Does Palin have a dark secret?

[Skiprr]

What really distresses me about this entire thread it that it is nothing more than a page from the National Inquirer. This unsubstantiated garbage doesn't deserve a discussion. If this event turns out to be true, then people have a right to discuss it, according to our forum rules, but why are we lending credibility to something that, at this point, is far worse than the early days of the Clinton administration when the media was correctly vilified for making jokes about Chelsea Clinton's looks?

And now maybe we can quench this Topic: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26496189/

ST. PAUL - The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins' statement said.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.

The Palins asked the news media to respect the young couple's privacy.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates," the statement concluded.

Shame on all the bloggers and rumor-mongers.

[lrb111]

and the sanitizing of their tracks begins. This was a discussion, with links to the reporter that researched the scandal for Kos and found it to be untrue. It's gone today.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 636AALThZH

[Liberty]

Shame on all the bloggers and rumor-mongers.

Please, there are respectable bloggers out there that wouldn't touch the story. Many do a respectable job. Sometimes rumor mongering is is necessary although I do believe that Ms. Palin deserves some respect and privacy. There are some storys that need to be fleshed out. For instance We need to get a better understanding on what really happened on troopergate.

Sometimes the seedy story really does need to get fleshed out. The stain on Monica's dress was significant. We needed to know because it was proof that Bill Clinton had commited the crime of perjury and needed impeachment. Maybe the Edwards afair is important, but there are very rew reasons to go after a candidates dependent children. There is something particularly slimey about quoting anything on Koz.

While I was afraid we were entering the age of Oprah style campaigning it does look more like we are doing it Jerry Springfield style,

[bdickens]

[KD5NRH]

I am glad she decided not to murder the child.

Which one; the fetus, Bristol, or the father-to-be?

[Right2Carry]

I am glad she decided not to murder the child.

Which one; the fetus, Bristol, or the father-to-be?

Not even remotely funny!!!!!!!!!!!

[jimlongley]

And mathematically, the daughter could not have given birth to the baby in May and be five months pregnant now.

[drw]

[trying to be unpopular here]

If the announcement of Bristol's out of wedlock pregnancy was intended to combat the allegations about Trig, why not just make a statement denying the allegations? I'm struck that they have not come out and just said that Trig is Sarah's baby, period. Why not just face your accusers and make a firm statement?

McCain chose Palin in order to appeal to socially conservative people. I was excited about her candidacy, and I gave her the benefit of the doubt regarding the Trig allegations. But to have a 17 year old daughter become pregnant out of wedlock is simply bad fruit, and nothing has been said to indicate that a mistake was made, or that what the young woman did was wrong.

Any excitement I had about Palin is gone, and I can't be the only prudish conservative out there with the same feeling. I wonder if McCain's goal of reaching out to conservatives has backfired here.

[/trying to be unpopular here]

[anygunanywhere]

[trying to be unpopular here]

If the announcement of Bristol's out of wedlock pregnancy was intended to combat the allegations about Trig, why not just make a statement denying the allegations? I'm struck that they have not come out and just said that Trig is Sarah's baby, period. Why not just face your accusers and make a firm statement?

McCain chose Palin in order to appeal to socially conservative people. I was excited about her candidacy, and I gave her the benefit of the doubt regarding the Trig allegations. But to have a 17 year old daughter become pregnant out of wedlock is simply bad fruit, and nothing has been said to indicate that a mistake was made, or that what the young woman did was wrong.

Any excitement I had about Palin is gone, and I can't be the only prudish conservative out there with the same feeling. I wonder if McCain's goal of reaching out to conservatives has backfired here.

[/trying to be unpopular here]

Statements like yours are totally inappropriate.

Mrs. Anygun and I happen to be one of those out of wedlock parents. Our oldest was at our wedding and was jibbering about wanting his Mommy as we exchanged vows.

I am about as socially conservative as a person can be. People have errors in judgement but our first son was never thought of as a mistake and there was never a question that he would not be kept.

You can't hold a child's error in judgement like an out of wedlock pregnancy against the parents.

How many children have you raised? Keep trying to tell me how you would love and support them at a time of crisis in their lives. Based on your statements I can just imagine how it would be around your house.

Anygunanywhere

[Venus Pax]

[trying to be unpopular here]

If the announcement of Bristol's out of wedlock pregnancy was intended to combat the allegations about Trig, why not just make a statement denying the allegations? I'm struck that they have not come out and just said that Trig is Sarah's baby, period. Why not just face your accusers and make a firm statement?

McCain chose Palin in order to appeal to socially conservative people. I was excited about her candidacy, and I gave her the benefit of the doubt regarding the Trig allegations. But to have a 17 year old daughter become pregnant out of wedlock is simply bad fruit, and nothing has been said to indicate that a mistake was made, or that what the young woman did was wrong.

Any excitement I had about Palin is gone, and I can't be the only prudish conservative out there with the same feeling. I wonder if McCain's goal of reaching out to conservatives has backfired here.

[/trying to be unpopular here]

Don't interpret their silence as approval.

[drw]

Statements like yours are totally inappropriate...You can't hold a child's error in judgement against the parents.

By running on a platform of social conservatism, Mrs. Palin invited scrutiny. Scripture is loaded with commands that we judge would-be leaders by the actions of their children. You and I will apparently have to disagree on this point.

How many children have you raised? Keep trying to tell me how you would love and support them at a time of crisis in their lives.

I would react the way you probably would, but if I was a publicly conservative figure making a public statement I would certainly include a message to other youth that out of wedlock pregnancy is a sin, and if possible I would have my daughter make a similar statement of her own, if she felt led.

Out of wedlock teen pregnancy is a problem, and to ignore that, sweep it under the rug, or make a hero out of the woman just because she doesn't murder the child, is damaging the moral fabric of our society.

Based on your statements I can just imagine how it would be around your house.

Nice. Thanks. When did this become about me, anyway?

[Keith B]

OK folks, play nice on this subject. We have to understand there are views on both sides here, and it can't get personal or the thread will be locked.

[The Annoyed Man]

Statements like yours are totally inappropriate...You can't hold a child's error in judgement against the parents.

By running on a platform of social conservatism, Mrs. Palin invited scrutiny. Scripture is loaded with commands that we judge would-be leaders by the actions of their children. You and I will apparently have to disagree on this point.

Scripture is also full of commands concerning grace toward one another. I am a Christian with a past, like a lot of Christians, and I believe in a God of restoration. Beyond that, I cannot tell you how many times my son and I have had that talk about respecting women, and understanding the meaning of "no" when uttered by a girl. But he is also born of a sin nature and into a body of flesh (see Romans). If he falls some day, I won't condone his sins, but I will still claim him as my son. And if I were a public figure, I wouldn't preach to the public "don't do like my stupid son here did." I love him too much for that. At the same time, I don't believe that my being a social conservative is invalidated by the sins of my son.

But you're right, this is not about you or me, it is about Sarah Palin and her daughter. All I can say is that, in the wake of her daughter's sin, Palin has taken care to make sure that her daughter marries her baby's father and keep the child. So she sinned. If Christ can die on the cross for that sin, then who am I to not forgive her, particularly when she isn't my daughter. Teen aged pregnancy is not OK, but this particular case is none of my business. Personally, I think that all the attention focused on it is largely salacious, and it serves nothing.

But that's just my 2¢.

Edited to add the following:
Hugh Hewitt posted this on his blog today:

UPDATE: This e-mail is very representative of what I expect the reaction to this announcement will be from all decent people of good will:

Hugh –

There couldn’t be a clearer difference between conservatives and liberals than this one…

Obama…

“If my daughter makes a mistake, I don’t want her punished with a baby”

Palin…

“As [our daughter] faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”

(also… "Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”)

When I, myself, became pregnant in college, my soon-to-be mother in law (a hard-core liberal Democrat who had openly encouraged me to have un-married sex with her son) expressed her “disappointment” in both of us – and immediately pushed for an abortion. My own mother (a sex-before-marriage-is-sin Catholic) immediately comforted me, affirmed her love for me and said, “There’s always room in our family for another baby.” My husband and I have been JOYFULLY married 21 years and have 4 amazing kids…. What an beautiful gift of love my mother gave me that day!

Babies...Punishment vs. Love. I think I’ll take love.

Warm Regards,

I'll take love too.

[anygunanywhere]

Nice. Thanks. When did this become about me, anyway?

Well, when you make comments on a forum perhaps?

I have lived through what Mrs. Palin's daughter is going through.

I have my own opinions about how much a political figure opens their personal lives up for public scrutiny. IMHO, what is going on with the teen daughter is not anyone else's business.

We should not expect political figures to be perfect since only one man who graced the earth was perfect.

We should expect honesty. I have kept up with these issues the last few days and Sarah Paiin has not lied about anything. She sweats more integrity than the other three on the national ticket put together.

If and when something blows up where you can actually pinpoint something she has done that even approaches what Bill Clinton did in the oval office and lied about it then you might get an agreement out of me.

Anygunanywhere