No one outside of the Palin family is in a position to have a clue as to the myriad of influences that resulted in one specific teenager getting pregnant. And in all likelihood (said as the father of a teenage girl), no one but the teenager herself knows what really happened, and even she is likely not entirely clear on it. So all discussion about what this fact reflects is nothing more than self-serving speculation.
But a discussion is happening aside from the particulars that needs to be addressed. The spin cycle is attempting to cleanse the taint by turning what is universally recognized as an incredibly bad thing and turn it into a virtue.
It’s bad enough that a teeny-bopper of some fame has recently birthed a child. Thankfully, no one tried to use this as a model of marvel for other young women to emulate. But then, she represented no partisan group that demanded explanations for those too stupid to arrive at any independent thought on the subject of teenage pregnancy. But our children knew all about it, and they had thoughts of their own.
Some of us had a talk with our kids about Jamie Lynn Spears. It wasn’t an easy talk, but it was talk that needed to happen. We thought we had the issue covered. Not so fast.
Discussion of teenage pregnancy is again on the front burner, but this time it’s very different. This time it’s being discussed in terms of staunch support, excusing if not justifying its occurrence and from there extolling the virtues of having the child and marrying one’s teenage crush. With stoic faces, gangs of mothers explain how proud they are of the choices being made.
Discussion is good (though it didn’t have to come so close on the heels of the last prime time example), but only if its positive discussion. When discussion of teenage pregnancy is subsumed by political partisanship, it is not positive. It flies in the face of everything we want to teach our children about what not to do. The malleability of morality doesn’t hinge on which party is doing the excusing.
So let’s make the best of this discussion by recognizing that we are not in a position to condemn anyone for the fact that one teenage girl has become pregnant, but this one fact does not alter the heretofore universal belief that there is absolutely no virtue in teenage pregnancy.
Confidential to Ken Lammers : This is not a political post, so don’t flame me for it. I’ve got kids and there are enough bad influences to deal with. I don’t need any more.
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I had the same reaction. (I had a political blog joke here, but I’ll spare you)
Okay. A quiz for the parents.
You have four kids under 18 years old at home. The youngest has Down Syndrome. You and your spouse both have great jobs close to home.
Your seventeen-year-old daughter has told you that she’s pregnant and keeping the baby. Her boyfriend is 18 and doesn’t want kids, but he’s willing to do “the right thing”.
You are offered your dream job 3500 miles away from home. You will be able to relocate your kids, but the job includes much more time at work, as well as a practical surrender of your and your family’s privacy.
Do you:
a) Politely decline, citing family responsibilities, and dedicate your time to your family; or
b) Accept?
Parent or not I’d decline. A newborn with Downs needs extra care. A pregnant teen needs guidance especially on how to be a Mom. This is especially true since the abstinence classes and birth control info clearly failed.
Like Mark Bennett, I think Ms. Palin should stay home and take care of the kids – like a good little woman should.
Come on, people. There’s a husband too. Your comments are based entirely on anti-women gender roles. Maybe the husband will take care of the children.
How do you know enough about her family situation to judge her?
To the contrary, I think the answer to the hypothetical question should be the same regardless of the gender of the subject.
But it’s interesting that you assume otherwise.
Politicians, like the rest of us, should be allowed to raise their kids however they like, but if they’re trying to sell their own peculiar brand of family values to the rest of us, they should expect those values to be widely debated.
Never mind child care: a child’s pregnancy is not the world’s business.
Aside: Jeralyn Has removed the ban of discussing the preggers daughter at TalkLeft because Gov. Palin has flown the baby daddy in to stand onstage with the Palin family during this evening’s festivities. Her theory is that if Gov. Palin wants to put her daughter’s baby daddy on TV, then she’s made the issue fair game.
I thought Glenn Reynolds came up with the best strategy for the Republicans to stop MSM and Democrats from discussing the governor’s preggers daughter: spread the rumor that the father is John Edwards.
Beyond that, I got nothing. I get to figure out, within some limits, how to balance out my own work life and take care of my kids; I’ll let Governor Palin (and, for that matter, Senators Obama and McCain) work out her own issues in raising her kids without my assistance.
Barack Obama has said that he is pro-family.
Shouldn’t he stay home to take care of his kids, too? Or will he be the selfish, workaholic father that his girls never see?
Won’t Michelle Obama also be busy with her duties as first lady?
What about the kids?