So let me get this straight.

[kv0925]

Apparently, rumors have been swirling over the past day or two that Sarah Palin's fifth child, born this spring, wasn't her child at all, but rather her 17-year-old daughter's child. Palin, the rumor went, adopted the child as her own because as a conservative evangelical Christian, pro-life, anti-birth-control, abstinence-education-only politician, having an unwed teenage daughter knocked up would maybe make her look a little bad, since everyone with half a brain is well aware that the main result of abstinence-only education is knocked-up unwed teenagers.

To "rebut" those rumors, Palin (and the McCain campaign) today made an announcement that the rumors cannot possibly be true. Why? Because Palin's 17-year-old daughter is *currently* 5 months pregnant. The timing just doesn;t work, y'see, and that makes it all better.

So okay, fine, that fifth child was Palin's, well and good. But do we now brush off the fact that her daughter really *is* pregnant at 17? It's swell that she plans to keep the child and marry the father (that should certainly work out well), and that Palin and the rest of her family fully support her in her premature adventure in parenthood. That's how it should be.

But what gets me most is that the McCain campaign is somehow trying to spin this into an anti-Obama thing. Quoth a senior aide in the McCain camp, "The despicable rumors that have been spread by liberal blogs, some even with Barack Obama's name in them, is a real anchor around the Democratic ticket, pulling them down in the mud in a way that certainly juxtaposes themselves against their 'campaign of change.'" The Obama campaign, as far as I'm aware, didn't stir up the initial rumor, they didn't fan the flames it created, they didn't use or encourage it, and now that it's still more or less true, they aren't coming out shooting with it. Even though they probably should.

This is such an ugly election run-up, and it's sad that things like this are distracting so severely from the *real* issues at hand. To be honest, neither candidate is all I'd hope for, and I think it's going to be a closer race than it should be, given the borderline-absurd horror that has been the Bush administration. But even the hope of change is better than the 90% thumbs-up McCain has given to Bush over the past 8 years.

Nothing more to say. Time to go buy some wood!

Comments

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

now that it's still more or less true

Um, no.

The rumor which floated around the Daily Kos and other places where the crazy people who support Sen. Obama hang out (as opposed to places where the normal people who support Sen Obama hang out) accused Gov. Palin of engaging in a spectacularly aggressive coverup and falsification of her personal biography. That is false. The fact that Gov. Palin's daughter is pregnant is orthogonal to the original rumor, except that it completely disproves it.

I do think this will be a close election. Sen. McCain is a relatively compelling Republican, and Sen. Obama is a particularly weak Democrat. Those two things taken together may overwhelm what should be a very good year for the Democratic party.

[cinnamonbite.livejournal.com]

"But what gets me most is that the McCain campaign is somehow trying to spin this into an anti-Obama thing."

So, Obama knocked her up?

[cinnamonbite.livejournal.com]

And another thing.
Would it be safe to say that Palin didn't get surprised with her new job say...over the weekend? Is it safe to say that she could have known it was in the works 5 months ago?
Think she told her daughter to seduce Obama 5 months ago as a cover-up?

BAH HAHAhahahahahaha

[cp.livejournal.com]

Well, by all accounts McCain and Palin met and spoke exactly once before her selection. Well-thought-out? Nah, just a case of "Get me a woman and make her attractive!" in order to try to snag the distraught Hillary supporters. I really hope it backfires, as you might well imagine. Seems to be working GREAT so far. :)

[cp.livejournal.com]

But the Lord isn't a registered voter. ;)

In all seriousness, I don't like it when families are dragged into the mudslinging of politics, and I'm glad Obama came out to say the exact same thing. However, we're talking about a woman who would like to impose her beliefs on others by law, and in her own house is a perfect example of how one of her most-cherished beliefs (namely, that abstinence-only sex education works to prevent teenage pregnancies) is rubbish. I think that's extremely germane to the situation.

[sydelbow.livejournal.com]

Apparently I'm supposed to view the republican party as more REGULAR AMERICANS and DOWN TO EARTH because they are trying to elect a woman whose kid is having a kid, and they are cool with that. Because it "happens every day in america"


ughhh
These are the same people that hated the new tv show The Secret Life of the American Teenager because it makes it look like 17 yr olds having babies is oKAY.

Which btw its not.

[cp.livejournal.com]

AND the right-wing pundits had a field day when it came out that Jamie Lynn Spears was PG, bashing her Mom and the loose morals of liberal society and you name it.

AND, I think the most important point, Sarah Palin happens to be against teaching anything but abstinence as sex education, and anti-abortion. And sorry, you can't use ineffective education to prevent kids from getting pregnant (because, as she's seeing, that just doesn't work) and then deny them the right to choose how to deal with that pregnancy.