Home > Jay Bookman > Archives > 2008 > September > 01 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPalin candidacy takes another turn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sarah and Todd Palin released the following statement today:
“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.
“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”
The announcement adds yet another twist to an already complicated presidential campaign. Steve Schmidt, senior adviser to the McCain campaign, made an appropriate point:
“It’s a private family matter. Life happens in families,” Schmidt said. “If people try to politicize this, the American people will be appalled by it. The fact is that the American people, who are decent people, don’t appreciate intrusions into the private space of good families.”
That was echoed by Barack Obama, himself the father of two daughters.
“This shouldn’t be part of our politics, it has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president, and so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,” he said.
All of that is true. As the Palins, Schmidt and Obama emphasized, it is a private matter. The young girl in question has parents who love her and will support her, and “are proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby.” She also has a boyfriend who apparently intends to marry her and help her raise their child. Bristol has made the decision that she believes is right for her, and the Christian right has every reason to applaud her for that decision.
But that’s the crucial point, a point that can indeed by debated without casting aspersions on Bristol or her parents. While this is indeed a private matter, other young women in very different circumstances might feel compelled to make a different decision. The Roe v. Wade decision was based on the right to privacy, the concept that this is an area in which government interference is not appropriate and indeed unconstitutional. To quote Schmidt, “the American people, who are decent people, don’t appreciate intrusions into the private space of good families.”
I’ll also add this observation: The McCain campaign is trying to cast the announcement as a decision forced on the Palin family by squalid rumors in the left-wing blogosphere. That claim itself is an effort to politicize this situation. To believe Schmidt is to believe that Bristol’s pregnancy would otherwise had gone unnoticed, and that is impossible. This announcement had to be made, and the sooner it was made the better, so the nation, the campaign and the family can move on.
Finally, a reminder. Be gentle and appropriate in your comments, which will be monitored more closely than usual given the subject matter. Posting here is a privilege, not a right, and it is a privilege that can be lost.
Comments
By GMAN
September 1, 2008 6:00 PM | Link to this
Ooops! What will we do now?
Bush/McCain - Taking a huge gamble with the future of our children!
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 6:11 PM | Link to this
I say this with all honesty, thank goodness that Obama’s 18 year old mother didn’t do the easy thing and murder him, like Jay is suggesting be done to other potential Barak Obama’s.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 6:16 PM | Link to this
I’m Obama Bin Biden and I approve AJC/DNC Management’s message!!!
Yes, thank goodness indeed.
Now get out there and kill some babies, you toadies.
By TW
September 1, 2008 6:24 PM | Link to this
Wise words, Jay - especially the part about which side made it political.
Perhaps if the rightwing did not define its morality by the extension of its judgmental finger they would not now reap what they’ve sown?
Put the shoe on the other foot and tell me Rush and Hannity would leave it alone.
Can’t.
That aside, the bigger issue has to be McSame’s judgement - first Palin and now the silly umbrella politics. Presidential? Nope…
By @@
September 1, 2008 6:26 PM | Link to this
Good for you Jay, but you’re too late in quelling the hate. Check out your previous threads. Check over at Wooten’s.
The DailyKooks, The HuffPuffers, and you can bet the MoveOn.org crowd, have jumped on this with reckless abandon. These organizations are behind which candidate? These organizations helped which candidate to receive the Democratic nomination?
OBlahMa can say what best serves him, but he can’t deny HIS family support.
This excerpt from your column?
The Roe v. Wade decision was based on the right to privacy, the concept that this is an area in which government interference is not appropriate and indeed unconstitutional.
There are those among the voting tax base who see abortion as taking a life. Should their money be used to fund that which they don’t condone?
I’m thinking not. It’s a violation of individual conscience.
By Davo
September 1, 2008 6:29 PM | Link to this
The real issue is this…McCain supposably vetted this gal? He knew of this situation and still choose her to be VP? Gee…not politically savvy, wouldn’t you think? I can’t believe anyone in any party would want this kind of distraction circling over their campaigns.
This goes to lack of good judgement on McCains part. If he couldn’t get this right after all the time it took him to decide on a running mate then he really has no business being potus.
By Bush go away
September 1, 2008 6:36 PM | Link to this
Talk about grasping for straws. And what’s the latest spin coming from the convention to show that Palin has foreign policy credentials? Alaska is the closest state to Russia! (That and she slept in a Holiday Inn Express last night)
Putin must be shaking in his boots.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this
Hey Jay, if you are going to follow up on the monitoring promise when are you going to remove the bald faced lie about “Levi” being 26?
Will you also be complimenting this with the info that he is also a black rapper convicted of manslaughter?
Blowhard/ Gasbag 08.
Not.
By Bush go away
September 1, 2008 6:44 PM | Link to this
The father is twenty six? And has been dating her for three years? If this is true, then this is no longer a “private matter”. This is a police and family children services matter to see if A) statutory rape occured and B) if Gov. Palin was a negligent parent, allowing a twenty something male to engage in sexual activity with her underage daughter.
By TW
September 1, 2008 6:48 PM | Link to this
How come them anti-choice people don’t have funerals for miscarriages?
And what about all those half babies that don’t ‘make it home’?
Face it, if being anti-choice meant an increase in taxes there’d be no argument at all. The thing about anti-choice is that it fits perfectly into the GOP morality budget - costs nothing but the extension of a judgemental finger…just like slamming gays, or harping on bootstraps.
Hate costs little to those without a soul.
By janet
September 1, 2008 6:48 PM | Link to this
I think the issue Ms Palin and her daughter have brought front and center are their right to make a choice. Ms. Palin, upon finding out that her fifth child would be disabled, CHOSE to continue the pregnancy. Her daughter, unwed and pregnant, has made the same CHOICE. For me the importance of their CHOICES is that every woman in this country should have the same right to make a CHOICE. Just because someone’s choice in their private life doesn’t meet the religious right’s approval doesn’t mean that CHOICE should be eliminated. If you give government the right to say NO CHOICE, then some day the government could say YOU WILL NOT HAVE THAT CHILD. That could become your NONCHOICE. So be careful what you wish for. And as I have noticed most PRO CHOICE advocates are really just PRO BIRTH. Once the baby arrives you are on your own…no health care, no childcare, no way for a young woman to return to school and still keep the child. Oh yes, they are forgiven and not perfect, but they are also persona non grata. Now Bristol seems to have it all going for her and she still got pregnant. What about the young woman who has nothing going for her and gets pregnant?
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 6:55 PM | Link to this
Both 6:48’s are perfect lead ins to how Christopher Hitchens describes what it is to be a dimwit:
Every four years, we suddenly discover that the only people worth noticing or mentioning in the United States are those who are ill, or unemployed, or uninsured, or underpaid, or homeless, or some combination of the above. Bill and Hillary Clinton went on about these unprotected and wretched millions on two successive nights last week, apparently never reflecting that some of them at least must have been alive and suffering under the two Clinton administrations. How can a thinking person sit still and listen to such piffle, let alone get up and wave their arms about when they hear it again and again?
Blowhard/ Gasbag 08.
Not.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 7:01 PM | Link to this
Third, perhaps the observations here and of longtime pundits like David Broder and William Safire were on the money: Obama’s speech was too angry and negative and it contained too much big government liberalism. He already had people who think everyone is “getting knocked” down and the only solution is to tax the rich and expand the reach of government. Liberals liked him before and they liked him after the speech — you can tell because their spokespeople in the form of the national media told us so. But the people who will swing the election five points one way or the other remained unmoved, it seems, or were least as equally moved by Sarah Palin’s speech last Friday in Dayton.
Blowhard/ Gasbag 08.
Not.
By Ray
September 1, 2008 7:01 PM | Link to this
How many of those who post these comments about Palin’s daughter have daughters themselves? How close do you think that some of them have come to the same situation? If you think not, you are living in a fantasy world. How judgemental must we be about someone else’s children when the children are not running for office? Obama made a good statement today when he stated that children of the candidates were off the table. First thing that I have agreed with but true. Come off this crap about something that is not relevant to the candidate. Look past her daughter’s mistakes and look at the lady. She is a much better potential leader than all of the rest of them, the fossil included. Quit being p** off about the fact that she is an Evangelical Christian who just happens to be running for VP. She is a damned good choice and just needs the opportunity to show it.
By TW
September 1, 2008 7:05 PM | Link to this
It sure is nice to see those who condemned Bill Clinton for his violation of ‘role model’ duties now staying consistent with Gov. Palin…
Oh, what will our children think?!
How old is this Levi, really?
By marko
September 1, 2008 7:07 PM | Link to this
Maybe John should do a little homework before he selects a vice president. He did’nt care much for studing when he was at the naval academy; evidently he still does’nt. Thousands of lives could be spared and billions saved, if only these guy’s would do a little homework. The American people deserve better.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 7:16 PM | Link to this
Again, we see that Sarah’Cuda is walking the talk:
Feminists for Life has spearheaded efforts to make sure pregnant and parenting college students, who have the highest abortion rates in the nation, get tangible help like medical referrals, child-care and assistance in completing their education.
Palin, a mother of five, recognized the need to do more than say she opposes abortion and joined the organization.
In August 2006, she told the Anchorage Daily News, she recognized the struggle young women face in an unplanned pregnancy saying, “no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child.”
For Palin, there is no inconsistency between advocating for women and taking a pro-life position.
“I believe in the strength and the power of women, and the potential of every human life,” she said.
She said that, for Palin to join her group, she must recognize the practical ways it is helping women find life-affirming solutions to unexpected pregnancies.
“We recognize that abortion is a reflection that our society has failed to meet the needs of women and that too often women have settled for less. Women deserve better than abortion,” said Foster.
She is not just a Blowhard/ Gasbag.
By JAY BOOKMAN
September 1, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this
So Management, what does “black rapper” have to do with the issue …. exactly? Please explain.
No, on second thought, don’t.
By Dusty
September 1, 2008 7:21 PM | Link to this
Well, this turn of events has shown me two obvious things:
first: There are some very considerate liberals out there. Obama set the right atmosphere for family concerns and privacy. He showed compassion and family values and it was a good thing to hear.
Bookman, likewise, seems to have no pleasure in the ruthless over run of a seventeen year old girl. He threw in a bit of the “liberal” but he was fair and demands it on this blog, his own set of “family values”.
The Second observation: There are liberals out there who should be shot. OK, that is just an expression. But their obvious joy at something they could throw in the face of Republicans, even though it was a seventeen year old girl, is a fairly hideous display.
That they should refrain seems never to enter their minds. The ugly liberals stand out like sequin covered garbage cans. They are a disgrace to their party.
These same people hated the Iraq War but now they declare war on a seventeen year old and her family. Yep, they disgrace themselves with great pleasure. Let us hope they do not out number those liberals with family values.
By Mike
September 1, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
Nice to see Bookman teeing up a softball for his liberal brown shirts.
Can someone explain to me why this is relevant? I mean other than to take the opportunity for hateful partisan attacks?
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 7:31 PM | Link to this
Jay: The kook website that is publishing the “26 year old” “information” is also saying he is a black rapper who is convicted of manslaughter.
I thought it awful convenient that we did want to make one lie an issue but not the other.
What are you trying to insinuate?
Are unsubstantiated rumors and uncalled for insinuations the meat and potatoes of this blog?
By marko
September 1, 2008 7:32 PM | Link to this
Jay, unless this is a chat line, why are idiots allowed to make so many comments apropos of nothing.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 7:34 PM | Link to this
Mike: Rest easy, the Obama campaign is the one’s who are going to get tagged with it.
He can’t distance himself from his voters.
By JAY BOOKMAN
September 1, 2008 7:42 PM | Link to this
Sorry, Management, I was not aware that is part of the rumor. My apologies.
But you know, if I started removing posts featuring unsubstantiated allegations from unknown sources, well, certain people would fall silent.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 7:45 PM | Link to this
Yeah, but Jay, who would miss Midori?
By Bush go away
September 1, 2008 7:50 PM | Link to this
Mike,
It’s relevant because it shows the hypocrisy of the neocons. And that’s relevant because their “values” affect sound policy with real life health consequences.
For example, the neocons love to cite statistics that abstinence education “works” but won’t address the fact that those who take abstinence pledges are four times more likely to engage in anal sex, often without protection.
When you teach abstinence but in your hypocrisy you refuse to address real life consequences of your approach, your hypocrisy is fair game.
By Ray
September 1, 2008 7:54 PM | Link to this
Bottom line, it is no one else’s business and if you want to throw this lady under the bus for her daughter’s mistakes, be my guest. But in doing so, we will make a grave mistake. We will quash the political career of a very good potential leader who just might be able to make a difference in our troubled world. We will also say to our America that someone who makes a mistake cannot run for office although we have nothing but flawed previous presidents and vice presidents. We will search far and wide for anything to discredit anyone who runs for political office, depending on who you vote for. We have already done that, we do it each election. We are all flawed, we select from the same pool of people every time and expect that all of them are going to be squeaky clean. Boy are we ever fooled. it never happens. Gary Hart, John Edwards, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Dwight Eisenhower, FDR, Sprio Agnew, LBJ, JFK, MLK, the list goes on. Pick your own flawed politician. But this lady has done nothing wrong. She has tried to be a good mother, a good wife and a good gov. along with being some kind of her own person. I would pick her over any of the other people running, despite her inexperience. She has grit, integrity and and a sense of what is right. Where have we found that in the last little while.
By Davo
September 1, 2008 7:59 PM | Link to this
So anyone know the age of the father? And don’t tell me that this is a ‘family matter’. If he’s 23 then this speaks to the kind of ‘values’ the Palin’s hold to; and as a possible potus the people should know what those values are. After all…thats what we hear from the g old P all the time; family values, family values, family values, ad nauseum.
By @@
September 1, 2008 8:02 PM | Link to this
janet:
If you give government the right to say NO CHOICE, then some day the government could say YOU WILL NOT HAVE THAT CHILD.
The only right I’m willing to give the government on this issue is the right to get out of the business of abortion period. No funding and no prosecution of responsible physicians willing to abort within the first trimester.
No federal funding for Planned Parenthood’s genocide of African American babies, or any babies for that matter. Let liberals put their money where there mouth is. If they want to support abortion, then support it with THEIR money. Let THEIR conscience be clear.
I’ll help support the programs that render returns on my investment. Something PRODUCTIVE.
By TW
September 1, 2008 8:10 PM | Link to this
@@ - why will you not prosecute the genocide that occurs in the first trimester?
By Midori
September 1, 2008 8:12 PM | Link to this
well, Andy, I think “you” would.
By Mike
September 1, 2008 8:15 PM | Link to this
Bush Go Away -
I know two girls who went to school with me in NJ and shared the same detailed sex education as me and were given the same access to free birth control who still managed to get pregnant.
Does this mean that those programs are failures? Does it mean that their parents are “hypocrites” if they supported such education?
Or is this another case where liberals have one standard for politicians who share their narrow views and another for politicians who don’t share their narrow views?
One last thing: are you proud of the gleeful hate coming from the liberals on this board? Don’t you think it pathetic that folks would revel in the mistakes of an 17 year old stranger?
By Midori
September 1, 2008 8:18 PM | Link to this
But you know, if I started removing posts featuring unsubstantiated allegations from unknown sources, well, certain people would fall silent.
we can only pray.
that would be the only way to shut Andy’s idiotic cut and paste trap.
By GOP's got to go
September 1, 2008 8:24 PM | Link to this
Mistakes happen. Unfortunately the chances of a marriage lasting under these circumstances are slim, but time will tell. I think Bristal has made a good decision for herself. Although I am pro-choice, I myself would never have an abortion. However I will defend other women’s choice to do so.
I do see the point of some previous posters that the age difference is rather large. I had no idea the father was indeed a man. I had just assumed he was a boy around Bristal’s age. Mr “Got to go” would have all but killed any man coming around our 14 year old daughter. My goodness, the fear he but into 14 year old boys was huge. I know that children will fight you at every turn when they are “in love”, but an adult male should have known better than this. I find it kind of creepy that a 26 yr old MAN wants to date a child, because that is what she is. I do not think any less of a child that ends up pregnant; I do think less of a man that would have sex with a minor though.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 8:26 PM | Link to this
I r o Dim: The Pamprin, remember?
By @@
September 1, 2008 8:33 PM | Link to this
TW:
@@ - why will you not prosecute the genocide that occurs in the first trimester?
We are stuck, for the time being, with Roe v Wade. If I had MY CHOICE, which obviously no one wants to give me, I’d have ZERO ABORTIONS.
The left is so eager to pursue alternative fuels, alternative this, alternative that, alternative lifestyles.
But offering alternatives to abortion, alternatives for the UNBORN just doesn’t seem to register high on their agenda.
Someone on these boards often closes his/her post with………
You libs make me sick.
Guess what? It’s contagious. I’m sick of you too.
By Midori
September 1, 2008 8:34 PM | Link to this
pANDsY: lay off the vodka, will you?
what do you know about Pamprin?
sharing a bit too much info there, aren’t you?
what do you use when you’re “feeling not quite fresh”?
Rum?
By TW
September 1, 2008 8:36 PM | Link to this
Does Alaska not have child predatory laws?
By TW
September 1, 2008 8:47 PM | Link to this
@@ - geez. I never talk disrectfully to you like that. I ask a simple question, simply ask for a little clarity in your position because I respect you enough to do so, and in return you say that I make you sick?
Nevermind, then.
By @@
September 1, 2008 8:53 PM | Link to this
TW:
Somehow I’m thinking you don’t really care whether there are child predatory laws or not. If you did you’d be complaining about liberal Vermont and their resistance to enact any. You’d be screaming about the judges there who give offenders a slap on the wrist, sending them out to repeat their predation on children.
By Billy
September 1, 2008 8:54 PM | Link to this
@@, we all already know the alternatives to abortion. They are:
1) Have a baby.
Sure, there are various things one can do with the baby once it is delivered, but still, your options are abortion or allowing a parasite to gestate in your body for around 9 months. And endure the whispers, snickers, and hurtful comments from people around you. Most of which are likely “Christians”.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 1, 2008 9:01 PM | Link to this
By Billy September 1, 2008 8:54 PM Sure, there are various things one can do with the baby once it is delivered, but still, your options are abortion or allowing a parasite to gestate in your body for around 9 months. And endure the whispers, snickers, and hurtful comments from people around you. Most of which are likely “Christians”.
You were a “parasite” at one time, dumbas-s.
By TW
September 1, 2008 9:14 PM | Link to this
@@ - and now you call me a liar?
Had you and your ilk not turned the Bible into a bludgeoning instrument over the past eight years, I might be bothered.
And had the likes of you and ‘w’ not been successful in replacing ‘conservative’ with ‘selfish’ on the GOP platform, I might be bothered.
But the simple truth, @@, is that you are completely bankrupt of this little thing they call credibility. And, as a result, what you say, or even think for that matter, really don’t amount to a hill of ant crap in the real word.
By @@
September 1, 2008 9:42 PM | Link to this
After this post, the subject of young Bristol is closed as far as I’m concerned. I’ll leave you leftists to look like the hateful, vindictive dregs on the Democratic Party that you are.
Billy:
You can’t be serious! Check out the posts from the leftists both here and at Wooten’s. It’ ain’t Christians that have been laughing, snickering, and posting hurtful comments.
TW:
@@ - geez. I never talk disrectfully to you like that.
I don’t recall that we’ve ever communicated here, so that’s up for debate.
You’re wanting to stir the s**. It’s obvious to anybody with eyes.
But the simple truth, @@, is that you are completely bankrupt of this little thing they call credibility.
Coming from you buddy, I couldn’t care less what you think of my credibility.
Now if you’re desperate for conversation this evening, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I’m not into small talk…. “chit” chat.
By bubbaroy
September 1, 2008 9:42 PM | Link to this
Jay, Why do you even bother to try and have reasonable discussions? Mostly I have read where “the liberal haters” are attacking the daughter - and I cannot see that. It seems some are blaming / condemning the mother - but being a victim seems to be the way most republicans handle most topics.
In the meantime, there are plenty of other issues and problems that are going to sink this ticket (“trooper-gate” / “I told them I didn’t want the “bridge to nowhere” [NOT] / “she fought against Sen Ted Stevens” [NOT]) - but the main one will be that she is totall in over her head, and that will become apparent over the next month.
Peace
By Hillbilly Deluxe
September 1, 2008 10:06 PM | Link to this
To TW @6:48PM
In the unfortunate times that it has happened in my family, a miscarried baby gets a name, a funeral and a grave. (I regulary clean the grave of an uncle who was born dead in the 1930s.)
I’m not an Obama supporter but I do commend him for his handling of this matter. A classy thing to do on his part.
Making this a political issue is wrong, just as making fun of Chelsea Clinton on Saturday Night Live was wrong. I admired Bill Clinton for his reaction to that.
It seems odd to me that people on both sides of the political spectrum spend a lot of time talking about tolerance. What they usually mean is “my position should be tolerated, yours is fair game”.
I guess my point is don’t take pleasure in others’ misfortunes. Someday you may find the shoe is on the other foot. There but for the Grace of God go I.
By ByteMe
September 1, 2008 10:07 PM | Link to this
You’re right, Jay. Gov. Palin’s daughter and future grand-child are not any reason to want to vote for her or against her.
The fact that she’s an politically lightweight anti-science fascist is really all that matters once you get into the voting booth and think about pulling the lever for a 72-year-old 4-time cancer survivor.
But I’m sure the anti-science fascists will march along in lock-step the way they’ve been traoined to do.
Oh, and Levi is reported on one site out there (that includes a picture of him) to be 18 years old. Not 23. He looks 18 in the pic. Can’t vouch for the site, so I won’t bother linking to it, but it makes a more sense than him being 23.
By @@
September 1, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this
Billy:
Before I turn in for the night, I’ll ask…….
What have you done for a teen mom today?
The CrossPointe group is small but growing. It’s one of only three Teen MOPS groups in the state. Last fall, Gommier helped launch the ministry at her church to “help (teens) be the best mom that they can be from here on out,” she said. But the group is not a Bible study or time for sermonizing. Many of the young moms don’t attend church services. The group instead offers a time for the girls to mingle and share. They can chat about whatever is on their minds. Sometimes they talk about abstinence.
Teens MoMs (Youth for Christ)
Lots more programs out there if you really wanna know the truth about Christians and how THEY support teen moms.
By GodHatesTrash
September 1, 2008 10:30 PM | Link to this
Happy Labor (get it?) Day, cons!
Hehehehehehehe Hohohohohohoho
By TW
September 1, 2008 10:33 PM | Link to this
Hillbilly Deluxe@10:06 - Well said. Very sorry for the times your family has dealt with miscarriage.
The world would no doubt be a better place if people like yourself spoke for the right.
Sadly, your voice was not there to put a leash on the wolf when Newt set him free, or when rushannity turned him into the devil he is today. Ironic that you now speak when the serve is finally returned.
The left was told we didn’t support the troops when we questioned their use. Told we weren’t good Americans because we advocated public schools and health care for all. Told we wanted to lose the war when we again showed concern for our brothers and sisters in uniform. Forgive us if we seem a little ornry.
No doubt the country is stronger when united, but I ask you - who mastered the art of dividing us? Who had the financial motivation and who has benefitted financially from these divisions?
I’ll check tomorrow. Goodnight.
By Davo
September 1, 2008 10:39 PM | Link to this
I don’t see any posts on this topic that are condemning the girl, Bristol. I see posts that question the mothers agenda…which to me seem to be a fair enough tact for someone in public office. What I don’t see is anyone expressing what I think is the real question…What was McCain thinking when he brought Palin on board…and what was she thinking in accepting the spot? It don’t matter what side of the abortion debate your on here…this was political dynamite from the get-go.
C’mon kids…stop pretending this is about the girl getting knocked up…it’s about how the adults are handling the situation. I’m still curious as to the original accusations about Trig being the girls son…what if this is true? Do you think that that topic is beyond reproach? I don’t.
This is all about McCains judgement…I just don’t see how anyone of any political leaning can say that this was good judgement. Either he didn’t know- which is bad…or he did…which is just naive and pathetic. I don’t understand why some of you follow party lines over common sense…and why your so hateful of people who you disagree with.
McCain threw the hail mary with this vp pick to the wrong side of the field. Time to punt…God only knows what crazy plan the G old P will come up with now….probably something to do with Iran and speedboats.
By GodHatesTrash
September 1, 2008 10:50 PM | Link to this
The GOP is a dirt-spreading operation.
It runs on lies and rumors and character assassination. Governor Palin has chosen to associate herself with the low-life lying stupid scum of the GOP, some of whom who are all too regular posters here.
She has thrown her own child’s and grandchild’s future under the bus by concealing this pregnancy to advance her own political ambitions. Mothers are supposed to protect their minor children. Not this witch.
Governor Palin is a liar, and a pitiful pitiful mother. She makes Britney Spears’ mother look good. Reap the whirlwind of your party’s hypocrisy.
Poor Bristol.
By Midori
September 1, 2008 11:30 PM | Link to this
Sir Trash,
it gets even better:
Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process (AIP) - NYTimes
ST. PAUL — A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket…
…Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge….
…At the least, Republicans close to the campaign said it was increasingly apparent that Ms. Palin had been selected as Mr. McCain’s running mate with more haste than McCain advisers initially described…
…“They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” said a Republican close to the campaign. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.”
Mr. McCain’s advisers said repeatedly on Monday that Ms. Palin was “thoroughly vetted,” a process that would have included a review of all financial and legal records as well as a criminal background check. A McCain aide said that the campaign was well aware of the ethics investigation and that it had looked into it.
“They didn’t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn’t speak to anyone in the business community,” said Lyda Green, the State Senate president, who lives in Wasilla, where Ms. Palin served as mayor.
“I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called,” Ms. Phillips said. “I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven’t found anybody who was asked anything.”
By "The Corporal"
September 2, 2008 12:10 AM | Link to this
Hey Jay:
I just saw this headline …………..
“ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Protesters smashed windows, punctured car tires and threw bottles Monday during an anti-war march to the site of the Republican National Convention. Police used pepper spray in confrontations with demonstrators and arrested five.”
Question:
Did any Republican Demonstrators conduct themselves in the above manner at the Democrat Convention?
By Hillbilly Deluxe
September 2, 2008 12:13 AM | Link to this
To TW@10:33
I had you a reply all typed up and forgot to type in my name and email address so now I have to do it all again. Hopefully I can remember the gist of it all. It is late though.
I agree that it was Newt and company who raised the stakes. When they got power they were like a dog that chases a car and catches it, they didn’t know what to do with it. I listened to Rush a time or two several years ago and couldn’t see why anybody would listen to him. I view Rush, Hannity, O’Reilly, Matthews, Olbermann, etc as performers. They play to their respective audiences. I wonder sometimes if any of them really believe half what they say. I don’t question anybody’s patriotism as I don’t question anybody’s religion. I’m sure people on the Left love the US as much as I do. I do believe in public education though I think it needs reform in some areas. I don’t know what the answer to health care is but I don’t think anyone should go without health care in the richest country in the world. I’m definitely not from the “let em eat cake crowd”.
The art of dividing us goes way back in American history. We just never seem to learn it’s lesson.
I can understand how people get ornery on here sometimes given the thinks people say to them, especially if it’s aimed at you by name. Try to rise above the fray. A reasoned argument is a more persuasive argument which we would all do well to remember. A man I once knew told me to “be high class even when others are not” I’m sure you will often disagree with my views but that’s fine. If we agreed on everything there’d be no need for one of us, right? (A little levity)
By Billy
September 2, 2008 12:48 AM | Link to this
@@ — Yes, you dolt, I was a parasite. I notice you in no way tried to argue against what I said.
And what I have or have not done for teen moms is not the issue, here. Forced childbirth is.
By Billy
September 2, 2008 1:03 AM | Link to this
Actually, Davo is right — McCain’s judgment is the issue.
Hillbilly Deluxe — I do not mean to be crass or in any way disrespectful of you or your family, so I apologize if I come off that way, but I believe people tend to handle miscarriages different than stillbirths, which is what your uncle’s sounded like. I mean, a miscarriage 3 or 5 months into the pregnancy wouldn’t result in much of anything to bury. The family would often feel a sense of mourning and loss, but few would have a memorial service or count it as a lost family member. Most would keep the information to themselves for a while, unless the woman was showing. Many couples don’t tell anyone about a pregnancy until after the first trimester because miscarriages are less likely after that point.
I guess the point is that the time in pregnancy during which most abortions occur is the same time most miscarriages occur, and we don’t treat them like children that have died.
By RW-(the original)
September 2, 2008 1:03 AM | Link to this
Teenagers get pregnant all the time. It’s a sad commentary on our country that the only reason this is a “news” story, presuming Jay hasn’t gone tabloid, is that Bristol is having the baby. Barack’s mother was roughly the same age and his parents weren’t married, yet you leftists treat him like the Second Coming.
Had she gone for an abortion we would have the one day scold of her being a hypocrite, even though that’s nonsensical since we don’t have a 17 year old on the ballot and she’s free to have her own beliefs, and then moved on to how killing the baby was the right thing to do. It’s for the children after all.
By Billy
September 2, 2008 1:11 AM | Link to this
“Corprophile” —
“Democracy Now” host Amy Goodman was arrested…while trying to free two of her producers who had been arrested. That’s three arrests, all illegal. Are those included in your five?
As to why no Republicans were arrested in Denver — what do they have to protest over? The past 8 years have seen the GOP in control. The only way the Dems are responsible is in that they haven’t foght hard enough against the radical right that has taken over the government.
By GMAN
September 2, 2008 1:27 AM | Link to this
Bush/McCain - If brains were gas, they couldn’t fill a lawn mower!
By kjj
September 2, 2008 3:53 AM | Link to this
BOTTOMLINE:
IF YOU CLAIM YOU ARE FOR FAMILY “VALUES”, PEOPLE WILL HOLD YOU TO THAT STANDARD. WHERE WERE YOUR VALUES TEACHING YOUR KID NOT TO GET PREGNANT OUT OF WEDLOCK ???TALK IS CHEAP !!! BRISTOL IS NOT THE ISSUE. HER MOTHER IS.
REPUBLICANS ARE NOW RALLYING AROUND TO DEFEND THE MOTHER. THE SAME PEOPLE WILL BERATE HER IF SHE WERE A DEMOCRAT FORGETTING THERE’S SUCH THING AS A MISTAKE. REPUBLICANS ARE THE BIGGEST HYPOCRITES OF ALL.
AND WE HEAR SHE STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION TOO IN HER HOME STATE…SO MUCH FOR MORAL SUPERIORITY AND ‘VALUES’—WHATEVER THE HELL THEY MEAN!!!
kjj
By AJC/DNC Management
September 2, 2008 5:21 AM | Link to this
Jay- Now will you take the lie of your website:
He’s a superhunky bad-boy ice hockey player from cold country; she’s a chestnut-haired beauty and popular high school senior.
The all-American teen twosome will make GOP vice presidential pick and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a grandma at age 44 - just in time for Christmas.
Never doubt me.
By AJC/DNC Management
September 2, 2008 5:43 AM | Link to this
Off, geez.
~~~~~
You have to check this out, go to the Urinal litter box liner and look at page A4 and all the unbelievable immature whining and moaning the liberals at the AJC/DNC put together as “coverage” of the Republican Convention.
Where to begin?
A photo of the seats BEFORE the convention even started to make it appear like no one showed up and those who did were bored?
A less than flattering photo of McCain’s mother, who many of you will be surprised to learn she is still alive, toadies.
Now we hear about protesters from the Urinal?
I would copy some of the crying jag text but the Urinal hasn’t posted any of it to their print edition, even though all the other news is up.
Un- freaking- believable.
I may frame this.
~~~~~
So now we are going to make our candidate’s families an issue, eh?
Daughter’s pregnancy, probe in firing put Palin in spotlight-Urinal/DNC
Ten-four.
By The Way
September 2, 2008 5:56 AM | Link to this
A: Sarah Palin, Bristol Palin, John McCain
Q: Name two hockey moms and a puck
By GodHatesTrash
September 2, 2008 6:03 AM | Link to this
Thanks Midori for the link.
Dig around on the ‘net regarding the Alaska Independence Party - ties to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the wite soopremacissy movement.
Daddy’s a drunk, mommy’s a self-absorbed crook. Whelped all these kids but then won’t mother them. No surprise there - mommy’s sister stay married to a state-trooper stupid enough to taser her kid, but gramps likes the guy though, used to go illegally hunt moose with him.
So John McCain is trying to bring this HeeHaw crowd to D.C. “Wee doggies!”, as Jed Clampett used to say. It’s like having an aging Daisy Duke running for Vice President.
Governor Lola is a joke. A bad sick joke. Of course they’ll love her in Georgia.
(Poor Bristol. She would have been better off raised by wolves.)
By Johnny Stanford
September 2, 2008 6:51 AM | Link to this
Just think, if another unwed mother had had an abortion, we wouldn’t have to be putting up with Barrack Obama. Liberal and “Dims” are the most hypocritical people the world has ever seen. I thought your battle cry was “choice” - a choice has been made. What are you bleating about?
By AJC/DNC Management
September 2, 2008 7:00 AM | Link to this
I thought this didn’t matter but now that has all changed:
In fact Ann divorced her husband after she discovered his bigamous double life. She remarried and moved to Indonesia with young Barack and her new husband, an oil company manager.
A relative of Mr Obama says: “We told him[Barack] how his father would still go to Kezia and it was during these visits that she became pregnant with two more children. He also had two children with Ruth.”
It is alleged that Ruth finally left him after he repeatedly flew into whisky-fuelled rages, beating her brutally.
Friends say drinking blighted his life - he lost both his legs while driving under the influence and also lost his job.
Like Father like son?
By GOPs got to go
September 2, 2008 7:35 AM | Link to this
Jay,
Please tell me the correct age of the father of Bristal’s baby. THAT is the main issue to me. If he indeed is 23-26 then he is guilty of statutory rape.
Can you tell I do not, nor ever will, read tabloid rags or go to tabloid sites.
By Mike
September 2, 2008 7:47 AM | Link to this
“By GOPs got to go
September 2, 2008 7:35 AM | Link to this
Jay,
Please tell me the correct age of the father of Bristal’s baby. THAT is the main issue to me. If he indeed is 23-26 then he is guilty of statutory rape.”
The kid is 19. The 26 year old thing is one of the many rumors put forward by hateful liberals who want to use this girl as a tool for partisan attack.
I thought liberals were in favor of reproductive privacy. Apparently, they are just in favor of abortions.
By Taxpayer
September 2, 2008 7:48 AM | Link to this
Wow, @@. All this time, I thought you did have a choice. Now, you say that you don’t but everyone else does but not if you have anything to say about it. Amazing!
“By @@ September 1, 2008 8:33 PM
We are stuck, for the time being, with Roe v Wade. If I had MY CHOICE, which obviously no one wants to give me, I’d have ZERO ABORTIONS.
The left is so eager to pursue alternative fuels, alternative this, alternative that, alternative lifestyles. But offering alternatives to abortion, alternatives for the UNBORN just doesn’t seem to register high on their agenda. Someone on these boards often closes his/her post with……… You libs make me sick. Guess what? It’s contagious. I’m sick of you too.”
By TW
September 2, 2008 7:54 AM | Link to this
Taxpayer - give @@ ‘The Convenient Christian’ a break. She had a real rough day yesterday…glass houses, etc….
By AJC/DNC Management
September 2, 2008 8:10 AM | Link to this
The DUI was 22 years ago.
22 years ago.
By janet
September 2, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this
Privacy is important and so is choice. The Palin women have made their choices because they could. That is why it is important that ALL women in this country should be able to make their own reproductive choices even if they don’t happen to be your preference. Maybe I don’t like their choices but they own them. Let all women own their choices.
By Mike
September 2, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this
I notice that the angry liberals in her keep bleating about “hypocrisy”.
Help a dumb conservative understand who is being a hypocrite and why.
By rc
September 2, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this
little off point, but remember when mccain was cracking jokes about chelsea’s looks?
By Eric1
September 2, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this
Suddenly pre-marital, teenage sex is okay with the right wing, family values crowd. That smells like hypocrisy to me, Mike. As a liberal, I don’t care what Bristol does with her bod. It’s none of my business. What gripes me about the suddenly “live and let live” republicans is how their values can shift with the breeze. It’s hypocritical.
By Charles
September 2, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this
If I were a Democrap (God forbid) I’d be more concerned with having a racist (20 year membership in Jeremiah Wright’s church) Presidential candidate (Obama) who is friends with a unapologetic terrorist (William Ayers) and has less experience than Palin (sorry, running for the Office of President all your Senate life doesn’t count) and a plageristic (liar) running mate in Biden.
By @@
September 2, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this
Billy @ 12:48:
I didn’t call you a parasite.
And what I have or have not done for teen moms is not the issue, here.
You implied that teen mothers suffer the snickers, whispers, and hurtful comments of Christians. I just wanted to better inform you.
With the miracle of the internet, there can be no doubt that liberals launched the attack against young Bristol and others like her when it suits their politics. Christians on the other hand, were busy doing what needed to be done.
Christians fill the gap between talk and action.
Taxpayer @ 7:48:
Wow, @@. All this time, I thought you did have a choice.
Oh really!
Can I opt out of government funding? I think not. I am forced to fund something that violates my conscience.
I’m off to work.
By lovelyliz
September 2, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this
A 16 year old girl having unprotected sex who turns into a preganant 17 year old mother who turns into an 18 year old wife soon turns into a 20 year old divorcee.
The hypocricy comes when in the year 2008 we push a couple of kids who were stupid enough to get pregnant into a marriage thayt accomplishes nothing but virtually guranteeing a bitter divorce.
These marriages just don’t last in modern ages. None of the ones I’ve been privvy to have lasted much past the infancy of the baby. Two teens who have some idea about sex, but none about effective birth control, who have no capability of financially supporting themselves let alone a family are going to raise a baby? What difference is it going to make to this child if it’s parents never married or divorced before it says it first word?
It’s a stable, long term marriage between two committed reasonable adults in which children should be raised, not a couple of kids temporarily playing house while their families foot the bill.
By Taxpayer
September 2, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this
Those Republicans really know how to party, don’t they. I wonder how many of those Christian republicans were at that lobbyist party last night, I mean, this morning and last night. They’ll have many more opportunities if they missed that one. It lasted quite a while. The band was called “Hookers and Blow”. Anyway, the news report indicated that it was just the band that was using that name but those news reporters probably don’t report everything that goes on. At least that’s one thing that some other bloggers keep yammering on about — reporters not reporting everything — so it must be true. There were quite a few big wheels from the RNC and the Republican elected ones partying it up. I have heard that parties such as that one can actually lead to that type of behavior that is purported to make some women pregnant — especially those Christian women that did not learn about such things from their parents or at school and things to do to prevent such things, etc. I guess it’s because those Christian republicans don’t like to talk about the birds and the bees or sex other such stuff that makes them all red in the face and they also don’t like for anyone else to talk about such stuff either. Although, you would think that after having five youngens, you’d be able to put one and one together and make one of those little light bulbs light up. I wonder how many Christians out there think that babies just magically appear or that they have to eat some sort of forbidden fruit or other such superstitious dribble.
By kitty
September 2, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this
I see two things here…
a mother so ambitious that she actually accepted the VP nomination and put her daughter’s pregnancy into the spotlight. Considering the cult of personality and intrusiveness the media shows now, how could a caring mother actually do that to her daughter unless her ambition is overwhelming. She makes Hillary Clinton look like a rank amateur in the ambition department.
Notice I haven’t even mentioned her lack of foreign policy experience or any other experience on a national level. McCain is a maverick all right…a stupid one.
By "The Corporal"
September 2, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this
Hey Jay - From a website:
“How many stories did we hear during the DNC about violent protests on the streets? With the RNC barely under way we already have an entire delegation of Connecticut Republicans who were attacked by protestors. Then we get these anarchists who are throwing around benches and smashing windows of police cars.”
By Hypocritebuster
September 2, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
Don’t we just love the ‘go kill some babies’ crowd, Jay? I doubt they’ll ever learn to stop being so judgemental and bitter. I just love the ‘let’s have some privacy’ argument. This from the crowd that that put morality on a soapbox. But there’s a lesson to be learned here. Maybe, just maybe, the Palin affair will spark some decent, realistic thinking among these folks about the problem of teen pregnancy and what to do about it. Hiding heads in the sand by promoting abstinence and blocking sex ed, contraceptive availability, etc won’t cut it. Kids will be kids; hormones will be hormones. We live in the real world, not some imaginary fairyland of ideology, a mindset that’s gotten us into more trouble in the last 7 years than we can just about handle.
By Richard
September 2, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
One can only imagine how different and cruel the Republican response would be if Chelsea Clinton had become pregnant [even at her present age] without being married. There would be no calls for privacy and respect because those hypocrites have no morality, Christian or otherwise. Instead they would be demanding the impeachment of Senator Clinton, a full investigation costing taxpayers millions, various wearing apparel with strange stains waved in front of television cameras, and, of course, a chorus of pseudo-Christians demanding a trial by water or a public “auto de fe”. You get the picture, hypocrisy run rampant but then that is what the American public has had to deal with since 1994.
By GMAN
September 2, 2008 9:23 AM | Link to this
Bush/McCain - Gambling with our children’s future!
By Andy J
September 2, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this
Jay —
Very tortured logic on the “privacy” issue. Modern science clearly shows us that a human being is a human being whether in or outside the womb —look at a sonogram of an 12-week old fetus sometime. There is no privacy defense for the crime of killing another person. Why is it that “compassionate” liberals whose hearts bleed for the poor, minorities, etc apparently don’t have the same concern for unborn children in America? Can’t you see how wrong you are about this?
By Bosch
September 2, 2008 9:29 AM | Link to this
I had the same thought this weekend -
Good for this girl - glad she has unconditional love and support from her family - many do not.
Other few thoughts over the weekend:
NOW all the GOPers are concerned with the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Good for them. Where’s their compassion for those losing homes, and those losing their health insurance, etc. etc.?
This Gustav thing was a little on the Catch-22 side - at least we won’t have to hear Bush/Cheney speak - which is good for all Americans.
My main concern about Palin is that I heard over the weekend, that she hasn’t travelled very much in her life - which brings me to my question from Friday - has she ever BEEN to Washington, D.C.?
If you count countries you’ve visited abroad, then I have more foreign policy experience than Palin.
I actually heard a GOP cheerleader on the news touting that she is the MOST qualified VEEP candidate. The MOST qualified - I, and the other pundits with completely shocked and stunned looks on their faces, just shook their heads, and one actually said, “Really? More qualified than Mitt Romney and Tom Ridge?” And hell, Sonny Perdue for that matter! And the guy actually said yes. Unbelieveable.
By Taxpayer
September 2, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
@@,
I want to opt out of government funding of wars — you know, that thing that Republicans are so fond of — and all the killing of innocent people. The ones they refer to as “collateral damage” and as “brave US troops”. Now, doesn’t that just make it all better — giving it such a non-descript label. So, how ‘bout it, @@. Let’s find some folks to put in government that don’t believe in killing any innocent people. I hear the claims about the baby not having any say and so the baby must be given first priority even over the life of the mother but I don’t hear the Christian Republicans trying to avoid wars and stopping our politicians from causing the killing of innocent bystanders. Will you offer up some lame excuse about how we were just defending ourselves and those innocent people should not have been standing in the way of our bombs and bullets that were clearly meant to only kill those trying to kill us or do you leave that activity for the likes of a Dusty or some other equally pathetic individual. Our government was willing to support the likes of Saddam (remember that Rumsfeld handshake straight from Reagan) when they thought he would be useful in a fight against the USSR. Our government was willing to support the likes of bin Laden as long as he was useful in a fight against the USSR. Our government knew what type of people they were and they still had no problem with supporting them. Now, they turn around and talk about how evil they are and how they must be stopped because they have now directed their hate toward us instead of the USSR.
By hillbilly ragger
September 2, 2008 9:31 AM | Link to this
“And what’s the latest spin coming from the convention to show tha