Conservatives Speak Out on Bristol Palin Pregnancy

Insect Messiah at Daily Kos points us in this wonderful direction: what conservative reaction could be to the Bristol Palin pregnancy. Well, if it was intellectually consistent, that is. Ha! I kid.

Here's Debbie Schussel on that tawdry harlot and demon princess of the left, Jamie Lynn Spears. Jamie Lynn got pregnant at sixteen and Ms. Schussel fumes about Nickelodeon's refusal to can her:

"Take responsibility?" It's not apparent that Ms. Spears took any kind of responsibility, other than deciding not to get an abortion. Where is Nickelodeon's sense of "taking responsibility"? Not a single comment urging young girls to wait before having sex. Not a single utterance even of the typical liberal pronouncement about "always practice safe sex." Zilch about how they hope Nickelodeon's kid audience will appreciate that this situation is not the kind that they would want to find themselves in. Nothing. Nada.

Oh the scandal! But Schussel wasn't finished. Harsh words for Mama Spears:

If there is one good thing to come of this, it's what's happening to the stage mother of the two dysfunctional Spears girls. Lynne Spears was set to publish a book of advice on mothering. A great title would have been: "Burn This Book." But the publisher, Thomas Nelson Books, announced--just after the Jamie-Lynn pregnancy announcement--that the book is on hold (but not cancelled). Gee, I wonder why. Thank Heaven for small favors.

Then there's this gem from Doug Giles

Indeed, this "funny, cute and little" decision you made to have a baby while still a baby has teeth to it that I don't think you gave much thought to.

If you ladies really, really want to rebel, get noticed, shock people at their inner core and rivet people's attentions then I've got an idea. Are you ready?

Revolt against the slutification of our culture, learn how to read, become a conservative, help the poor during spring break versus flashing your boobs, get saved and finally, go to the Young Americas' Foundation conference this summer!

People will freak. Teachers will trip out. Parents will be stunned and will wonder what has happened to you. Yes, if you want to go against the flow, rebel chick, be a conservative, a Christian and refuse to be part of the teenage wasteland.

Damn it! If only Bristol had been Saved!, this whole drama could have been avoided.

I am sure there are other equally insightful Spears to Palin comments out there.

I feel badly that Bristol Palin is going to have a rude awakening in terms of her public life. But she can only blame her mother's poor judgment.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate

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Comments

[eden4barack08]

How about this little quote from Bill'O. Haven't heard any such thing on Bristol from him either.

-"On the pinhead front, 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. The sister of Britney says she is shocked. I bet. Now most teens are pinheads in some ways. But here the blame falls primarily on the parents of the girl, who obviously have little control over her or even over Britney Spears. Look at the way she behaves."- -Bill O'Reilly

[mamacat]

To someone who does not believe in science or logic, criticising one person and then praising someone else for the same thing are rational and consistent. To everyone else, it is known as hypocrisy. Welcome to the world of money-based religion.

[seereene1]

It is appalling that McCain and Palin have put this young woman in this position to be vilified by the public on every side of the political spectrum. But I cannot help but think how far Barrack would have gotten if one of his unmarried teenage daughters was pregnant. Black and hispanic unmarried teenage girls are not applauded for their decision to keep their babies as "pro-life" "family values" mothers. They're dismissed as "Maury who's the baby daddy" welfare baby mamas. Immoral, uneducated drains living off the taxpayers. The double standard exhibited by Faux news and the right wing pundits is sickening to watch. I've yet to see the news crews outside the town where Palin was mayor discuss with passerbyes how they feel about leaving their town $22 million in debt. I've yet to see their examination of her involvement in a group that wanted to secede from the USA. I've yet to see them talk to the pastor of her church that wanted to help her ban library books. And the issue of her office trying to get her ex-brother-in-law canned is definitely unresolved. Teenage pregnancies happen regardless of how a child was raised. We don't need to slam her mothering skills for this...we should be focused on her short but controversial public policies.

[amamomofsons]

The real tragedy here is that this woman sacrificed her daughter's privacy to run for VP. If my daughter would be hurt or judged or held up for public ridicule by my actions...­..I would have thought carefully about the ramifications of that decision. Maybe this is Sarah Palin's way to punish her daughter publicly. To parade that child around holding the baby brother was cruel to say the least. There is more to this dysfunctional family then meets the eye.

[brocko]

OK MSM. Now it's time to focus on the Obama/Larry Sinclair story.

[jhw22]

HuffPost's Pick

This issue has me really torn. I do not want to perpetuate it because I believe we have enough other things to nail Palin on. At the same time, I think this article makes a great point about Jamie Lynn Spears. She was vilified for posing with her baby on the cover of People. Why? Just because she is a teen mom doesn't make her love any less, it doesn't make the baby any less precious. The same will be done to Bristol and her baby in our fury.

This story isn't going away. So I just hope that if we discuss the hypocracy and charater of Sarah Palin, that we do our best to make sure that Bristol is respected. She may be young, but she is going to be a mom and she should be able to start looking forward to her future.

And for the same reasons, the people who attacked Jamie Lynn owe her an apology if they are going to stand by Bristol for the same situation.

Jennifer

[suec03]

I hope that religious conservative parents and all parents take the opportunity to have a good, open, productive talk with both their daughters and their sons. One of the great risks I see with becoming a parent so young is that the father and mother have not fully developed their young adult personalities. Because their life experiences at a young age are limited, they won't know enough about their own preferences to gauge whether they have a good shot at a lifetime intimate relationship with the baby's other parent. Resentments can brew up about opportunities seemingly foreclosed. That can put even more stress on the marriage than if the couple had waited until their mid to late twenties to marry. Such stress burdens can severely strain a marriage, leading to depression, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and child abuse and neglect. These things don't always happen, but the risk is increased. I am glad the Palins intend to be supportive, but I wish for the sake of the young couple that they could make their decisions and live their lives off the public stage, for the sakes of themselves and their child to be.

[zedthewizard]

when do the republicans every have a bad word for their own. when do the republicans every have a good word for those not of their own -- well, yes, when you agree with them shouting their talking points. isn't this all to frustrating. i wish time would speed up and things would be so bad that we'd all be wearing black in the streets.

what is with her black clothing? does this exude professionalism or emptiness?

[janice1227]

I have a question: Why is the baby Trig's parentage in question? Wasn't Palin seen during her pregnancy? How does a governor hide a 9-month waistline from view?

[transforums]

Palin was speaking at an energy summit in Dallas, TX the day she went into labor and flew back home to deliver. Surely there are pictures or a video of her speech.

[enemyofgod72]

In case your interested there is some youtube footage out there from 2 days before Palin announced she was pregnant with Trig. She is sitting in a chair with her legs crossed and leaning forward. I've never seen a 7 month pregnant woman be able to do that. Plus Palin's "water" supposedly broke in Texas and she hopped on a plane and flew directly back to Alaska. Any doctor will tell you that is an absolutely absurd thing to do. Also Bristol was held out of school for several months prior to the birth supposedly for mono. Mono is called the "kissing sickness" b/c it can't be contracted through casual contact. There's is definitely something fishy here. So she did hide it for 7 months when there was no need for a mother of 4 (at the time) to do so.

[suec03]

I fear that now that a principal character (Bree) on Desperate Housewives faked a pregnancy to cover a family embarrassment, many people will feel it is open season to examine photographs and speculate on whether Gov. Palin was pregnant or not. I know that there is a tangential tie to whether she has been truthful and whether she used good judgment flying. But all of this has completely shut down the discussion of John McCain and his policies vs. Barack Obama and his policies. I know that the first test of judgment for a presidential nominee is the choice of a running mate. Accept that Gov. Palin is a religious conservative with anti-choice views on reproductive autonomy. Let's elevate the discussion to policy. The more time spent trying to demonize Gov. Palin on the basis of her family's reproductive choices helps the McCain campaign shore up its conservative base and point the finger at Obama supporters as elitist and intolerant. Don't forget that there are independents and moderate Republicans (like Susan Eisenhower and former Rep. Leach of Iowa who spoke at the Democratic Convention) to be brought out to vote for Sens. Obama and Biden. These swing voters are well aware of what is going on with the Palins. Let's get back to what is right and better about the Democratic team than the Republican team, on the issues!

[MamaBird62]

Do the Palin children have any educational aspirations whatsoever? If not, what does that say about their parents?
Bristol will now be a married mom at 17. Has her fiance finished high school?
Brother Track enlisted right out of high school and seems mostly interested in hockey.
Are they expecting their powerful mom to provide them with jobs and income in the future?

[LeawoodKansas]

Apparently for the Palins, education is overrated.

[rich3324]

Education is elitist.

[quindy]

Oh yes. If elected she will receive nice salary and all the benefits FOR LIFE. Just imagine! Those who scream the loudest against government are those who reap the biggest benefits. And her children will all profit from it.

[cpearcy]

The subject Palin's pregnant teenage daughter is being vastly dismissed as a private family issue. However this became a public issue when McCain nominated Palin as VP. What does this say about parental responsibility?? What does this say for proper work/life balance?? AND what does this say about the effectiveness of Palin's own "abstinence only" polcy?? These are issues that McCain picked Palin for in the first place. The fact that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant clearly demonstrates that Palin has not taken an active enough role in supervising her daughter and that she has devoting too much of her time to her work and not enough to her family and daughter. Further, this undermines Palin's own "abstinence only" position. No one is necessary judging the daughter here. They are judging the VP candidate, her hypocrisy, and McCain’s judgment in choosing her.

[suec03]

1) Young people need more complete sex education. 2) Even with the best sex education and the best communication with parents about reproductive responsibility and contraception, some teens will still get pregnant. 3) Parents should not be demonized when their teenage children give in to hormones and do other than what their parents taught them. 4) If the parent in question had been Sen. Hillary Clinton, would we have blamed and dismissed her so easily if it had been her child who became pregnant? 5) There are plenty of other issues to explore about Gov. Palin: earmarks, possible abuse of authority, lack of familiarity with complex global issues, etc.

Yes, Sen. McCain's pick may have been a sign of reckless impulsiveness on his part. But let go of the pregnancy issues and get back to what a possible VP or President Palin could mean to our country! We need a President Obama who has concerned himself with international issues at least since his college days as a political science/in­ternationa­l relations major. Our country can benefit from his knowledge of the US Constitution. The McCain/Palin team is dangerously weak on understanding of the many complex steps needed to keep our country safe. Obama-Biden and their advisors in Cabinet and West Wing can keep us safe and rebuild our economy better than the Republicans, who will only make things worse.

[Chaimirija]

Ditto

[JRandomPoster]

The republicans are running Governor Palin as a one trick pony intended to energize the fundamentalist right wing base of their party. Specifically, she was to be the living embodiment of "Family Values"; she is too diametrically opposed to Senator Clinton's views to really get the PUMA-esque voters. And at least at first, it was working: politico reported that McCain had raised over $7 million in the first 48 hours.

But now what are they going to do? They got their living embodiment of "Family Values", and a lesson in what happens when you use abstinence only education and shun birth control: an underage, unwed mother who is forced to be ashamed of her daughter.

I feel great pity for the daughter, and nothing but contempt for Governor Palin here.

[JRandomPoster]

* should read, "ashamed of her coming child".

[mediamarv]

Thanks for the link to the story. I won't bet any money on it, but I suspect her (Schussel) reaciton will be quite a bit different.

[limerica]

Palin has just dropped a whopper
Her teenager's got one in the hopper.
Sarah has said
No to sex ed
Doesn't it make you just want to bop her?

[alittleskeptic]

HuffPost's Pick

Assuming Palin really did know about her daughter's pregnancy before she decided to run for VP, how could she make such a decision? Clearly, she did not have her daughter's welfare in mind at all, subjecting her to all the publicity she was bound to get about it. And why would she decide to spend the time campaigning for VP, dragging her family through it, when it seems clear that she needs to give them more of her attention. And now the GOP is touting this family crisis as a good example of their family values in action. Well, sure it's right to stand by the daughter and if she chose to have her baby, it's okay, but is it putting family first for Sarah Palin to move on with her career climb just when her daughter needs her most? What a bunch of hypocritical prattle the right wing has been feeding us over the years. The woman is just 44--she has time to take care of this family crisis and do her career thing later.

[belikejeanvaljean]

Exactly.

[RobinL]

Thanks for this. Apparently, the Conservatives put this woman out there as bait for disgruntled voters wanting a female candidate. On top of that, they wanted to appeal to mothers. Well, unfortunately for them many of us are mothers---and appalled at the selfish conduct of this woman who'd subject her daughter to the rigors of media attention at what must be the most vulnerable time in her young life.

Maybe unthinking Conservative women will go for it---but not real parents.

[quindy]

How can you be 'thinking' conservative? They are all brainless.

[Deborah]

For Sarah Palin to put her 17 year old daughter into the national spotlight is utterly selfish and cruel. Sarah Palin's daughter is being dragged through the mud by every news pyublication in the country because of her utter selfishness. No loving mother would do that to their child. She should have turned the offer down inb the first place.

[KNadine]

And now the boy has been thrown into the spotlight also. I also find it strange that I can't find any quotes from the Hannity's, Limbaugh's and the rest of them railing against Jamie Lynn Spears. You know they had plenty to say about that, but now they seemed to have rallied around Bristol Palin?? Isn't it the same situation?

[stevi]

In addition to this, Sarah Palin is planning to go on the campaign trail for a couple of months and how do you take a 5 month old baby on the road while having your pregnant daughters back? Not my kind of family values!