ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, said Monday her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement stealing even more thunder from McCain and a Republican presidential convention already overshadowed by Hurricane Gustav.
Adding to the day's drama, McCain aides said the announcement was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.
Doesn't really mean anything, though I think the reaction of the "christian" lobby is completely hypocritical:
Focus on the Family founder James Dobson issued a statement commending the Palins "for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances." He added: "Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord."
Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America called the pregnancy private. "It's a matter that should stay in the family and they have to work through it together. My prayers go out to them."
Added Combs: "We're excited about the governor and think she's going to do well."
Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, said: "We're all sinners."
"We all make mistakes. Certainly, the ideal is not to get pregnant out of wedlock. But she made the right decision after her mistake," he said.
The "bridge to nowhere" stuff isn't going to help her either. If I remember correctly, she only cancelled the project because it was going to costs Alaska money, not because she opposed getting half a billion dollars in pork. The fact she kept the money instead of giving it back makes her look even more hypocritical.
It was always going to cost Alaska money. As I recall they were going to fund like 40% and the Federal government was going to fund 60%. But Congress.....rightly imo......reduced the funding so Alaska was going to end up funding like 80% and they simply didn't have the budget for it.
The whole teen daughter pregnancy thing is a moot point anyway. Some teenager's decision to go out and have sex, get pregnant and then decide to keep the baby shouldn't have any weight in this election at all... Obama even agrees.
"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18 and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics."
Elections today are won by who can swing the most moderates. McCain is not going to pull any democrat who voted for hillary in the primaries. But he will pull some votes from the politicaly schitsophernic people who beleive strongly in some left values and some right values. Also from some of the people who "don't like to watch the news" but somehow feel it's their civic duty to go down to the polls every few years
Ddrak: The Dems are not going to say voting for a woman is bad. The Dems think getting more women in office is a good thing.
I don't have much else to say that Partha didn't already say far more eloquently.
"A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not." - Ronald Reagan 1987
Fallakin Kuvari wrote:The whole teen daughter pregnancy thing is a moot point anyway. Some teenager's decision to go out and have sex, get pregnant and then decide to keep the baby shouldn't have any weight in this election at all... Obama even agrees.
Of course Obama agrees. That lets him take the high ground. Do you seriously think, however, there won't be a Dems running around talking about how bad a parent Palin is for having a slut of a daughter who gets herself knocked up before marriage to poison the GOP base? They'd be mad not to!
Remember, Bush didn't say Kerry's war record was bad either...
If we are going to lower ourselves to profanity Embar then Fuck you.
Fuck you hard in the mouth with a big rubber dick until your teeth bleed.
"A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not." - Ronald Reagan 1987
Fallakin Kuvari wrote:The whole teen daughter pregnancy thing is a moot point anyway. Some teenager's decision to go out and have sex, get pregnant and then decide to keep the baby shouldn't have any weight in this election at all... Obama even agrees.
Of course Obama agrees. That lets him take the high ground. Do you seriously think, however, there won't be a Dems running around talking about how bad a parent Palin is for having a slut of a daughter who gets herself knocked up before marriage to poison the GOP base? They'd be mad not to!
Dd
Its the first time that his handlers have actually made him look like he has some balls, too.
Klast Brell wrote:If we are going to lower ourselves to profanity Embar then Fuck you.
Fuck you hard in the mouth with a big rubber dick until your teeth bleed.
Yes! Give in to your hate!
Correction Mr. President, I DID build this, and please give Lurker a hug, we wouldn't want to damage his self-esteem.
Embar Angylwrath wrote:
Yes! Give in to your hate!
I realize I haven't been around much lately, but has playing up the part of the shlocky bad guy become some successful new strategy in political debates?
I think if Palin goes splat it will be over the abuse of power allegations, not her pregnant daughter or the fact that she wanted to see the Federal Republic of Alaska. Using a government office to settle a family score is hopefully a quality we as Americans don't want in our leaders. Her public vetting should settle that soon. The thought of President Palin using the power of the highest office to settle personal scores is kinda scary.
And any parent of a teenager understands it's pretty much dumb luck who gets pregnant and who doesn't. I'd like to say that my 19 year old isn't pregnant because we instilled her with a sense of self esteem, had open and honest discussions about contraception, etc., but mostly I think it was luck.
Teen pregnancy rates today are not at an "all time high". This report from 2006 suggests that teen pregnancy in the United States is at its lowest level in 30 years, after peaking in 1990. While we still have the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world, your statement about candidates having knocked up teenage daughters would be better written as:
It was only a matter of time before a conservative who favored abstinence only education, which is shown to corrolate well with teen pregnancy, had a knocked up teenage daughter.
Freecare Spiritwise wrote: The thought of President Palin using the power of the highest office to settle personal scores is kinda scary.
Oh God, you can't possibly be that naïve. Crap like that has been going on since the dawn of time. You don't think Obama or Biden is capable of the same or worse?
Freecare Spiritwise wrote: The thought of President Palin using the power of the highest office to settle personal scores is kinda scary.
Oh God, you can't possibly be that naïve. Crap like that has been going on since the dawn of time. You don't think Obama or Biden is capable of the same or worse?
Yeah, I should've said "petty personal scores", and I think any way you look at it, it's a big lapse in judgement. It's a form of corruption, and it's not naive to hope for better from our leaders.
I read a report that said the Trooper had a myriad of filed grievances against him that spanned several years. I wonder if it was him being family that allowed him to keep his job. Maybe he crossed the line with the sister, causing the divorce, and making Palin issue the "fire him" request. Bad cops need to be purged.
I'll edit with the article if I can find it.
-TF
Tarfang Trubasher
Master Basher of the Trollie Kind
I get email delivered to my iPhone, and it doesn't site sources, but -- this one looks extremely similar to what I read.
Things I thought key (bold markings added for emphasis) :
The man in the middle is Monegan, who says Palin never told him to fire the trooper, but he felt pressure to do so from members of her administration.
Then there's trooper Mike Wooten, who used a Taser on his stepson, Palin's nephew Payton. Wooten has been reprimanded for violating nearly a dozen laws and departmental policies since December 2001.
There's a lot of information here, both damning and otherwise. Should be interesting to see what happens...
-TF
Tarfang Trubasher
Master Basher of the Trollie Kind
