Good for her!

It’s also a delicate dance because as far as I last heard, she’s relying heavily on her parent’s rather conditional support in order to be able to make it through this rough patch. I was friends with a number of fundamentalist Christians when I was in high school and it was always a dance for them to try and be true to their real selves and survival in the real world and discovery of real people to be friends with and not offending their parent’s insane beliefs enough to be thrown out of the house.

As such she seems to be saying, oh god no, that’s how I got stuck here with my parents for an extra number of years, I wish I had been on seven different types of birth control without being so brusque. Knowing those who didn’t successfully escape their parent’s rule and how that affected them, I can greatly sympathize and admire her for speaking out at least this much about such an important issue.

You know, I’ve never been much of a fan of the “out of the mouths of babies” school of thought because kids are generally pretty clueless, but once in a while, their lack of experience causes them to say something honest, if not completely intelligent.

Reality is also a female dog - sister of Karma.

she’s relying heavily on her parent’s rather conditional support in order to be able to make it through this rough patch

Yes, but tossing her out on her ear for telling it like it is won’t win Palin any votes - not when there is a Golden Male Baby involved, and in-laws on drugs.

Ms Kate:

Palin could always regretfully toss Bristol under a bus—she’s just a girl, after all, and a ruined one at that—and raise the baby herself. That would be the kind of act of heroic self-sacrifice the wingnuts could get behind. (And with drug-taking inlaws, you think the effing governor of the state couldn’t get custody?)

Like much or rural redneck America (where I grew up and where in another area I still live), sex is probably pretty much the number one recreational activity among teens and young adults (older adults, too).  Ain’t much of anything else going on most of the time.

Glad to hear honesty from a right-winger.  There’s hope for her.

Paul, Ms Kate, and that whole line of discussion:

They could always decide that she’d had a drug/alcohol/bipolar problem and send her to an in-patient rehab facility for awhile.  Or she’ll just be like one of the several Bush family fuckups we hear as little about as possible.

It’s also entirely possible that she’ll have some sort of “return to grace” (a wedding, maybe?) just in time for the 2012 primary season.

Palin could always regretfully toss Bristol under a bus—she’s just a girl, after all, and a ruined one at that—and raise the baby herself.

Except for the fact that Bristol has been the most consistent caregiver for The Special Child Who Wasn’t Aborted since his birth.  You can’t just replace that sort of labor unless you really want to pay for it.

Well hell, Ms Kate, they do have the money to pay for it, don’t they?

There are only two things to do when you’re a teenager in most parts of America: drive around or go have sex.  With everyone trying to conserve fuel, I don’t think the abstinence pushers really have a chance anymore.  I think we’re in for one hell of a baby boom.

The Daughter Who Was So Evil Sarah Palin Had to Hire a Nanny…

Can I cast my vote for Born Again Virgin (who then takes an abstinance pledge) as the “return to grace” publicity stunt?

It could bring about a whole spate of really showy BAV parties. Oh, the images I am getting. They could watch Brooke Shields movies and listen to pre-slutty Brittany Spears (or just stick with Amy Grant) while nibbling on cocktail wieners. No!!! Bad!! Um, nibbling on…lutefisk. It’s the least sexy food item I could think of. Okay, I’ll stop before I get on to the BAV party games (reverse strip poker anyone?)

Sorry for the levity, I don’t find abstinance only education programs the least bit funny considering the obvious and dire consequences, especially the rapid rise in STIs among young adults. I am glad that Bristol Palin, whatever is motivating her to do so, is potentially prompting some people to question the validity of abstinance only programs who might not have done so before.

Good for her and all but damn, I hope she realizes it’s a matter of days before wingnuttia flips its collective switch from “blessedly sainted childbirthing mother of the most perfect darling birthchild” to “trampy slut who shoulda kept her legs closed.”

HooksInMyHead,

Was there ever such a thing as a “pre-slutty Brittany Spears”?  I always figured that from the get-go she and Justin were doing it wearing nothing but the mouse ears.  Or maybe I’m just a filthy man for even thinking such a thing.

As for those Brooke Shields movies, would that be Pretty Baby or Blue Lagoon?  Or would it be a double feature with a slideshow of those “artistic” photos her mother hired some scumbag to take?

I’m definitely filthy now.

The poor girl better watch out. The arrival of Derek the Abstinence Clown and his juggling swords of NoNo is imminent.

It’s also entirely possible that she’ll have some sort of “return to grace” (a wedding, maybe?) just in time for the 2012 primary season.

TV loves a good wedding.  Nothing will keep cameras plastered on the Caribou Barbie better.  And it helps take Bristol off the table, since it would be oh so disrespectful to say anything against a woman on her wedding year.  Kinda like Dick Cheney’s gay daughter.  It’s just not something Democrats are allowed to talk about.

I give Bristol a lot of credit for speaking the honest truth. 

As for the so-called Abstinence movement, the thing that burns me up the most about it is that it takes a worthwhile idea - that young people should have sex when they are emotionally and physically prepared for it and not until then - and twists and perverts it into this weirdo creepy virginity and marriage fetish cult.  Derek the Abstinence Clown is its living embodiment.  I swear, someone needs to seize his computer and see what kind of sick shit is on the hard drive.

I was just going by the public declarations of virginity and chastity from both of these women.

I am sure Brit had an active sex life despite her (and her publicity mongers) words to the contrary. Too bad she was held up to this ridiculous idea of purity and chastity, she could have been a spokesperson for happy and safe sex. Maybe THAT would have been a message teen and tweens would have listened to because Brit as poster girl for abstinance sure as hell didn’t work.

Blue Lagoon….*shudder*....

I am sure Brit had an active sex life despite her (and her publicity mongers) words to the contrary. Too bad she was held up to this ridiculous idea of purity and chastity, she could have been a spokesperson for happy and safe sex. Maybe THAT would have been a message teen and tweens would have listened to because Brit as poster girl for abstinance sure as hell didn’t work.

It would have completely ruined her career.  Take a look at Hanna Montana.  She shows less skin than your average swimmer and half the viewer based (that somehow convinced itself she was the reincarnation of chastity itself) throws a national snit and start boycotting everything that blinks.

Anyone that sets him or herself up in conflict with the army of hyper-conservative fundie parents risks the billion dollar investment put out by the mega-corp sponsors.  That sort of thing just isn’t allowed.

Oh, believe me, I recognize how much it would have trashed her career at that point given her target audience.

Hanna Montana is Miley Cyrus, correct? What a horrible position to put these teenage girls in (please refrain from the dirty jokes); be skinny, be pretty, be sexy but DO NOT be sexual. Throw in the conlfict between the autonomy that money and power can afford them and the bizarre stranglehold of fame and it’s a wonder every contemporary teen pop star is not a total train wreck.

Again, tweens & teens need safe sex representatives that they can find credible. Candid, realistic dialog is key.

It would have completely ruined her career.  Take a look at Hanna Montana.

Britney was 17-18 when she came out with her Saving Myself For Marriage branding.  That’s a pretty normal age to start being openly sexual (within reason/good taste, of course).  Hanna Montana is like 15 or something, which in my opinion is a little bit different.

Well hell, Ms Kate, they do have the money to pay for it, don’t they?

Sarah’s per diem checks ought to about cover it.

The Return to Grace event better happen sooner than the 2012 election. Having the white wedding with a four-year-old child isn’t going to play right to the traditional crowd. It might have, if she were a “fallen woman” and all, but she’s being presented now as a dutiful child and a wonderful family values kinda gal. People will notice.

Right now, they can point to the fact that the kids aren’t getting married because they have to finish school. That is actually a very sensible truth, but it has a short shelf life with the right wing base.

Not to mention that Palin is going to have to keep herself in the news for something other than her husband’s dog sled team and her kid’s love lives, or she’s going to wonder where her Golden Ticket went.

Having the white wedding with a four-year-old child isn’t going to play right to the traditional crowd.

If my Republican rank-and-file family is anything to go by, that would be just fine by them.  They have the most amazing ability to distort reality so that it matches what they want it to be.  Exhibit A: My “bad seed” stepsister whose reputation within the family did a 180 when she got pregnant and decided to keep the baby.  Despite the fact that she has yet to marry my niece’s father more than 2 years later. 

All the insignificant little details fall away when the person in question is conservative, or has done the eensiest little thing that resonates with their conservative “values”.

Right now, they can point to the fact that the kids aren’t getting married because they have to finish school. That is actually a very sensible truth, but it has a short shelf life with the right wing base.

Sarah was quoted as saying they were waiting for Bristol’s 18th birthday.  See, if she’s 18, then she’s legally an adult, and she’s making the decision to get married of her own free will.  She’s no longer a child.

Pay no attention to the fact she’s uneducated and totally dependent on her parents to maintain anything close to the type of lifestyle she’s always known.  She’s an ADULT now.

I find it amazing that Bristol may actually get her summer wedding.  I would really be amazed if she manages to avoid marrying Levi.  The Palins already have the drug-users excuse, should Bristol manage to hang in there, but that poor kid has very little freedom of choice here.  Single mom with no support, no education, and no prospects vs. playing nice for Mommy’s cameras and being allowed to live the life of an Alaskan millionaire.