Well, they’re right that Johnston is a sleazebag for airing all this dirt on his ex-girlfriend’s family. I actually feel just the teensiest bit sorry for resigned-Governor Palin.

I would take anything Levi says with a *very* large grain of salt. That said, I’m firing up the popcorn maker and enjoying the show.

This is pretty much a tempest in a teapot. I don’t think much of Sarah Palin and I’m sure she is, by my lights, a terrible mother but Levi is, to say the least, not a reliable source. Nothing in his story is going to trouble her true believers and much in it is going to strengthen their sense of victim hood and outrage. Meanwhile, even for people like me who dislike Palin intensely there is nothing in this story that actually, believably, makes her out to be more than a busy, selfish, rather trivial woman who tried to do her best for her daughter and ungrateful daughter’s boy friend. 

aimai

“I would take anything Levi says with a *very* large grain of salt. That said, I’m firing up the popcorn maker and enjoying the show.”

Ditto.  The whole thing’s entertaining in a media slap-fight kind of way, but taking his account at face value would be like taking post-loss anonymous campaign staffers’ complaints at face value.

The amount of cognitive dissonance staggers the mind

Vanity Fair knows its audience. People who read VF are left-leaning gossips. Sarah Palin is a fucking treasure trove for their magazine.

Levi is such a great unintentional advocate for comprehensive sex education and abortion rights. Even if you don’t care if your daughter can’t go to college and has to be a wage-slave for the rest of her life because she made a mistake at 16 and got knocked up, most parents are going to look at Levi and think “there is no way my daughter and my family are going to be dogged like that by some little shit for the rest of our lives just because he put his dick in her.”

Levi has the power to disconnect more voters from Sarah Palin than all of the Tina Fey jokes and videos of wolves getting shot from planes ever could.

I love how they’re fantasising about Todd Palin assaulting him: “rescue our goddess, oh great Alaskan alpha dad.” The Know-Nothings really do get upset when their All-‘Murkin pin-up is exposed for the phoney, petty, cold and calculating power addict she really is.

That doesn’t make these relevations news to anyone with half a brain, nor does it make the kid any less of an opportunistic sleazebag. But it’s a fun show that’ll be over by Monday at the latest, and the summary of Freeper reactions is satisfying enough.

“I would take anything Levi says with a *very* large grain of salt. That said, I’m firing up the popcorn maker and enjoying the show.”

Absolutely. It’s actually the Freeper quotes that have me LMAO. Looney tunes!

Anyone feeling a least-bit sorry for Sarah Palin needs to re-focus on what the Republicans are doing to us:  http://bit.ly/eGSd5

Gail Collins of the New York Times has a pretty good take on this. I can’t wait to get my copy of Vanity Fair in the mail.

Gracchus-

I dunno, they seem to mostly be fantasizing about Todd and him alone somewhere in a way that’ll make a man out of him.

I mean, yeah, they make a good show of making it all about the violence, but I think there is still a twinkle of the true dark heart of longing that beats in that swamp. I’m pretty sure that those two have have been constantly on their thoughts.

Woah! Something went wiggy with the embedded video and now it auto-plays on page load .... any way this could be fixed?

1) I think it’s funny that all of their violent fantasies about Levi focus on Todd.  Never mind that the whole reason they loved Sarah in the first place is because she could handle a gun her own self - it’s the Patriarch who must defend the family honor.

2) I find this talk about “Leftist Masters” to be fuckin’ hilarious.  Have any of these people ever met any actual liberals?  Ever?  Do they really believe that a herd of cats like us can hold together an Illuminati-style conspiracy, or is “the Liberals” just their shorthand for everything in the world that they don’t like and can’t control?

Please stop the autoplay!

For Levi’s sake, I hope he’s telling the truth and has good legal back-up because Ms. Palin certainly isn’t going to like this.  “For the sake of our troops, Levi, stop makin’ stuff up!”  If we only get threats and no suit, however, that’s as good as a confession.

Well, it’s kind of interesting to see them trashing a male.  Usually just the females are the Slutty McSlut Sluts deserving nothing since they open their legs.

If he’d married Bristol, he’d be a real man, and they’d have no recourse.  But he didn’t, so now they can tar and feather him for deflowering the princess and not kowtowing to the Queen.

I mean, yeah, they make a good show of making it all about the violence, but I think there is still a twinkle of the true dark heart of longing that beats in that swamp.

I believe the swamp you’re talking about is the filming location for Deliverance.

Whatever the nature of the Freepr fantasy, I’d imagine that Todd takes the role of the “top.” Now that Krisin Maguire (AKA “Bridget Keeney”) has some time on her hands, maybe she can write some slash fiction about it.

Sympathy for Sarah?!  Try to remember what a power-hungry secessionist Rethug she is.  She’s a mean, spiteful person, and you reap what you sow.  Trash others mercilessly with no regard for decency and karma will see to it that someone does it to you.

And if Levi is to be believed (which he necessarily isn’t), kinda makes you rethink the Trig parentage rumors again, doesn’t it?

Sarah doesn’t cook, Todd doesn’t cook—the kids would do it all themselves: cook, clean, do the laundry, and get ready for school. Most of the time Bristol would help her youngest sister with her homework, and I’d barbecue chicken or steak on the grill.

This doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, except that it goes to far.  I mean, he acts like there’s something wrong with children having chores or teens helping out their younger siblings.

but he didn’t, so now they can tar and feather him for deflowering the princess and not kowtowing to the Queen.

The real problem they have with him is that he exposed their lie.  They like to tell pregnant women that if you just have the baby, then the man who impregnated you will change his tune and marry you and become mature and responsible and everything will be rainbows and puppies forever if you just have a baby.  Johnston is disproving their lie, and that makes them mad.

“I dunno, they seem to mostly be fantasizing about Todd and him alone somewhere in a way that’ll make a man out of him.”

...and now I need brain-bleach.

“Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

Hmm…how many inches are there between this, and what some gossiped she had done with the previous child?  Of course if her younger daughter had gotten pregnant, the one a little younger than Bristol, she never would have pretended it was her child right?  I’m not saying that happened, but I always thought her getting on TWO airplanes after her water broke was fucking bizzare, and this kind of puts that accusation in a new light.  Is it really that crazy of a story?  No, it is not.

“And if Levi is to be believed (which he necessarily isn’t), kinda makes you rethink the Trig parentage rumors again, doesn’t it? “

Opps - I should have read you first!  Anyway - seconded!

And if Levi is to be believed (which he necessarily isn’t), kinda makes you rethink the Trig parentage rumors again, doesn’t it?

Come on, let’s be reasonable.  Trig is Sarah’s baby.  Her middle daughter would have been only 11 or 12 when Trig was conceived, so it’s very unlikely that it’s hers.  We really shouldn’t stoop as low as the extremists on the right with weird conspiracy theories.

I tried, but I couldn’t read all the freeper quotes. It’s like drinking the last half inch of beer in every bottle at the end of a party.

On another note, does Sarah Palin have a serious under-bite? Her lower jaw always looks set, like she’s perpetually angry, grinding her teeth, and ready to start throwing anything not nailed down. In interviews, she can’t even do a tired sigh and shrug off a question like it’s mindless gossip. She always comes off like she’s counting to ten, and trying to not start throttling the interviewer.

Come on, let’s be reasonable.  Trig is Sarah’s baby.  Her middle daughter would have been only 11 or 12 when Trig was conceived, so it’s very unlikely that it’s hers.

It’s weird how many “experts” act like it’s so unusual for a woman over 35 to have a baby with Down Syndrome that Sarah Palin couldn’t possibly be Trig’s mother.

Needless to say, the swamps of Freeperville are erupting

Warms the cockles of my heart.

This doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, except that it goes to far.  I mean, he acts like there’s something wrong with children having chores or teens helping out their younger siblings.

catgirl,

The impression I am getting is not necessarily that he thinks there’s something wrong with children having chores or teens helping out….but that all chores and parenting responsibilities are being relegated to the older children while the actual parents do jack. 

Something which has been brought up in points on this blog about how older children are forced to assume parenting duties for younger siblings with parents too often taking them for granted and disregarding their own needs to be a kid or having their own schedule.  This is an issue many college classmates and older cousins who were older children recounted…some with deep bitterness.

Oh, but you left some of the best parts out about Levi’s bean-spilling: Sarah leaving her office during the day to hang out and nap, complaining that being govenor was hard, and too much work.

And, no surprise, musing that she should just quit and cash in, it would be sooooo much easier.

“Levi is a perfect example of what happens when most young men without fathers reach maturity (physical maturity).”

What an ignorant, prejudiced, hateful statement. I am raising a teenage boy without any help from his father and without family support or involvement. My son is well on his way to an Ivy League education, respects women and people of races and backgrounds, and chooses not to date in order to focus on his education and career goals. He is in elite national scholarship programs that have taken him to several top universities to study science and business and be mentored by Nobel Laureates. He insists he will care for me in his home when I am older and need that.

Meanwhile, on either side of my home there are families with several male teens/young adult males raised by “intact” couples (mother/father couples). These young males have been subject to several arrests for drug use, drug dealing, underage drinking, trespassing, property damage, animal abuse, discharging a firearm illegally, threatening their own siblings with firearms, and more. The parents are clueless and feel that because they were “raised strict” they should not “put their kids through that.” I suspect these boys will put their parents in nursing homes eventually because they’ve been taught to think of no one but themselves.

Ignorant statements like the one quoted above promotes abuse and prejudice against devoted, incredibly hard-working single mothers while negligent couples, some of whom are themselves criminals in that they smoke pot with their kids and also trespass and break laws as long as they think they can get away with it, are lauded as good parents simply because they remain together.

Everyone who knows me tells me what an amazing mom I am. I’m not perfect, but I invest more in my child than any married mom I know. And, he’s considered a very fine human being.

Three words for Levi:

What
A
Loser!

The only big mistake the Palins made was to let this bum within 100 feet of their teenage daughter.

The only big mistake the Palins made was to let this bum within 100 feet of their teenage daughter.

And not to teach her anything about guys or contraception. And to be anti-choice. And to parade him on national television as her fiance. And maybe a zillion other things.

This fascinates me for its window into a particular privileged, unthinking, irresponsible segment of US society. Tens of thousands of other conservative “upper-middle-class” families whose craziness and inattention helped get a teenage daughter pregnant, but this is one of the relatively few who’ve been so extensively interviewed.

“The only big mistake the Palins made was to let this bum within 100 feet of their teenage daughter. “

I love the underlying current of ownership of daughters running through some of the conservative comments. Bristol’s 16 - parents have no business telling her who she may or may not date.

“Levi is a perfect example of what happens when most young men without fathers reach maturity (physical maturity).”

Yeah.  Like that wonderful hocky-playin’ sweetheart son of my friend Susan.  Kid’s name is Peter Hams.  Totally messed up ... NOT!

“I suspect these boys will put their parents in nursing homes eventually because they’ve been taught to think of no one but themselves.”

Not to detract from the larger point, but the idea that nursing homes are bad and in-home care is good should not be treated as axiomatic.  There are still quite a few places that are essentially pounds for the elderly, but senior-care is lightyears beyond what it used to be.  It’s not at all uncommon for seniors to prefer assisted-living facilities located close to family members to actually staying with their family.

“Sarah doesn’t cook, Todd doesn’t cook—the kids would do it all themselves: cook, clean, do the laundry, and get ready for school. “

Not sure we want to go there on the meme that Sarah Palin isn’t a Good Woman because she’s not Cooking For The Household.  Not a Palin fan, but I have zero problem with the idea of a woman who is governor of a state - or in any high-powered position - not doing household duties.  No male governors get excoriated for not cooking, cleaning or doing laundry.  The only reason I can be successful in my career in a dual-income household is that I’ve outsourced all of that. 

Bad Sarah For Not Cooking is just a few steps away from the Bad Hillary Doesn’t Have a Favorite Cookie Recipe.

  And if Levi is to be believed (which he necessarily isn’t), kinda makes you rethink the Trig parentage rumors again, doesn’t it?

Come on, let’s be reasonable.  Trig is Sarah’s baby.  Her middle daughter would have been only 11 or 12 when Trig was conceived, so it’s very unlikely that it’s hers.  We really shouldn’t stoop as low as the extremists on the right with weird conspiracy theories.

Catgirl: I didn’t say Sarah wasn’t Trig’s mom.  I think she is.  But if what Levi said is true, then that fuels the conspiracy theorists.  It makes you think the Palins are capable of faking Trig’s parentage if they were willing to do this with Bristol’s kid.  It’s more about plausibility than likelihood.

Agreeing with preying mantis. I can attest personally that even middle-class retirement facilities are often run by very caring, competent individuals.

If you’re ever considering putting an elderly relative in a retirement facility, just take a good sniff when you walk in the door. If you smell urine, don’t put your family in there! Beyond that, try to visit during lunch or dinner and see how that goes, because you’ll see most of the facility at that point: nurses will be helping residents who need assistance getting around to their tables, you can scout out the waitstaff and the cooks and see what they’re being served for dinner (most places leave little menus on the table). When I was waiting tables at the nursing home, not only did we knew all of the residents name’s personally, but most of us knew all of their preferences and their allergies. We’d chat with the residents while we served them and were very patient with some of the more difficult residents. Usually, you’ll see the management turn out for mealtime (esp. the big Sunday Lunch), and you’ll be able to see how the residents interact with each other and their general attitude.

““I suspect these boys will put their parents in nursing homes eventually because they’ve been taught to think of no one but themselves.”
Not to detract from the larger point, but the idea that nursing homes are bad and in-home care is good should not be treated as axiomatic.  There are still quite a few places that are essentially pounds for the elderly, but senior-care is lightyears beyond what it used to be.  It’s not at all uncommon for seniors to prefer assisted-living facilities located close to family members to actually staying with their family.
Comment #35: preying mantis on 09/03 at 04:15 PM”

Yes, good point. There are reasons to put someone in a nursing home, and there are good nursing homes. I erred in making a sweeping statement implying that a more loving and responsible person would always keep their parent in their home with them. This statement was made to me the other day as a way to praise me for how I’m raising my son versus how the neighbors are, and I basically repeated it. But, your point is well taken. I meant to say that my son is more likely to take better care of me than their many sons are likely to take good care of them because of the examples they’ve been raised with. Please understand that my intention is not to be self-righteous but rather to point out to the reader who implied that an absent father yields poor results while resident fathers produce good results. It’s extremely challenging to raise a boy well without a responsible, caring father heavily involved in his life. But, I and many other single moms I know work triple time to do it, and many couples can’t be bothered to do the hard parts of parenting. I just hate to hear prejudice that stamps boys raised by single moms in a manner that is not dependable. Yes, it’s incredibly difficult and so statistics will show more difficulties. But, don’t assume married people do a better job. Sometimes, getting the bad example out of the home is better for everyone.

Todd needs to show him some father-son tough love and help turn this boy into a man.
A man like his own vandelizing punk ass son? God I hate that macho attitude.

I dunno, they seem to mostly be fantasizing about Todd and him alone somewhere in a way that’ll make a man out of him.
I am glad I’m not the only one who thought this. Also: don’t feel sorry for Ms.Palin. Does anyone remember how the death threats to the Obamas went UP when ever she spewed her shit?
I hope Bristol writes a tell all book. I have a feeling she’s more liberal then her parents.

“Shit like this is why I don’t watch the Jerry Springer show. That’s where it really belongs. It sure as hell has no place on the nightly news.
Jane16:
I am raising a teenage boy without any help from his father and without family support or involvement.
All I have to go on is your brief description, but I believe your son is what the Freepers would call a “pussy” or a “fag” or a “dweeb.” In other words, he’s a well-adjusted young man with a bright future who understands that you can’t improve yourself by tearing everyone else down. And there’s nothing a tinpot fascist hates more than someone who is obviously a better person than they are.
Comment #36: Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster on 09/03 at 04:18 PM”

Interesting comments. My son has a full beard at age 16 and was nearly fully grown height-wise at age fourteen. He looks 22, and people often call him, “Sir.” He tutors degreed adults in math AND does all the heavy lifting at home, including a lot of yardwork that he does almost completely without motors to save money and the planet. He is constantly chased by girls (and parents who want their girls to marry a genius) but has a grasp on the big picture and keeps his relationships with them on a friendship level, as much as he is attracted to them.

Ironically, one of the boys being raised by the couples on either side of me commented that he may earn money for teen type toys by “becoming a male prostitute.” My son would never even think such a thing, much less say it to a dozen neighborhood boys.

It’s not the exact demographic profile of the parents that matters. It’s the values, the example, and the choice of where you put your time, money and energy. Mine goes into my son. The neighbors put theirs into their physical homes. My house needs a lot of repairs. Their kids need a lot of repairs. We are not perfect, but I will defend my choice to put my son before my home, my career and my own interests at all turns because if I didn’t do it, nobody would—and it’s turned out very well so far. I simply did what nobody did for me.

That said, parents do not literally control teenagers. Teenagers have minds of their own. I have no doubt that if I’d neglected my son’s supervision and provided him with questionable entertainment and friend association like the neighbors, I’d have some of the same results. It is the parents’ responsibilities to supervise and direct their children, not just by making rules and punishment as so many feel, but by filling their lives with good things, and I don’t mean expensive tennis shoes and video games—I mean books, nature, musical instruments and instruction, family traditions, outdoor exercise, museums, and a love of learning. My son almost always looks really nice at school, but I spend very little on his clothing. He has very few video games and rarely plays them. We have no TV that comes into the house though we have at times. He’s not hidden and locked away though. He’s been inside Mission Control Shuttle Room, up in a plane flown by a famous actor, at lunch with Nobel Laureates, and so much more. It’s not the marital status or gender of the parent. It’s the dedication and willingness to put off personal goals and give up pride of how great your career, home and personal appearance is to give your child the best possible future. If a parent doesn’t do this, no one will.

I can’t say what caused Bristol to get pregnant. If she had better supervision, it’s very possible she would not have gotten pregnant. But, I will give her parents credit for trying to do things they felt were positive for their family and for their state. As of now, Bristol is by all accounts a great mother to a healthy son. Do we need to beat her and her parents up over this? Many children of older couples do not have as much love and devotion as little Tripp has from Bristol and her family. I feel it’s a bit different than if Bristol were just sleeping around with everyone or doing drugs. Having sex with her high school boyfriend is far from ideal, but it’s just not the same as rampant promiscuity or drug abuse. I think we should be supportive of young single moms because the ones we really hurt when we hurt the moms is the babies.

Everyone who knows me tells me what an amazing mom I am. I’m not perfect, but I invest more in my child than any married mom I know. And, he’s considered a very fine human being.

Comment #30: Jane16 on 09/03 at 03:00 PM
Oh but that’s impossible!You need a maaannn around! Ach, consider the source. To them family is a man/wife and two kids (white and Christian natch). Love makes a family.

Not sure we want to go there on the meme that Sarah Palin isn’t a Good Woman because she’s not Cooking For The Household. 

Except that Palin bragged that she saved the state money by firing the cook because she looooves to cook for her family herself.

I can’t say what caused Bristol to get pregnant.

Really, Jane16, Really?

Another victim of Abstinence only education!

“Not sure we want to go there on the meme that Sarah Palin isn’t a Good Woman because she’s not Cooking For The Household.”

I don’t think that’s really the point most people here are taking from it.  When you look at the statement “Sarah doesn’t cook, Todd doesn’t cook—the kids would do it all themselves: cook, clean, do the laundry, and get ready for school.”, well, it’s not likely “the kids” doing it.  If mom and dad won’t, and mom and dad won’t hire someone to, it’s almost assuredly “the oldest kids” doing it all for themselves as well as the younger kids.  Which is, without mitigating circumstances, pretty irresponsible of the parents.

As of now, Bristol is by all accounts a great mother to a healthy son. Do we need to beat her and her parents up over this? Many children of older couples do not have as much love and devotion as little Tripp has from Bristol and her family. I feel it’s a bit different than if Bristol were just sleeping around with everyone or doing drugs. Having sex with her high school boyfriend is far from ideal, but it’s just not the same as rampant promiscuity or drug abuse.

So, now, no one should point out their hypocrisy because she made a mistake that was just “far from ideal.” But if she were promiscuous or had a drug problem it would be OK to “beat her and her parents up?”
Wow.

Where’s the line? When can we point out the hypocrisy many of these GOP politicians live? Is it living the abstinence-only dream if Bristol and Levi just saddlebacked instead of having vaginal intercourse? According to the abstinence-only crowd the most important thing is a girl’s hymen. So if the hymen isn’t broken does that mean there’s no hypocrisy? In other words, if two teenagers screw in the woods and none of the abstinence-only crowd is around to hear it, does the GOP still use them for as props?

I think that the “Bristol should get to choose whom she dates and has unprotected sex with” meme is misguided for a couple of reasons. First, 16. I sure as hell was happy to get occasional guidance from my parents at 16, and she obviously could have used some as well.

Second, they present themselves as a patriarchal family. You know, one where children are fairly closely supervised by their parents until they leave home. One may disagree with that model of parenting, but it’s pretty clear how it’s supposed to work. Families that believe kids should date whomever they want generally take care that their kids have all the tools they need to make good choices. Bristol apparently got the worst of both styles.

As a parent of a teenaged boy (well, since he’s in college now, man), and girl, the first thing that struck me about the quote was that he referred to Palin as “Sarah.”  I’m sorry, but I am “Mr. 138” to my children’s consorts.  First name is intentionally disrespectful, IMHO, and probably was considered that in the Palin/Johnston households, too.

I don’t want it to seem as if I am defending Palin.  I dislike her probably as much as anyone here.  (I didn’t want to get into a contest about who dislikes her more, and we end up talking about a d12 or something.)

Everyone is different, Mr. 138.  My girlfriend’s parents asked me to call them by their first names.  For that matter, I could insist on being called “Dr.”, but that would make me feel like a douche.  I am “John” to everyone, young and old.

Well I hope Sarah paid the kids at least minimum wage for time spent doing their chores. And for godsakes, the kids better have filed tax returns for that money. Meanwhile, the Kennedy kids shoot heroin into their testicles, rape babysitters, and bash in schoolgirl heads with golf clubs. But they’re royalty and such behavior is expected.

Holy fuck: the RightWingVersionKennedys are awsome. I would pay to see that movie.

Rex Butler is a black supremacist Democrat lawyer who supported Jesse Jackson for his presidential bid and of course Barack Obama.

Yes, the threat of the Black Supremacist rises once more! How can the U.S. be so complacent? Black Supremacy’s historical legacy cannot be denied; in fact, it cannot even be recalled.

Crom’s Balls, I’d like to visit Black Supremacist America. I want to know who this poster is.

I just read the thing, and I feel I can’t add much to the issues addressed above, so I’ll talk about the style. It’s a first-person narrative, and whoever at Vanity Fair made that decision did young Mr. Johnston no favors. He comes across, much of the time, as a whiny, petulant teenager.

Which I suppose is accurate, after all.

Not sure we want to go there on the meme that Sarah Palin isn’t a Good Woman because she’s not Cooking For The Household.  Not a Palin fan, but I have zero problem with the idea of a woman who is governor of a state - or in any high-powered position - not doing household duties.  No male governors get excoriated for not cooking, cleaning or doing laundry.  The only reason I can be successful in my career in a dual-income household is that I’ve outsourced all of that.

Bad Sarah For Not Cooking is just a few steps away from the Bad Hillary Doesn’t Have a Favorite Cookie Recipe.
Comment #37: Susanne on 09/03 at 04:23 PM

Like all the other Palin stuff, it’s not the action, but the hypocrisy. Sarah espousing “traditional family values” which to fundernuts, means not only apple pie, but homemade by barefoot, pregnant mom apple pie.

I think it was the Maxim? George? ??? article on Todd, where Palin was supposedly teaching Levi how to cook a moose roast.  It struck me as “off” at the time that she told Levi, here’s how you marinate the roast, as she put it into the oven.  I put it down to her stupidity/ineptitude with language.  But now it makes sense - she doesn’t know her way around a kitchen.

Ditto on the guns.  Look at how stiff she is in any of her gun photos.  Franky, she’d get her shoulder broken if she actually took a shot like that.

My house needs a lot of repairs. Their kids need a lot of repairs.

May I borrow that line, jane?

s of now, Bristol is by all accounts a great mother to a healthy son. Do we need to beat her and her parents up over this? Many children of older couples do not have as much love and devotion as little Tripp has from Bristol and her family. I feel it’s a bit different than if Bristol were just sleeping around with everyone or doing drugs. Having sex with her high school boyfriend is far from ideal, but it’s just not the same as rampant promiscuity or drug abuse. I think we should be supportive of young single moms because the ones we really hurt when we hurt the moms is the babies.
Comment #43: Jane16 on 09/03 at 05:21 PM

Whoa, there.  Let’s remember this is thegirl/woman on the road to the same type of sloppy thinking at beast, hypocrisy at worst just like her mom.
1) Bristol has Tripp.
2)  Bristol interviews with Susteren, saying abstinence isn’t realistic.
3) Bristol comes out as paid abstinence only spokesdimwit.  Mus tbe that Plain shoe fetish gene surfacing (Candies Foundation is the asbsticorp).

So now she’s an adult who has willingly taken up the stupid - target up!

Jeez, Ms. Kate, are you really going to compare this shit head to the son of two women who obviously raised him right? Christ.

That said, parents do not literally control teenagers. Teenagers have minds of their own. I have no doubt that if I’d neglected my son’s supervision and provided him with questionable entertainment and friend association like the neighbors, I’d have some of the same results. It is the parents’ responsibilities to supervise and direct their children, not just by making rules and punishment as so many feel, but by filling their lives with good things, and I don’t mean expensive tennis shoes and video games—I mean books, nature, musical instruments and instruction, family traditions, outdoor exercise, museums, and a love of learning.

Jane16,

Not sure you actually are, but this description of how you “supervise, direct, and “provide good things” sounds eerily close to the behaviors and attitudes of many helicopter parents my professors and friends who TA at Ivy/Ivy-level universities have had the misfortune to deal with along with their children. 

One of the most common issues the Profs and TAs have seen with children whose entire adolescent lives are “supervised, directed, and being effectively controlled by being provided “good things”” is that most are unprepared to regulate themselves and cope with undergraduate life without continued parental assistance/involvement at levels undergrads from 10+ years before IME would have considered grossly excessive such as effectively registering their children for college classes or involving themselves in grade disputes with their Profs/TAs. 

Moreover, I’ve known plenty of people who had little/none of the “good things” you mentioned due to various circumstances and/or were exposed to “questionable entertainment”* and yet turned out fine….with plenty of them entering and graduating from Ivy/Ivy-level institutions with honors-level GPAs and awards….including a sizable chunk of my urban public magnet high school graduating class. 

* More than half of my high school graduating class played violent video games such as Doom2, Wolfenstein 3d, Street Fighter I/II, and Mortal Combat.  Coming to think of it, if GTA was available back then….they’d be playing it with enthusiasm.

It’s a first-person narrative, and whoever at Vanity Fair made that decision did young Mr. Johnston no favors. He comes across, much of the time, as a whiny, petulant teenager.

I submit that this was intentional (and you may agree), as I’m sure the writer is aware that most VF readers, demographically, are fans of neither Palin nor this particular fame-lapping bumpkin.  Ironic glee, y’all.

For the love of pete, stop the autoplay! It starts every time I load the main page.

Ginmar, what planet are you spending your time on.

I happen to know Marcia and Susan personally - if you read for context, the point is that idiots like the freepers love to say that workpieces like Levi result from “fatherless families”. 

Peter is a counter point - an awesome young hockey-playin’ heterosexual guy who never saw his dad’s penis in the shower to make him a man. 

Sorry if you didn’t gather that from the context of the thread.

For the people with the autoplay issue- if you are using Firefox consider getting the app called “Noscript”, it blocks any kind of script from running on a page without you authorizing it (right-click, hit “allow page” etc).  It comes in very handy not only keeping your comp safe from virus-y type things, but nothing will run unless you tell it to.

As far as the OP and the Freeper comments- I’ll just sit back and savor the fact that despite being poor and liberal, I seem to have some pretty damn good kids. My 16 year old daughter has zero interest in dating or partying, but the neighbors like to judge her and her friend because of their colored hair, chains, and clothes. Damn her and her AP classes in her junior year of high school! And that whole wanting to volunteer thing! And writing fan fic and drawing and stuff! She’s evil I tell ya!

Well, ok, she IS a bit evil. That’s called being sixteen. And having my genes.

Can we go ahead and give Jane “Mom of the Millenium” or WTF ever so she will shut up about how awesome she is? Good god.

TheRealistMom: Thanks for the Noscript tip.  It’s aces.

Gee, Ms. Kate are you still bitter over the Lovelle Mixon thing? Because you’re still being really snotty.  Levi Johnston is an opportunistic conservative shit who’s a perfect example of not just conservatism but a certain segment of young men who’ve been raised to be macho and manly and all that bullshit.  Peter Ham seems like an amazing kid with wonderful moms who utterly disproves the whole, “traditional family values’ thing. It’s unfair to him to compare him to this piece of shit. So I was defending your friend’s kid and you just wanted to be a shit about it and use Barney Frank’s phrase to an unhinged nutjob on me, implying I’m another nutjob. You sure like to see offense where none is given these days, not to mention say the sort of shit that one saves for trolls.

It makes you think the Palins are capable of faking Trig’s parentage if they were willing to do this with Bristol’s kid.

Now I’m wondering how long she thought she could keep this up.

Parents adopting the children of their unwed daughters, pretending the kid was their own, used to be a very common way for families to deal with teen pregnancies. When I was a practiciting therapist, I worked with a few families that did this and never told the child who the real mother was. So, I don’t doubt Levi Johnston’s word about this at all.

Ginmar, just fucking read what I wrote in context.

You aren’t slow like this ... at least not normally.

BTW Ginmar, your first clue should be that nobody else here had any problem reading that comment appropriately.

Ms Kate, I think Ginmar is questioning your even mentioning Peter Hams in the same breath as Levi Johnston, no matter what the context of the comparison.

Which is still kind of dumb, Ginmar, but I didn’t want to watch miscommunication continuing.