McCain/Palin fought money on teen pregnancy programs

[rsmith6621]

Source: AP

McCain fought money on teen pregnancy programs


WASHINGTON – Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's announcement Monday about her daughter, Bristol, was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's. Palin said her daughter intends to raise her child and marry the baby's father, who was identified only by his first name, Levi. The baby is due in late December.

Palin herself said she opposes funding sexual-education programs in Alaska.

"The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support," she wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080902/ap_on_el_pr/cv...

---

[mac56]

1. oops!

"Did we really do that? Heh-heh....."

[XanaDUer]

2. SP's daughter is knocked up?

[pimpbot]

4. You musta missed the Labor Day / Hurricane News Dump

They released the statement yesterday.

[XanaDUer]

7. Obviously.

Nt.

[progdonkey]

28. yeah, all those rumors were actually true! (to an extent)

The mistake the rumor-mongers were making was assuming that there was only one baby, and that the option was either the daughter was the real mother of Trig, or Palin was a horrible mother her put her unborn child and herself in mortal danger by flying cross-country when she was 7 months pregnant (the baby was born premature, shortly after she finally got back to her hometown).

Turns out: it's both!! Palin's a horrible mother who put her unborn child in mortal danger AND her daughter is a walking testament to the failure of her positions on sex ed and abortion (she and her husband praised Bristol's "decision on her own to keep the baby"--so they're saying they allowed her the choice of whether to keep the baby or not? )

McCain is such toast. They didn't do any vetting. Each day brings one more thing that should by itself have someone removed from the VP list: "troopergate"; then her connections to Ted Stevens; then her "shadow governor" husband; then her close ties to (and I believe former membership in) the Alaskan Independence Party, which advocates secession (and whose founder was buried in Canada because he didn't want to be buried under the American flag!); now, she's a horribly reckless woman whose positions on sex-ed are an abject failure (how can it work in the country at large if it can't even work in her own family?).

[Horus45]

32. I believe...

I believe that SP did what she did, by not going to the nearest hospital to deliver, because she WANTED the baby to die.
It makes perfect sense since she is so opposed to abortions.
She figured that the death of her Down Syndrome baby would be chalked up to an "Act of God" and she would be spared the burden of caring for a disabled child.

If this was her thinking, then she is a worse person than what we already think.

[progdonkey]

36. possibly...

Like I said, every day we learn something new and crazier about this woman (going from typical Republican politician corruption to advocating secession from the fucking Union! In four days! Who hates America, now?), but I've also been thinking that it fits with the idea of believing you're "an Alaskan, not an American." Her son had to be born in Alaska, like it's the Homeland or something.

What you're saying is not totally out of the realm of possibility, though, by any means. Some women might drink to induce a miscarriage, some might even have the baby and abandon it in a dumpster, and some might fly cross country, with absolutely no safety net while aboard the plane. It's unusual in the population at large, but not that unusual among religious conservatives for just the reason you mentioned.

The main problem with it, though, is that if something went wrong while in the air, she could just as easily die as the baby. And if she simply wanted to induce a miscarriage without anybody realizing it was intentional, why not just try sneaking some whiskey every night and then being "horrified and saddened" when the baby aborted?

[reggie the dog]

49. she wanted the baby to die? or to be born in Alaska?

She does support independence of Alaska and if your kid is not born there it cannot be a citizen.....

[mitchum]

37. Knocked up again....oh, the fecundity!

[XanaDUer]

59. Yo, mitchum!

good to see you again. I'm back.

[mitchum]

61. Good to see you again also!

[truthisfreedom]

3. Sex-ed versus "why does this feel so good? uh-uh-uh-ahhhhhhh!!!!"

[YDogg]

11. I LOLd.

[demigoddess]

56. at the very least they could teach teens that teenage mothers have

a higher rate of stillbirth, birth defects, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and even if the baby seems to be alright then in early grade school they show up with learning disabilities. (And I hope Palin has taught her daughter that you give a child milk and orange juice not orange soda and junk food. I have seen so many teenage mothers do that!!)

I got this from march of dimes and taught my kids this and no teenage pregnancies here.

[DUlover2909]

5. I get annoyed with how people name their kids nowadays.

"Bristol". No offense to anyone here with that name, and no offense intended to the governor's daughter, but I get the impression that these days people try to pick these cutesy sounding names so their kid will stand apart from the crowd. How about raising your child to stand out by his or her good behavior and accomplishments?

[Nihil]

6. It's just a built-up area in Britain ...

... rather like Chelsea ...

[raccoon]

13. Maybe Bristol can name her kid "Brixton." nt

[freeradicalm]

52. OR>>>

Being the Corporate-Loving shills that they are, name it Bristol Meyer Palin, or whatever.

[ladywnch]

14. its also a small town in AK as is Willow.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. And they both have football clubs; but 'Bristol City' brings up the Cockney rhyming slang

[JoFerret]

46. Bit different

And the football team is rhyming slang also...

[Nihil]

65. Not in the original context

I totally agree that the built-up area called "Bristol" is different
from the built-up area called "Chelsea" but the principle of naming
ones daughter after a built-up area is equally silly ... or does the
latter get a free pass "for some reason"?


Maybe the next child can be called Scunthorpe to cut down on the
junk email that they'd receive?

[tanyev]

15. What about Track or Trig?

If she'd had twins either one of those times I guess they'd also have PE and Calculus.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

19. You know why they named their son, "Track"?

Because he was born during track season, plus it is a sport they like. How dumb is that?

[jmowreader]

38. I was thinking of something even worse

Her husband is an avid snowmobile racer; he has won the Iron Dog snowmobile race at least four times.

How would YOU like to find out you were named after a snowmobile part?

[HEyHEY]

29. Palin's stands out by putting out!

[progdonkey]

31. "Bristol" is actually the most reasonable name of the bunch...

Mr. Palin apparently grew up along Bristol Bay, so she's named after there. Not terribly crazy, since there's a valid and understandable emotional connection.

Willow (the middle daughter) was named after Willow, AK, but I have no idea what the connection might be.

Piper (the youngest daughter) was named because Piper is "uncommon" and "just a cool sounding name." (You see how we're running into diminishing returns here... )

Track was, yes, named after the sport.

Trig is apparently Old Norse for true or loyal. ("trig" is also apparently a valid English word meaning "in sound physical condition; well"--very inappropriate joke possibility there that I won't mention )

Track and Trig... I guess we can assume Bristol's child, if a boy, will be named Chem....

[crim son]

8. So the daughter will drop out of school

and become a mother and wife? Excellent. What goes around, comes around, Palin.

[Shiver]

10. Of course not

Like Palin does with her own children, the baby will be farmed out to Palin's mother or another relative for the primary caregiving duties.


~Shiver

[Wednesdays]

12. To a nanny, most likely

[Shiver]

47. Nah, no nannys

They got rid of the servants and cook when she took office, remember? Why would they need a nanny? Sarah's mom will do anything she asks, after all...


~Shiver

[crim son]

16. Privilege is so very useful, isn't it?

[mcdonaldold1]

64. Privilege is so very useful, isn't it?

Privilege is just a word. I live in a tiny trailer and am on disability. About a thousand dollars a month and I feel like I am privileged. It is a term that is not well defined, just more smoke up your ars.

[crim son]

66. You are right, of course.

My usage is not unheard of, but I see your point.

[Solly Mack]

9. snort

freaking idiot

[chelsea0011]

18. You know Carville was on last night and was asked by Larry King, of all people,

if abstinence only programs can be raised as an issue even though kids should be excluded as election fodder. To my amazement he said NO!. Well, hell, I say yes. It is in the Republican platform. Her daughter never has to be mentioned when asking her if she opposes sex education for abstinence only. And when she answers let her look the fool. With clowns like Carville, the dems need better spokespeople.

[clear eye]

24. Heck yes, discuss it!

As part of domestic issues in general. At the very least it would do the country a service by getting religious people to think twice about their opposition to sex education that includes info on birth control.

[Iris]

26. And for the 17 year old girl who might suffer from abstinence only education and NOT have the

support of her family and the GOP behind her when SHE gets pregnant.

[Horus45]

34. it is always the same for these Repiglican hypocrites

They love the fetus, but hate the baby!

[HEyHEY]

30. But they want to look UBER classy with this whole thing

[undeterred]

20. I just can't imagine why someone from either side would vote against this.

Its not like you're promoting teen promiscuity. You're addressing a problem that's already there. These people have so much trouble separating cause and effect.

[TrogL]

48. These people do not 'think' as we define the term

Hence are incapable of reasoning through a 'cause and effect' scenario.

They 'think' with their emotions. They go from "my daughter will hear the word 'penis' in school....ewwwwwwwwwwwwww" to banning sex education entirely other than the word "don't".

[niyad]

51. beverly lehaye (wife of idiot tim of "left behind" and founder of CWA (concerned women for america)

said, on national tv a good many years ago, and I quote "if we don't teach our teenagers about sex, they just won't do it"

the audience collapsed in hysterical laughter, and the host (phil, I believe) looked at her in amazement and said, "you don't really believe that, do you?" she said she did.

[clear eye]

21. If You Count It Doesn't Guarantee That the Last Kid Wasn't Bristol's

Trig was born in April. They say that Bristol is due in late December. If Palin's trying to use this pregnancy to prove that Trig isn't Bristol's, she could easily be changing the date a little, knowing that saying that the baby is a few weeks late can't be disproven. If the new baby is actually due in mid-January, it is possible for Bristol to gotten pregnant again a few weeks after delivering Trig. This would take a pretty determined teenager, but it's widely understood that girls with low self-esteem often become fixated on the idea of a dependent child's unconditional love as a way of feeling better about themselves.

This must be dividing the fundies about whether she should have run for governor when her daughter clearly was not getting the guidance she needed. I can just hear the gears in their pointy little heads turning about whether she really believes in the fundamentalist livestyle, and how that affects their trust of her. Or whether she puts politics ahead of Bible.

[CatholicEdHead]

22. Bad Karma caught up with her

[petwlkr]

27. here, here...

Sarah Palin opposed sex ed classes, distribution of contraceptives to teenagers without parental consent; and school based clinics and her 17 yr old daughter winds up knocked up! Wow! Who could have seen that coming?!?

[owlbear33]

23. This is not to be mean but...

If I had a son who was born with Down's Syndrome, I surely
wouldn't name him Trig.  Replace the "i" with an
"o" and you got Trog, short for Troglodyte.  And I
would hate for the kid to have to go through any more
derogatory teasing than what he would most likely face as a
kid in school.  Just common sense.

[Dora]

25. What? What does that have to do with the issues in this thread?

I don't get it. What kid is going to think of calling another kid "troglodyte" as a schoolyard insult?

I'm typically pretty sensible. Welcome to DU.

[progdonkey]

33. yeah, he might get teased by those roving gangs of spelling bee champions...

How many schoolkids--even up through high school; hell, even college!--would know what a "troglodyte" is? "Is that like a hermaphrodite?"

Besides, I think he'd get teased more in school because "Trig" is a fucking school subject!

[Swagman]

35. remember what Ronald Reagan said ? :

Ronald Reagan, in his 1983 "Evil Empire" speech to the National Association of Evangelicals, suggested the correct word for unwed pregnant young women was "promiscuous".

Funny how the words the religious right use change when it happens to their vice-presidential candidate's daughter.

[happygoluckytoyou]

39. use your BOOTSTRAPS.... pull yourself up like my daughter did ! ! !

[Wetzelbill]

40. Republicans make this stuff an issue through sheer hypocrisy

I, personally, do not care if her daughter is pregnant. Good for her daughter, being a mother is a great thing. But Movement Conservatism has made demonizing liberals for being immoral, lascivious etc, a platform and the Republican Party has been on a holier than thou crusade for decades now, and almost been insane about it since Bill Clinton was elected.

Now a little hypocrisy can be forgiven, but when one of the pillars of your party is to not only project how much better you are than others, but to actively not provide any types of funding or programs for those people you claim to be better than, well that's just awful. Especially when it turns out that you're not any better than anybody after all.

[BanTheGOP]

42. EXACTLY MY POINT

I have NEVER been against teen pregnancy. In fact, I applaud Bristol's choice, IF it is her choice! This sounds like an Alaska shotgun wedding, to be blunt. It is UNQUESTIONABLE that it is the repukes themselves who have told the she-devil to toe the line.

We MUST keep up the attacks on this angle! Unfortunately, the sheeple moderates do NOT give a DAMN about Palin's oil deals, her ethics violations, her general crimes that would get you, me, and the poor guy behind the tree life in prison.

But if we can get the evangelical idiots in a tizzy so they don't vote for McCain, THAT's a VICTORY because it effectively gets us ONE-HALF VOTE! If we can get the moderates to vote for Obama on this issue, THAT'S a victory that gives us a FULL-VOTE SWING!

I don't CARE if you rip me...this is a freakin' WAR! And don't fret about "poor, 17 year old Bristol"...she is NOT like MOST pregnant 17 year old girls who have to FEND FOR THEMSELVES with substandard living conditions, paltry medical coverage, and a likely permanence in the poverty ranks, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT caused by REPUBLICAN edicts. Bristol will always be a millionaire (unless we can successfully indict and incarcerate her she-devil mother).

At least the MEDIA is pounding this issue! WORK THE ANGLE, people!!

[Wetzelbill]

45. I say work the angle, but make it about policy not the kid

Because in the end, it's not about Bristol, it's about the GOP and bad policy. The association is made, people know the GOP act holier than thou, but to act better than somebody, enact bad policy, and then turn out to not be all that holy after all? That resonates, almost without words in the first place.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

41. She should be asked if she'll change position on that

At least Palin should have the common sense to admit she was wrong on the issue of sex education. If not, well, Biden is free to feast on this one!

[greenpagan1]

43. Palin's chickens come home to roost.

McCain and Palin and their ilk are just too too much. What the hell is wrong with those people?

“O don’t pick on her you big bully…!”



BTW -- Imagine if it was Obama's daughter getting knocked-up. Steve Doocy would be doing cartwheels and Rush Limbaugh would be farting Dixie and Bill-O would be marching up and down in his bikini underwear...Or something like that...

====

[Wednesdays]

54. Yeah, "Don't pick on her" after they hold a press conference

and announce the girl's pregnancy to the entire planet.

[dubyaD40web]

44. Ruh Roh

[Wednesdays]

55. That's over the top

The problem is with mom Sarah, not Bristol.

[question everything]

50. Of course they would

after all, the role of any female is to provide an incubator or more babies who will grow and provide cannon fodder for the next wars.


(in case it is needed)

[sakabatou]

53. *facepalm*

When a reporter asked McCain whether he thought contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV, he replied: "You've stumped me."

McCain said later that he was sure he opposed government spending on contraceptives. Asked whether he would oppose condom distribution if he knew that condoms stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, McCain said he had never gotten into those issues before.

***

Such a great president he will be. :roll:

[depakid]

57. K&R

Hope that the campaign clues and subtly helps people to connect the dots....

[superconnected]

58. Why aren't women in the streets protesting right now infront of every

republican elections office?

This woman and Mccain have told us they will over turn roe vs wade. That would knock womens rights back 40 years.

That woman - Palin, is a chauvenest enabler. My fear for her daughter is that her mother does not believe in womens rights and those kids do not have the benefit of a mother who has empowered them, but instead a mother that will be a mans doormat.

Mccain only met her once before he chose her. There is no chance she didn't agree to step down if he is elected(stolen election AGAIN). She is only there for political posturing to upset obama via womens vote ala hillary. He will put in a crony because he is from cronysim. That is the point of him getting elected - keep the cronies in power. She is only there as an enabler to these men that want to put all cival rights back, not just womens.

Why isn't there a public out cry? Why isn't moldy food being thrown at every single republican election office in every city right now by _republican_ and democrat women?

Do people really not understand how big of a civil rights threat this is?

FUCK Apalling and her doormat daughter. Worry about your own daughters because that is whose rights they're threatening to rape. That is what the news should be focusing on and that is the only real story here.

[Iris]

60. you got me. I've been asking this for years.

It's hard for me to believe that this is the definition of "an American Family" that the Christian right seems to want - 2 parents who can't or won't stop reproducing living with their pregnant teenagers. A pregnancy that could have been prevented with a little bit of latex.

[mcdonaldold1]

62. Latex

Human nature being what it is (if your human) Abstinence is a joke. Most kids would like some latex. But to the Republicans that's like saying we endorse you having sex. Well, endorse or not, sex happens. Sometimes (oh God) between the same sex!!!!!!!!!

[meow2u3]

63. STP to Failin' Palin: if you're going to talk the pro-life talk

you have to walk the pro-life walk. This includes fully funding programs which will help teen moms learn to be good parents. Otherwise, you're just another self-hating, two-faced female dog whose so-called pro-life stance isn't worth the paper it's written on.

I have news for you, Caribou Barbie: real pro-lifers look after the poor--not down on them!