Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston
54Voter's Concern or Mind Your Own Business?
Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol and high school friend Levi Johnston are expecting a baby. Levi's MySpace page has been taken down, and photos of Bristol holding a shotgun and having fun with her friends have been splashed across the world wide web. It is disturbing to realize that some of this information was written by a handful of well respected journalists, and that it implies that Governor Sarah Palin is somehow morally bankrupt.
Website ratings and newspaper sales are important, but at who's expense? Admittedly, much of the information is scattered across cheap amateur blogs, but where does a respectable journalist draw the line? Any self respecting journalist would be inclined to quit rather than compromise integrity by printing this type of trash. The methods employed by many of these people to discredit Governor Palin can only be described as gutter journalism. Once the rhetoric and innuendo about Governor Palin is erased from most of these shabby articles circulating the internet and print publications, there is likely little more left than a good reason to give the woman a parking ticket.
One has to ask where it is written that harassing the families of politicians is an accurate way to gauge the expertise needed for a prominent seat in Washington. Sarah Palin has been accused of many things since being placed onto the Republican ticket last week, but one must be correct in saying that having to protect her children from scandal was definitely not part of the job description. Scouring the news headlines, one can find all kinds of unsupported garbage about the Palin family. Who cares if Todd Palin likes Vodka? assuming that statement was even truthful. There were also no valid arguments to be found which said "Bristol Palin is five months pregnant to high school boyfriend Levi Johnston, and this directly affects Sarah Palin's ability to be a suitable Vice President because.........."
The trend of mixing religious values with politics will never be a viable way to assess anyone's professional credentials. The opinions of the so-called morally correct are contradictory when their only avenue of research leads them down the path of unsubstantiated allegations and disturbing quotes about children. Gossip publications are now in the process of fabricating more filth, and yet most are displaying headlines which imply the information has already been obtained. Even if this were the case, it has nothing to do with Mrs. Palin's executive experience.
If one delved deep enough into the lives of anyone who decided to run for the Presidential office, the list of candidates would be shortened to none.
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modestybl says:
16 months ago
You bring up some valid concerns over the quality of journalism and the ubiquitous "info" sources on the web..
however, i have to say the mccain campaign themselves anounced the story of brisol's pregnancy. i have now listened to several talk shows where the only person in the discussion bringing up palin's family issues were her advocates, protesting too loudly i felt, about all the scurrilous stories on the web, then proceeding to recount them... one gets the feeling that they are far happier discussing their "outrage" (and repeating the stories) than discussing issues and policy...
now, in general the family should be off-limits. comments made about chelsea clinton were gratuitous and disgusting, from limbaugh's "WH dog" comment, to mccain's "she's so ugly janet reno must have been her dad" comment. (ironically, chelsea looked absolutely stunning at the DNC introducing her mom..)
but i have two comments here for consideration. sarah palin has made the fact that she is a mother raising several kids as one of her accomplishments. i have no problem with this, and agree it should be taken serious. but having made that one of her qualifications, it is fair to ask how she did. if children are having troubles with drugs, promiscuity and run-ins with the law, the quality of parenting is certainly a major factor in these issues, and palin herself putting her family in front of the cameras, and into her primary narrative for the VP slot, has made this a legitimate issue.
i also had questions, just taking her own story at face value with talking at a governors conference for 30 minutes after her water broke with a high-risk pregnancy, and delaying going to the hospital for hours flying back to an alaskan clinic with no neo-natal facilities. this seemed like highly irresponsible and cavalier behavior.
there has been an outcry from supporters over sexism (much of which i find interesting - did the right wing just discover sexism in the last month?), but john edwards was questioned over his ability to be POTUS when it was revealed that his wife had incurable, but manageable cancer. yes, more was revealed later by the national enquirer, (which now seems to be uncovering some uncomfortable facts about the palin family), but at the time, mrs. edwards' cancer was considered more than just a private matter.
i agree with giving even public people some private space. i'm far more concerned about palin's facile untruthfulness and the abuse of power questions as governor than her high school kid's pregnancy. but governor palin can't have it both ways - extolling her family as an accomplishment, but not owning up to the shortcomings of that "accomplishment". and the mccain-palin campaign appears to be the people bringing these topics up publically more than the MSM.