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Palin Kid Preggers


by Chris MC


September 1st, 2008 · 110 Comments

You’d hope the McCain campaign would have had a better answer prepared for the rumors that were bouncing around up in Anchorage. But I guess the truth, however unfortunate…

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, … McCain adviser Mark Salter said the campaign announced the daughter’s pregnancy to rebut Internet rumors that Palin’s youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter’s.

Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, said: “We’re all sinners.” … [and] criticized anyone who would seek to make it a negative campaign issue: “It’s absolutely shameful to put her child in the spotlight. She’s not running for office. When someone can’t face issues, they try to tear down a family.”

I agree that the daughter shouldn’t be targeted and that this is really a family matter. But it is inevitable that how they are responding to this will be examined and debated, particularly as it relates to the underlying matter - unplanned and unwanted pregnancy.

This should be done respectfully, the catchy title to this post notwithstanding.

OK I’ll start.

What does it say about the moralizing of the right that they don’t consider this a problem?
Can they not recognize the importance of birth control, when as solid a family as this, one they are proudly and by conscious choice putting forward as a model, cannot avoid this type of circumstance?
It makes no sense to me that they can continue to advocate abstinence when even their own children are, obviously, having premarital sex.

And if a family chooses to recognize the fact of this and equip them with the knowledge and means of preventing unwanted and unplanned pregnancies, how is this immoral?
Source: Courant.com

Tags: Chris MC · In the News · Presidential 2008

110 Responses so far ↓ “Palin Kid Preggers”


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  • 1 somepeoplesay // Sep 1, 2008 at 3:51 pm

    “what you don’t know can’t hurt you”

    but it could get you pregnant

  • 2 anonymous // Sep 1, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    First of all, I think Palin was very selfish to not tell McCain before he picked her. I wouldn’t want someone that self-serving on my ticket! And don’t tell me her family didn’t sit down and have the “Is there anything I need to know before I say yes to this that could come back and bite us in the butt” discussion. She knew very well her daughter was 5 months pregnant before she said yes to McCain.
    Seconly, so far, Obama is playing it right by saying he will not make an issue out of it because it is a personal issue. That is the whole point of choice that differs between the two campaigns. They will play that up big time in the debates.

  • 3 anonymous // Sep 1, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    Can’t you just hear the whacko bible- banging right on this one?…”at least she’s keeping the baby and will marry the father yada yada yada” Seems Gov. Palin has a rather full plate these days. Those family values righties should be a bit more concerned with the Palin family unit here. This gets more bizarre by the minute, and if they’re smart Obama and Biden or any in their campaign won’t touch it…but they don’t have to, because in the court of public opinion, you can’t un-ring the bell. Nice job Johnny Mac. Anybody who might have been wavering on your abilities as a leader have now had their questions answered with your first “presidential” decision. Looks like the once hopeful Miss Alaska will be runner-up once again!

  • 4 Chris MC // Sep 1, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    #2 - the linked Courant.com piece says in about the middle that McCain’s people were informed and he picked her anyway. Which for me just adds to the strangeness.

  • 5 scooby doo // Sep 1, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    She’s simply not qualified on any level in any thought process. She is a female Dan Quayle.

  • 6 anonymous // Sep 1, 2008 at 5:06 pm

    But remember, Scooby, Quayle WAS the VP…got a feeling the GOP operatives are working overtime on this one..One can almost foresee a tearful goodbye for “just the person I need”, and blaming those awful liberals for her treatment after the outing of her daughter. I’m betting McCain gets a do-over–much to the thunderous applause of the “downtrodden” right!

  • 7 Retired Yes // Sep 1, 2008 at 5:44 pm

    If you were actually aware of how many marriages started this way,you would not be speaking so long and loud. The information says that McCain did know of this when he chose Governor Palin. Many are speculating on situations that they know little about including the undercurrent that abortion in these cases is a better choice, or that the teen knew nothing about sexual information. Such remarks made on speculation are inappropriate.
    Would you entertain speculation about Obama’s parents and their decisions?

  • 8 anonymous // Sep 1, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    Of course I’m aware of how many marriages start(and end) this way–and I’m in no way advocating for abortion—just speaking to the hypocrisy of Palin as the darling of the Christian right..as far as speculation is concerned….you either is or ain’t with child, and there’s only one way to get that way…unless you get visited by a very special Alaskan Angel!

  • 9 Palin Should Be President // Sep 1, 2008 at 6:06 pm

    Frankly, I don’t see what the big deal is. Obviously Palin’s daughter is better off keeping the baby than having an abortion, according to most Republicans, so unless they’re completely two-faced about their pro-choice beliefs, they should be applauding the daughter, not villifying her.

    And I honestly don’t see what this has to do with anything. It’s not the kid running; it’s the parent. And if the parent approves, then who are you - or I - to say anything about it?

    It’s not as if Palin was caught servicing an intern in the governor’s mansion or anything.

  • 10 Anne Sullivan // Sep 1, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    I’m going to miss AP when she steps down - as a Democrat, I think many Republicans and Independents would have voted my ticket as they began to realize the shallowness of Mrs. Palin’s political experience, and the poor decision making she’s made on a personal level. Get on a plane and fly many hours when your water has broken? Nonsense.

  • 11 Anonymous // Sep 1, 2008 at 6:11 pm

    Whoops, sorry, the initials should be SP! A nod (I guess) to her news career….

  • 12 Chris MC // Sep 1, 2008 at 6:37 pm

    Quoth Retired Yes:

    …including the undercurrent that abortion in these cases is a better choice, or that the teen knew nothing about sexual information.

    I don’t know if you are referring to what I said in the post, but I can see how it might be read that way. So let me clarify: while I think that abortion should be made/kept legal, I am not arguing in any way that surgical termination is the same as condoms, diaphragms, or even IUD’s or morning after pills. Much less suggesting that the Palin family should have terminated this pregnancy. I also am not suggesting that the mother-to-be was uninformed about sex - I have no way of knowing whether she was or was not - in either case she obviously figured it out.

    That is the problem I am pointing to: the policy prescriptions are proven not to work, even when those who believe in and propound them have their direct experience and observation to draw on. If Sarah Palin is incapable of inculcating her own daughter in their (by definition) ideal environment, how does she expect as a matter of public policy such an approach to work in the larger society?!

    Such remarks made on speculation are inappropriate. Would you entertain speculation about Obama’s parents and their decisions?

    Funny you should ask. I’ll be posting something further on the issue you are raising later tonight or tomorrow morning. Good point.

  • 13 Old Timer // Sep 1, 2008 at 8:42 pm

    Of course McCain says he knew all about it before he asked her to be his VP. What else could he say ? Admitting it was news to him would be admitting a very poorly vetted choice or, worse yet, an impulsive decision by an old man, charmed by a pretty young woman. It wouldn’t be his first time, but it probably would not be good politics to admit how easily he is still swayed by a women’s looks. He and many others, I know, but he is the candidate and now is not a good time to highlight a roving eye.

  • 14 Chris MC // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    Interesting observation Old Timer. If you get the opportunity, watch the video of the announcement in Dayton. During the segment where Palin is speaking, and McCain is standing behind her.

    Her remarks start about 10 minutes into the clip. Tell me. What is he looking at?

  • 15 scooby doo // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    My Momma always said ‘the success of the parent is always measured in the success of their child(ren).’

  • 16 Old Timer // Sep 2, 2008 at 1:12 am

    Same thing I’d be looking at if she was in front of me. I had not seen that clip, but he is not the only man his age who would be attracted, and distracted, by that part of her anatomy. If he was my candidate, I would want to believe she was selected for better reasons than how she fills out that suit, but I would not bet on it. The Republicans have no choice now but to pretend to believe she was carefully vetted and chosen for good political reasons. Until somebody close to the candidate talks, we can only speculate, and watch his eyes when he stands behind her. Somebody will talk, but possibly not until after the election. I don’t think she will help him get elected, divorced again, maybe. Mrs McCain doesn’t impress me as the suffer in silence type.

  • 17 Nonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 6:13 am

    #7 - how many of those marriages LAST and how many are happy or just tolerating each other and finding their real happiness elsewhere?

  • 18 Anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 6:57 am

    REUTERS — The father of the unborn baby being carried by the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is God, Palin said Tuesday in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

    The unexpected revelation, coming just one day after announcing that Alaska Gov. Palin’s daughter Bristol Palin is about five months pregnant, is intended to knock down criticism of the McCain campaign’s vetting process, while cementing Gov. Palin’s own standing with the Republican Party’s influential evangelical base. “We have been blessed with five wonderful children,” the Palin’s statement said, “And soon we will all be blessed with this miraculous birth.”

    “Bristol and God 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 God’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

    An aide to Arthur Culvahouse, the chair of McCain’s vice presidential search committee, has confirmed that the campaign was aware of Bristol Palin’s condition before tapping her mother as a running mate, but considers virgin conception a “private, personal and religious matter” that would not impact Gov. Palin’s ability to carry out her duties.

    In other news, the New York Post has found God’s MySpace page, where he describes himself as a “f*cking redneck” who “lives to play hockey.” He also claims to be “in a relationship,” but states, “I don’t want kids.”

    Which I suppose explains what happened to Jesus.

  • 19 Don Pesci // Sep 2, 2008 at 7:34 am

    For another view, see here: http://donpesci.blogspot.com/2008/09/anatomy-of-rumor.html

  • 20 Andrew // Sep 2, 2008 at 7:55 am

    Either way, this would not affect my vote for John McCain. This is a person issue between Governor Palin and her family.

  • 21 Jimdish // Sep 2, 2008 at 8:45 am

    I guess abstinence only education is off the table for this election cycle.

    It’s unfortunate that her daughter has gotten caught up in all of this. She’s a kid who made a poor choice. The scrutiny is about her mother’s beliefs and choices regarding education, social policy and equal rights.

    The fact that she just had a child with down’s syndrome and jumped at the chance to be VP is another topic that would not have gone unnoticed by the right-wing media had it been a Democratic candidate. But the truth is they would be tearing Obama to pieces if this had been his pregnant child. Now they’re playing the victim where legitimate policy issues (and questions of truthfulness) are being asked but not addressed.

  • 22 Jimdish // Sep 2, 2008 at 8:46 am

    ..

  • 23 Jimdish // Sep 2, 2008 at 8:48 am

    sorry double post

  • 24 So What? // Sep 2, 2008 at 9:59 am

    Big deal. It’s not the kid that’s running for VP. And who really cares what Palin does or does not think about sex education for her own kids. How many times have YOU said to YOUR kid, “I don’t care that “all your friends” are doing it. I said you will not do it, and you won’t” or “If all your friends were jumping off cliffs, does that mean you would too?”

    I mean, come ON. This is the REAL world, folks. It just doesn’t matter in 2008.

  • 25 I guess it doesn't matter // Sep 2, 2008 at 10:32 am

    So now kids can even go beyond Hollywood to make the case that what their parents say (don’t have sex before you’re married, don’t get pregnant and have a child while you’re a child yourself, get an education, etc.) doesn’t matter a hill of beans because there are no consequences. Just like the movie stars, you can get pregnant and have the world smile benignly and say “that’s OK. Just don’t get an abortion or use birth control. There’s a good girl”

    Good luck raising your sons and daughters in that atmosphere…

  • 26 So What? // Sep 2, 2008 at 10:53 am

    Hey, it’s YOU conservatives who have made it possible for young teens to get pregnant and keep the baby. It’s YOUR skewed “morals” that have made safe,legal abortions far too expensive for most teenagers to be able to afford - YOUR outmoded idea that a teenager “must” notify her parents if she wants to get an abortion - YOUR protesting and demands that have made “abstinence-only” the ONLY sex education that young kids get these days.

    If “abstinance-only” was working so well, there wouldn’t be the glut of teenage pregnancies in this country in the first place!

    Personally, I think there are a hell of a lot more consequences to having a young teen give birth to and keeping the baby than there are if the teen has an abortion or uses the Pill. Giving birth is extremely dangerous for a young undeveloped body, for one thing. And why should a young woman be condemned to living below the poverty level and under-educated, simply because she had one night of unprotected sex? One night’s error in judgment and you’re ready to write another young girl off simply because she had sex.

    Now THERE’S a good Christian attitude for you - one night’s bad judgment, make ‘em pay for the rest of their lives. If that’s “Christian” thinking, I want no part of it, thankyouverymuch.

  • 27 Hey #26 // Sep 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm

    What is the difference between a teen pregnancy of a vice presidential hopeful, and a SITTING PRESIDENT who thought nothing of spraying his DNA all over an intern and the Oval Office? Which one do you think the countries that hate the USA laughed over more?

    Dumb teen
    or
    Horndog sprayfest president?

  • 28 My mom gets it right // Sep 2, 2008 at 12:03 pm

    Both…precisely because the US casts itself as such a “moral” bastion. Which is why it’s not just a “family matter”. If we were the French, neither would matter a whole lot in terms of governing.

  • 29 Nancy Pelosi Reporting // Sep 2, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    The daily Kos just reported on MSNBC that the father of Palins daughters’ baby is BILL CLINTON.

    How to go Billy you old pervert you.

    PS He is the father of my Grandchildren also.

  • 30 Anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    Wow, I just can’t stop laughing, you should be onstage at the Convention, at least they would have someone to entertain them while they’re all down in New Orleans exploiting the situation for political gain.

  • 31 YOUR WISH IS GRANTED // Sep 2, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    I will be on the new TV Reality Show “OBAMA’S GONG SHOW” Starting on September 12 at 9 PM channel 50.

    Joe Biden is the act just before me and he will be playing the flute and accordion while dressed only in a thong he got from Monica Lewinsky.

  • 32 Anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    I’ll know who you are when the guy with the bag over his head hits the stage.

    Keep up the third-grade humor. I’m sure your classmates could use the material.

  • 33 CUT THE CRAP #32 // Sep 2, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    You know some of my stuff made you laugh just before it got you mad, come on admit it.

    You can’t wait to see my act.

  • 34 Anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    “Crap.” Now there’s a fifth-grade term. You’re coming right along, figured out how to flip the bird yet using only one hand?

  • 35 animal crappers // Sep 2, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    Yeah, he learned it from Obama when he flipped he bird to Hilliary during one of his responses.

  • 36 CRAPOLA "Old Mafia term // Sep 2, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    It is sad to see someone like #34 who cannot acknowledge he got a chuckle out of my post. Someone as humorless as that must be a Democrat.

    “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.”

    (5th grade term also, maybe 4th grade even)

  • 37 Anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    Mr. Mayor! I shoulda known who I was talking to.

  • 38 AW SHUCKS // Sep 2, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Ya caught me

  • 39 Observer // Sep 2, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    If having a 17 year old daughter who is pregnant and getting married, and whose husband was pulled over in the 1980s at the age of 22 - long before they ever met or married - is the WORST things anyone can find about Sarah Palin, then you certainly don’t have much to worry about.

    I mean, come on. The woman is NOT Hillary Clinton, thank goodness. There’s no Communist party leanings in her background; she doesn’t have a sex-addicted husband who was caught lying in court on national television; she wasn’t involved in Whitewater; she had no connection to the Vince Foster murder (suicide? hah), and she isn’t the wife of only the 2nd president in history to be IMPEACHED.

    There are no skeletons lurking in Palin’s closet.

    I’d say we’d be a LOT better off with Sarah Palin than with Hillary Clinton, and I’m a registered Democrat.

  • 40 Anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    Not yet. Give the press a little time and we’ll have lots of rocks to look under.

  • 41 anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    The big deal is we have a guy running for president who failed to do the research necessary - if he failed on his first decision, what follows?
    The big deal is the woman running for VP knowingly threw her daughter under the bus. No loving parent would put their child through that kind of public scrutiny. Her decision-making skills obviously suck and are self-serving. Even if asked, I would have had to politely decline the nomination rather than subject my family to abuse by media. I said before I knew her daughter was pregnant that I didn’t think they had time to discuss as a family the true implications, now I am sure they didn’t. That poor girl doesn’t deserve what her mother has done to her. Her mother should have protected her, not invited the feeding frenzy. There may not be skeletons in Palin’s closet but she is digging her own grave right now.

  • 42 Observer // Sep 2, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    I always love these statements from people who “know” what someone else has done.

    Pray tell us, #41, how you are so sure that McCain “failed to do the research necessary” about Palin. Were you there? Did he personally tell you that he failed? Did anyone on his staff?

    I didn’t think so. #41, you’re just another jerk with an uninformed opinion. Kindly keep it to yourself unless you can back up your erroneous statements with substance.

  • 43 anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    Observer, if you are a registered Democrat and you are not voting for Obama, do the real Democrats a favor and switch your party allegiance. The Clinton thing is getting really old–you closet Republicans seem to be fixated with it. HE IS NO LONGER IN OFFICE and his wife is out of the picture(for now). If Mrs. Palin’s gender is the only thing that matters to you–vote for Johnny Mac. But you have to admit, as a registered Democrat(yeah, right!), you have to wonder about this choice. Hope she’s got the tapes for Foreign Policy 101 on those plane flights when she isn’t with her kids, because Joe Biden is going to have a field day with her–IF she is still there for the VP debate. British bookmakers have lowered the odds on her dropping out of this–A nice touch, by the way, flying Bristol’s beau in for the convention. Surely the Christian Right can’t wait to annoint him. Will somebody help me with this? How can a real mother(or father) put her child through this circus?? Yeah folks, she’s just what McCain needs in a running mate. One shudders to think what this would be if it were Obama or Biden’s daughter–think the FOX Newsers would be playing the same tune? Now I should tell you that I am a registered Republican, right?

  • 44 Observer // Sep 2, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    “How can a real mother (or father) put her child through this circus??”

    First of all, the only people making it a circus are the Democrats.

    Secondly, I guess it was okay for Jimmy Carter to put an 8-year-old Amy Carter through it. If an 8-year-old can handle it, then I suppose a 17-year-old can take the heat. And what about Chelsea Clinton? She wasn’t even 12 when HER parents became President and First Lady. But I suppose only Democrat rugrats can handle such things, right? And what about the Sainted Obama? His kids are under 12 also. And they don’t seem to have a problem handling the notariety of being the kids of the first black presidential nominee.

    YOu actually think a 17-year-old is less able to handle this than an 8, 10, or 12 year old?

    What a pile of garbage.

  • 45 anon. // Sep 2, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    You’re trying to tell me that her 17 year old daughter being pregnant has something to do with how she can run a country? Bush is dummer than a box of rocks,(a C student from Yale and Cheney was asked to leave Yale), and Bush’s daughters were probably on the pill. What’s the difference? Does this kind of crap really matter? Bush can’t even speak! Cheney shoots his friends! Ted Kennedy can’t swim! JFK couldn’t keep it in his pants! And they were all elected.

  • 46 Anonymous // Sep 2, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    I would have much more respect for the Palins’ saying that the family is behind their daughter if they weren’t also saying that the girl is going to marry the father. I thought that shotgun weddings ended decades ago. If the family wants to support their daughter, let them agree to support her and her baby until she is mature enough to make a decision about marriage.

    Oh. And if they want to treat this as a private matter, why are they bringing the father to the convention?

  • 47 HEY HOW ABOUT PELOSI // Sep 2, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    What a horrible thing for her to do to her 5 CHILDREN AND 7 GRANDCHILDREN. They have lost the best part of their lives with Mom and Grandma, because she is always in Washington and she was never at home much because she was on the road trying to get elected to something, ANYTHING for all their formative years. Not only is she a rotten horrible mother, but a good for nothing Grandmother.

    Her grandkids will probably grow up to be crack heads because of her selfishness.

    OH! The Horror

  • 48 It's Getting Stupider and Stupider // Sep 3, 2008 at 12:14 am

    #47, Oh the horror, Chelsea Clinton never had her parents around, they sent her to boarding school. Oh the horror, Obama’s kids aren’t going to have their father around, he’ll be too busy either running the country (if he gets elected) or dodging the bullets (if he gets elected)to spend much time with them. Oh the horror.

    Yeah, I see so many presidential kids in therapy because of their parents being involved in politics. Look at the Kennedys, how many of those millions of Kennedy kids themselves went into politics and served their country even though their parental figures were assassinated in office? Amy Carter, Chelsea Clinton, yep, they’ve been psychoanalyzed for decades, uh-huh. How about all those other presidential kids, the Johnsons, the Nixons, the Fords, etc., etc., etc.
    Yeah, they were all horribly deranged because their parents were involved in the senate, the congress, the presidency, for decades and decades.

    Better get those psychiatrists ready for the Obama kids, and soon!

    Riiiiiiiight.

  • 49 #41 How ya dooin // Sep 3, 2008 at 8:50 am

    I understand that Michelle Obama is a full time working mother. With the O Man running for president, who is taking care of their kids? I guess she is just gonna throw them under that bus you were talking about. Those poor kids of the Obamas’ will most likely grow up to be crack whores, with your line of thinking.

  • 50 anonymous // Sep 3, 2008 at 9:03 am

    It’s about 5 months since Mom Palin gave birth. Perhaps daughter Palin was doing a bit of one-upsmanship in a competitve family. That’s real healthy….or do y’all consider that good old American values. My, how those values have shifted for the sainted Republicans.

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