OBAMA / BIDEN ‘08, ‘12

The choice of Sarah Palin, in the words of others, “has energized conservative religious leaders.” That’s ironic. She preaches abstinence, but neither she nor her family has practiced it. There are facts. I didn’t make them up, and neither did the media.

I have no more to say on the matter. Obviously you are happy with your candidate. It will be a close race in November.

Sarah Palin has put her children — Track, Bristol, Trig, etc. — front and center in the campaign. That was her choice. Sarah Palin is the moralizer who preaches abstinence over sex education. Her own life demonstrates that that particular policy choice doesn’t work out real well. That’s fair game.

Regarding Jaime Lynn Spears the two situations are decidedly different. Spears injected herself into the public eye as an actress. She personally sought out the limelight. Palin’s children did not. Her children’s boy/girlfriends certainly did not.

Sarah Palin is the candidate running for elected office. Want to analyze her record? Go ahead, it’s fair game. Want to try to personally smear her? While it is poor taste this is politics and she better have thick enough skin for that. I would even say the spouse is open to some degree of inspection, depending on his level of activity in the campaign. The line should be drawn at the children, though, as has historically been done.

All of you folks out there attacking and investigating the children are absolutely disgusting. A true reflection of the moral decay of our society that anyone, much less “reputable” individuals, would attack children for political gain.

Everything I wrote about Sarah Palin and the family members is 100% factually accurate. And as far as your question — “how many in the media could bear this type of scrutiny?” — that’s completely irrelevant because no one in the media is running for office. Sarah Palin is. Therefore, scrutiny is appropriate.

Sarah Palin has put her family front and center in the campaign. You heard her at the convention talking proudly about her son Track, who will soon be deployed on active duty, and you saw the infant Trig being passed around among family members in the audience. I don’t have a problem with that, but if she’s going to try to capitalize on her family, then why is it unfair for me (or the media) to point out the negative facts about the family that are out there.

Unfortunately for Sarah Palin, the facts don’t paint a pretty picture. She preaches abstinence rather than sex education. However, neither she or her husband (when she they were younger) nor her oldest daughter has practiced abstinence. The oldest daughter is pregnant, unmarried, and engaged to a self-described “f*ckin’ redneck.” All these are facts.

This is the woman and the family that you and your ilk want to support for the second-highest office in the land? I find that shocking.

And speaking of the media . . . how many of you conservatives spoke out about the movie Juno and how it presented a sugar-coated version of what it was like to be an unmarried pregnant teenager? How many of you were critical of the media when the unmarried Jamie Lynn Spears and her baby appeared on magazine covers, on grounds that the media’s treatment of the matter was glorifying teen pregnancy?

But now, when the very same situation crops up in Sarah Palin’s family, there’s no criticism heard from the right wing. Instead, Sarah Palin actually scores points based on her family being a wreck because, as you put it, “[m]ost families are faced with the same pressures as Sarah’s.” That’s hypocritical.

Assuming that Barack and Michelle Obama’s daughters were a few years older (and of child-bearing age), what kind of stereotypes do you think the right wing would be conjuring up if one of the Obama daughters turned up unmarried and pregnant? And what would right wingers be saying about the situation if the father of the unborn child stepped up and described himself as a “f*ckin (fill in the blank)”? I really don’t think you’d be sending credit to Barack Obama based on such a sorry state of affairs.

Best regards.

Regards!