The political blogging community is ablaze with talk of Bristol Palin's pregnancy.
While some fringe bloggers have postulated that it was in fact Bristol that was the mother of Sarah Palin's newborn ( the fact that he has Downs Syndrome played a huge role in this pathetic attack ) this story has taken on a whole life of it's own.
Sarah and Todd Palin released a statement that read in part:
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
Naturally, this statemtent was to be expected.
While some will claim that they were capable of raising a child at 17, others will claim that a "child" can't possibly raise a child.
Families are different.
But, let's make one thing perfectly clear. Bristol is not going to raise this child on her own. This family is not like mine, or yours. This is a family that has a "staff".
Certainly, the conservative community that lambast the pregnancy of highly visable "teens" such as Jamie Lynn Spears will somehow forget all those statements about sex before marriage, family values, about the sanctity of marriage. These will all be forgotten because of political expediancy.
The story of Bristol will be lauded as a "Pro-Life" issue by conservatives. While it is true that she is keeping her child, was it truly her "choice" to do so? If the decision truly was hers, then it is one to be respected. I shudder to think that her mother would have forced her to keep this child in order to save political "face". Again, that might not be the case, but it is surely something that a politician - be they Republican or Democrat - could concievably make.
When viewed through the lens of "family values", the conservative voting community needs to do some serious consideration before they put a stamp of approval on Sarah Palin as a good choice for Vice President. This group loves to blame parents and families for the mistakes that their children make. Is Sarah Palin a bad parent? Probably not.
I feel that both ends of the political spectrum are taking this issue and making it into something far more than it should be.
Certainly, it will be a stumbling-block that Palin will have to address when questioned on it. Her staunch conservative rationale - and everything that comes with it - may end up being not as "staunch" as many people are being lead to believe.
Does anyone realize that there is a current VP that has a certain "family issue" of their own?
Dick Cheney's daughter is gay.
That doesn't seem to matter with conservatives, so long as "their guy" is pushing the agenda and the child isn't spoken of.
To this writer, Bristol Palin - and her child - won't matter. Every other teen that becomes pregnant, that's another story.
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