I’ve got a new blog up at spinline.net/blog called spinline.net: The Blog. (I couldn’t think of a name, OK?) The idea is that it’ll be less focused on politics and more on tech, design and other stuff. I might cross-post when appropriate. But at the risk of disappointing our readership I must hasten to add that I am not resigning from the ol’ Donnybrook, I hope to continue posting merrily at both sites!
We as Americans are enamored of death, destruction and scandal. Witness the top two stories today.
If you’ve watched even a few minutes of the Hurricane Gustav coverage on any of the news carriers, it is impossible to miss the hopefulness in the voices of the reporters that something disastrous will happen. Every twenty seconds there are comments that the levees could break any minute, that New Orleans is not out of the woods yet. There were barges on the loose and decommissioned naval vessels floating through the canals. The waves were pummeling the levees. To the disappointment of the news reporters, the levees survived those dangers. Now the hope is that erosion on the back side of the levees will cause one or more of them to collapse. Each time the hurricane is downgraded, from category 3 to category 2 and from category 2 to category 1, you get the distinct impression that the reporters are disappointed.
The second story is, of course, the report that Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of McCain’s vice presidential nominee, is pregnant and planning to marry the youth who knocked her up. Worse yet, according to some reports, Bristol actually intends to bring the child to term instead of killing it. It would appear that Governor Palin was forthright about the pregnancy with McCain. This morning she issued the following statement:
“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” said Sarah and Todd Palin in a statement. “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”
“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”
This is a good statement, but I think something more is needed. I think we need to hear from the candidate that she believes her daughter has made a poor decision to engage in premarital sex and that other girls should not view her daughter’s pregnancy as something to aspire to. She needs to be frank in stating that premarital sex is wrong. She should then support her daughter unconditionally as she has stated she will do and the media should respect the traditional privacy which is accorded to the children of candidates.
If Palin makes such a frank statement of disapprobation of premarital sex, her unconditional love and support of her daughter, who has made the right decision to have the child and to provide the child with a father, will send a message which is conservative, Christian and compassionate.
Such a statement would draw a sharp distinction with Barack Obama:
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