperated at birth.
Why else would he comment on Cindy McCain's yellow 'rain slicker' dress.
Good for Slate, in that case.
I'm fresh from reading the local letters to the editor in Memphis, Tennessee, and as I predicted, Bristol's pregnancy hasn't hurt Palin's image a bit.
That's because all Conservatives already have pregnant teen daughters, multiple divorces, and someone sitting down in the next stall observing their "wide stance." They don't judge - except when Liberals do these things.
See, the thing about authoritarians is that if you ask them anonymously, they will share that they are desperately afraid God doesn't exist, they have no willpower, and they need the State to force them to behave because they know they can't do it without outside help. Liberals are less panicky. Most of them either honestly believe or honestly don't believe in God, mostly keep the promises they make (the state with the lowest rate of divorce in the nation is New Hampshire), and can either choose or not choose to participate in sex, drugs, and rock and roll without anyone holding a gun to their heads. This makes it hard for Liberals to understand the terror of Republicans, who honestly believe based on their own observed depravity that if people are allowed to do as they want, the world will come to an end.
for me, it is about the hypocrisy that is the conservative platform-
the republican golden boy rush limbaugh became the darling for railing against "welfare mothers" while the white house creates policy to allow doctors, hospitals, and pharmacists the option NOT to provide contraceptives to women-
obama did the right thing in stating that family is off-limits- but jeeeze!, when will the left find their cajones and go after the ultra-right for the hypocrisy of the conservative agenda
The neocons, as usual, are hypocrits. They whine about how bloggers and the media should leave the Bristol pregnancy story alone, yet would have jumped all over the Obamas if one of their girls had gotten pregnant at 17.
What I find ironic about this is both John McCain and Sarah Palin are in favor of abstinence-only education. In addition, St. McCain is on record as having voted against spending federal money on teenage pregnancy prevention programs and in favor of teenage mothers having to stay in school or lose their benefits. What does this say about his and his VP's judgment?
I agree that the Palin issue isn't on par with the Hurricane, but she is a woman who'd take away a woman's right to choose if she had half a chance. And how 'bout that abstinence training-- is it time to abstain from denial yet? What an excellent opportunity for discussion this issue presents.
GOPs who barbecued Clinton for an affair will insist that the Palin issue is a 'private matter'. (An incident involving consenting adults, nonetheless- no minors involved, and yet impeachment was being discussed and a nonstop media frenzy took place, for god's sake.) And it should be a private matter--- that's what Dems have been saying all along about reproductive freedom, birth control, not to mention gay rights. The government shouldn't be in our bedrooms and in our doctor's offices.
I just love it when conservatives have gay kids, even gay lovers, and pregnant teens. "It's a private matter! It's nobody's business!" they cry.
EXACTLY. Remember that the next time you GOP'ers try to legislate people's private affairs.
What is important is not Bristol, her boy friend or their choice, it is the fact that Sarah Palin would deny any other woman and family any choice in whether to have sex education rather than a simplistic - " don't do it" ...and a choice of whether to go forward with a pregnancy that will forever change her life. Keep your eyes on the issue...not the personality....these are the "family values" that the Republicans want to impose on your family, your daughters, your girl friends. It is their decision..not yours...That is what this issue is about...and what this election means to women who have fought long and hard for the right to choose. I hope they realize the a woman on the ticket, if successfull, will be the woman's ticket to the 19th century.
Keep them barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. - that should be the Republican election slogan.
Well, I won't speak for anyone else but I've wasted a 24-hour cycle blithering on this board so thanks for the privilege. I've gotta get some work done this week but current events are so delectably...interesting... that it's hard not to keep coming back to the well to check in.
Like many, this is not the only web site from which I garner info nor do I place complete credence in anything that Salon endorses. I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. But I have been coming here for literally years and appreciate the challenges to my own world view. There are a lot of regulars here of varying levels of erudition and I've learned a lot about both strength of one's opinions, the ability to back-up one's own words and the civility of the commons.
In the past week I'm fascinated by the mysterious appearance of posters of, how shall I put it, the rightward-leaning persuasion, people who have never opined here before and, if you check their links, seem to have been inspired to join our merry crew of commentators in only the last few days.
Welcome! Such a marvelous place, America, where the power of politics inspires my fellow citizens, where the revolutionary tools of modern media give us these new found outlets and abilities to make our opinions known and, perhaps, felt.
NOT.
Forgive my Chandler Bing moment because it seems awfully obvious to little ol' moi that an army of right-wing trolls, whether individually motivated or formally organized, have been unleashed upon us, kind of like a rain of turds on a beautiful day. The taxonomy varies between the sincere-sounding but completely disingenuous Concern Troll (but I'm a democrat too!) to the completely rabid, barely literate mouth-breathing but allowed-access-to-a-computer Yahoo.
As most of you have noticed, various techniques of engagement are employed: the simpatico poster who nonetheless smells completely fishy, the Detail Queens who want you to spend a couple of hours debating "facts" as if some rhetorical triumph will win the day.
Last night I needed to waste MY precious time taking down a few of these folks and in my over-caffeinated state managed to sound good and hysterical myself but it was too much to resist. The refutation of these knuckleheads, while possibly a fool's errand, is hard to resist and last night's Seinfeld re-run sucked anyway.
Everyone of these folks is a complete waste of time. That's their job. To get us to fritter away our energies on poor Bristol Palin or Cindy McCain's glittery Star Trek outfit. I'm sure those were real diamonds, BTW.
But there are a lot of real skilled time-wasters and provocateurs here now, some old stalwarts like Elephantsomething, NorbitBoy, tiberian, others. On this thread you can meet such newbies as berlet##, Benny74, JimmyMonkeyBoy, oh shit I'm not going back to look.
Now no doubt some of these folks are people with sincere beliefs and intentions. OK, I'm just saying that, they're not. They're all a bunch of poo-flinging apes and not worth our attention but, as the Firesign Theatre might say: there it is.
I like Bob Herbert of the New York Times. Bob's column today is a plea to retain decorum in the agora. Hey Bob, luv ya, but fuck that. I think we leave it to my man Barry Hussein to stay above the fray but I'm down here in the trenches where I can be most useful.
So what am I saying? Well, not much, except KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE. This requires picking your battles and not allowing yourself be marginalized by some tool who's quicker on the factoid look-up than you. Don't spread bullshit but DO spread the love.
You and I have endured 25 years of predation, cultural debasement and economic degradation, mostly at the hands of Republicans but with a whole heap of help from their Democratic pals. I'm sick of it and sick of the alienation from my neighbors. Because of my personal tenets I attempt to lead a life of comradery, of Citizen-of-the-Word, of love-your-neighbor. Have I a small nest of vipers occupying some backwater of my soul? Indeedy I do.
But I'm not going to let it get the best of me. I absolutely hear people like Bob Herbert who plead for comity and I think we do have to patch and heal this broken public dialogue. Kumbayah. Motherfucker.
But frankly, on many of these issues I'm right and "they're" not and I think there is enough empirical evidence to support that. Where I bust a vein is when I get all this self-righteous indignation from the enablers and promoters of these failed policies, the people who work against their own interests, as Thomas Frank has so eloquently clarified in his books.
If you're among that tiny sliver of our society that apparently has all the cash (because you and I surely don't), life's looking good baby, the numbers are up, peel me another grape.
But even people on whom fortune has shone need to acknowledge that things aren't good and help us fix it. I've had the blessing of having lived my life among people of all nationalities, colors, and creeds. I live without fear except the fear that I can't afford medical care, the fear of no work, that my children won't have opportunity, that my parents can age with dignity and the fear that as an old geezer I'll have to choose which pet food I'll have to buy for dinner. That's plenty, right?
And that's all. Thank you for your eyes, minds and hearts. Fight the power, love each other, get enough sleep, floss and change your underwear cause your mom was right, you never know when the quiet tap on the door of your mortality will come.
But that famous lady has yet to sing. Until then, give 'em hell.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
