Evangelicals on Palin's pregnant daughter

If Palin was a Democrat nominee for VP you can bet that Dumson..er Dobson would have been all over her with condemnation...but is Ok since she is a right-wing Republican and support of the religious wrong.

You just can't make this stuff up! You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
The Republican/Christian Right's time is up.

Where was this same forgiveness for Bill Clinton? Here lies the hyprocrisy. "There is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord." As a Catholic, I reconcile my sins on a regular basis. Believe me, I understand how fortunate I am to receive the Lord's forgiveness. However the issue here is not forgiving a child for a mistake. It is about... Sarah Palin not having the good-sense of saying " No, thanks.. I have a small child with DS and a teenage daughter that will need my attention over the next few months." I am appalled as a mother that she would put her family, her daughter through this. Yes, reforming the republician party in Alaska has been impressive however, if the Republican party was so great why is their SO MUCH CORRUPTION to clean up after.
Sorry.. evangels... can't have it both ways.. The party needs to ADMIT to what they have done, MAKE up for what they have done and WORK HARD to not do the corruptive actions again. We still must perform GOOD WORKS. The best work Sarah Palin could do is to take care of Alaska and HER FAMILY FIRST. FAMILY FIRST right DOBSON??

While I feel empathy for Bristol's situation and agree with many of the Christian bloggers above, I find it difficult to believe that the same sentiment would be lavished on Obama if he had a teenage daughter who became pregnant out of wedlock. I believe these same people would behave as attack dogs and decry the moral failings of the Democratic party. I consider their live-and-let-live position on this the ultimate hypocrisy.

Why don't we pull records to see if Chelsea Clinton is really Hillary and Bill's daughter...

I see the hypocrisy of the comments from the religious evangelicals above as racially biased. While they are sweet to the point of sugar shock for a white woman and her pregnant teenage daughter, they condemn, wholeheartedly, the urban poor with pregnant teenage daughters, who are mostly black and Hispanic. Those families and parents get *none* of the forgiveness outlined above. They are instead insulted as "welfare queens" who should not receive "government handouts" and who should work at McDonalds rather than go to school to get a better paying job (the only way to stop the cycle of teenage births). We saw the same cycle with Rush Limbaugh's drug abuse--forgiveness for the white man, but prison for the black people who are also caught using drugs.

The timeline here is confusing; Palin's daughter was on medical leave from school for the last several months of the school year. The reason given was a case of mononucleosis. Today she's 5 months pregnant.

Does that mean the mononucleosis story was an attampt at a cover-up by the Palin family, or was it a coincidence?

I think it's great. What party had done more to demonize single mothers than the Republicans. Now they have to use "spin" to explain it.

The problem is not that one 17 year old is pregnant - I wish that child all the best through what must be a difficult time. The problem is that her mother, who also must feel this is a difficult time, would legislatively impose that difficulty on other American parents and children by continuing to support a policy that requires the teaching of abstinence as an effective method of teenage birth control despite overwhelming evidence (beyond that at her own dinner table) that this simply doesn't work. The problem is that by being too cowardly to stand up at the time of her introduction as John McCain's selection and simply saying "and I'm thrilled that I'll be a grandmother around the time of the inauguration" she has created the impression that she is ashamed of her own grandchild. If you can't understand the need for prevention, don't expect us to understand your shame. Simply file this under continuing Republican hypocrisy, right next to Dick Cheney's daughter, who he believes is entitled to the sort of committed relationship he would deny to other parent's children.

The hypocrisy is unbelievable! “children make bad decisions”, “ support those wayward kids”, “Politicians certainly aren’t perfect and neither are their families”, “let’s practice Jesus’ teachings of loving people no matter where they find themselves and what has happened”, “Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect”. It makes me sick. Had this been the daughter of Obama or Biden (or for that matter Chelsea Clinton) you can be damn sure the religious right would be raking the democrats over the coals!

So, does abstinence work? Let's just ask Palin shall we?

Why is it that the liberals of this country always try and associate Christians with every mistake a Republican makes. The last time I checked many of the democratic leaders claim to be christians and they flaunt the fact that they attend church. I have heard Biden and Obama talk about their faith, now is that a sham to reach out to the christians or are these leaders really proud about their faith. Now coming to this particular issue, lets leave the kid alone.

i wonder how the far right would react if obama's daughters were pregnant (if they were the same age as palin's)....

As a mother and professional woman, my heart goes out to this family but, i wonder where "SARAH" is coming from. I watched my closest friend nurse a "DS" baby through the toughest of times..............the 1st 3 years were so hard on the family...as the baby grew more medical problems were found. This is a full time job. Now a pregnant daughter..............this woman needs a reality slap...family does need to come 1st..............yet our country needs full time HELP.........
John McCain made a giant mistake.......and just because someome wears a skirt it does not mean that the "Hillary" voters will accept and vote for this lady!

Mary Ellen doesn't understand what is foing on here, poor thing.. It was perjury not the affair that appalled the right. It was the Democrat's quickness to rationalize that crime that was also appalling. The fact that this young girl is going to keep the child shows her moral character in a way that must be hard for a liberal to understand.

Evangelicals don't care about any of this. What they care about is getting people in the whitehouse to overturn Roe v Wade. THATS IT! They will say anything that looks bad is okay. Yes she is an average working women with issues that affect all families. However, we do not need and AVERAGE person a heart beat away from the whitehouse. That position is offered to the people who have excelled above the rest and who are exceptional human beings where the rest of us are "average". I don't want a "hockey mom" deciding the fate of the country. The ploy of Mc Cain to grab the evangelical vote is in HIS best interest, not the best interest of the country. He doesn't give a hoot about her and her crudentials. What sort of judgement is that? He's in it for himself. The same old republican way. Shouldn't that be questioned?

Ah yes, evangelicals showing the Lord's love and forgiveness to all. Ah yes, Dobson supporting the family in prayer. Ah yes, Dobson loves gays and lesbians and welcomes them with open arms. What a hypocrite evangelicals are!

I applaud the Christian right for being so supportive of Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol. This is as it should be. I hope they are as supportive of young girls living in poverty in similar situations. In the past, many of these same people have demonized the poor whose teenage children have babies.

I love the pic of Bristol hiding her bump with Trig! Classic!

I wonder how Sarah Palin feels about "Abstinence Only" training now!

I'm sorry, but if you're going to be smug you have to eat humble pie when your hypocrisy comes to light.

The hypocrisy and double standards of these nuts is hard to believe.

Condemnation for what Oliver? How can you compare Clinton's lying, adultering cheating act against his family with Palin's young daughter's pregnancy? Horrible comparison....doesn't work, but nice try. Why should she be condemned because her teenage daughter made a mistake? Clinton was condemned because his horrible character was exposed, he used his office as a bordello, made a joke of our country.... and he lied about what he did on top of it. You're obviously just a liberal Christian hater who tries their hardest to poke fingers, but only ends up poking holes in their own arguments...pretty weak. It's safe to say Dobson (show some respect, say peoples names correctly...don't be a child) would not condemn any one for this since she did nothing wrong...no condemnation is necessary. You should really do your homework. as for you Marge, I have no idea what your statement means...pretty incoherent

We are dealing with a bunch of Christian Neanderthals here who believe McCain's choice of Palin was a good and wise decision... So lets have some perspective here on the "relevance" of their reaction to the child pregnancy news... They live in a make-believe fantasyland. Obviously theyre beyond any hope of rationale thought or possible conversion to reality-based thinking or beliefs. WHo cares about these idiots. Their punishments are themselves.

I wonder if the father of the child would prefer that the mother have an abortion.

Wow! Last time we had poor white trash in the White House was Andrew Jackson.

Poor Chris C... If s/he still clings to pathetic reasoning like: "Clinton was condemned because his horrible character was exposed, he used his office as a bordello, made a joke of our country...." AFTER George W Bush, s/he, and the others like him/her, are, sadly, simply incapable of rational thought.

the religious wacko's motto:
Do as I say, but don't do as I do................

To "C", Who is comparing this to Clinton??? Obviously this is a totally different issue than Clinton's affair.. But what is extremely OBVIOUS is that if the teenage daughter of a Democratic candidate was found to be pregnant the Republicans would be all over this as an example of the failure of liberals' lack of morals.. However, because Palin is a pro-life anti-abortion Republican who advocates for teaching abstinence to teenagers, their only response is "nobody's perfect, now lets leave her alone..." Everything about Palin's nomination as VP screams hypocrisy.. And the more you deny this, the worse it looks.. The ONLY responsible thing the Republicans can do is have Palin withdraw as VP nominee. I would be willing to bet that this was planned from the start.. If Palin cares at all about family values, she MUST withdrawal to spend more time with her baby with Down Syndrome and her pregnant daughter.. It is pretty obvious her family needs her more than her country. Now McCain can nominate somone who actually has some experience while still looking good for making a woman his "first choice"..

The rank hypocricy of these folks is awesome to behold. And said in classic rightwing fashion - without a hint of irony.

Why do these people think we don't notice when they only rally around people that they see as "one of them". If this was how they honestly felt then what Obama on Thursday would truly resonate with them. "We may not agree on choice but we certainly can agree that we need to work together to prevent unwanted pregancies". Yeah, heard lots of support for pregnant teens then.

We should all support young woman and young men too when they find themselves in a like postion by providing help for them but don't forget, these are the people that want to cut services to help young parents. These people are not supporting this young women, they are protecting her mother, someone they see as "one of them" deserving their compassion and is not a US hating, unpatriotic dirty libberal. Should the shoe be on the other foot and this was perhaps Joe Biden's daughter the screeching from the " evengelicals" as a movement would drowned out the winds of Gustav.

Compassion only for those they choose as deserving! But this is a political ploy to warn the media and Dems to not ask how this can square with these people's political positions. They have no response to that. As soon as the question is asked instead of answer the question it will be all about attacking the daughter. Just like McCain's POW non-response to questions he has no answers to, how can you attack a former POW? Progressives like me want to have a thougthful debate and I do believe that some of the ideas on the right deserve serious consideration but whenever the debate begins the right sticks their fingers in their ears and yell "LA LA LA LA LA...I know you are but what am I?" And the media reports it as a serious response instead of what it really is, complete nonsense.

hey, Mary Ellen! Don't you think Bill Clinton was forgiven? I mean, come on...

Furthermore, do you really think that a mother "should" be in charge of her daughter's sexuality??

Did you never have that dizzying experience of raising teenage girls???!!!

The boy should be arrested and prosecuted and the girl should be locked in a chastity belt. And themother shoudl eat her crow for dnner and go away.

I do feel for Palin, her daughter and her family and my prayers go out to them. I am too a big fan of James Dobson and his work and I do believe that politicians, both left and right wing make their fair share of mistakes because at the end, everyone isn't perfect and just human.

Now, I do have to say this, have this would have been Clinton's family or Obama, I do not see that the same amount of sympathy would have been granted by Christians around, which really is the saddest thing (and probably the reason why went from being a moderate Republican to becoming a moderate Democrat). Forgiveness shouldn't be "party specific".. but in today's world, it seems that this is what happens.... my two cents.... sigh..

To #21: Because the Clintons do not act all high and mighty like the Dobson and the Palins of the world: they operate under the Christian/Evangelical farce of an umbrella that defines them as already being more holier than though. As soon as a "Christian" has a daughter who has made a "mistake," her "mistake" is premarital sex. Are they "Christians" or are they not? If they are, shouldn't they be declaring this a sin? I thought premarital sex is a sin in their eyes? Does Sarah procreate like crazy because she believes condoms are sinful? Does she not care about overpopulation?
It's the Christians that have dug this hole for themselves by making it sinful and shameful for all things sexual to be taboo. If they didn't come from this puritanical stance, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. But since they espouse to be righteous, let them eat dirt when their righteousness is found to be bullSh**!!
Enough of this "Oh, let us praise our teen pregnancy and bask in the glory of our Lord" BS. They need to be called out on this double standard.

I am a democrat who thinks that hat Bristol's pregnancy has nothing to do with the election. Let us leave her alone to have her baby annd marry Levi. Bristol's smart, sexy , sassy mother is a disgrace to the presidential polititical process but not because of her daughter's sexual activity. Lets act like big boys and girls and leave Bristol alone to have her baby in peace. In the mean time I plan to campaign for Sen. Obama on the issues that really count. Let's get out of the sexually purient gutter and back to process of electing the man who will return the United States to a place we can all be proud of: BARAK OBAMA

Shame on the Democrats who seem to persecute people for their faults. Forgiveness and love - maybe the democrats would rather her parents abandon her to the knife. Shame on the Atlantic and all who make this family into a object of scorn.

if obama's daughter was pregnant at seventeen you can bet the evangical christian right would be all over this story. I dont see how this vp canidate can be for family values when she does not even know what her 17 year old daughter is really doing ...... . So in the long run we will support both her grandchild and her lastest born son with taxpayers money through ssi/afdc, food stamps, WIC, housing, medicaid and fuel assistance. This canidate for vp needs to keep her own house in order - never mind career ambitions for the the White House.

To Tom: Palin must NOT withdraw as the VP nominee!!!! Picking Palin as VP was by far the most ridiculous political decision in the history of US politics. If McCain had any chance before the pick -- and clearly he did -- picking Palin ensured they are now snuffed out entirely.

Thru that choice, McCain singlehandeldy eliminated his "lack of experience," and demonstrates McCain incapable of making deliberative, measured decisions, only knee-jerk, gut-based decisions that rival those of GW Bush... Like we can possibly tolerate 4 more utterly wasted years of absurd presidential decisionmaking benefitting no one but the right wing extremists???

So we WANT Palin on the ridiculous ticket. She's off to such a terriffic start!!!!

Palin!!! Palin!!! Palin!!!!

Democrats seem to forget what just happened about a month ago. Didn't you just have a Presidential candidate, then potential VP, that was having an affair with another women, that potentially had his child, while his wife was recovering from cancer. Also, this women was given money to keep quite, while John Edwards gave everyone the appearance that he was God fearing man. And make no mistake, he would have accepted the VP position if he could have kept this all from coming to light!!!!
No matter what people say she is not responsible for her daughters actions.

Yes, what great moral character it took to get pregnant at 17, while being unwed. Let us applaud this great show of morality. It'll be interesting to see what other moral things the Palin family has up its sleeve, while espousing the Religious Right's great White Moral Way.

There are a lot of bitter and mean-spirited people on this blog. I consider myself to be Agnostic in my religious beliefs, however, it makes me feel positive about humanity when I hear things like forgiveness, support, and other positive actions towards a young girl who is in a difficult situation. The general criticism of evangelicals and the far right as hypocrites strikes of religious prejudice which I find disgusting; equally as disgusting as racism, sexism and all the other negative "isms". The vehement hatred on display here is unhealthy and dysfunctional. Assuming these hateful thoughts are honest opinions, it makes me wonder why such obviously irrational mutterings must seem rational to those muttering them.

Evangelicals will vote for whomever is pro life. They don't care about all the other issues or more importantly if the person they are voting for can do a good job at handling those issues. It's about their opinion on abortion. These religious groups want to run a country based on some higher power they have never met. Praying don't pay my bills, having a job does. They need to get their head out of the clouds!

I've got no problem with a 17-year-old having a baby--it happens. If they're going to support her, that's good.

But let's remember, if she was poor, esp if she wasn't white, then the GOP would be all over her as an irresponsible welfare mom.

"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect." If this is the case, why was Bill Clinton impeached and disgraced by the political-Christians? I'm a Christian and I've now I’m seeing this country get so involved with religion in government, I finally believe what the conservatives say. When the political-church folks finally control the government the government won't be able to do anything. It will be the problem, not the solution.

Who cares. Give me a break.

I guess the old Republican "abstinence" versus sex education message didn't seem to work out in this case.
Bahahaaahahaha !!!

See....abstinence education works!!!!

Now let's go overturn Roe V Wade!!!!

My only question is....where do I get those drugs because they're obviously great hallucinogenics?

To everyone who is using this to attack Christians and their beliefs. I agree with you that tons of so called Christians and their leaders have double standards. But to insult all Christians and Evangelicals because of a small group of people is wrong. I am a Christian and I do believe that premarital sex is a sin just like lieing, cheating, gossiping, or being proud (to name a few). This child did make a mistake and I will hope and pray that God will strengthen her and help her deal with life going forward, she definitely will need all the help she can get because now she has to take care of a child. I as a Christian don't claim to be perfect and I stumble a lot but I am encouraged by the fact that I can go into Gods presence and ask for forgiveness. He expects us as Christians to try and live a life thats pleasing to him and that means we need to practice what we preach and set an example. I do apologize for so called Christians who act like they are holier than thou and don't mean a word that comes out of their mouth. Hopefully more and more Christians will bear witness to their faith not just by words but with their lives as well. Christians need to speak out for their faith, it needs to guide their lives and activities but the same time we need to be supportive of people around us who are in need.

Now coming to this election I hope to hear more from the candidates on how they hope to govern before making up my mind on whom to cast my vote for. I am not looking for mere rhetoric from the candidates but solid plans that makes sense.

God Bless!!!

You know what I say - screw the church as I don't see why their opinion matters in the first place! Who really cares what members of the church think - people do not have to conform to made up rules which in certain context make you feel either guilty or wrong for living like a human being. Come on - our society is so way past the church and we don’t need to check in with the church to live our lives! Look I’m not even Republican here – I’m just another human being living my life with an opinion.

What the religious neo-cons here seem to fail to realize is that it's not about a 17 year old unwed mother-to-be and her super-career focused mom - we've got plenty of those on the left. What's at issue is the utter level of hypocrisy from our "religious" brethren. They seem to believe that "it's a sin if you're doing it, a mistake if I'm doing it."

People make mistakes every day (just look at the doozy from McCain a couple of days ago). But the sanctimony espoused by the religious right is laughable when faced with the "mistakes" of their own. The light switch of judgment gets inexplicably turned off, while the light of forgiveness brightly shines. Until a black person does it, that is...

If most of the world would give up the pathetic belief of higher beings the world would be a better place. My religion is better than yours, oh yeah.. bang you're dead. My religion states I should act this way or that. Garbage, stop paying this pathetic prophets 10% of your salary to make yourself feel good.

Folks, the greeks had their gods and peeled them away one by one as they found the answers to the unknown. We've narrowed it down pretty good today, yet we still have tons of freaks that believe some dude is coming back for them. Just because you don't know doesn't mean you should toss the word "God" in there.

Give me a break... I'd love to shovel some coal in hell. I'm real scared -damn nut jobs.

This Palin chick thinks she is holier than thou and the Republicans think they can latch on to the nutbags evangelicals. Pathetic hypocrits.

Palin looks away the same way Bernie Cardinal Law looks away from his priests. Sick - but true that if I am not part of it == it does not exist.

Well, maybe I'm cycnical, but perhaps Palin's selection as VP was simply an opening gambit by McCain. He paved the way for having a female running mate, but Palin was obviously never going to work out -- McCain's operatives would absolutely have found out about the daughter's pregnancy during the vetting process, she's five months pregnant for goodness sake!

So, now the door is open for Carlton Fiorina to step in as McCain's running mate. Attractive woman? Check. Executive experience? Check. No kids to cause potential problems? Check, and mate. ;-)

And this came out on "Labor Day" while the Levees/ Levis were breaking. That's pretty funny. What the heck else is there to do up in Alaska beside getting knocked up? It's nighttime for nearly 6 months at a time up there! It's really difficult though to espouse abstinence only and have your own kid prove that it doesn't work.

Clearly the candidate doesn't use or know how to use birth control either. I'm all for pregnancy, I'm all for a fully qualified woman becoming pres. I'm fully against having a pregnant woman as pres. or VP. There's too much travel involved like going to natural disaster areas for starters. I don't trust Sarah Palin to not get pregnant during the next 4 years. I wish Russert was still around: "Sarah Palin, will you make a pledge to the American people to get your tubes tide if you become VP?

I SUPPORT ABSTINENCE + MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER IS PREGGERS + MY CAMPAIGN SAYS SHE *WILL* MARRY THE HUSBAND = PURE POLITICS

Does anyone really believe that this marriage will be lasting and happy? How many couples make it who have babies as teenagers? This seems like a marriage arranged in an attempt to live up to a superficial evangelical standard. Does Palin STILL think abstinence education works? How long do we really think it will be before this teenage couple decides to get a divorce? Would they even be ALLOWED to split up if they wanted to? Or would they have to get political permission?

Thesis from comments above: If you're a Christian, dont' dare make a mistake. Or you'll be attacked, no matter your age.

But If you're a liberal, anything goes. Do what you please. Because you have no morals to begin with.

A lot of very admirable comments from the religious right about forgiveness and tolerance and kindness. Too bad they are only willing to give it to their own.

Yes, she does have the forgiveness of The Lord. But what does this say about the parenting skills of Gov. Palin? Do we really want someone who can't even raise her children correctly next in line to run the country? I know I don't. And another thing. They made this announcement just to dispell the rumor that the 4 month old is hers? What kind of scandalous family is this? America better wake up to the corruption and hypocracy that is the Republican party and they better do it soon.

to address C: Dope son aka Dobson clearly does not deserve ANY Respect so lets get that on the table pronto; Christians are all hypocrites and I certainly hope that this abysmally bad choice of Veep by McCain makes that abundantly clear.

Interesting how so many issues flare up at once.

The Christians talking about forgiveness for people making mistakes but can't bring themselves to forgive people like Bill Clinton for being 'human' and certainly not Hillary.

The Christians asking for forgiveness for children but support policies like the death penalty for teenagers and the mentally retarded.

The Christians talking about supporting families in need but support blowing the bejesus out of countries and killing women and children that may/may not have attacked us.

I think the decline of America can be traced back to the atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It won't be until the people in this country realize how unchristian it was will this country be able to move forward spiritually.

Throughout this whole political cycle I want the Palin family to remember that when you soar like an eagle, you have to expect hunters. The malicious and disgusting lack of civility by some of the above bloggers is proof that one day these angry bloggers epitaphs will read "well done". It won't be because of any positive thing they shown their fellow man it will be because it means they have been cremated.

When Bill Clinton said that oral sex wasn't sex, polls showed that teenagers began to engage in oral sex at a very high rate. So if the possible VP is teaching abstinence only and her kid is pregnant I'll hate to see what the teen pregnancy rate will go up to. Gloucester will look like nothing. At least kids didn't get pregnant when they started to engage in Bill's idea of not having sex!

Hey C...woe trigger -

You might want to THINK twice before you start wagging your finger at the Clinton's. Your current Presidential candidate lied and cheated on his first wife with Cindy. He admitted it! But, somehow that doesn't count because he's your boy.

What I find so disturbing is the hypocracy of so many christians. They seem to only show this thing they call love and forgiveness, when something goes wrong with their own. I would never be so narrow hearted. That's why I'm not a christian.

When these rumors startef flying around last night about Palin being the grandmother of Bristol's baby, I must say I was curious, there seemed to be an interesting case being made. I was all over the internet reading articles on Palin. If nothing else I was gaining insight into who this person is that McCain chose.

Today what I think the biggest issue is; is the investigations going on into her misuse of power over a personal vendetta. I feel very concerned over this. I also am very concerned with fact she grew up a pentecostal and is part of the Assembly of God. If you are not familiar with the word Dominionist look it up.
I think anyone who tips too far to either side can be dangerous. McCain in my opinion didn't pick Palin to try and get any of those 18M cracks, that's a smoke screen for the true agenda; christian neoconservatives. This is what scares the Hell out me!

Today Obama came out and said for everyone to lay off the families and especially the children of the candidates. And if found out anyone in his campaign is responsible for starting any vicious rumors he would fire them. I agree completely. Even though he and the intire democratic party came under such brutal personal attacks from the right and I find it hard very hard sometimes not to fire back with venom. I respect first where he is trying to lead this country; forward to one with integrity and compassion. He just keeps giving more and more reasons to vote for him.
Obama/Biden 08

I don't see Andrew Sullivan looking for test results of Rielle Hunters love child to see if John Edwards is the father.

I wonder why? It seems the main stream media provides cover for sex and baby scandals for Democrats. But when it is Republicans, all it takes is a rumor and it is all over the news.

This makes me want to puke. The christian right is the voice of ignorance in this country.

Her answers to the questionnaire shows she is ignorant about some basic historical facts. Her comment that the Pledge of Allegiance was "good enough for the founding fathers" shows she is pretty dense.

The pledge of allegiance was never used until the fairly recent past.

Who cares? What I would like to know is were Obama's birth parents married legally to one another? Also, is he really a legitimate U.S. born citizen? What about the lawsuit going to court about his legal birth status a s a qualified American born citzen? Why does the media tiptoe around those things?

Newsflash! Obama's mother got pregnant with Barack Hussein when she was 17 and had a shotgun wedding with his father when she was three months pregnant. You've got to wonder why Obama tries to pull the plug on anyonw discussing Bristol Palin. Might it be that his parents were in the same situation and he's darn lucky he's here to talk about it?

Barack Hussein is lucky he was born before Roe v Wade or he wouldn't be. His atheist mother would surely have aborted him so she wouldn't be "punished with a baby" as Obama himself puts it.

I am an evangelical pastor living in Boston. There is hypocrisy in both parties. This event is important and demonstrates to me that Palin is not in a good position in life to be a V.P. I don't think it is reasonable to have a little baby with special needs and to have an older daughter and baby with all kinds of needs. Hope Palin steps down and takes care of the most important things. McCain has shown to have really made a major mistake in choosing Palin. It makes me feel sad.

I just have to laugh! What a bunch of hypocrites!

I am not attacking Bristol Palin, and no one else should either. Premarital sex is not ideal, but it certainly happens. I have great respect for her decision to have her child, and for Sarah Palin's decision to have her own son (though I wish that more teenage moms would put their kids up for adoption). But Sarah Palin, by making her family one of her "strengths" and declaring herself just a typical "hockey mom," asked for this. She cannot have it both ways. It is she, not the media or the Democratic strategists or bloggers, who has victimized her own daughter here. If Palin knew that her daughter would be due to have a baby only a month after the election, she surely knew that there was NO earthly way that she could protect her from media scrutiny. Palin probably could not have prevented her daughter's pregnancy--give her a break. But she COULD have prevented anyone outside of Alaska from ever learning her daughter's name. If Palin is truly the "good Christian" and "good mother" that she says she wants to be, her duty to protect Bristol from massive public humiliation should have overriden her own desire to be Vice President at this time.

Neil O: no need. The results have been released. The child is not his. Pay attention.

I myself, don't recall Bill Clinton asking for forgiveness? What I clearly do remember his him lying through his teeth on national television. There is quite a difference in your comparisons. Not EVEN close.

Everyone who is slamming Christians en masse, stop it. Christianity is a very diverse religion with lots of denominations that disagree with each other and lots of Christians who don't march in lockstep with their denominations. Labelling every Christian as ultraconservative or naïve is very unfair.

Meanwhile, abstinence can work as birth control even if it has a failure rate (for example, rape). The trouble is not teaching abstinence in sex ed, it's teaching abstinence-only sex ed instead of including both abstinence and other options. People need to know about both abstinence and the other birth control options. Even if they do save sex for marriage, the info on safer sex will be useful for when they want to have marital sex without having another baby. Even if they never have sex because they never find willing partners, the info on safer sex will be useful for voting in referendums about laws about reproduction.

"When Bill Clinton said that oral sex wasn't sex, polls showed that teenagers began to engage in oral sex at a very high rate."

Bill Clinton totally didn't start the idea that oral sex wasn't sex. That idea's been around for centuries, ever since traditional families in many cultures started examining brides' hymens to see if they already had sex or were virgins. Since oral sex doesn't break hymens, they obviously weren't counting oral sex as sex and they were saying "she's a virgin" instead of "she had sex" about brides who had sex orally *and* kept their hymens.

Let's not forget Newt Gingrich's bemoaning "children having children." Why is that not now a problem for the right? Talking about Newt, why were his extramarital affairs of no consequence for the right wheras Edward's was the talk of TV land. (And let us not forget that Newt handed his first wife the divorce papers while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer treatment). The right can always find a distinction without a differnece to argue that they are not being hypocritical. I am sure that some blogger will be glad to leap to the keyboard explaining to us all why there are critical differences.

Bottom line is that McCain has chosen this evangelical VP hoping to gain votes. I am related to some of these (converted) bible toting folks. They have been caught having sex (and subsequently children) with their pastors, abusing children and, like Bristol, having children in their teens (certainly not the worst of these three). Their actions are not unlike the general population. They simply believe they are forgiven by Jesus by whatever they do and they have a free ticket to heaven.

Your myth (Jesus) is your crutch and your sad excuse. Fix yourself.

Why would the mother of a 17 year old daughter who is pregnant subject her young daughter to national scrutiny for nothing more than the advancement of the mother's personal or political ambitions. So much for family values.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++ VOTE OBAMA VOTE OBAMA ++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++ VOTE OBAMA VOTE OBAMA +++++++++++++++++++++
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DON YOU ARE CORRECT. OUCH!

I never knew the GOP to welcome and speak so highly of a single unwed mother. We can only hope that they can continue to open their hearts and welcome the millions of other unwed mothers. Thank you Bristol.

I agree with the pastor from Boston, I'm a pastor as well. I have seen and have had to deal with ALL issues of life. I am most disturbed that she would continue to seek the nomination for VP considering her family would need her during this pressing time. I'm not stunned by the fact that the young girl is pregnant, but I will be stunned if this lady decides to stick it out and put her family under this scrutiny because of a selfish desire to hold higher office.

D,

I could go on and on. My aunt, their mother, was a devout Catholic and when she passed, they went against her wishes and had a born-again service.

Holier than any of us, I guess.

judge not lest ye be judged

After watching the main news organizations "report" on this event (ABC,CBS, NBC, PBS, NECN, etc) I have noticed a clear and disturbing trend.
Scant mention of issues brought up in the discussion threads posted here.
e.g.;
- that this is an example of political policy at odds with personal practices
- the introduction of the "story" by McCain's staff as necessitated to stop the "left wing bloggers rumors"! (those lefties... ooh they make me sooo mad)
- a case for examining McCain's judgement and vetting process.

Instead, I have seen:
- congratulations on the "decision" to have the child (no abortionist here)
- rallying of support that the daughter will marry the "man" (how old is he?)
- "observations" of equivalence: Obama's mother was 18
- and the "claim" to privacy.

Since when did running for President and Vice President involve privacy?
Uncomfortable as much of this is for all sides, issues warrant examination.
Policies and practices and outcomes are worthy of discussion---especially as they inform creation of laws and policies.

I think it is fair to keep a critical eye on this while extending courtesy.... But mostly it needs to be considered how the reporting and investigation goes.

I recall 4 years and 40 million taxpayer dollars spent to investigate Whitewater...
Note: no fault on Hillary or Bill Clinton's part was found. Then, Lewinsky. Ugh.
For Republicans to get all family and righteous around this situation and call for people to cut them slack... I say, Where is your sense of decency? Have you no shame? Why do you ALWAYS deny or denounce critical review of your party officers?

I hope investigations are allowed to proceed impartially.... and that whatever is going on is simply, fairly and accurately, reported.
I have seen too much of media coverage basically avoiding getting into this...

I love how angry this is making the liberals!!
This is so much fun!!

Palin? She sounds like Jane Swift gone national. Who was Jane Swift?

Swift was chosen as his running mate by Paul Celucci when he was running for governor of Massachusetts, perhaps to appeal the womens' vote.

The Republican Celucci/Swift ticket was elected, even though Jane was pregant (with twins!) at the time. Celucci after several months in office decide that he'd rather be amdassador to Canada, so off he trots to Ottawa leaving Jane to shoulder the office of governor.

Hers was difficiult pregnancy and she was confined to a hospital bed by her doctors. She tried to conduct state business from her hospital bed by conferencing calling. It was difficult.

Once the twins were born, she tried to govern, but it was still difficult. She was criticized for using a State Police helicopter to get home for Thanksgiving (She lives 3 1/2 hours away by car from the capitol of Boston and MA doesn't provide a residence for its governor.)

She also ran into trouble for using state-paid aides to baby-sit the twins. She did her best, I suppose, but a women so burdened with family concerns can't be an effective governor and she wasn't.

Sarah Palin is similarly burdened with multiple family concerns. How in hell can she deal simultaneously deal with

* a Downs' Syndrome child
* a pregnant 17-year old,
* worry about a kid going off to Iraq

and take over the presidency if the 72-year old McCain dies in office???

I am sure Governor Palin is a wondeful wife and mother. No one has told us differently. What an honor to be chosen as the vice presidential nominee. There is no reason why she should not go for it, despite the personal issues around her daughter which have nothing to do with her platform.

Oh, and there's the platform. Scarier than Hitchcock.

I love how angry this is making the liberals!!
This is so much fun!!

Yes, it almost makes it worth watching your teenage daughter spread her knees while you're on a moral crusade, doesn't it?

Why, this is the most Christian thing ever since crawling around in an airport men's room stall!

From all evidence that I can gather Sarah Palin is a horrible mother. Not because her kid made a mistake, but Horrible to put her kid through the national spotlight and intense scrutiny that is guaranteed to come out of her mom running for VP. What you didn't think the national press would notice your 8-month pregnant daughter tagging along with you? WTF, horrible mom = horrible person.

you know what I think is funny? Palin has family issues, pregnant daughter, trooper-gate. McCain had a messy divorce his first marriage. Obama seems to have a happy family and you can see it in Michelle's eyes that she completely adores her husband. Biden takes a 1.5 hour train ride to get home to his family. Which party has the family values?

I'm an Evangelical Christian who lived in Wasilla for about a year in 93-94 and attended the Wasilla Assemby of God. From what I observed and experienced, you do not want to vote for someone who governed a small city in Alaska and attended a church who had major issues with using indiscriminate power over people especially women. Unless things have changed dramatically in that city and church, well, I caution people about voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. It does not bode well.

The hipocracy of all this is disgusting on so many levels.

Bristol Palin made a mistake that far too many teenagers make and she should not be condemned for it. She is taking responsibility for it and is lucky to have her family's support. However, she was obviously having unprotected sex and had her mother's party not had their collective heads buried in the sand (or elsewhere) and funded sex education, Bristol may have had better knowledge of and access to contraception and could have avoided an unwanted pregnancy. Luckily she did not contract HIV or other sexual transmitted diseases by having unprotected sex. Abstinence-only eductation does not work and puts our children in danger.

This is yet another example of the of the right wing hipocracy. Expounding family vaules and judging the morality of others until it's one of their own. You can bet the farm that if this was about the family of Obama, Biden, Clinton, etc. that the reaction from the right would not be so forgiving.

Some recent examples of the hipocracy of the right wing pillars of family values and morality:

Ralph Reed — Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition, embroiled in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and stands accused of using funds Christian conservatives had donated to fight the spread of gambling, to actually promote gambling on Native-American reservations.

Monsignor Eugene Clark — Clark used his pulpit at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and program on the Eternal Word Television Network to blame gay priests for the Catholic sex abuse scandal and once denounced the United States as “the most immoral country in the Western Hemisphere." He resigned in August 2005 after an affair with his married secretary.

William Bennett — Bennett is the standard-bearer of the right-wing “traditional values” crusade and chief propagator of one of the most damaging lies being spread about the gay community: the “statistic” invented by a discredited psychologist that the average age of death of gay men is 43. In 2003, it was revealed that Bennett had a gambling addiction which he kept hidden from his family, despite losing a reported $8 million.

John Paulk — Paulk is the former chair of Exodus International who appeared on the cover of Newsweek in 1998 as an “ex-gay,” and founder of Focus on the Family’s ex-gay program Love Won Out. He was discovered and photographed in September 2000 buying drinks for patrons in a gay bar in Washington, D.C. Although Paulk left Focus on the Family in 2003 to pursue “other ministry opportunities,” Love Won Out continues to hold events across the country.

Mark Foley - U.S. Representative - Sending sexually laced, gramatically challenged instant messages and e-mails to teenaged boys in the Congressional page program for more than 10 years

Ted Haggard - Leader of the National Association of Evangelicals - Paying male prostitutes for sex and snorting crystal meth

Larry Craig - U.S. Senator - Soliciting sex from an undercover cop in an airport bathroom

Bob Allen - Member of the Florida House of Representatives
Florida Chairman of John McCain’s Presidential Campaign - Offering an undercover cop $20 to allow Allen to perform oral sex on him in a men’s room in a public park. After being arrested, Allen tried to explain that he only offered oral sex to the cop because the cop was a “burly black man” and he “didn’t want to become a statistic.”

the list (and hipocracy) goes on...

Okay let's review:

1 . Gays cannot marry because right-wing Republicans think it is a sacred contract between a man and a woman in love.

2. Palin's 17 year old daughter is pregnant .

3. Repuplicans applaud her decision to marry the 17 year old father of her child.

Hardly a "sacred contract" - more like she has to do it or mom won't be elected. Hypocritical Republicans.

How strange the evangelical community are promoting pre-marital sex.
I can remember when that was a sin, the sign of a "bad" girl from a broken familly.

Evangelical hypocrites!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! have you no shame. It's ok when it's one of your own, but everyone else is welfare bound whore trash.