29 thoughts on “Don’t go there”

1. Brilliant points.

   It strikes me that the pro-choice camp seem to think that choice ends when a pregnancy does, and that their views on child-rearing and family are the only correct ones. Especially when they haven’t been parents themselves and/or believe that their parenting choices are the only correct ones!

   I used to consider myself a flaming liberal, but funny how that’s changed as I’ve grown older (and, I hope, wiser). And I’ve noticed something interesting in the hullabaloo about Palin’s daughter…the conservatives seem to be making the only non-hypocritical judgments.

2. Obama agrees with you that this shouldn’t be a story:

   http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/01/obama-says-palin-pregnancy-off-limits/

3. I think this will be a non-issue. Palin’s statement was a classy response to a tough situation and Obama knows not to “go there” as you point out. Good points, succinctly put!

4. Funny how these pro-abortionists can’t wrap their heads around a 17-year old CHOOSING to have her child. In their warped mind, the only possible reason for her not having an abortion must be because her anti-choice parents pressured her.

5. The pro-aborts also can’t wrap their minds around Gov. Palin’s decision not to kill her youngest son because he would be born handicapped. This family, by their actions alone, speak volumes about the value of human life. –Buzzy Whitlow

6. Actually, many of the “pro-aborts” (or as we like to call ourselves, supporters of women’s choice) believe that Palin and her daughter had a right to CHOOSE whether to have the babies. As opposed to Palin, who doesn’t think women should have a choice, even in the cases of rape or incest (which clearly isn’t the case here.)

   But it would be interesting to hear Palin talk about abstinence only education….

   That said, I hope hope hope we can actually have a reasoned, nuanced conversation during the election. But I’m not sanguine about it…

7. Considering the festival of boobery that has gone on in the liberal media prior to this announcement, I must say that it is with rapt anticipation I await their falling-all-over-themselves routine, inventing, as they are wont to do, new ways to be sexist and offensive. Oh, yes, I am waiting with a jar of relish, fork and knife at the ready. I've got that red&white gingham napkin tucked into my collar, and *giddy* boy! Is it ever going to be a tasty dish.

   Kind of embarrassing, really, when they do the fish-in-the-barrel routine. It's kind of awkward even to acknowledge it, isn't it? But still, we must.

   Bon Appétit!

8. Obama really can’t afford to be judgmental concerning Palin’s daughter, now can he?
   LM

9. Class. They have none.

   Obama should have made that statement on Friday night or Saturday morning, on his own without having to be asked about it on an interview. Now it’s just damage control so he can distance himself from the nutcases.

10. If the DemocRats keep going down this road. It will bite them in thier rears.

11. Please note: Several news services are reporting that Bristol Palin is about five months pregnant and is engaged to the father. An AP story says the father is identified “only as a young man named Levi”.

    It appears that while the young couple made a mistake, they’re going to do their best to put it right, according to the principles and beliefs they were raised with.

    (And if his name means what I suspect it means, then the ride is about to get even more head-detonation-inducing for the lefties, and just as much more entertaining for the rest of us.)

12. Some time ago – about six months into Bush’s second term – I predicted that in the 2008 election cycle the MSM would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had learned absolutely nothing from Rathergate. There have been times since then when it looked like I might have been too bold, but with the naming of Palin the nutjobs are working themselves into the kind of tizzy that leads people to forge “evidence” and then try to get it on network TV.

    The hysteria with which the Left has – of late – greeted every political loss or possible loss baffles me. Do they REALLY think that in a representative Democracy they will win every time? Do they imagine that this in any way helps they cause? Have they been sniffing glue?

    I don’t get it, but it is often entertaining as hell.

13. …now, if only the media idiots would LEAVE THIS ALONE! Sarah Palin is a remarkable woman with an all-American family. She has enough going on right now, and her daughter doesn’t need the media attention

14. Sarah Palin and her husband are experiencing what so many American parents are now faced with: the inability to exercise any control, discipline, or sensibility into teenage sexuality.
    Additionally, when a middle-aged woman suddenly becomes pregnant, it’s an embarrassment to teenaged children who are now so aware of sex; very often a teenaged daughter seems go into a competition mode which almost forces her to become pregnant as well.
    It’s a terrible combination.
    The Palins are also experiencing the guilt-laden inability to choose to rid themselves of an imperfect child who can only be two things: a terrible burden and a delight. It depends upon them which outweighs the other.
    For those of us who were raised before the 1980s, religious teachings and customary taboos and mores were a lot stronger than they are now. In the backs of a lot of our minds, abortion equals murder. For whatever reasons, the Palins chose not to do that.
    With the advent of Sarah Palin and her all-too-human problems to which almost every American these days can relate, Obamasamaramadama’s spinmeisters may see his magic slipping a bit.
    Had he been a gentleman with a sense of honor and propriety, the instant he heard of the Palins’ daughter’s pregnancy, he would have issued a strong statement telling both the media and his people that this topic was untouchable.
    Instead, he waited to see which way the wind was blowing. That, I think, doesn’t redound to his favor. I doubt he has had the training in his upbringing to know when some things are Not Done.
    I have to say, I have always admired McCain’s courage if not some of his actions. He has not chosen to emphasize the circumstances surrounding Obama’s birth and his life before Illinois, which he could easily have used.
    He obviously was made aware of the pregnancy situation and chose to behave with courage, courtesy and gallantry-and good sense.
    I don’t know if he’ll make a good president, but he has certainly proved himself to be a decent human being.
    LawMom

15. Do the rabid lefties really expect parents to go on their children’s dates with them? Put them in chastity belts? In the real world, stuff happens. My daughter moved out on her own at 18. She was engaged and inadvertently got pregnant. When her fiancee found out, he brought her to our house, let her out in the driveway and drove off. Of course it broke my heart. I knew it would be difficult for her. But we wrapped our love around her and supported her decision to keep the child, a decision I would have made myself had it been me. I even served as her labor and delivery coach. Now that baby is a beautiful 12 year old girl, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything.

16. John or Pro Abort, You have no idea what abortion does to a woman. The majority of women that have had abortions are never the same once their baby is killed. Incest and rape are horrible yet infanticide is far worse and permanent.

17. My better half, who (like me) is socially conservative in her personal life, but falls somewhere between libertarian and anarcho-capitalist in her political views, had an interesting phone call from her oldest brother today.

    (To put it mildly, we weren’t exactly champing at the bit to vote for McSame, and we were wavering between an uncounted write-in vote for Ron Paul, versus the less-than-libertarian Bob Barr. We like Palin, but not her running mate.)

    This particular brother of hers would vote a straight Democrat ticket even if the DNC nominated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden. He just had to call up and gloat about Palin’s daughter being with child out of wedlock.

    My wife’s flip phone “accidentally” snapped shut when Big Brother quipped that “Maybe she should have stayed home and spent more time raising her kids instead of playing governor.”

    Points he ignored in his gleeful pursuit of Republican scandal:
    -21 years ago, his only sister was 17, unwed, and pregnant.
    -23 years ago, his own girlfriend was unwed and pregnant, by him.
    -46 years ago, his mother was unwed and pregnant, with him!
    -Having a mother at home full-time doesn’t seem to be a deterrent, since their mother didn’t work, but both he and my wife managed to conceive out of wedlock.

    Now, remind me… which side are the moral hypocrites, again?

18. So far, I’ve seen comments that Sarah Palin is a bad mom because she’s not staying home with her Down’s Syndrome baby, because she’s got a pregnant teenage daughter (like that’s never happened before!), comments that she shouldn’t be in the running because she probably doesn’t use birth control and might have another high-risk pregnancy at her advanced age, and even comments that she may have had a Down’s baby due to poor prenatal care (Down’s is genetic). I expect it to get even more disgusting as time goes on.

    Obviously, the only women who should be in politics are Democrats! It’s interesting that it’s those on the left, who are supposedly in favor of a woman’s right to make whatever choices she wishes, who are condemning Mrs. Palin’s choices.

    It’s only because the Palins are living out their convictions that it’s even an issue. Who knows- and I don’t particularly want to- how many female politicians have aborted pregnancies because the timing was “inconvenient;” how many politician’s daughters have aborted pregnancies to avoid this very sort of public situation? A few, at least, I’d guess.

    Too much negativity about the Palin family situation might backfire on the Dems and the media, though, since it’s not an unusual situation. At least, I would hope that it would make people stop and think.

19. This story is not really getting as much attention as the Dems would like. As a few have already pointed out, it is the dems who promote teenage rebelliousness and teen pregnancy and than of course abortion. And alas teenage Palin comes along and they try to crucify her but it backfires, and this is why, we all know that people make mistakes, in this case the people admitted to the mistake and have vowed to take personal responsibility for it. She will keep the baby and marry the father, the father I hear has a good job and wants to be there and work hard to support the child.

    So there we have it dems, instead of offing her child, she made a mistake, but her and the father did not try to hide it, it is my understanding the people in the town they lived in knew of this, and yet there is still overwhelming support for their governor. These two teens, who are really almost adults, are going to take responsibility. Conservatives are still happy and the dems have to go back to look for more dirt

20. One thing everyone seems to be overlooking: Sarah Palin and her husband may have chosen to get pregnant while it was still possible. Maybe they wanted another child.
    After all, Hollywood does it to kudos and hurrahs, why not everyone else?
    It’s a medical fact that people over 35 years old are about three times as likely to have a Downs syndrome child. The older the parents are, the higher the risk. Certainly the Palins were aware of that and decided to take that risk.
    They have accepted the consequences.
    As to the daughter, maybe her pregnancy wasn’t an ‘accident’ either?
    At any rate, it strikes me that it’s really no one’s business but the Palins.
    LawMom

21. John, women DO chose whether they want to have the baby, the choice happens BEFORE they have unprotected sex. After the fact it is murder.

22. Wow, Obama just can’t please people here. If he says nothing then he’s odviously at fault for all of the amazingly scandulious chatter that everyone who is not him says on the internet. Odviously he’s the greatest demon in the world because it is the greatest of hypocracy considering his own family’s background. Fair enough.

    So, instead of being a hypocrat he speaks out against the squalling, and calls for an end to the personal attacks saying “They have no place in American Politics”. Does he win your respect? No. Your perception is that he would only ever say something like that because he is odviously “afread” and that the reason the story gets less attention than expected odviously has nothing to do with Obama saying in no uncertain terms to knock it off.

    Some have said that he simply didn’t say it fast enough, however I say he odviously spoke soon enough that it made it as only the [b]second[/b] comment here.

    When you simply can’t be pleased no matter what a person does, it says more about you than it does them, I think.

23. So, I just wanted to point out that even among the Dems there is plenty of “Don’t go there”.
    http://jezebel.com/5044027/bristol-palin-is-pregnant-let-the-opprobrium-begin

    Please let’s have an election year about issues. I really want to talk about gun laws, taxes, access to health care and so on, not as a Dem/Rep/Ind, but as an American. That way, I’ll have some idea who I really want to vote for later this year.

24. Dear Rorschach,

    So, as a point of clarification, do you consider contraception abortion? Is there a point after conception where there is not yet a baby? IF not, how shall we as a society deal with mother’s who drink, use drugs etc after they are pregnant? How about if they don’t know that they are pregnant?

    I’m not asking to be an ass. I really want to know how you feel, and how other folks who are “pro-life” think.

    Thanks.

25. Well, anonymous, McCain can’t please people over on your side. About evens out, I’d say.

26. to John @ 7:11.

    Howdy! You look like you’re looking for answers, so here are mine.

    I don’t consider contraception to be abortion (rhythm, birth control pill, condoms). I am a Christian, and my Christian answer would be that the soul vests when sperm meets egg.

    Even leaving aside Christianity, there is obviously some point at which “it’s a child, not a choice.” When is that point?

    Is it viability? Is it assisted viability, or unassisted viability?

    I’m a conservative, and prefer to err on the side of caution. I can’t claim it’s a perfect answer, but it’s the best one I’ve worked out with faith and reason.

    Thank you for including the Jezebel.com link. As “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” it is the screeching, shrill fringe that gets attention (and there is a “red” and a “blue” screeching shrill fringe). It is nice to be reminded that not all Democrats are “DemonRats” and not all Republicans “Repugnantcans” (did I get my terminology down right?).

    Best of luck, man—one American to another.

27. Hi Cossack

    Thanks for the answer. For me (and this is personal) the point is where an embryo (or a fetus, your choice) becomes assisstedly viable (pardon the spelling). For me. For you, the point is much earlier. My question is, how do we as a society decide? We can’t yet agree on whether a 14- year-old is mature enough to commit murder (as opposed to manslaughter) nor whether a person of some low IQ can understand the consequences of his actions. (My sister-in-law has an IQ of about 55-60. She can barely take care of herself. Should she have the family she wants: 8-10 children?) How do we decide these things. The nly answer I came up with is the same one you did: faith and reason… But we came to differing answers. Now what? Can you walk this path with me?

28. What almost every blogger and commenter on all the gun rights/survivalist/prepper blogs I read don’t get regarding this issue is the incredible hipocracy of the right. They have generally vilified unwed pregnant teens for decades. Just look at the reaction to the news of Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy last December. She, and her mom even more, were roundly vilified and dissed by the right, even making Bill O’s pinheads list.
    What was your reaction? Be honest.
    Now Palin and her daughter are brave angels?
    Explain.

29. I don’t see anything on this blog making Saracudda and her daughter out to be angels. However, the rather dastardly rumor that the Downs syndrome baby belongs to the daughter and her father-no doubt put out by the Obama camp-may have caused the ‘angelic’ backlash. Not Done, don’t you know.
    Sarah Palin is an ambitious, ruthless, manipulative woman who has principles which appear to be applied only to her family and when it is expedient to her ambitions. She is probably the ideal politician, but not someone who, in everyday life, I’d want to have coffee and a chat with. (Never mind that I hate the hairdo and the 1950s teacher glasses)
    In short, I don’t like her. But, she has a teenaged daughter who stupidly (or not) got pregnant, and a retarded son, and a son who is headed for Iraq. She is experiencing some critical and possibly disasterous things to which we can relate.
    How do you imagine that the ordinary American can relate to the Spears family? Get real.
    Doesn’t look to me like Ann Dunham and her mother were vilified, either…nor are they yet.
    Demonizing and deifying can be very selective, in this election year seemingly dependent upon color and influence, particularly when dealing with the media.
    Want to explain that, scott?

Comments are closed.