Family Values

Ok - Sarah Palin's daughter should be off limits. Yes she is a minor. Yes she is pregnant and unmarried. She "intends" to marry the father of her baby. Yes, she comes from a family that promotes abstinence, something most people find horribly amusing right now. Yes, any attack on Bristol Palin will make the Democrats look like war dogs and garner the sympathetic vote for the GOP. "Look at these humans. They made some mistakes but they are living their pro-life stance. It'll be hard, but good for them." Can you imagine if it were a DNC candidate's daughter who was pregnant. It wouldn't be about if she were going to keep it or not. It'd be more like "Oh... well of course. Those heathens are having pre-marital sex..." Obviously people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Not that Sarah Palin is throwing any stones I might add. This is just a very realistic observation.

What I don't get is why on earth would you subject your family to this kind of scrutiny? How can you make that kind of sacrifice? Bristol Palin is 17 years old. I remember being 17! At 17 "kids" think they know the score. They're going off to college, ready to be independent, but they still NEED guidance. They still have insecurities and emotional shortfalls. Who doesn't remember the emotional roller-coaster of high school? Add pregnancy hormones to that equation and watch out for the fireworks. The difference between the entire population of Wasilla (just over 9,000) scrutinizing you and the entire country, let alone world, scrutinizing you is how much exactly? Exponential.

I don't know Bristol Palin from a hole in the wall. But I think that is too much pressure to put on a 17 year old girl - to suddenly be the poster child for the "Oops you had pre-marital high school raging hormonal in-love sex that ended up with a pregnancy you are going to keep and raise the best you can." I respect her decisions, all of them in fact, but she shouldn't be under this kind of microscope. I think that's a mistake. Not my mistake to make. No one is asking my opinion. I just think it's a mistake to parade her around as an example of "living the pro-life values." Not every young girl who gets pregnant is going to have all the same opportunities and resources that Bristol and Levi (isn't that what the baby's name will be?) will have. There are a lot of other girls struggling way harder than Bristol will have to. And guess what, the social governmental programs helping those girls are supported by the liberals. For the most part the conservatives just promote abstinence programs. Laughable. Laughable.

I am sure someone will blast me for over-generalizing things here. The bottom line is that this is true.

The other thing that just bothers me is that they (the GOP and evangelical right, not necessarily the Palins) are also parading around Trig, the little four month old baby boy with Downs Syndrome. They are using him as another example of how the Palins are living the pro-life values. I don't think that's right to use an infant with a developmental disability for that gain.

I think the Palins should re-think this and focus on their family. Was this family really given the appropriate amount of time to think about this and prepare for it? I feel sorry for them. Not that they are getting my sympathy vote. They might get my empathy though as I tell Sarah Palin to go home and get some sleep. Trig is four months old and you have a pregnant teenage daughter. Are you really prepared mentally and emotionally to handle this challenge of being SECOND in line to the presidency of the US? Are you really at the top of your game?

Maybe is was the sleep deprivation that made her accept this nomination. (Well no, I understand it's a huge honor.)

Personally I believe that if the Palins want to promote family values that they should never have subjected their children to this kind of national and international scrutiny. It's all well and good for every politician in America to say "Chilren are off limits." But come on, this is America. There is a reason that the paparazzi are in existence. There is a reason why "Enquiring minds want to know." Americans LOVE their media and superstars.

I feel bad for children of politicians in general. Especially those of our Presidents and VPs. When all the excitement dies down they will be followed by the secret service everywhere. I think it's just too much, and as a Mom I put protecting my family in my own home first. I don't want my children to grow up in that kind of fishbowl. They will have enough pressures, stresses and insecurities of their own just by growing up and living life and going to school - kids are brutal to each other! Why should I add to it? I view that as kind of greedy actually and certainly not in keeping with a family values philosophy.

Again - friends, family - this is just my thought pool on this subject. I think the media should leave the kids alone. But I fault their parents for this one because they never will be left alone now.