Bristol Palin Breakup
March 11, 2009 · Print This Article
Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, and the father of her infant, Levi Johnston, have broken up according to People magazine. [...]
Bristol gave birth to Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston back on December 28th of last year. She is currently taking classes in hopes of finishing her high school education.(Source)
I’m not here to gloat. I’m not here to judge or point fingers. Bristol Palin is a teenager, as is her ex(?) boyfriend. They have their whole life ahead of them. They’re at a stage in their life designed to figure out what and who they want to be. They are allowed to lead their lives the way they want. But boy, isn’t it obscene how badly the wholesome Republican world view is crashing down on them just a months after the GOP convention? And for that – that “wishful thinking” way of looking at the world, that “it’s gonna be perfect because we will it so” outlook on life, that hanging on to fairy tale values even when doing so might not be realistic or make sense – for that I award the first annual Jean-Luc Picard Facepalm Award.
Less than five months ago, the Palin family was presented as the perfect ideal of the perfect, ideal American family. Abstinence policies work! (Only it didn’t.) Palin’s daughter is going to marry her soon-to-ship-off-to-Iraq hero boyfriend! (Only they didn’t.) They’re going to raise the baby together! (Only they won’t.) “Vote for us! We’re calling it how it is, and our sense of reality is impeccable!”
And now what are we left with? Another teenage mother who is caring for her baby while trying to finish highschool. I’m sure she will do fine, the Palin family can offer a lot of support. Once again, it isn’t my intention to say “I told you so.” But I’m pissed. Not about the situation that Bristol Palin is now finding herself in. About a GOP who was either seriously believing their own hype, or trying to bullshit the country regardless. And too many people actually bought into it. Sad, sad, sad…
I’m sorry… what was that you said? “I’m not here to gloat. I’m not here to judge or point fingers.”
I admit that it’s hard not to sound like the average DailyKos fanatic when posting about a topic like this, who always seem to be taking these kind of things personal. I try hard not to do that, and I have no reason to wish Bristol Palin ill. She isn’t her mother (who I couldn’t vote for).
I very much *did* hate the charade that the GOP was putting on last November, though, and this misguided notion that, against all odds and common sense, their ideal of a perfect world will become true just because they said so. Instead of using this girl’s example as a way to discuss the very real problem of teen pregnancy and contraception (hey, maybe abstinence isn’t working to control teen pregnancies!), they chose to pretend that everything was dandy and wholesome. That’s not good policy, and that’s no way to deal with the world. In fact it’s counterproductive.
All this is part of the reason why the Republicans lost the election decisively. No need to dwell on the past. But if Sarah Palin ever runs for President people had better remember this as one example of her judgment.