Palin's Daughter's Pregnancy [Split and Merge]

[SirNitram]

Christ, it's like a schoolyard bully. He throws all day, but the instant someone even moves towards fighting back, he develops a glass jaw and throws a tantrum about how he's being picked on.

[Galvatron]

The baby daddy looks like a real prize...

[FSTargetDrone]

I still want to hear that this kid is actually intent on marrying Bristol.

Incidentally, "Bristol"? Ugh, what a name. It sounds like the sort of name one would give, say, a racehorse. Much like "Trig" or "Track."

[Galvatron]

I still want to hear that this kid is actually intent on marrying Bristol.

His MySpace page says he doesn't want kids.

Incidentally, "Bristol"? Ugh, what a name. It sounds like the sort of name one would give, say, a racehorse.

Or a chart designed to classify the form of human feces into seven categories.

[Tanasinn]

I wonder how long until anon vandalizes his myspace?

As to this issue, as much as I fucking hate the neocons, I have to agree with Obama insofar as families and children should be off-limits. Being a shitty parent doesn't make you a shitty politician, though Palin appears to be both. I suppose we'll have to wait until she gets caught in a REAL fuck-up, or at least until Biden disembowels her in the VP debates.

This whole situation does, though, seem to speak leagues of McCain's ability to make good decisions. Whether children are off-limits or not, it's not good sense to pick a VP candidate with family troubles on top of all of her political skeletons. Hopefully some Republicans will catch on and stay away from him come election time.

[FSTargetDrone]

As to this issue, as much as I fucking hate the neocons, I have to agree with Obama insofar as families and children should be off-limits. Being a shitty parent doesn't make you a shitty politician, though Palin appears to be both. I suppose we'll have to wait until she gets caught in a REAL fuck-up, or at least until Biden disembowels her in the VP debates.

This whole situation does, though, seem to speak leagues of McCain's ability to make good decisions. Whether children are off-limits or not, it's not good sense to pick a VP candidate with family troubles on top of all of her political skeletons. Hopefully some Republicans will catch on and stay away from him come election time.

Sarah Palin herself could have graciously declined McCain's offer, knowing as she did ahead of time that her daughter was pregnant. If she was naive enough to think that this wouldn't be examined in the harsh glare of the media, she is a fool.

I don't care if the daughter is pregnant or gets married. You're right, ideally she should be off limits. But Palin has already shown questionable behavior with her then-unborn child (getting on a flight after or shortly before her water broke, etc.). This really isn't a surprise.

[Stormbringer]

As to this issue, as much as I fucking hate the neocons, I have to agree with Obama insofar as families and children should be off-limits. Being a shitty parent doesn't make you a shitty politician, though Palin appears to be both.

Obama has to say that. The public would eviscerate any politician that would publically state otherwise. Never the less both sides have made fodder out of parenting mistakes, children's misbehavior, and anything else that will help them.

Frankly, if you're going to throw family values into the ring you should be prepared to take some heat and embarrassment when the public finds out your kid's knocked and you're planning a shotgun wedding. If you don't want to face that, get out.

[Alerik the Fortunate]

I wonder how long until anon vandalizes his myspace?

As to this issue, as much as I fucking hate the neocons, I have to agree with Obama insofar as families and children should be off-limits. Being a shitty parent doesn't make you a shitty politician, though Palin appears to be both. I suppose we'll have to wait until she gets caught in a REAL fuck-up, or at least until Biden disembowels her in the VP debates.

This whole situation does, though, seem to speak leagues of McCain's ability to make good decisions. Whether children are off-limits or not, it's not good sense to pick a VP candidate with family troubles on top of all of her political skeletons. Hopefully some Republicans will catch on and stay away from him come election time.

Presumably they intend to make use of this as an example of why we need government to intrude on our family lives and personal choices. Would she have gotten pregnant if she had been raised in a virtuous school in a proper God-fearing state? It just seems like one possible angle. Though I doubt politicians would say things as blatantly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if numerous preachers imply as much in sunday sermons.

Though they may pull through it well in the end, things are going to be tough for the next generation of Palins. I hope they learn to make wise decisions, and hopefully do so with increasing independence from the pressure of an obviously powerful family. To be honest, though, I don't have very high hopes for them working out well, all things considered, sadly.

[Alyrium Denryle]

The baby daddy looks like a real prize...Snip Internet Tough Guy Photo

I dont think that is internet tough guy. Looking at some of the photos, that seems to fit his personality... I mean, all the guns. Definitely the Alaska I remember. This kid is not some surburbanite with delusions of gangsta-hood. He is indeed a redneck (read: Hick or Bumpkin) from south bumblefuck alaska, who does indeed have a weapons stockpile, does indeed like hockey, and who's insecurity with his own masculinity is so weak that his only response to conflict is violence.

I feel sorry for the mother and child.

Frankly, if you're going to throw family values into the ring you should be prepared to take some heat and embarrassment when the public finds out your kid's knocked and you're planning a shotgun wedding. If you don't want to face that, get out.

for once in a good long while, we agree....

[Axis Kast]

Has it been published that the male in Bristol Palin's wife is being forced into marriage with her?

I mean, excepting the argument that the media would crucify him if he "ran away."

[SirNitram]

Has it been published that the male in Bristol Palin's wife is being forced into marriage with her?

I mean, excepting the argument that the media would crucify him if he "ran away."

Oh no, they chose to marry! And be put in front of millions of people. And paraded around.

It's constant iterations of 'Choice'.. Which is ironic, given Palin's personal outright condemnation of such.

[Broomstick]

Nonsense, you're free to make whatever choices you want - as long as they are the correct choices! [/sarcasm]

I strongly suspect there's a lot of behind-the-scenes arm-twisting here. The daughter may or may not be swept away in romantic notions of marriage and happily ever after, but I'm pretty sure the young man involved is concerned about the possibility of an actual shotgun in this shotgun wedding.

Feel sorry for young couple, actually. They're in a stressful spot as it is, and now they're in a fishbowl.

[Surlethe]

Nonsense, you're free to make whatever choices you want - as long as they are the correct choices! [/sarcasm]

You're being sarcastic, but that's actually how many fundamentalists work. My in-laws, for example, told my wife that she was free to question fundamentalism as much as she wanted - as long as she arrived at the correct beliefs in the end.

Feel sorry for young couple, actually. They're in a stressful spot as it is, and now they're in a fishbowl.

Absolutely. The more I hear about them, the more I tend to think Obama had the right of it when he put Palin's family off-limits for the campaign. There are more important things to spend time on, like her deplorable stances on actual issues and questions about her political past.

[Axis Kast]

Dubiety about the circumstances does not evidence of dirty pool make. If folks are going to assume, they should be clearer about the fact that they haven't any proof beyond tabloid conjecture.

More pertinent is whether Palin displays moral dysfunction by having chosen to run despite her daughter's pregnancy. While I certainly do think it's more than fair to say that I wouldn't like to be in a "fishbowl," as Broomstick called it, the child of any celebrity is significantly affected by the status of their parent(s). Palin's choice means discomfort and scrutiny, almost certainly embarrassment for her child; but to ask her to shelve major opportunities to play Mother of the Year is to forget that parents are people with their own lives to lead.

[Ender]

As to this issue, as much as I fucking hate the neocons, I have to agree with Obama insofar as families and children should be off-limits. Being a shitty parent doesn't make you a shitty politician, though Palin appears to be both.

Obama has to say that. The public would eviscerate any politician that would publically state otherwise. Never the less both sides have made fodder out of parenting mistakes, children's misbehavior, and anything else that will help them.

No, Obama has been pretty solid on the get go that he thinks family is off limits. Remember the hooprar when he said so when people were going after his wife?

[Darth Wong]

Nonsense, you're free to make whatever choices you want - as long as they are the correct choices! [/sarcasm]

You're being sarcastic, but that's actually how many fundamentalists work. My in-laws, for example, told my wife that she was free to question fundamentalism as much as she wanted - as long as she arrived at the correct beliefs in the end.

That reminds me of the common fundie argument that gays are allowed to marry, so long as they marry someone of the opposite sex. Ergo, they argue that gays are not discriminated against.

[FSTargetDrone]

I strongly suspect there's a lot of behind-the-scenes arm-twisting here. The daughter may or may not be swept away in romantic notions of marriage and happily ever after, but I'm pretty sure the young man involved is concerned about the possibility of an actual shotgun in this shotgun wedding.

Feel sorry for young couple, actually. They're in a stressful spot as it is, and now they're in a fishbowl.

You and me both. I keep thinking those kids, especially the boyfriend, each of them is doing a lot of hard thinking, late at night, wondering if they are really going to have to go through with this marriage. They are 18 and 17, have their whole lives in front of them and they are looking at marriage.

I won't be surprised if the boyfriend bolts.

[Guardsman Bass]

Actually, I wonder how long this whole "marriage" and the like has been in the works. She's supposedly five months pregnant; unless she really concealed it well, wouldn't the Palin Parents figure it out, and try to dig up the father sooner than that? I almost wonder if they didn't want anything to do with her boyfriend until it looked like Palin was going to get the nod, at which point they changed their tune.

Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe they've been planning this for a while, and the boyfriend just didn't mention it on his MySpace page.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Palin's choice means discomfort and scrutiny, almost certainly embarrassment for her child; but to ask her to shelve major opportunities to play Mother of the Year is to forget that parents are people with their own lives to lead.

Funny, I come from this background of traditional family values, where raising your child is your prime duty and is not subordinated to your lust for power. Funny, that.

[Axis Kast]

Funny, I come from this background of traditional family values, where raising your child is your prime duty and is not subordinated to your lust for power. Funny, that.

Since when do "traditional family values" feature placing tremendous personal opportunities on hold in order to succor someone who is legally an adult? I'm not saying I'd be happy if I were Briston Palin, but the standard of parental sacrifice you demand is exceptionally high. This isn't somebody who is need of intensive care. As already mentioned, even if Sarah Palin and her husband decide to become the primary source of sustenance for Bristol and her child, they are more than capable of doing that independent of their professional development.

At what point can parents stop paying for their children's mistakes? At 17? At 18? At 19? Was Cheney wrong to run because he had a gay daughter toward whom John Edwards was inconsiderate in a public debate?

What sorts of jobs are appropriate for a parent? Should Palin resign as governor, right now, in order to shield Bristol from further attention? Can anyone with a child ethically run for public office? Your problem is that you think Bristol Palin is likely to take especially severe criticism. But that's a danger all these people face.

[Ender]

Funny, I come from this background of traditional family values, where raising your child is your prime duty and is not subordinated to your lust for power. Funny, that.

Since when do "traditional family values" feature placing tremendous personal opportunities on hold in order to succor someone who is legally an adult?

Hey dumbshit, you are legally an adult at 18. That is when you stop "paying" for your children's mistakes because that is when they are no longer a child.

Let me break this down really simple for you. Unfortunately I will have to use 3 syllable words here, but so it goes.

Bristol Palin is seventeen. Seventeen is less then eighteen. You are an adult at eighteen. Bristol Palin is not yet an adult. Your claim that Bristol is an adult is a lie.

I hope that got through your head. Doubt it though. You'll probably come back shrieking about the age of consent, because admitting the age of consent is a different concept from being federally recognized as an adult would be admitting you were wrong. And rather than man up and do that, you'll spew words. Whatever.

[Darth Wong]

Funny, I come from this background of traditional family values, where raising your child is your prime duty and is not subordinated to your lust for power. Funny, that.

Since when do "traditional family values" feature placing tremendous personal opportunities on hold in order to succor someone who is legally an adult? I'm not saying I'd be happy if I were Briston Palin, but the standard of parental sacrifice you demand is exceptionally high. This isn't somebody who is need of intensive care. As already mentioned, even if Sarah Palin and her husband decide to become the primary source of sustenance for Bristol and her child, they are more than capable of doing that independent of their professional development.

At what point can parents stop paying for their children's mistakes? At 17? At 18? At 19? Was Cheney wrong to run because he had a gay daughter toward whom John Edwards was inconsiderate in a public debate?

What sorts of jobs are appropriate for a parent? Should Palin resign as governor, right now, in order to shield Bristol from further attention? Can anyone with a child ethically run for public office? Your problem is that you think Bristol Palin is likely to take especially severe criticism. But that's a danger all these people face.

Hey asshole, do you know how teen mothers manage to get an education and become responsible adults despite their stupidity and irresponsibility? They get grandma and grandpa to help them raise the baby. That's why, if someone really put her family first, she would have to treat her teenaged daughter's pregnancy as if it was her own.

Of course, it's quite likely that Sarah Palin isn't much of a mother. She'll just use rented strangers to do her job, because contrary to stereotype, "small-town" people aren't actually better parents than big-city people.

[Broomstick]

For that matter, a pregnant girl in a small town can be the target of as much rude gossip, innuendo, and downright meanness as a teen forced into the national spotlight. Small towns can be nasty about things like that!

[Axis Kast]

Hey dumbshit, you are legally an adult at 18. That is when you stop "paying" for your children's mistakes because that is when they are no longer a child.

Hey, dumbshit, she'll be 18 imminently, having been born in 1990. My point isn't at all damaged by your little play for semantics.

Bristol Palin is, or will be very shortly, a mature adult in the eyes of the law. For all practical purposes, she is grown up.

Hey asshole, do you know how teen mothers manage to get an education and become responsible adults despite their stupidity and irresponsibility? They get grandma and grandpa to help them raise the baby. That's why, if someone really put her family first, she would have to treat her teenaged daughter's pregnancy as if it was her own.

Is it your contention that Sarah Palin is likely to put her daughter "out in the cold?"

By the standards established here, which are outright sexist, somebody puts their family first by choosing to eschew a challenging profession so that they can be a stay-at-home mother.

[SirNitram]

Dubiety about the circumstances does not evidence of dirty pool make.

You don't come from a planet where sarcasm exists, do you?

Specifically ordered or not, the pressure to play along must be truly immense, to say nothing of the usual effects of Christian Dominionist parents leaning on an unwed pregnant daughter and the father to be.