It took me until September 3 for my first little rant

Sarah Palin's daughter is pregnant. So what?

So...this girl gets to not only be scrutinized and judged by people who don't know her from Eve, but she also gets the nice guilty feeling of potentially damaging her mother's VP race.
Bristol is 17. 17-yr olds do not often follow parental rules. I would be a hypocrite to assume that if the Palins had been better parents, none of this would have happened. Abstinence-only education does nothing to squelch teenage hormones, no matter what message you are trying to beat your children over the head with.

There are two things that bother me about this situation, and perhaps only one is valid. The other issue springs from my distrust and dislike of uber-conservative pundits and may be unfounded, but it's my blog and I can write whatever I want to.

First. Who cares? I have a hard time understanding why some people are so confused about who to vote for. The platforms are almost entirely different. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have had their policy goals laid out for us for months now. Either you support most/all of the Republican views or most/all of the Democratic views. So... all this campaigning to persuade certain voters to vote one way or another highlights one very disturbing phenomenon. Voters can be bought by gender and race. It's not like I didn't already know that, but really, McCain wanted to (and probably will) rescue some Hillary supporters by choosing Palin? Palin is the anti-Hillary on almost every issue. Anyone who professed to support Hillary but now thinks Palin is the bee's knees is missing a few IQ points. (And I'm not saying Palin supporters are stupid, read it again, carefully.)

Second. The only thing that bugs me about Bristol's pregnancy is the way the neo-con pundits are praising the Palin family, as if they are the only family in the history of the US to support an unwed, pregnant daughter. James Dobson came out almost immediately with a statement about how the Palin's are truly living out their values by supporting Bristol and by Bristol keeping the child. I'm not disagreeing with Dobson's statement, but I've listened to him enough to surmise that if it were a child of Obama or Biden in the spotlight for an unplanned pregnancy, and the same familial support and decisions had been made, Dobson's take on the situation would be a lot different. Suddenly, according to these Beacons of Moral Guidance, we would see the falsehood of the values the candidates profess to espouse, in the glaring reality of a teenage pregnancy.

Second, part B. Really? Bristol and Levi getting married at 17 is the best choice? No mention was made of adoption at all. It's not my family, not my baby, none of my business, but I shudder to think of the heydey the press will have if McCain/Palin are elected (I shudder at that too) AND the marriage doesn't go so well over the next few years. Hopefully Bristol, Levi and Baby can stay in Alaska and enjoy some peace.