That’s about the only thing that I didn’t know about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. The rest of the details I picked up almost without trying, while talking about other things with townsfolk ”” some who know the governor and her family well, some who don’t. It was, more or less, an open secret. And everyone was saying the same thing: the governor’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, the father is her boyfriend, and it’s really nobody’s business beyond that.
I happen to agree.
This tiny town wedged in between the Chugach and Talkeetna mountain ranges has intrigued the whole country since John McCain’s surprise Friday announcement that Wasilla’s favorite daughter, Sarah Palin, would be his running mate. Sure, some of the interest was a prelude to attacks on Palin’s readiness for national office. But Wasilla also offered a welcome chance to get specific about the geography of a politician. It’s one of our most cherished myths, that a leader can come from somewhere and you can guess at their qualities not just by what they say, but where they live.
Well, here’s the deal: small towns have their own value systems, and in this situation those values are more a lot more valid than the dispassionate, pushy inquisitiveness that political journalism encourages.
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Enough is enough…leaders from both parties have declared this topic out of bounds…and that web sites continuing this conversation have entered the realm of sleaze…what I can’t believe is that T-19 has allowed this sleaze when this site is so often so overly sensitive about legitimate subjects…this is like an morally alternative reality site that is hard to pin down because of its inconsistency and moral flexibility…this latest fascination with Bristol Palin is disturbing…
It is a good study in media and cultural overreaction and we are approaching it from that vantage point.
The more interesting story is Sarah palin as McCain’s choice and this Time piece adds some color to that portrait.
Sarah handled it in an admirable manner. At least we can recognize that.
I was just listening to radio network news and it was reported that the announcement today was necessary because of internet “news” regarding the “fact” that Sarah Palin’s youngest child was not hers, but Bristol’s.
I read the article in question earlier today. It is typical of the slam methods of today’s left.
Sadly, the questions of Palin’s qualifications will barely be voiced, nor the answers be heard. The field has been set and, if she survives this onslaught, her opponents will have something to sling throughout the campaign.
Thanks to Mr. Obama for attempting to defuse this. Sadly, those who are so ready to elect him seem reluctant to accept his leadership.
There is no news value in this story, no cultural or political relevance that can justify perpetuation of a public diuscussion of a private matter. Any sophisticated argument otherwise sounds like buying Playboy for the articles.
Sure, it’s nobody’s business. But, honestly, it came out nationally yesterday or today… I don’t know which… and that was bound to happen sooner or later. Even if the news is only out long enough for people to say “so what?” it’s still gotta come out for people to say that. And already Barista is emptying both barrels on Kendall? It makes you wonder if he’s on assignment.
The same story is repeated in many small towns and big cities, day after day in the USA. This is not news, only an attempt to denigrate McCain’s worthy VP.
I move comments and this subject be closed…
The story IS relevant.
Politicians put their families in the spotlight, a fact which [i]should[i] bother us greatly. They do it to show the country they are ‘normal’. Were all of Ms. Palin’s children on that stage voluntarily? Of course not. Nor are Obama’s. The politicians try to take credit for their childrens’ successes. Ms Palin has already basked in the glow of her son’s decision to enlist and her daughter’s decision not to abort. How can she and other politicans avoid criticism for their failures?
It would be nice if the public thought about these issues more instead of just oohing and aahing at candidates’ wives, husbands and children.
Even though Joe Barista is moving to close comments, I will just say that Wasilla sounds a lot like the small town where I grew up in south Alabama. It was a great place to grow up and the people there are some of the finest you will find anywhere!
Knowing a little bit more about Wasilla and its townfolk makes me even more excited to be voting for the ticket with Palin as its VP.
Sorry about the messed up italics. Somehow I have done that twice today.
[i] “It makes you realize that a thing like a little teenage pregnancy isn’t such a big deal,” his mom said. “Bristol—and lots of other girl like her out there — are going to be just fine.”[i]
If these are good small-town values, spare me. No, teen pregnancy is a [i]tragedy[i], especially when one parent doesn’t take responsibility, as the father in this case – after 5 months – still hasn’t.
Make that 3 times. LOL.
A few hours before this news came forth I was looking online at a family photo – date not give however – of the Palins in which Bristol is wearing a snug pullover, and her figure is unquestionably rounded, causing anyone with eyes to ponder. Assuming the photo was recent, this news is no news, merely confirmation. (If not recent, must have been baby fat!) And I think that is what many Americans will have wanted, simply to know the facts, and recognize for themselves that facts are not contradicted by what they are being told. Beyond that it should be a matter for the mother-to-be, father-to-be and those they involve, hopefully their own families of course.
It isn’t really thrilling, promising, rewarding or otherwise brilliant that Palin’s offspring wasn’t farsighted enough to realize how this could play out when she was making her decisions. But it is certainly typical of teenage children, and since most mortal parents have to deal with some comparable situation at some time, should enlarge our empathy and lead us to re-examine our own situations.
[blockquote]It these are good small-town values, spare me. No, teen pregnancy is a tragedy[i], especially when one parent doesn’t take responsibility, as the father in this case – after 5 months – still hasn’t. [/blockquote]
That appears not to be the case, as the lad and Palin’s daughter are going to be married. Surely you know this, Sid.
Perhaps Matt is oblivious to the distinction between a politician and her minor daughter. Sarah’s decisions vis a vis deciding to give birth to a Down’s syndrome child speaks to her commitment to issues at the heart of conservative politics.
Bristol’s actions have nothing to do with future political actions, as she is not running for office.
Partially edited.
Matt #16, of course we don’t know for sure but if it’s the case that McCain really wanted Lieberman until he had to give up the idea quite recently, then it’s more likely that the vetting of the Palins was done, and the task left was to work out how to introduce this whole package to the public. Bristol at 5 months presented herself on stage to televised coverage after all, and holding her baby brother yet! – but if it didn’t all have to be told to people at once, better to take the ‘reproductive issues’ one at a time. It’s the liberal commentators going out of bounds that have forced the timing on that, apparently.
BTW, your claim about Palin and the Bridge may be uninformed, and I recommend watching videoclips of TV appearances she made in the last couple years, and/or reading coverage from her campaign days for the Governorship – sorry, not enough time for me to do that homework again just now. There is, however, a lot of information out there that clearly the MSM folks are not bothering to access, lazy I suppose (you’ll also find the photo I mentioned above).
Perhaps a bit facetious, but I wondered briefly if Bristol Palin’s situation might help politics connect with the veritable class-ful of pregnant 17-year-olds in Gloucester MA that we read so much about a few weeks back??
From EAD:
Bristol and her boyfriend brought shame to themselves and their
families. It’s what Sarah Palin did NOT do in the aftermath of this
distressing situation that impresses me. (1) She did not disown her
daughter. (2) She did not press to have Bristol end the baby-to-be’s
life. (3) She did not ship her kid off to some distant place to live
indefinitely with a relative or friend, out of sight and off the
political radar until it was “safe” to surface.
Facing up to crises and difficult realities maturely with no hint of
beating up the smitten offender or covering up the offense — gee, that
=might= suggest something about Sarah Palin’s character and leadership
qualities.
I was conceived out of wedlock, something I didn’t find out until I was
an adult. The relatives and friends in my mom’s small town in
southeastern Pa. all knew it, but they held their tongue and supported
my mom, 18 at the time, and her parents. My grandfather finally
“persuaded” my dad to marry my mom eight weeks or so before I was born.
(My parents had five more children after that!)
After finding out the circumstances of my birth, I never had reason to
hold it against either parent. In fact, I had new appreciation and love
for them — and my grandparents. And I thank God for the relatives and
friends in that town who didn’t make a federal case of it.
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