Sarah Palin’s 17 Year Old Daughter, Bristol Palin, Is Pregnant
Posted on September 1, 2008 at 11:37 amReuters reports that Sarah Palin, John McCain’s choice for Veep, has made a statement on her daughter’s pregnancy in part to strike down rumors on the internet that Sarah Plain’s fifth child, Trig, was not hers but rather the son of her daughter, Bristol:
“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.”
John McCain was aware of the pregnancy before choosing the Alaska Governor as his running-mate. On Saturday, a diarist on the left-wing website Daily Kos accused the mother of five of faking her fifth pregnancy in order to cover-up her daughter’s first. That rumor was eventually proved false.
Bristol Palin’s out-of-wedlock conception may be a case of like mother like daughter. Sarah’s first child, Track, appears to have been conceived outside of wedlock as well. Like her mother, Bristol Palin intends to marry the father of her baby.
UPDATE: A Post Politics analysis.
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Comments
103 Responses to “Sarah Palin’s 17 Year Old Daughter, Bristol Palin, Is Pregnant”
I’d say that “Abstinence Only” sex education is working out really well for the Palin family. Damn. And how could she continue to press that stupid form of “sex education” after all this? Teenagers have sex. For goodness sake, can we at least agree on that NOW? And give them the proper sex education to teach them how NOT to have babies? Since the majority of the teens having sex won’t have this kind of family support and will bring babies into a world of poverty? Please? Can she AT LEAST look at herself in the mirror and SEE that?
And if not, can we not look at her and say - You are in denial about this. What else can you not see because you are blinded by your own “conservative values”???
Barack Obama was conceived out of wedlock, too. I read somewhere that Barack’s mother married the impregnator when she was three months’ pregnant.
Few people know McCain was born out of wedlock as well. Adam and Eve were not married.
Blinded by the Right displays the typical Left sexism that cost Hillary her shot at Pres and VP. Edwards fathers a kid with a staffer and the press covers it up. Palin’s hormone addled daughter gets pregnant and it’s either a) end of the world or b) proof conservatives are hypocrites.
I swear, the Kossacks aren’t drinking the Kool Aid, they’re swimming in it.
17 yrs old is too young to be expecting a child - That 17 yr old is just a child herself and should b’ looking forward to college, travel, and living a little before being tied down with a baby. It’s a shame, really. I’m sure that the Palin family will be terrific and supportive, but to me, she’s too young to be pregnant, and if you can’t control your own kids, you can’t be expected to help run the most powerful nation on earth. Ms. Palin shuld gracefully bow out of the vice-presidency and give McCain a chance to choose someone more appropriate.
From the article:
“We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents.”
Does this mean they respect their daughter’s right to choose?
“if you can’t control your own kids, you can’t be expected to help run the most powerful nation on earth”
LOL - I mean really?! How many former Presidents & Vice-Presidents are there that had unruly children that THEY COULDN’T CONTROL? What was she supposed to do, lock a seventeen year old in her room 24/7?
Jennifer, really: “if you can’t control your own kids, you can’t be expected to help run the most powerful nation on earth.” What? How many teenagers do you have? All of them firmly under your control? Jeez, by your logic at least 50% of our elected officials shoudl step down. No Kennedys in office, for sure…
It hasn’t been that many years ago that ‘children’ of seventeen would have been out on their own, making a living. I would much rather see a women like Ms. Palen in the vp spot than an old reprobate like Joe Biden. At least we know she understands how the other half lives.
@Roy Mustang: You made me laugh so hard I hurt.
@Chad: Very good job pointing out the similarities.
Palin’s hormone addled daughter gets pregnant and it’s either a) end of the world or b) proof conservatives are hypocrites.
I choose “b)”. Conservatives who judge liberals for their sexual ethics, especially on the matters like contraception are hypocrites when they don’t acknowledge or apply the same criticism to social conservatives who march beneath the abstinence banner but live their personal lives in some other parade.
really, if you’re so worried about the country with Palin as VP, then don’t vote McCain/Palin (which I’m sure you’re not anyway). With those types of comments, you really are showing how scared you are of what a GREAT pick she is - for the Republicans. And by the way, don’t you know that we realize she’s next in line to be President if something should happen to McCain. And don’t you realize that that’s exactly why we’re voting for McCain/Palin. Our VP has more guts than either of those two buffoons put together.
Sorry, Kleinheider, you’re perpetuating a myth that you should have clobbered the moment you heard it.
Track’s 18. The Palins just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Do the math.
@Roy Mustang: LOL!
@Chad: That’s a really good point. They’re going to try to make a huge deal out of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy, but of course there’s no reciprocity.
“Does this mean they respect their daughter’s right to choose?”
Makes me wonder what Grandpa Obama would do if one of his daughters (if old enough) got pregnant during his campaign for President, and she wanted to keep the baby — hmm.
It’s very clear that the Palindrones have two sets of “family values.” Tight ones to apply to Dems. Loose latitudes for their own.
With Palin it’s “married for 20 years” balances out a wink and a nod to out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
So the daughter got pregnant. Why does that necessarily mean that she wasn’t taught properly, or didn’t use birth control? No birth control is 100% effective.
While we’re on the subject, how does her daughter having a child disqualify Palin? Since when does this country hold siblings and family against the candidate? If THAT’S the case, then Hillary’s husband should have disqualified her long ago, as with Obama for his father, Carter for his idiot brother, etc.
Boy, I tell you. Just when it looks like politics cannot go any lower, the left just keeps right on sinking.
Here’s an idea. Let’s wait for the debates, see how she does then, and make up our minds then? Oh, wait, that won’t work. Too many on the left have pre-judged her for the (R) after her name.
Pathetic.
17 years is old enough to have kids for many people.
what a little slut.
There’s plenty of hypocrisy to go around. Remember when the Democrats and Feminists decided that sexual harassment is “just about sex,” and should be a private matter?
http://www.reason.com/news/show/30591.html
License to Grill
How the Clintons invited Ken Starr into their private lives.
Virginia Postrel | April 1998
. . .
There is one sense in which the president deserves what has happened to him: He and his political allies are the people who made it possible, who created the legal mechanisms by which his private life became a matter of public, legal record.
In the words of my great Aunt Hester when I had to admit that I was with child prior to the wedding night:
“First babies come any time. All the rest take 9 months. There is no new sins, honey.”
One can actually *control* teenagers? Ha!
My late father was fond of telling a story from his days as a youngish man in the 1950s. He was from a rural, mostly God-fearing county in Pennsylvania– some towns were very God-fearing indeed, others (such as Dad’s hometown) were considerably more worldly.
The inhabitants of one town were so very God-fearing that they didn’t allow their teenagers to go to dances, go to movies, or even play innocuous card-games such as “fish” or “crazy-eights”– all those things were the work of the Devil, you see.
So, it came as no surprise to my father, and the other more worldly citizens of his county, that public-health statistics showed that this one particularly God-fearing town had one of the highest rates in all of Pennsylvania of shotgun weddings.
David R. King is right– give these kids some adult responsibilties at an early age, so that they have something to do and things to think about, the better to keep them out of even bigger things (like parenthood) that they may not be ready to handle.
Sorry, make that “there are no new sins”
The issue here is not the teenager who got in trouble. The issue is the politically savvy adults who decided to go ahead and put her in the public spotlight in return for some expected political gain.
Why didn’t Palin pass on the 2008 VP nod so her kid could have the kid in relative peace? She has plenty of time left, if it is meant to be. Why didn’t McCain move on to someone else in deference to the well being of the child? He had plenty of other choices.
We all make compromises in our lives for our children. We turn down jobs, stay in mediocre marriages, spend money on them instead of ourselves. Parenting is all about not being selfish.
The spotlight here should be on the adults, Palin and McCain, who decided that it was ok to crack this particular egg in order to make their political omelette.
It’s the hypocrisy, stupid.
It’s not Sarah Palin’s parenting nor her daughter’s out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy that’s the issue.
It’s the apparatchik of Palin’s own party which chooses to use her vp candidacy to their political advantage by parading her around as a symbol of their “morality” and “virtue.” The simple reality is, however, that she is just as human as the rest of us. If the rest of us, you know, made really bad policy choices…
[...] I GUESS THIS REALLY BLOWS THE WHOLE FAKE PREGNANCY THEORY: Sarah Palin’s 17 Year Old Daughter, Bristol Palin, Is Pregnant. Reportedly, the McCain vetters knew and were okay with [...]
The daughter’s pregnant? Who needs reality TV? I mean this just keeps getting interestinger.
On a serious note, to ’splain something to the juveniles…
Many who oppose “comprehensive” sex education in schools do not do so primarily because they think it will reduce such pregnancies to zero or that it is even more effective than teaching about artificial birth control as far as limiting pregnancies (measuring how effective one approach is compared to another presents a very difficult empirical problem).
There are good reasons to oppose teaching about artificial contraception or providing it to minors. Such an approach undermines parental authority for one. Many people, believe it or not, believe it is their responsibility as moms and dads to guide their children… you know to actually raise their children themselves. Many of those parents believe in helping their children to develop self-control.
Doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes kids do get pregnant and are forced to grow up quickly. Sometimes it means a cycle of poverty. Life is messy sometimes with plenty of ambiguity. For some reason many people still believe, will always believe, that government programs - in this case more sex ed and more birth control - will make everything neat and tidy. The notion that parents, even very good parents, can control their kids like wind-up robots is laughable. As one of thirteen children myself and the father of five children I’ve come to understand and accept that it is a matter of trying to do your best while you appreciate that they all come with different personalities and temprements.
hey, listen to Sarah Palin in her own words in this NewsWeek Video that was done back in March 2008! Its very telling!
http://www.newsweek.com/id/156190
Oh, my goodness. The poor kid. What the heck was John McCain thinking? Did anyone even vet this woman?
My friends, this is not the kind of judgment we can believe in.
Blinded by the Right wrote: “I’d say that ‘Abstinence Only’ sex education is working out really well for the Palin family. Damn. And how could she continue to press that stupid form of ’sex education’ after all this?”
Wow! Do you mean that if kids are abstinent they can still get pregnant? Gee, it must also follow that teaching other methods of birth control has been really successful despite record teen pregnancy rates. (LOL) Do you “progressives” ever think before you spout off?
Mary Mancini wrote: “It’s the hypocrisy, stupid.
It’s the apparatchik of Palin’s own party which chooses to use her vp candidacy to their political advantage by parading her around as a symbol of their “morality” and “virtue.”
Nonsense! Nobody paraded Palin as sexually virtuous. She is a political reformer and maverick as McCain claims to be.
If McCain made a mistake here it was in underestimated just how sleazy the left has become and thinking that a normal family might still be compatable with American politics.
Compatible, not compapable.
Every step of the way the Palin’s have been true to their standards. If the daughter had got pregnant and they had then decided to abort and try and cover that up, then you would have a scandal of huge proportions and a very good reason not to elect her.
As it is, she (Sarah) has shown a demonstrated ability to take broken eggs and turn them into a nourishing omlette. How long have I waited for a political persona with this degree of integrity and grace under pressure?
Integrity does not mean that nothing ever goes wrong in your life. It means that when things DO go wrong, you don’t drill holes in your own boat searching for easy answers.
Sarah Palin has integrity up the wazoo, and as a voter, nothing could turn me on more.
Right. Who paraded her as part of the “religious right.” Aside from that, I don’t see any hypocrisy. Teaching, especially morality, isn’t a denial of human error, but of a model ideal. If Palin’s daughter had sex before marriage, at least she’s accepting the consequences, which is what real choice is about. I’m proud of her, too.
The only arguable criticism I can see that has been mentioned is that Gov. Palin should step down (or should not have stepped up) to shield her daughter. Maybe, but I tend to think otherwise. It was the daughter’s decision to become an adult. Shielding her like a child may not be the best response. It’s about accountability.
I personally think that the poster that said we need to look at the ADULTS in this situation are absolutely correct…What was Ms. Palin and Mr. McCain thinking when they thought this was a good Idea? This young girl is is probably having a hard enought time being pregnant much less being raked across the coals fo her “risky behavior”…As a mother to 3, this is disturbing to me. Why couldn’t Ms. Palin just say no, her family needs her? Imagine the stress of this poor girl, 17, pregnant, on her way to get married…She is a CHILD that is going to need her mom NOW more than ever before in her life!Pregnancy is hard enough when you are prepared for it, I can’t imagine the stress that this poor girl is under…I did wonder why she was being left on the bus and the designated baby trig carrier…I guess this answers it…:( I am sorry for their situation but the last thing this country needs is to have a poster child for “It’s okay to have a baby at 17″ Kids need school more than anything else to prepare them to be successful…Who will be watching this “new baby” when it comes so this mother can get the education she needs? I realize that Ms. Palin’s husband can pitch in and Ms. Palin will when she has time but since when is the VP slot part-time? I am seriously questioning Mr. McCain’s judgment on this one…I have also read on another blog that Mr. Palin was arrested for a DUI? Are you kidding me? Was she vetted at ALL? This is truly sad…
When I was 19, my 17 year old girlfriend became pregnant because of a broken condom. So much for safe sex. We were married for 15 years. In my experience the liberals in my family, which was nearly everyone, were unsupportive.
DADvocate- how sad for you:( I don’t think we can label this Liberal or Conservative…This is a sad situation and I just question Mr. McCain’s judgment on picking someone who obviously has a lot to deal with at home:( Not to mention the scrutiny that she has cast on her daughter for saying yes…I remember when the “conservatives” made fun of Bill and Hillary’s daughter…Calling her “ugly”…It happens on both sides of the fence…Perhaps if McCain’s campaign had let people know right away instead of concealing it and in their own statement admitted they only came clean when it was “leaked”…I feel sorry for this poor 17 year old…What was Mr. McCain or her own mother thinking for that matter?…Did they honestly think it wouldn’t come out? Turns out that her husband had a DUI as well? Politics are NASTY on BOTH sides of the isle…I as a mother would have NEVER put my child in this mine field…I question Ms. Palin’s judgment when subjecting her daughter to this battle while pregnant…Pregnancy is hard enough…This is sad…
I’m a high school teacher. I can’t tell you how many good kids with loving, dedicated parents I’ve seen get pregnant. This isn’t about Bristol; this is about Sarah Palin’s ability (or lack there of) to lead, her political ideals, and her past political record. Drag Sarah through the mud all you want, but leave Bristol alone. Yeah, Bristol made an adult decision, but she’s still a 17 year old kid.
Joe Biden isn’t nearly as bad a pick as Sarah Palin…..She’s so conservative she thinks that birth control is killing the child. She’s Anti-Condom….That explains the 43 year old pregnancy that lead to a down syndrome baby (Common among later births)…I wonder if she’s against masturbation because technically you could be killing children that way too.
Oh yeah and her 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant. Good parenting and good job putting your child on birth control! Go Camp Mccain! That stuff was common a generation or two ago and has no excuse for our generation, unless you are oblivious to a 17 year old wanting to have sex. We all know teenagers never want to have sex.
A republican ticket with a leading republican being a divorcee and his running mate with a 17 year old daughter, 5 months pregnant soon to be in a shot gun wedding.
I’ll vote the republican ticket for their high family values.
“Does anyone in this party know how to pull out?” - Mahr
Jilery, please save the sympathy, it wasn’t sad for me. I eventually earned a M.S. degree. I have plenty of sad things in my life but this wasn’t one of them. Tough, yes. Sad, no. The sad part was putting up with all the yapping of the liberals in my family about mean conservatives when it was obvious to me they were no better.
God bless Gov. Palin and all of her family
God bless Sen. Biden and his loved ones
God bless Sen. Obama and his dear ones
God bless Sen. McCain and all of his family
Infinite Source and Being, guide our nation — every leader, every voter — to better express the Good, to grow in a fuller realization of our founding principles.
And bless especially these courageous four Americans and their families for walking the crucible of public examination to serve us all.
In gratitude for the bounty that is my life and all that is my privilege to be and witness, I stand with an open, full heart and say “let it be so”.
Amen
Shorter Skip Kent:
CLAP LOUDER!! Please!!!!!!!!!
Sarah Palin is history. So, looking forward, who’s next? Joe Lieberman? Mitt Romney?
[...] Shorter Skip Kent: CLAP… [...]
[...] Shorter Skip Kent: CLAP… [...]
Actually I found Skip Kent very eloquent. And an earlier poster put it this way…
…(McCain’s mistake might be thinking) that a normal family might still be compatable with American politics…
Indeed that was, and remains, the great risk. McCain is hammered for not knowing how many homes he has… out of touch. Meanwhile Obama scrapes by in his $1.5 million house with his Harvard educated attorney wife. Biden’s been in the senate since he was 29 years old.
All candidates try to come across as “just the average guy” and can never pull it off. In fact they look silly (think Hillary enjoying a shot and a beer with the boys in Pa). The Palin’s, and this is what captivates, don’t have to reach. Todd Palin works in the oil fields. Sarah described herself, without sounding silly, as a “hockey-mom.”
People like Southern Beale are anxious to dance on her grave (some people are just like that). I am reminded of Bill and Hillary’s response to the marital questions that emerged in 1992… we, like many married couples, have had our struggles. They came off as authentic. People could relate to that.
IS THIS THE ROLE MODEL WE WANT FOR OUR COUNTRY? SINCE WHEN DID A MOTHER OF 4+ (ONE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS) BECOME A GOOD CANDIDATE TO DEFEND OUR COUNTRY?
Heh, heh, heh. Grantham is talking.
Her daughter is 5-months pregnant at age 17…when is her daughter’s birthday? Was she 16 when the child was conceived? Because, depending on the father’s age, that might be considered rape, right? Am I off base with such an question?
What are you implying, Linn? That moms are unfit to do anything but stay home? Or that kids with special needs are an unbearable burden?
This is a plus. As Mark Steyn points out in his recent best seller, America Alone, if our western civilization is demographically to survive in the increasingly “hostile to the west” islamic world — and not end up like the sinking European populations — these are the precise people (the Bristol Palins’) we should thank for increasing their progeny.
@Kevin: It’s pretty clear from your tone that you see having a child with DS as some sort of punishment and burden. I really do wish you could meet my sister. She’d probably bring a smile to your face and love you despite your wretched morality.
As for the Palin girl getting pregnant: No one is perfect, and conservatives are well aware of this, too. I really think that’s something you liberals forget. We honestly don’t have the illusion that we’re perfect, so when you so lovingly point it out to us, you’re telling us things we already know. It’s no surprise. There isn’t anyone in this country who can even live up to their own moral code, but is that reason enough to give up?
What a bunch of hypocrites . I guess she was using the Governers Mansion as her little breeding palace. The tax payers foot the bill for these women to have their sex and pop out these children out of wedlock like Sarah Palin did when it came to her first child. UNREAL Evangelical?
her daughter is a slut, no question about it.
i heard she been dropping her panties for the boys for a long time!
Well, ACK, you’re definitely hitting on a subject that’s drawing all types of pestilence from the crawl space, which is another reason why progressives should not follow your lead. This issue only leads to family values fatigue right quick.
I’m just curious. For all you mud slingers. Is it more offensive that a teen becomes pregnant and chooses life and marriage or Obama who spent his late teens/early twenties smoking dope and doing a little ‘blow’?
BTW I am very open and teach my boys all aspects of sex education, however I wish the schools would leave it to me. I had to tell my 10yo about STDs so he would hear it at home first and not be confused. He looked at me and asked if he could go ride his scooter. He was too young.
We teach abstenance. We also talk about prolife, prochoice, abortion, adoption, STDs, birth control, and most importantantly responsibility. Teaching your kids to wait is not wrong…failing to teach them anything else is. Wanting to do that at home should be my right as a parent. Saying it once in 18 years doesn’t work either. It has to be an ongoing dialog.
I cannot speak to the education in the Palin home, but don’t lump all parents who would rather teach their kids at home as sticking their heads in the sand.
For those vicious people hoping to put Bristol Palin’s future husband in jail for statutory rape, try Google first before embarrassing yourselves. The age of consent in Alaska is 16. You have to be under 16 for sexual relations to be illegal and then only if your lover has already reached their 16th birthday.
Since Bristol is 17 and 5 months pregnant she would have reached her majority in Alaska. Of course our prurient progressives will next ask whether she had sex in a more restrictive state.
Give it up people. This doesn’t do the country or your cause any good.
“The tax payers foot the bill for these women to have their sex and pop out these children out of wedlock like Sarah Palin did when it came to her first child.”
Nope. We’re not talking a ’single mom’ here. Not in either case. In Sarah’s case and her daughter’s, the decided upon solution to early childbirth is neither abortion nor adoption nor single motherhood.
It’s marriage.
Oh how that must make your leftist blood boil!
And for those who cry on about saving the pregnant teen the pain of being in the public eye, please, save your crocodile tears for someone who really wants them. All you’re really telling us is how afraid of Sarah Palin you are, and how truly electable she is.
She’s not going anywhere but up. I look forward to clapping very hard indeed when she’s sworn in to the the office of the Vice President.
I am the mother of 6 beautiful children. None of which have gotten themselves into this unfortuneate situation, dispite the fact that I did. Can I say I have control of them? NO, but education is the key to understanding the choices we make.
I obviously would not choose abortion for myself, but find it horible that so many want to limit the choices of others. My lfe was hard… not for the weak and should not be something that you are forsed into. I had twins at 17 and have lived and worked hard to support the choice I made as a young child.
The thing that disgusts me the most is Sarah Palins horible parenting. How could she put her child through this! She is seventeen. It is hard enough to deal with the mistakes we make as young people, let alone to have our self serving parent put in into the National spotlight and have bloggers all over the world calling you a slut.
Sarah Palin is only 44, her carrer is far from over. If this, in the best interest of her children, was not the right time she should have stepped back and realized she will be even more ready next time around.
@Kev
I appreciate the response. NO having a child by any means that has disabilities is not a bad thing. My wife works with a DD population and we’ve been fortunate enough to have healthy children.
My point is, she shouldn’t of been trying for Children at the age she was. If she believed in birth control, or believed in a condom, she would have not had the child. I clearly think that child was an accident like her first child was. When she got in a shotgun wedding.
To me she’s two-faced. She pushes schools not to teach sexual education, but then it turns around and has it blow up in her face. It’s her fault she didn’t have her own daughter on Birth Control, or teach her enough things about anal sex..(haha)…
Back to my point. Her judgement is flawed based on her personal beliefs. Based on her belief in not using birth control. You can tell she puts way to much value into what her preachor thinks instead of thinking her own mind and common sense urges.
Bad things happen to families. It’s uncontrollable. But when a preacher gets up and says some wrong things Fox news flips on a loop every five minutes of Obama’s preacher and Right wingers come out of the wood work attacking him for it.
We mention bad family values, having children out of wedlock and suddenly every conservative gets sensative?
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. “
Andrea,
I’m sorry, but the idea that Sarah Palin must stay home until her life and that of her children is somehow perfectly in order does not strike me as honest or realistic.
No, her career is not over, and a very important one is just beginning. I’d wager almost anything that her pregnant daughter is cheering her mom on more loudly than anyone.
That said, I have twins too and applaud the difficult choice you made as a child yourself. I can’t say that, in the same position, I would have had the same courage.
Sarah Palin is obviously not a very good mother, she can’t even teach her daughter to keep her legs shut ! McCain is a one heart attack away from giving Palin , the presidency. What does that say about McCain?! That he is a COMPLETE MORON, and he is so desperate to get the female vote!! I’m certainly not falling for it.
I used to have some respect for him, until this ridiculous pick of a VP.
She is a freaking Stepford Wife from Alaska.
America, let’s just send her back there so she can raise her 2 grandkids from her daughter Bristol= aka Jamie Lynn Spears.
[...] Sarah Palin is obviously not a very… [...]
To all the posters who are faulting Sarah Palin for “putting her daughter in the spotlight to endure these comments” - the responsibility, and the blame, lies with those who crawl out of the gutter to slander a teenager.
Sarah Palin is doing nothing more than publicly telling the truth about her family: the insults directed at them while doing so are not her fault, they are the fault of the cowards who are slinging mud at a teenager because they don’t like her mother.
Also, please remember, Sarah Palin, unlike many mothers on left, is MARRIED. Todd Palin will be home to take care of the kids. Go DAD!
From the article:
“We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents.”
‘Bristol’s decision’? Does that mean Bristol Palin had a CHOICE!!?
Is this the same Fundamentalist Christian, Right-winger, Conservative Republican, Sarah Palin, who insists on denying this same CHOICE to MY daughter? So, for us, it’s “Don’t do as I do (with Bristol) do as I say”?
Well, like mother, like daughter. Both Sarah and Bristol had sex and conceived their first child outside of marriage. And then…shot-gun weddings for both of them! How appropriate for NRA fundies. LOL!!!
To “one more voice”
No - Sarah Palin and family didn’t have to throw their daughter under the bus in order to, as McCain advisers have said, “refute charges” that have been swirling on the Internet since Feb 2008. They simply could have produced a birth certificate for Trig…or submitted DNA from Trig, Sarah and Todd.
Instead, Sarah sacrificed her daughter for her own political ambitions. She stole her daughter’s privacy and made the intimacies of her very young life public.
Did she get permission to do so from Bristol and Levi (the father)? How exactly would a conversation like that go?
Sarah: “Bristol and Levi, in order to stop the rumors about who Trig’s parents are, could we please tell the American people that you have had sex and are 5 months pregnant?”
Bristol: “Well, mom just show them Trig’s birth certificate…duh.
You get the idea.
Really, Sarah Palin, how could you do that to your own daughter?
Based on the released statement, obviously Sarah Palin supported her daughter’s right to choose. Does she support that for my daughter?
[...] it is disheartening to observe the Left’s reaction to the report (in the [...]
[...] it is disheartening to observe the Left’s reaction to the report (in the [...]
I think, in Bristol’s case, the choice was between keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption.
Isn’t that the choice you’re thinking of in reference to your daughter? What’s the problem here?
JStraight, no one has been sacrificed to anything. There is no doubt in my mind that the Bristol family had a long and honest discussion (fancy that! ; ) about the realities to be considered once mom entered the Presidential political arena, as did the Obama family and any other family about to knowingly thrust themselves this far into the public eye and discourse.
Actually when they said “We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby …” I took that to mean the choice between having it and not having — not between keeping it and not keeping it. Seems very pro-choice comment to me.
The wording would seem to indicate otherwise.
“We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents.“
That was in response to Skip.
You make a valid distinction there which I didn’t pick up. The law of the land, today, is that if the child so chose, she could well have pursued an abortion. Sarah Palin’s stated preference is clearly that this choice should (ideally) not be available.
In a moment of crisis wherein her daughter might have made and lawfully executed a decision to abort her child, it sounds to me like Sarah Palin was very relieved that her daughter chose not to.
That Sarah acknowledges her daughter’s lawful right to choose at this time, does not mean that she approves, morally, of that right.
OMG! I heard that McCain is the father of Bristol Palin’s baby, and that is why she was selected as the VP candidate. Or was it Bill Clinton is the father…?
OMG! I heard that McCain is the father of Bristol Palin’s baby, and that is why her mom was selected as the VP candidate. Or was it Bill Clinton is the father…?
Linn writes
September 1st, 2008 3:18 pm
IS THIS THE ROLE MODEL WE WANT FOR OUR COUNTRY? SINCE WHEN DID A MOTHER OF 4+ (ONE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS) BECOME A GOOD CANDIDATE TO DEFEND OUR COUNTRY?
Answer:
She may/may not be a good candidate - but she IS without a doubt a BETTER candidate than the two your party are running!
Well, John McCain certainly has revitalized his maverick image. Sarah Pallin better stay out of Texas or they’ll take her kids away from her (teenage pregnancy and all). Why would anyone choose to put a teenage girl through this (being in the spotlight as a pregnant teen)? I guess the Pallins just want to be the poster family for the notion that Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven. Can’t we all agree that we want to have fewer unwanted pregnancies? Truth really is sometimes stranger than fiction.
Does anyone know what the Alaskan policy is about rape? Sex with a minor even if concentual between the two individuals maybe considered rape if Bristol’s partner is 18 or older? I remember a case where two people had concentual sex and because of the male partner age he was charged with rape and their age difference wasn’t that significant. The victim was about the same age as Bristol and her partner was about 18 or 19.
Wow, this is bad bad news first in a time like these our young girls need health role models. Second if she has no control over her family how does she think she can control a country?
[...] I’ve returned - only to discover a teenager is pregnant, (which happens every day but this is the teenager of Palin, the Conservative Republican candidate [...]
I thought it was Sarah Palin running for VP and not her daughter? Can someone please tell me what her daughters life choices, (or those of her other children)have to do with this election? Are there not more important issues to debate in this campaign than this? Oh sorry, I forgot, this is a “Media”ocracy and not a “democracy”.
BILL, yes, let’s wait until the vp debates to judge, i agree. i am sure sarhah mayor from a town of 6,000 with experience in granting fishing licenses will hold up wonderfully against joe biden who has fronted the united states senate’s foreign relations committee since the 1970’s, you are an idiot bill, and stop this sexist crap about how wonderful it is the girl is preg. at 17. how about teaching your kids to keep their legs closed, starting with your own daugther.
Just when one thinks that the elite members of the “liberal” Democratic (and its minions) can’t sink any lower (flipping bird, flip off the shoulder, b*tch, r*acist, c*nt, et al, hurled at Hillary), the same out of whack “changers” have the audacity to prove everyone wrong.
Please, let us take care of keeping our own homes clean before we dare ask others to keep theirs spotless.
As a woman, as a mother, I’ve finally had it with all the crap and will vote accordingly.
You’ll are funny. Love the commentary. My only opinion is that McCain has always been a womenizer, so it does not supprise me that he went with the best looking female instead of the best suitable female. It should be insulting to all females that once again, the females are chosen by there ASSETS and not the qualifications they work so hard for. She was not the only republican female he had to choose from.
Joe: That’s a lot of if ( one of obama’s daughter was old enough to become pregnant) The same should reply to him and his daughters. The truth is, Palin is not in a good place right now to be running for VP or anything else. I think she has too much on her plate and she and her husband need to concentrate more on the family issues at hand. Also, the other daughter is more likely to mimic the pregnant one and repeat the cyle of an unwed pregnancy. Just a thought!
1 of 2 This is the only Constitutional qualification for anybody to become US VP (and yes the Gov. of Alaska would qualify):A person must be a native-born citizen at least 35 years of age and a resident of the united states for at least 14 years.The Vice President is elected for a term of four years.This official’s only constitutional duty is to preside over the Senate. And they usually pick a Tempory Senate President to preside in the VPs place…and if elected she could just sit in her office all day and do nothing much (and some VPs have done just that).
2 of 2 and IF elected Sarah Palin would become the first mother son and (in a few months time) the first Grandmother to serve as US VP. Mind you, the current VP (Dick Cheney) is a father of 2 and Grandfather of 6 kids. People in public life have a right to run their own families, we should judge them on thier public policy. Their children’s private lives and choices are really nobodies business, they are not running for VP. Who are we to say for example her son should or shouldn’t serve in the US army or her daughter should or shouldnt become a parent? Yes some people are narrow minded enough to cast their vote on trivial issues - but they are doing United States democracy a big disservice.
Re: JStraight
You seem to have completely missed my point.
No one “threw her under the bus” or “sacrificed” anyone. Bristol Palin is not be required to “hide” any fact of her life for fear of abuse. Her mother, likewise, should not be expected hide her children - they, and everyone, should be free to share any information they choose about their family, without fear of abuse.
It is the responsibility of the commenting public to speak civilly, behave themselves and not attempt to use children as weapons against parents to happen to be up for election. This is not acceptable behavior, and any condemnation should appropriately be directed at those who who practice such behavior. End of story.
In contrast, you seem to believe that when inappropriate behavior and comments are directed toward children whose parents are running for public office, it is the parents’ fault for daring to be in public view. By this reasoning no parent could ever enter public life as it might cause exposure to their children.
Have I in some way misunderstood your position?
I agree that the candidates kids should be off limits. However, Palin asked for this. She knowingly put her daughter in the spotlight. She’s asking for privacy concerning her daughter’s pregnancy, while also being the poster child for: “Let’s make the pregnancy of every female American the government’s business”.
I was reading the comments and several talk about how Sarah can’t control her kids so how can she control the “US” this isnt Pinky and the Brain. She is running for VP not God. I know that she isnt Jeus but if this is all the press can dig up, its pretty lame. All of the “scandals” are weak and are actually things that make her normal like the rest of us.
I think that the main matter here is simple. What kind of an example does this set for the teens in this country. Especially the younger teens at 13 - 15. The Palins could be the “Second Family” of this country and should therefore be expected to set an example. A pregnant 17 year old, married or unmarried is a very poor example. Let’s face it, Bristol Palin obviously did not practice abstinence. This is the message to young teens, it will be ok to have pre-marital sex, when you get pregnant it will be celebrated as long as you don’t have an abortion. This is a very poor example. Very poor example. There are many qualified persons for this position, many of them woman. McCain needs to ask Palin to step aside and bring in another qualified person who has their family business in order. A teenage pregnancy is not the end of the world but it is not something that should be celebrated. What are people thinking. Now the teenage dad and his family are coming to the convention, this is just inappropriate. Are we now going to celebrate this teenage dad as well? This is tragic. I am glad to see that the family is going to support these children but they should be supporting them in private. Sara Palin had no business accepting this nomination knowing that her teenage daughter is pregnant. Our party needs to set a better example for our children if we really expect them to respect our support of abstinence only until marriage.
Sarah Palin’s daughter was pregnant several months before her mother was even offered the position. If Sarah Palin was offered any other job position she would not have to disclose any information about her childrens private lives, and whats more it would be illegal for her to be discrimantated in the workplace on that basis.
So, When the baby’s father arrives at the convention, will he be arrested as a sex predator? Afterall, that’s whats happening in Georgia and other places.
Mary writes— — First,Grangatita,& others who believe the same—- I beg to differ w/you.There were plenty of names tossed by conservative , activists, (plus their minions) screaming nasty accustions at Hillary Clinton.Some in crowds quickly donned a bandana to conceal their identity ..bad manners & disgusting comments come from both sides.There are elitist Republicans who toss lies,horrid Demeaning words at Obama & Clinton etc. Whenever, my family would gather. It was a true gossip fest,along w/lies about this Dem. or that Dem.totally untrue.SO some on both sides are “dogs. “I am a proud Dem. but before this party became willing to do ANYTHING for power & slowly break up the Constitution, Bill of Rights to make the Executive branch nearly untouchable & w/total unchecked power there will be no further crossover votes for me. Once the Republican party returns to reality & stops destroying what made us great. To paraphrase a famous person,(name slips my mind) –A democracy can not exist without an informed people.’ our media, which is more to the right than left,a news network all slanted to the right & many right wing corporate publictions make the arguement that all is liberal is a lie told over & over til accepted.Study Paul Wyrecht who started the counsel on National Policy . And read BREAKING THE CODE BY THOM Hartmann ,which takes the code ,breaks it down as to how words have new meanings.
@Michael - The difference between Sarah Palin’s job and most jobs in our society is the fact that Sarah’s job is an elected official representing everyone in the United States. Her family, if elected, will be held as the American standard worldwide an thus, should be held to public scrutiny. That’s what happens when you CHOOSE to run for public office. If you don’t want your skeletons revealed, stay in the private sector.
I was a teenage mom myself, but no one ever celebrated the fact that I got pregnant out of wedlock. Teenage pregnancy is an epidemic in this country and it is not all good. I was fortunate enough to be able to be a fulltime student and a full time mom, not on public assistance. I have a BA and a career. Does she have a job? Does her boyfriend? On what income will they raise this baby? Will they continue on to college to better themselves. If this girl were a minority, would she get the same praise. I’ve yet to see one right winged Republican stand up 4 the teenage pregnancies of Urban America. I was one.
One more thing. Yes Obama and his wife went to Ivy League Schools. Yes they live in a million dollar home, NOW. But they both accomplished this because they are Americans who dared to dream bigger than what America, at that time, said they could be. Obama was conceived by a white woman and an African man in the sixties. He grew up in Urban America with his family sometimes on public assistance during a time when race relations were at their worse. But he beat the odds and prevailed. He is the only candidate in the lot that can boast that he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. So you know the man is smart. Then, with all that education and all those student loans, he and his wife turned down those big dollar jobs to go back to the communities in which they lived to fight and make them better. I know govenor Palin thinks community organizers are people to be mocked, but that’s where the real fight begins. Local government and community involvement affect our lives on a daily basis. That’s why I’m voting OBAMA. Who else knows my struggle? Not someone married to an heiress who can’t remember that he owns 13 homes and says that our economy is “economically sound.” Did he just awaken from a long sleep? (and everyone thinks Obama is the elitist)
[...] Palin had supported a bill like S.B. 99 do you think she would have taken so much heat last [...]
Bristol Palin’s Pregnancy needs to be Investigated, It still “smells” like statutory rape to me.
Was 6 months ago the first time they had sex?
Did the parents know she was physical with the 18 year old adult?
You can’t stand on a national podium and preach morality to the nation with a possible sex offender standing with you.
people get jailed everyday for lesser crimes, this one needs to be investigated too. no one should be above the law’s scrutiny.
Facto:
You should check the age of consent. It isn’t 18.
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People had better look at Obama befor they start picking on Sarah Palin and her kids. After Sarah isn`t running for parent of the year. The democrates would pick lint Off a dog and make a mountain out of it. They need to open thier EYES and take a long look at the “One” they have chose.
From across the pond here I can now see, “You all reap what you sew”. . And why you ended up with a creep like Clinton. . Sarah Palin might just have sorted out your Bankers for you, but no, you have now missed the chance. . There are clearly few REAL differences between ‘Right’ and ‘Left’, but there is an enormous difference between RIGHT and WRONG.