Monday, September 01, 2008

Juno in Juneau*

When Barak Obama says politicians’ children should be off-limits to the news media and public discussion, he neatly does the politically correct thing and avoids having to comment on the pregnancy of the 17-year-old daughter of the putative Republican vice presidential nominee.

Politically, he could do nothing else. But he is wrong. Yes, his own children, 10 and 6, ought to be off- limits, but only to the extent he does not allow them to be interviewed on television for his own benefit. And most teenage children of public officials should be off-limits because they are, well, teenagers.

But here is where I disagree. Bristol Palin is the daughter of a national figure who was picked out of nowhere precisely because of her supposed motherhood skills, including the illegal and life-threatening 8-hour airplane flight while in labor, and her conservative credentials –opposition to abortion, support of abstinence-only sex education and evangelical Christianity, which, last time I checked, disapproved of premarital sex.

You bet her foolish actions have everything to do with what kind of person her mother is! Simply put, Sarah Palin and her daughter put the puta back in putative.

You can’t control teenagers, but for Christ’s sake, liberals have teenagers, too, and the Palinolithic morality of people like the Alaska governor instructs them how to conduct their sex lives.

What is truly disgusting to me is the set of talking points the McCain campaign put out on "Labor Day" somehow suggesting that the girl is to be praised for not having an abortion, as if that were ever a consideration for a Republican family in the first place and as if the same choice is not made by many young women of all political considerations.

The talking points produced hypocrisy of biblical proportion from both leading evangelicals and ordinary conservative Republicans, such as:

“I’m very, very pleased that her daughter has chosen to carry the baby to full term. It shows a commitment to pro-life values. It helps people who are going through hard times to identify.”

“Mistakes are made, and when that happens, the important thing is to love that daughter."

“Fortunately, Bristol is following her mother and father’s example of choosing life in the midst of a difficult situation."

“It seems to make her kind of a regular person. We all have had it happen to us or know somebody who has.”

"I have five kids, and I say ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’”
There but for the grace of God go I? You mean this Republican convention-goer got lucky once and then lucky again because she didn’t get pregnant out of wedlock?

Of course, the real story is John McCain’s judgment and temperament, of which he has zero, according to a lengthy biography of his early years. It paints a picture of a belligerent, hot-tempered brawler whose academic and service record were dismal, who became “something” only because of a lucky shot by a North Vietnamese gunner and who has been on the government payroll all but one of the past 50 years claiming to be a maverick.

There is nothing in his judgment, including his choice of a running mate, that makes him even remotely fit for command.

* This is not my own header but gleefully borrowed from a friend who probably has too much dignity to be named here.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:16 AM

    Ira, you've got me laughing my ass off. How far did you have to stretch to say something bad about Governor MILF? An illegal plane ride? ROFL She's more experienced than "Osama Obama" (Ted Kennedy's words, not mine) and is more qualified than he is. That should be what's got you frosted, but it's not.

    This is what you're *really* pissed at. The right gets to add this:

    http://tinyurl.com/5pa2aa


    To go along with this:

    http://tinyurl.com/2hrqe8

    The McCain Campaign forced the creation of a new acronym --> GILF

    I love it. LMFAO

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:54 PM

    No reputable airline would let a woman in labor fly. This is due not only to liability issues but to FAA regulations, as follows:

    "Obstetrical patients in later stages provide a significant risk of precipitating delivery during flight; pregnancy past 32 weeks should be carefully considered for restriction from flight and those past 36 weeks should be prohibited from flying. An aircraft is not a delivery room. Additional concern about deep venous thrombosis in the pregnant patient may be another issue."

    Most, if not all airlines, require a doctor's certificate past the seven month mark. I never understood what was wrong with delivering in Houston, one of the nation's great medical centers, but upon further reflection, she may not have wanted the baby born in the United States.

    As for GILFs, if that is what you think of your VP nominee, great. I am sure the wall calendars are already in production. It says a lot about the really important issues she might face as POTUS.

    I am more concerned that the Republican ticket looks at us, the American people, as the APILF.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:25 AM

    The flights back to Alaska are, indeed, curious. There are three explanations for it:

    1. Gov. Palin was hoping that it would lead to a delivery that would result in the demise of the baby -- sort of a late-term abortion by travel.

    2. Gov. Palin was not really pregnant, but was rushing back to Wasilla because Bristol was about to give birth, and they had set up a ruse to protect her. (Remember, the Bristol-is-pregnant statement said that she is "about" 5 months pregnant. If it is a bit less than that, then Trig could be an "Irish twin."

    3. Gov. Palin is a frigging idiot.

    It would be neither wise nor civil for the Obama Campaign or the Democratic Party to point this out. But to ask the public not to think about it is like asking us to stand in a corner and not think of a red elephant. The Palin soap opera could make the Clintons' soap opera pale in comparison. People simply do not want to go through that sort of junk again.

    ReplyDelete