Gov. Palin's Ignorance and Ruthless Ambitions

While I've been tracking Hurricane Gustav and spending as much summery deck time as I can, I've also been tracking the election issues, convention news and controversies.  And, I have the following things to say to the World Wide Web about Governor Sarah Palin's pregnant, unmarried 17 year old daughter and Governor Palin herself:

We must leave this child alone.  We must not judge this child.  We must support and honor her choice to maintain this pregnancy.

The big offenders of such an imperative would not be the liberal blogosphere given that the ideal of reproductive choice emerged from progressive political ideology. 

Rather, it will be the conservative bloggers who will flaunt this story for all its worth to them.  It would be the right wing who will raise this young woman high on their shoulders, point to her belly and squawk something about family values.  Exploiting much?

What must be judged here is this - Governor Palin's profound lack of sensitivity and willingness to haul her daughter into the international spotlight in order to plow ahead on her twisted path to power.  This is cruelty of a particularly nasty nature and exposes Governor Palin as completely ignorant of the misery, embarrassment and shame that any normal 17 year old girl would feel in this predicament.  In adding this burden on to her daughter's back, Governor Palin has betrayed herself as the extreme opposite of holding "family first". 

Sure, I'm all about breaking the glass ceiling, but using your kid's head to crack through that glass is an ugly way to do it.

Comments

[Suebob]

Hm. I have to respectfully disagree. She was in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. If, with all the speculation from the Daily Kos story, she didn't reveal the pregnancy, it would have been a gotcha. Was she supposed to hide? Was she supposed to put the daughter through weeks of speculation and rumor and THEN reveal - would that have been better?

And is every ambitious woman in politics supposed to put her career on hold because there are potentially embarrassing family circumstances?

I'm no Sarah Palin fan, but I think this is the wrong take on this subject.

[GraceD]

Yo, Suebob, I appreciate your points and I respectfully disagree with you, dollin.

"And is every ambitious woman in politics supposed to put her career on hold because there are potentially embarrassing family circumstances?"

If you're as pro-family as Palin likes to tout, then, yes, you must live up to your hype. Or you're a hypocrite.

" If, with all the speculation from the Daily Kos story, she didn't reveal the pregnancy, it would have been a gotcha. Was she supposed to hide? Was she supposed to put the daughter through weeks of speculation and rumor and THEN reveal - would that have been better?"

No, Palin should have revealed this at the moment she received the call from the McCain camp and then they would have worked through the muddle and spun it in their way. Obviously Palin didn't do that, which makes her look even more naive than she woefully is already. She should not have waited for the rumors to unfold. She should have known, should have seen this coming and because she couldn't analyze this carefully, then she deserves the smackdown I launched in this post.

Dollin, I hate to pull out the mom card, but I have a 17 year old daughter who was mortified that I posted on a prom updo she hated many blog posts ago. Multiply that million-fold and you've got the reaction of a unwed, pregnant teen. If you care for your kid, you would have declined this offer and stayed in Alaska and away from the shark frenzy that is the press of the lower 48.

Love,
GraceD

[Tonya]

I have to respectfully agree with Suebob — I believe the situation needed to be "announced" as the truth would have come out anyway. How Palin handles it from this point will be the true test (exploitation or not). In this day and age, the 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy is a non-issue in my book, other than the irony of Palin's strong stance on abstinence education.

[ben]

It's not a question of "revealing" the pregnancy, it's whether she should have said "yes" to walking into a media grindhouse, possibly for the next eight years, knowing her underage and unmarried daughter was pregnant.

Palin (the elder) was brought into this campaign to appeal to the Christian Right. Most of them don't look to kindly on premarital relations. So now, they will have to spin this some other way. But it will NOT go away, because of the job she is applying for.

Ugly, ugly business, politics is. I would never do this to my daughter.

[GraceD]

Tonya, my longtime blog girlfriend, the feelings of your kid in such a situation, whether it be a male or female politician, must come first, especially if you wield about that traditional value rhetoric. That kid has got to be hurting. If she says she's not, then she's lying or being drugged or spun or promised a car or something.

Kids come first when they need to come first. And, a teenage pregnancy trumps everything, most especially when you can back out now.

Love, GraceD

[Don]

I'm afraid you're quite wrong on this one Grace. Haha, like I ever think you're right on political matters.

Palin told McCain about her daughter right up front according to McCain's press. I suspect her daughter supports mom but either way this is a once in a lifetime chance. If her daughter had asked her to not do this that would have been very selfish. Her daughter knew she would be in for lots of public scrutiny since mom was/is the Gov of Alaska. Remember, there are only 50 Govs in the country so that's a pretty high vis job.

Anyways I think you are letting your dislike of anything Republican get in the way of your sense of what's good. But again just my opinion.

[Mir]

Don, her daughter shouldn't have to ask her not to do this. Bristol Palin is a minor and -- once-in-a-lifetime political chance or no -- a parent who claims to uphold "family values" the way Sarah Palin says she does is an irresponsible parent for subjecting her UNDERAGE daughter to this sort of scrutiny.

[GraceD]

"I'm afraid you're quite wrong on this one Grace. Haha, like I ever think you're right on political matters."

Dollin Don, I was enjoying this discussion with all the nice "respectfully disagree" sort of chat. Then, you throw in the "Haha". Way to throw a bucket of water on this pleasant discourse.

Anyway, you and I have daughters. Would you put your daughter through this? And, yes, you and I are not governors, but Sarah Palin is touted as one of us, or, more precisely, one of me - suburban mother, professional, etc. If she's the regular Josephine she likes to spin herself to be, then she would, like Ben above, never do this to her kid.

But, clearly she's not a regular Jo. She is Sarah Barracuda, after all, and she'll bite through anyone - including her daughter - to win.

I will never believe for a second that Bristol feels in her heart that being in the public spotlight is okay with her. I truly believe this kid is horrified but has to hide it, which adds to an already stressful situation.

As far as that remark about disliking anything Republican, I wish you could have been on the fabled Chez State of Grace deck last night with my hubs and me. We were expressing great disappointment in our fellow citizen Republicans, the ones we call Our Loyal Opposition. We are two passionate Democrats who honor and defend the real history behinds Barry Goldwater's problem with the civil rights amendment - he believed that liberty for all was already clear in the constitution. We miss the presence of William F. Buckley. We have been dismayed that the Republican party was ruined by the neo-con movement of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, a movement so savagely anti-intellectual that Republican Thomas Jefferson weeps every night up there in his heavenly version of Monticello. And, don't get me started on my deep appreciation of Orrin Hatch and his work on health care issues. Hatch is not afraid to go across the aisle and work with - gasp! - Ted Kennedy on this critical bipartisan matter. Oh, and did I mention Senator Alan Simpson and his compassionate leadership in the aftermath of the Matthew Shepard murder?

Don, it's not about the Republicans, it's the neo-cons.

Yours in the admiration of the Distinguished Lady from Maine, Senator Olympia Snowe,
Grace xo

[Poppy Buxom]

Oh, go ahead and be all high-minded about this, Grace.

I just say it's tacky, tacky, tacky.

The Bush girls' underaged drinking while Pop was governor looks like a mere bag of shells in comparison.

[Don]

My "haha" was an attempt at letting you know I was disagreeing in a friendly way. I'm sorry you took it wrong.

[GraceD]

Don, ahhh, 'sorry I got it wrong. I should have known better. You and I have enjoyed a lively exchange over the years and I cherish that more than you may know. I'd like to think that you and I - and my right wingnut pals who call me a moonbeam liberal IN LOVE, OF COURSE - could be frothing at the mouth adversaries across the aisle in chambers, then go to lunch together in the Senate cafeteria where they serve up that famous navy bean soup.

So, Don? Soup's on, dollin.

[GraceD]

(actually I think that's "moonbat" liberal, but obviously I blocked that out)

[Michele]

I agree with you.

I'm sad that people think 17-year old having kids is not an issue. It is with me. I don't want to be a grandma to my 17 year old daughter's baby.

I volunteer with young teens, unwed mothers. Of the 100 girls I've helped along the way to stay in school or go to college or just do something with their lives. Of these girls, two came from home's where the parents where involved and they were just wild/don't want to listen to their parents teens. A lot of these girls came from homes where the parents were uninvolved or too busy at their important jobs..making money.I wish my satistics were wrong. I came from a home where my parents were open and spoke to me and cared where and who I was with. I was a virgin till I was 18, a mother when I got married at 28. I really think it made a diffrnce in the choices I've made because of my parents.

I for one thought when I found out Palin had five children, thought how in the world are you going to have to time to give these kids what they need from you. It's hard enough with normal jobs, but being the V.P. of the U.S. not just some company is whole nother ball of wax.

You know if McCaine dies (his caner troubles) in office would be her, inexperienced, in politics and parenting.

[Don]

Isn't it sexist though to suggest the woman needs to stay home with the kids? I thought that was what Woman's Lib has been fighting against all these years.

Grace my dear, I picture you and I riding Segways down the street like Carville and Frist. ;)

[Kim]

I agree, Grace. We should leave Bristol Palin alone - but it's so very hard to ignore this story.

Sarah Palin asks that we respect her family's privacy regarding this matter - which I will not do until Governor Palin agrees to respect the rights of millions of women and their teenage daughters to choose birth control, an equally private matter.

[Don]

Grace: I found an interesting site that compares Palin and Obama. Here tis:

http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/2008/08/30/sarah-palin-vs-barack-obama/

[Trish]

Thought I would put in my own opinion, since we are enjoying a civilized debate about this :).

If I were in Sarah Palin's position and McCain's people had offered the VP position on the ticket, and I had known my 17-year old daughter was pregnant, I would have turned down the offer. The issue is not whether she should have come out with the news immediately, or whether there was duplicity in the timing of the news. The issue is that, if Palin accepted the offer, it would thrust her family (and her pregnant underage daughter) into the shark tank that is the American media. Knowing this, and considering that she has claimed that her family is first and foremost in her life, the choice should have been clear.

And by the way, the choice would have been the same regardless of whether Palin was a man or woman. The issue is not women's lib, or whether the mother or father should stay home with the kids. A shark tank is a shark tank, and the media frenzy would have happened regardless of Palin's gender (after all, the fact that the underage daughter is pregnant is the big story; Palin's gender is not).

Since she did not turn down the offer, knowing what the consequences would be for her family, says one thing to me. It says that her career is more important than the impact on her child. Interesting choice for someone who considers "family values" to be so important.

[stacy]

SueBob -- I, too, respectfully disagree, I think when you are a mother with ambition you still have to take into consideration what impact your choices and career will have on your children. It is a delicate balance that has to be constantly renegotiated and I don't know that any woman has ever felt like she had IT ALL IN BALANCE ALL THE TIME. However ...
I also feel that the mother to a 4 month old baby is doing the baby a disservice by choosing to spend the next three months on the presidential campaign trail. I don't respect her for that choice alone, all other politics aside, I think a newborn needs a mother, not an aspiring VP.
But, I know there are many, MANY opinions on this one, I'm just sayin' mine.

[Miss Grace]

There is some really interesting dialogue in the comments supporting both sides, but as a parent I completely side with Grace on this. I would NEVER think of subjecting my child to this, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or otherwise. Of course I also don't wish to be governor, vice president, or anything but happily anonymous, so there you have it.

[Alias Mother]

Respectful discourse. How refreshing.

In general, I agree with you, Grace. I don't like to see anyone, male or female, put their family on the line like this when the unit seem a bit unstable. Pregnant teen? Newborn with special needs (that no one is talking about anymore)? That's a lot of challenges and I certainly wouldn't be considering a job change at my cellar-dweller level with all that going on.

That said, no one is mentioning that currently, her husband is home full-time. To be fair, he may be providing that stable influence that everyone seems to think is her responsibility.

There are just a thousand shades of gray with this one.

[gwendomama]

Let us also remember that Bristol Palin was not told she was going to Ohio for a Veep announcement - they told their children that they were going on an anniversary celebration trip.

Dirty little trick.

[gwendomama]

OH, and by the way.... an 18 year old son going off to Iraq with the military, and an pregnant daughter who she can shame and use all at once.

don't push your damn 'family values' on me, Ms Palin.
NOT MY FAMILY VALUES.

[Don]

Dearest gwendomama: I'm pretty sure Sarah Palin won't be talking to you about family values. She knows she would be wasting her breath. She will be talking to Conservatives and Independents. People who haven't made up their mind yet. People who will listen to her before they judge her. Please understand I'm not attacking you but just pointing out most Conservatives are not trying to change the minds of dyed in the wool Liberals. They know that would be like teaching a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

[GraceD]

Don, you could have left out the part about the pig, y'know? Yeah.

Love,
GraceD

[gwendomama]

oink oink, dude. a comment is no invitation for barn jokes. let's stay civilized here, animal farm.