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Thomas Sowell: If teen pregnancy is worst scandal media can come up with, voters needn't worry

Roland Kayser | 1:12 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

I agree that Gov. Palin's daughter's pregnancy should have absolutely no relevance to the election. Some things that should are Gov. Palin's attempts to get the state trooper who was divorcing her sister fired. Another concern is her membership in the Alaskan Independence Party whose founder stated that Alaska is only subject to laws passed by the Alaska legislature and not any laws passed by the U.S. congress. A couple of his famous quotes are "the problem with you John Birchers is that you're just too damn liberal" and "I'm not an American, I'm an Alaskan". One can only assume that she agrees with those statements if she joined his party.

While I'm | 6:11 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

not always happy with the behavior of the right, the left sickens me. That goes for the politicians and the media.

Anonymous | 7:19 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

The right sickens me. If this stuff were going on with someone on the democratic ticket they'd smear her all over the screen.

Comments continue below

GeeBee | 7:37 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Good thing it's NOT the only scandal she has to deal with...there's that whole state probe against her.

Chris from Prosper | 7:39 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

The media would smear it all over the screen if it were a Democrat??? What a joke! Look at the way they handled John Edwards, where 99.9% of the media got a case of lockjaw about his affair WHILE he was running for president, and unlike the Palins, he was the candidate! Bristol Palin's pregnancy had some newsworthy quality, but it was a worthwhile story for about an hour. It's over. Will the media leave it alone? Not likely.

No Big Deal | 8:06 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Whats the big deal? They are going to get married.

evensteven | 8:44 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Roland must have missed the memo. The McCain campaign released Sarah Palin's voter registration records going all the way back to her first registration and she was never a member of the AIP. That is simply a diversion. Even if it were true, is it any worse than Obama's position on black reparations?

On the Bristol front, how many parents have complete control over their children? Isn't there a local joke about the bishop's children being among the most rebellious? Watching another use their agency can be very difficult. However, I see the situation as an opportunity, couple with Trig's disability, for Republicans to reaffirm their positions on life. To full-throatedly denounce those who view children as a punishment and some lives as not worthy of living.

Sarah Pain's speech last night was nothing short of amazing. Wit, fire, policy, sincerity, humility, warmth. She puts the lie to the claims of Dems on many issues, gender not being the least of them. Their double standards will lay bare and exposed as is their annointed emporer with no clothes.

Ultra Bob | 8:47 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Politics like history all depends on where you are standing. Just compare the treatment and the costs of the campaign against the Clintons versus the poo poo treatment of the McCain lack of morality and now wiht Palin.

It's nto the pregancy | 9:02 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

It's the lack of VAULES being shoved at us. I won't be votein for the MCBarbie ticket. Period. I will not accept this shoot from the hip decision. Mac's first imprtant one, and he hits a foul.

Not done yet | 9:11 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Teen pregnancy was the first.

There will be more as Palin is "vetted" by the press.

To the media | 9:29 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

I have no problem with Republicans being investigated. I have a huge problem with ONLY Republicans being investigated. No double standard wanted.

Obama's values more disturbing | 9:54 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Why is VP's daughter's preganacy a big issue to those at the NY Times? Do they not realise that this happens quite frequently? Is teen pregnancy a dirty secret to those at the NY Times?

It is especially a non-issue to me because the couple who created the new life are going to be married and move on with their family life (not the right way to get started and much too young in my opinion, but what does my opinion matter, it's their life).

Obama has already indicated what HE thinks would have been the RIGHT decision in cases like this. He said, "If one of MY daughters made a mistake, I wouldn't want her PUNISHED with a BABY"!

It's obvious what advice Obama would have given his daughter if she were in the situation Palin's daughter is in. I think THAT revelation is more disturbing than how Palin handled the situation.

The NY Times acts as if Palin's advice to her daughter (to marry and move on) should disqualify her from being VP. I think Obama's advice to his daughters (Abort, Abort, Abort) should make many of us reconsider our srupport for him and his "Family Values".

Booker | 9:56 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Sowell's right. After watching Palin last night, her integrity will overcome all the juvenile left-wing attacks.

drb | 10:02 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Roland, The New York Times retracted the statement last night. Actually they blamed the party official for misleading them.

Read the list of what this trooper has done including the threat of death and tazering his step-son!! Everyone in Alaska should be shouting for his badge!! Palin especially because if she does not and intimately knows about it (threat to her parents) she is hiding criminal activity.

Let us list the sins, crimes and ethics violations of each of the four (Obama, McCain, Biden, Palin) side by side and see who smells the worst. What was that about the Chicago Dailey Machine ...

freedom loving mom | 10:07 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

I don't see how the daughters pregnancy would influence her mothers ability to be vp. I've read a couple of comments about "controlling" her daughter. They send chills down my spine. You do not "control" anyone. You teach them the best you can and pray they make good decisions. People make mistakes. Let the democrats who have never made any mistake cast the first stone.

And just so you know, children who have mothers that stay at home all the time can just as easily get pregnant as mothers who are professionals. Give it a rest.

Mc | 10:14 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

It's nto the pregancy:
The value that Republicans are exemplifying in accepting John McCain inspite of his past infidelity is the ability to forgive. McCain has shown remorse for his behavior that occured many years ago and he has shown himself to be changed in his marriage to Cindy. We recognize that people change over the course of decades and most of us would not want to be judged by our bahavior as a youth. He accepted responsibility for causing the failure of his first marriage. I've never heard Ted Kennedy accept responsibility for his infidelity and failed marriage or any remorse for it. It is simply ignored. Democrats get over it when their candidates commit moral transgressions while in office, but expect us to throw out someone who made a mistake decades ago. Hmmm.

hold on... | 10:28 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

The daughter's pregnancy is important because of the hypocrisy it reveals. I know it's a comedy program, but "The Daily Show" made a good point last night: Sarah Palin and EVERY other conservative are asking everyone else to stay out of their business; this is a private, family affair. And yet, Sarah Palin would deign to tell every other family exactly how to deal with this situation. In her own words, Palin opposes abortion even in cases of rape.

It's hypocrisy to tell people to leave you alone, while at the same time inserting yourself in other peoples' lives and limiting the options they have. If a pregnancy is a private family matter, then it is just that. Not just for your family, because you're the VP candidate, but for every family.

Beyond this, Sowell's hypocrisy is stunning, considering how virulently he has ripped Obama for his past associations. Sowell's past descriptions of Obama encapsulate the "guilt by association" mentality of the conservative right.

So, associations matter if you're Obama. But if you're Sarah Palin, they don't matter.

Welcome to the conservative movement '08! Slogan: "Hypocrisy for all, if it gets us elected!"

Raymond Takashi Swenson | 11:09 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

The liberal news media commentators who claim it is "scandalous" that Palin's daughter is having a baby, and will be marrying the father to raise it, are the same news media who defended Bill Clinton for having adulterous sex with a young White House intern young enough to be his daughter, gross sexual abuse by an employer and a betrayal of his loyal wife.

Apparently the left wing media don't mind unbridled sex, they just hate to see sex allowed to bring new people into the world. They would much rather that the sex be the non-reproductive kind (ala Clinton) or that the incriminating evidence be killed without mercy.

They also objected strenuously to the message of the movie "Juno" that a teenage girl might bring her baby to term and then unselfishly give it up for adoption to a loving but childless woman. They don't want a woman to be reminded that the innocent baby she creates, with a man whom she believes she loves, is a real person who can become a wonderful son or daughter, who will love her more than she thinks she deserves, and will give her grandchildren

wrz | 11:23 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

Roland Kayser | 1:12 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

"Another concern is her membership in the Alaskan Independence Party whose founder stated that Alaska is only subject to laws passed by the Alaska legislature and not any laws passed by the U.S. congress."

So what? The great state of Vermont wants to secede from the union? Shouldn't the media be concentrating on castigating Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders?

GeeBee | 11:59 a.m. Sept. 4, 2008

@ Mc...
I'll bet its awfully easy to be faithful to a sugar momma like Cindy. That much money would keep lots of would-be stray cats home.

Re "hold on... | 10:28 a.m. " | 1:25 p.m. Sept. 4, 2008

hold on... | 10:28 a.m. says, "The daughter's pregnancy is important because of the hypocrisy it reveals".

Soooo, you're saying hypocracy is a big issue for you? If so, you CAN'T vote for a Democrat. I can document as many instances of hypocracy from them as you want. You just name the number and I'll try to fit it into 200 words or less.

But if you want to stay on this one-way road where only things done by people in the other party bug you, you can stay on that road. It's well traveled today.

Mc | 1:26 p.m. Sept. 4, 2008

@ GeeBee
Hilary is worth plenty and it didn't keep Bill faithful. He was willing to disgrace the oval office, the presidency, his wife and daughter and the American people to have sex with that woman.

Obama's philosophy | 2:04 p.m. Sept. 4, 2008

In his own words... "I hope my daughters don't have sex before marraige but if my daughter makes a mistake, I don't want her to be punished with a Baby!" (obviously saying abortion would be the route he would suggest for his own daughter).

CNN | 8:32 p.m. Sept. 4, 2008

CNN liberal? You've been watching a different channel than I have.

hold on... | 11:04 p.m. Sept. 4, 2008

To 10:28

You miss the point completely. I never said that hypocrisy (proper spelling) is okay for one and not okay for another. I, too, could document hypocrisy from the democratic party. I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy found in this little article, and the hypocrisy in Sarah Palin.

I hate hypocrisy in every form, and from every party. I'm an armchair quarterback, I guess. I sit back and call 'em like I see 'em.

It is interesting that you chose to shy away completely from the topic at issue, instead choosing to make the obvious point that hypocrisy exists in both parties. I don't care about that. I care that, in this instance, we are facing a monumental hypocrisy, and republicans don't have an answer for it.

You can't sweep one hypocrisy under the carpet by merely suggesting that another hypocrisy exists elsewhere. Better luck next time...

@ "hold on... | 11:04 p.m." | 9:29 a.m. Sept. 5, 2008

I really don't see the, "monumental hypocrisy", as you put it, in this article. I guess you see something I don't. I can't comment on something I can't even see, so I guess you win this one.

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