...conveniently on Labor Day, after the noon news, while coverage of Hurricane Gustav is ongoing... that Sarah Palin's 17 yr-old daughter is 5 months pregnant.
To me, this only reinforces the notion that Sarah Palin should be spending more time focusing on the needs of her family and less time gallivanting around the country campaigning for the vice presidency.
One might also suggest that this news is evidence that she has already not been paying enough attention to her children.
So let's see what we've got now. We've got a vice presidential candidate with a 5-month old with Down's, and a pregnant 17 yr-old?
And if she and McCain win, her daughter's going to give birth in the midst of transition activities in December or right around the Inauguration in January?
And her mom will be busy with those activities, getting briefings on the latest international crises, terrorist threats to the country, helping to interview candidates for the VP staff as well as for some of the thousands of political appointments that must be made by a new administration, moving her family from Alaska to Washington, meeting and greeting with supporters who made her victory possible -- and somehow finding time amidst her duties to work with her teen-aged daughter helping teach her how to nurse, change diapers, establish routines for that child, manage that child when it's fussy, learn how to manage her own frustration and anger when the baby has kept her up all night long and won't stop screaming, etc.?
Or will she leave her teenaged daughter at home in Alaska with her new baby and (likely) teen-aged father to fend for themselves while the rest of the family is moving into the Naval Observatory on Massachusetts Avenue?
And knowing your daughter is a teenager and is 5 months pregnant, you accepted a position that you had to know was going to result in your daughter's pregnancy being splashed across every major newspaper in the world?
If you're Sarah Palin, are you thinking about these things, or are you so ambitious that you just don't care?
Thoughts?
14 comments:
Did you not just praise on your blog the story of Joe Biden's first wife? Remind me - did he quit the Senate - a time consuming job I hear - stay at home to raise his two children or did he go to work every day and come home at night?
Life goes on. Families deal with issues like this every day. They manage. Even those with big important jobs.
"A time consuming job" -- apparently, not so much. As a senator, while you may not be able to just vote "present" (even if that's what you're used to), it's pretty easy to take a couple years off to campaign for president, while the wifey stays at home and takes care of the kids.
Seems like the libs--at least our favorite one--are trying to out-conservative the conservatives on family values. They'd probably be more compassionate if Bristol wasn't planning to get married. Oh, sorry, I hope I didn't violate a rule--Senator Obama says that discussion of families is out of bounds.
Chris: Biden did not quit the Senate in the wake of his first wife's death. However:
1. He stayed away from the Senate for a significant period of time in the aftermath of his wife's death;
2. His sister took over responsibility for the "mothering" side of things, and took primary responsibility for the day-to-day parenting -- so the boys did have a full-time mom even after Neilia Biden died;
3. Joe Biden rode the train home from DC to Wilmington every night for years, so he was there to tuck his boys in and make breakfast for them in the morning before leaving for the Senate, and by all accounts, was a very involved dad.
4. Joe Biden was not their mother -- and my comments were targeted at the unique and critical role played by a mother.
5. Due to all of the measures Biden took, his boys, by all accounts (at least those I've seen) turned out well.
6. And "families deal with issues...." But how many families' definition of dealing includes the mother taking the second most important job in the world and also moving nearly 4,000 miles away? That definition is the polar opposite of what I believe constitutes most families' responses to challenges including a severely disabled child and/or a teenager facing pregnancy. I'd venture to guess that in most cases, most families respond by doubling down on the attention and focus they give to the challenge -- not the polar opposite.
So how much do you know about what they've been doing to cope? I certainly am not aware of any evidence that they aren't a close, supportive family (and no, a pregnant 17 year old doesn't change that).
This series of posts just sounds like so much, "I have friends who are African-American."
To raise a child...it takes a village...called Wasilla!
PS (I think we know why Amy Carter and Chelsea Clinton never had this problem...arf arf!)
More seriously...it appears Mr. Chapin believes there's some sort of Republican conspiracy to create a hurricane and federal holiday (years in the planning) to try and bury this news...and its timing was not driven by the need to deal with angry, vicious, leftist bloggers engaging in all kinds of ridiculous conspiracies and hypocritical rantings.
A) pregnancy happens - I should think that YOU would be aware of this. :)
B) There are lots of communities in which 17 or 18 year old mothers aren't all that uncommon - do we know ANYTHING about the community she and her husband raised/are raising their kids in? It may be that marriage and children right out of HS is the norm there.
C) You can't control your kids completely, certainly not at that age. Perhaps the daughter was rebelling against mom's conservative values.
Bottom line, the public and the media have NO IDEA what's gone on/going on inside the Palin family's heads, and NO ONE but the Palin's can really tell us that with any degree of veracity.
Brian, you make my point about Biden for me. He wasn't their mother - he was their only parent, which made his involvement all the more important, right?. He managed. He adjusted his schedule to make sure he was there for his kids. Why you don't think Sarah Palin AND her husband can do this is beyond me.
Chris, that's a good point. But also don't forget about the other siblings. I think that kids from small families often miss the role that older siblings can play in helping to raise younger children.
Chris:
Here's why I think it's highly unlikely that they will manage this situation successfully -- because a) indicators are that they've already failed; and b) I've seen many families try and fail in far less challenging circumstances. I've seen friends and acquaintances ignored by their parents, or at least feel ignored.
They act out to gain their parents' attention and to dull the feelings of pain that they have -- they abuse drugs and/or alcohol, they engage in criminal behavior, they engage in unprotected sex at an early age(sound familiar?). Bristol Palin's teen pregnancy is a CLASSIC indicator of a family in crisis.
I saw all of this living on military bases -- a great microcosm of American society, sandwiched between fences in foreign lands.
Amanda: as for teen pregnancies being the norm -- you're right, they tend to be more common in extremely poor societies, and within the US, in its poorest areas. Teen pregnancy is a chief contributor to poverty for the child and its parent(s). See the article below:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51337-2005Apr13.html
As for what happened with Cherie and me, it's really not a good analog. We were already out of college, both in our late 20s/ early 30s, both mature adults, Cherie already had her Master's, we were living together in a committed, stable relationship, we were already talking about permanent commitment, we both had good jobs with outstanding salaries and benefits -- actually, we are good for drawing a contrast. Though our pregnancy with Audrey was unexpected, we were FAR better prepared than Bristol Palin or other teen moms like her. We didn't need the support that she will need.
And Todd, come on, be real...it's nice McCain machine spin that they HAD to release this news yesterday to counter ridiculous blog rumors (which had already been investigated and debunked previously, BTW), but that's just crap. It was a nice excuse for dropping that news, but it was still a crappy and fake excuse.
The McCain campaign exercised classic press management strategy -- drop a bombshell on a day in which it is likely to get the least attention. It was a major US holiday, most Americans are out barbecueing, the networks are obsessively covering a hurricane hoping it will turn into Katrina Part Deux -- what better time to drop a bombshell.
Brian, can you please post your secret to controlling 17 year old behavior? Those of us with kids would like to know, since the only methods I can think of for guaranteeing control would certainly not be approved by anyone who would describe themselves using the word 'progressive.'
Of course they're going to try to keep a low profile to this story. It has pretty much no bearing on anything of substance. And they're still a political campaign. Does anyone doubt that a big reason was the proliferation of retarded rumors from the left-wing blogs? After all, they announced it right after she was announced. I doubt any timing would have appeased you and the man-crush you seem to have developed over the Democratic ticket.
Now for a disclaimer: The views below aren't my own, but are just for the sake of argument.
I think it's really irresponsible for the mother of your child to hold a full time job. Early years are very important to the development of a child, and the presence of the mother is perhaps the most important thing they can have, regardless of the level of other help (professional daycare, etc).
I can tell that your family is troubled by the fact that your daughter was able to manage to fall down the stairs.
Matt:
I was waiting for someone to make that argument!
Anyone who would make that argument would miss what matters: the details -- the biggest detail being that Sarah Palin will be occupying not any ordinary 9-5 "joe job", but a 24/7 job unlike anything that any of us perform -- and unlike anything she's ever performed. That job will likely not offer her the flexibility I think would be needed to address the significant family issues she needs to address.
Cherie and I have all the flexibility we need because we work jobs at companies that value families and willingly give us all the flexibility we need -- be it working from home, taking time out for appointments or events, subsidizing (in a limited fashion) day care, etc.
Cherie and I make the maximum utility of that flexibility -- I won't bother going into the details -- a luxury that a vice president will not have.
As for the baby falling down the stairs, yeah, it was traumatic when it happened, and since I was the one playing with the baby when it happened, I'll certainly never forget it, but it's been a long time since it was a contributing factor to my thoughts about parenting.
Why don't we cut the Sarah Palin crap and definitively answer this question: Which will be better for America, McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden?
First, for Paul: Not while there's smack to be dealt to Brian. But the real answer is: McCain / Palin.
Brian, you're apparently missing the fact that she already has a non-9-5 job. I doubt that being VP is much more demanding than being a governor. What it will have is a better support network, and probably her husband won't have to work, so he can be there 24/7.
It will probably be easier to travel with the kids than before. And her default office is also her home. She'll never have to wait in traffic, and most meetings she's involved in will be with subordinates, so she can probably manage favorable terms.
The falling down the stairs thing was just an example of kids doing stupid shit no matter how closely you watch and try to protect them.
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