Part of the freakshow aspect of last night in St Paul was the focus on Bristol Palin in her maternity outfit and her boyfriend alongside. What is she wearing? Is that a designer outfit? How pregnant is she? How tightly is he holding her hand? What are his eyes saying? Has he ever worn a blazer and tie before? And so a 17-year-old girl is suddenly the most famous unwed mother in the world, and two kids who wanted just to be left alone as they figured things out are made into a political tableau. I feel for those kids.
We can talk about John Edwards's decision to run while his wife has cancer, or Sarah Palin's decision to run with a Down's baby and three other young kids, but I'm on the side of ambition and careerism, even for smalltown people; and so I say, Let 'em run, let 'em put family second.
But having put family second, why didn't she anticipate this? Why didn't she go out there the first day in Dayton and say, "And you'll notice that my daughter Bristol is not here today. Bristol is 17 and pregnant, and believe me, she's upset I'm telling you that much. But I'm going to do my utmost to protect her privacy as she and her boyfriend work through these very adult issues, and I am asking the media and the political world to show her some common decency." She didn't do anything like that, she let it flop out later, a big surprise, and so Bristol is right out in the spotlight, and the shotgun wedding is fair game… Any male politician could of course have anticipated the same exposure, and that's the point. I thought the McCain people were pros. They're amateurs.
They're worse than amateurs.
They're amateurs that are willing to lie to win, to demean others as if they will govern alone if they win.
Doubling down, rolling the dice, on EVERY decision, and denying their addictions.
I don't mean to defend either party, but ignoring Obama's ties to Jeremiah Wright was amateurish, as was Obama's surprise at the reaction to his San Francisco speech.
It is way past time for someone to have a discussion with the Palin family about birth control.
My guess is that Palin isn't wealthy, but I would think that she could afford to give her childrem and grandchildren a good life. I don't believe that following in her footsteps in regards to having children would be any wiser than following the example of Madonna or Angelina Jolie for the average woman.
After the MSM blasted out the dailyKos etc. speculations about Palin's son actually being her grandson ("It's just an internet rumor, buuuut…")I kind of doubt Palin expected to be on the receiving end of any common decency from the press. Then again, it's the game she's chosen to play. The fun part is watching how selective the coverage can be, whether it's Andrea Mitchell talking rednecks, Phil looking down his big schnozz at "small-town", Terri Gross on Fresh Air blatantly asking, "So what kind of baaad things did you find out about Palin?", or Fox News putting the FnB seal of approval on anything remotely Judaic.
There is no common decency and no logical reason to ask for or expect it.
The Palin's have a more than comfortable lifestyle. Her husband earns $100,000/year as a fisherman/oil worker. Sarah Palin gets $125,000 as governor. That goes a long way in Alaska.
"I thought the McCain people were pros. They're amateurs."
If you thought the McCain people were pros you're alone among the mainstream media. They universally asked, "What does it say about McCain's judgment that he would pick Sarah Palin?"
And the answer, Duscany, is it says he is a genius.
Ifhe'd have picked Lieberman this thing woulda been over already. Now it's interesting.