Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Bristol Palin: Being a Mom Is Not, Like, Glamorous

It was a real epiphany for me during the Presidential campaign, when we found out Sarah Palin's seventeen-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant and the whole Religious Right was happy as could be about it. They loved her for getting pregnant, and they loved her mother for being the mother of an unwed pregnant teenager.

It was the best political gimmick ever, there was absolutely nothing the Democrats could say about it without looking ... intelligent. Well, rude, I guess, or snobbish, it is impossible to explain why they couldn't just say "unmarried teenage girls should not have babies" but they couldn't.

Bristol Palin was interviewed this week on TV. Here's CNN telling about it.
(CNN) -- In her first interview since giving birth, the teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said having a child is not "glamorous," and that telling young people to be abstinent is "not realistic at all."

"It's just, like, I'm not living for myself anymore. It's, like, for another person, so it's different," Bristol Palin told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. "And just you're up all night. And it's not glamorous at all," she said. "Like, your whole priorities change after having a baby."

The 18-year-old, who gave birth in late December, said she is being helped tremendously by her mother, grandmother, cousins and other family members. She is engaged to teen father Levi Johnston, who is now working for his father and trying to complete school, but said she wishes that she waited another 10 years to have a baby. Bristol Palin: Abstinence for all teens 'not realistic'

Really! So changing diapers and getting up in the middle of the night with a crying kid is not so glamorous, huh? Projectile vomiting, not cute? Who would have known? --Somebody who took comprehensive sex-ed, that's who.

Teens need to be taught about the facts of life, including condoms, birth control, choice. Young women, especially, need to know how to take control of their bodies and their lives, they need to know what their options are.

Skipping down...
Van Susteren was delicate with the teenager but pointedly asked if "contraception is an issue here."

"Is that something that you were just lazy about or not interested, or do you have philosophical or religious opposition to it," Van Susteren asked.

Bristol quickly answered that she didn't want to get into specifics. The best option is abstinence, the teen said, but added that she didn't think that was "realistic."

It's a swing and a miss. It would have really been helpful if she'd said more. Why in the world was this seventeen-year-old having sex with her boyfriend without contraception?

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why in the world was this seventeen-year-old having sex with her boyfriend without contraception?

Probably because she received abstinence-only sex education in school and so the only message she got about contraception, if any at all, was the failure rate but no information at all about the failure rate of abstinence-only education. She and Levi would have benefitted from the film the CAC recently added to teacher resources.

I've transcribed two interesting exchanges from Bristol Palin's interview with FOX's Greta Van Susteren:

Greta: I take it this wasn't planned.

Bristol: No, not at all.

Greta: Um any sort of, I mean and I realize what joy a child brings to a family but um was there any sort of thinking that maybe, do you have any sort of sense about I wish that maybe this would happen a year or two from now rather than not now?

Bristol: Yeah. Of course I wish it would happen in like 10 years so I could have a job and an education and be like prepared and have my own house and stuff. but... He brings so much joy, its... I don't regret it at all, I just wish it would have happened in 10 years rather than right now.

Greta: You know, it always is sort of a difficult...I...you know when it's a question of youth and no one ever really knows what to say to a young person in your situation.

Bristol: Yeah. I don't know. I just...I hope that people learn from my story and will just like I don't know, prevent teen pregnancy I guess.


A goal we all can share, prevent teen pregnancy for all teens. Teens who are sexually active need the best, most scientifically accurate and up to date education to help them prevent teen pregnancy.

And then later:

Greta: He is...I don't want to pry too personally but I mean now I see contraception is an issue here. Is that something that you were just lazy about or not interested, or do you have philosophical or religious opposition to it or...?

Bristol: No, I don't want to get into detail about that. But I think abstinence is like ...like the... I don't know how to put it, like...the main.....everyone should be abstinent, but that's not really realistic at all.

Greta: Why?

Bristol: Because, I don't want to get into detail about it (laughs).

Greta: Oh no no, not you personally, just big picture. Not necessarily about you, but

Bristol: It's more and more accepted now.

Greta: Among your classmates and kids your age?

Bristol: Among yeah, among kids my age

Greta: How do you change that?

Bristol: To see stories like this and to see other stories of teen moms.and just It's something that's, I don't know, just...you should just wait like ten years it would be just so much easier.


And if you can't wait, use a condom correctly and consistently for each sexual contact to help prevent unplanned pregnancy and STDs.

CDC Guidelines: How to Use a Condom Consistently and Correctly

-Use a new condom for every act of vaginal, anal and oral sex—throughout the entire sex act (from start to finish).

-Before any genital contact, put the condom on the tip of the erect penis with the rolled side out.

-If the condom does not have a reservoir tip, pinch the tip enough to leave a half-inch space for semen to collect. Holding the tip, unroll the condom all the way to the base of the erect penis.

-After ejaculation and before the penis gets soft, grip the rim of the condom and carefully withdraw. Then gently pull the condom off the penis, making sure that semen doesn't spill out.

-Wrap the condom in a tissue and throw it in the trash where others won't handle it.

-If you feel the condom break at any point during sexual activity, stop immediately, withdraw, remove the broken condom, and put on a new condom.

-Ensure that adequate lubrication is used during vaginal and anal sex, which might require water-based lubricants such as K-Y JellyTM, AstroglideTM, AquaLubeTM, and glycerin. Oil-based lubricants (e.g., petroleum jelly, shortening, mineral oil, massage oils, body lotions, and cooking oil) should not be used because they can weaken latex, causing breakage.

February 18, 2009 8:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From this distant shore, even we are beyond tired of the snow-trash circus of hypocrisy. Bile-raising, vomit-following tired. May you please, please STOP IT!!!

HINT: If She does actually does marry Him... anytime in the next 2 years... you know who'll be running (again). The Mother.

And (BTW): count all of even your stiffest allies out, if you make a poor ballot decision, at that point. We can tolerate vapid, in the broad scheme of things, but utterly insane is a no-can-do.

Or, as someone slyly warned this week at work about a fellow worker... a cookoo clock can tell the time perfectly, but it's still a cookoo clock.

It's one thing to burst out of your carved twin-doors and announce it's 10 o'clock, and another thing altogether to know what that means.

(Why am I wearing these expensive clothes, and where did they come from??? jeez, shucks. Hehehehe.)

February 18, 2009 9:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bristol Palin's, what's that word??

February 18, 2009 9:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sarah Palin tax cheat???

The Anchorage Daily News reports

Palin must pay tax on past per diem, state says
EXPENSES: Governor received meal money while living in Wasilla.

By LISA DEMER
ldemer@adn.com

Gov. Sarah Palin must pay income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her Wasilla home, under a new determination by state officials

The governor's office wouldn't say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals.

"The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "If the governor collects future per diem, those documents would be a matter of public record."

The revelation about Palin comes as U.S. senators, including Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are under scrutiny over back taxes. A survey by the political newspaper and Web site Politico (www.politico.com) found that Begich was one of seven senators who acknowledged owing back taxes.

Some other state employees also owe back income taxes for travel payments and will be getting revised tax forms, Annette Kreitzer, state administration commissioner, said in an e-mail...


Didn't she know per diem money is taxable income and doesn't the GOP know how to vet someone running for national office?

Say it ain't so, barryo!

February 18, 2009 12:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Probably because she received abstinence-only sex education in school and so the only message she got about contraception"

Probably not, if you believe statistics. Participants in comp sex ed courses use condoms at the same rate as other kids. Most kids don't like the local high school teacher telling them what to do.

"Didn't she know per diem money is taxable income and doesn't the GOP know how to vet someone running for national office?"

Odd thing for an Obama/Geither devotee to say.

If you'll read the whole story in ADN, you'll find that Democrats in the state do the same thing. Apparently, Alaska law isn't too clear on the matter.

Come to think of it, I thought Alaska was one of those state without an income tax. When did they get one?

February 18, 2009 1:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's going on here?

This is what wikipedia says:

"To finance state government operations, Alaska depends primarily on petroleum revenues and federal subsidies. This allows it to have the lowest individual tax burden in the United States, and be one of only five states with no state sales tax, one of seven states that do not levy an individual income tax, and one of two states that has neither."

February 18, 2009 1:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's going on here?

Here's what the State of Alaska Tax Department says:

"Does Alaska have a personal income tax?

The State of Alaska currently does not have an individual income tax, therefore no employee withholding for state income tax is required."

I guess ADN is talking about Federal taxes and Alaska didn't report the correct amount to taxpayers and they've now revised it.

Big deal.

You checking your 1099s to see if they're right, Bea?

February 18, 2009 1:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

barryo has left the bunker! wb barryo!

Here's another interesting bit from the transcript of the Bristol Palin interview from Salon.

"They thought that my mom was going to make me have the baby, and it was my choice to have the baby, and that kind of stuff just bothered me."

Yes, Bristol insisted, it was her choice to have Tripp. "In terms of the ... whole issue of the right to life and choice and things like that ... this is your decision?" Van Susteren asked. "Yeah," repeated Bristol. "It doesn't matter what my mom's views are on it. It was my decision. And I wish people would realize that, too."


So it was her decision to go to term with her unplanned pregnancy, and now she's offering herself as an example for other teens to see how hard it is to be a teenage mother, how it changes your life and all your priorities. She wants to help prevent teen pregnancies and to encourage teens to wait until they finish their education, have a job and a house before they become pregnant.

And oh! So now I get it. You thought Daschle was right to remove himself from contention for HHS because you were concerned about him paying back South Dakota state income tax.

Oh oops! There's no state income tax in South Dakota either.

February 18, 2009 6:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You checking your 1099s to see if they're right, Bea?

If I had charged the state I live in nearly $17,000 in per diem expenses to stay in my own home, you better believe I'd be checking my tax forms to make sure they're right.

February 19, 2009 7:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not only does Bristol Palin want to help "prevent teen pregnancy" so teens can first "have a job and an education and be like prepared and have my own house and stuff," but she says among kids her age "everyone should be abstinent but that's not really realistic at all." She says having her unplanned baby was "her choice" and "her decision."

Bristol Palin sounds like a new spokesperson for Planned Parenthood.

MCPS Mom

February 19, 2009 7:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bea

Daschle received the compensation from a private source that didn't report the earnings to him because the taxability would vary in differentr situations and they had no obligaton to do so. The burden of reporting was on him.

Palin, on the other hand, received her information from a governmental entity which should have known the correct amount to report. If they're amending their view, then Palin will pay the tax. The two situations are in no way comparable.

While we on the subject, Daschle's employment was suspiciously close in appearance to lobbying for the industry governed by HHS, a common situation the hypocritical Obama admininstration had loudly vowed to end.

Democrats are full of this type of activity. Looks like we're going to have an election in Illinois to fill the seat of the latest corrupt Democrat.

Don't be surprised if it goes Republican.

February 19, 2009 10:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"...like prepared and have my own house and stuff."?

Did this child go to school?

February 19, 2009 11:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

how many years you been going to school now, Robert?

February 19, 2009 11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Counting kindergarten, I'm on my
38th year, give or take.

February 19, 2009 3:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well, don't give up

something's got to take eventually

February 19, 2009 3:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I's gonna gradeate, I is, I keeps workin' on it, my momma says I's a good boy.

February 19, 2009 4:38 PM  
Blogger Tish said...

Those who can, do.
Those who can do with passion, commitment and style, teach.

February 20, 2009 8:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you Tish.

rrjr

February 20, 2009 10:53 AM  

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