Eric: Thanks for telling it like it is. Who is going to *parent* that 17 year old, or her little baby?

Would you be asking these questions if it were Michelle Obama's daughter?

Or would you be defending her from the scurrilous attacks of the Rabid Right, who would be asking the same questions?

Eric, I totally agree. This sounds like Jamie Lynn Spears all over again.

I see the whole thing as one big tragedy for young Bristol and Levi.Their costly youthful mistake has catapulted them to the national spotlight and made them poster children for both the left and the right.For me it doesn't matter who's daughter it is or what party the parents belong to putting the child into this situation given her lack of understanding of what's at stake is just wrong..There are thousands of teenage mother's to be in this country and a need for a better system of sex ed not just for the children but for the closed minded religious excuse wind bags.

Eric,

To the commenter who asked, "Would you be asking these questions if it were Michelle Obama's daughter?" A hypothetical question for now, but ...

I Thank we can rest assured in the knowledge that Michelle Obama would teach her daughters about the pill, and condoms and about the self-righteous religious right and all the hypocrisy that they spew. In the meantime, the Palins need to reflect on their own failures and Sarah needs to get back to Alaska and take care of life in her ridgid little way.

Having lived in Bible Belt states, you often see this type of "marriage" where the man is the "Man" of the house, as commanded by the Baptist beliefs, leading to wife beatings (well justified because she was not minding her husband) eventually leading to divorce.
Oh the things you learn while being a long time member of a singles square dance club.
It just sickens me to think what they are forcing on that poor girl.

Ugh. This just sounds like a recipe for domestic violence and disaster. Palin should be ashamed of herself, on SO many levels.

I blogged about this today (http://www.beyondstraightandgaymarriage.blogspot.com) and I noted that the whole story is so 1950's...when "shotgun weddings" were the norm. The teenage pregnancy rate was way higher 50 years ago than it is today; it's just that they got married, so the birth rate to UNMARRIED teenagers was much lower. I wish Bristol Palin could take advantage of the advances of the last several decades to make her own decision about this pregnancy. No chance of that.

couldn't be bristol....they have an older son (off to Iraq next month)

who says they didn't use protection every time? my sister did use protection every time and she got pregnant at 17. she stayed with the father, eventually got married, and now they are happily celebrating their 11th anniversary. (granted, she got married on her own terms, not because of any pressure she felt.) i know the joys and struggles this poor girl will go through. she doesn't need anyone's judgment.

I found out an interesting thing from People's Republic of China. In the event of a ciold conceived out of wedlock, both families pay a fine amounting to almost a year's salary. If either of the couple are employed by the state, their job is immediately terminated. While this is rather draconian, it emphasizew the families responsibility toward their children's behavior.
I fervently believe that every child planned for and eagerly anticipated. I believe the child has that right to be prepared for. We now have birth control methods that are simple and reletively easy to use.
Now I mount my soapbox. I believe it's winful for the Roman Catholic Church to continue their policy on birth control.Maybe they should be presented with the children the parents couldn't care for. Let them who fight planned parenthood,be the ones who take responsibility for their decision and care for the children.

Let's think about another scenario, Eric. If McCain/Palin are elected, God forbid, what happens to Bristol?

By then she will have given birth. She will likely be 5,000 miles away from her home, all of her friends, and the baby's father. Unless, they are married by that time. Will he live with her and her family in DC, or would she stay behind in Alaska without her family, to live with her 18 year old husband?

If it's the former, you know damned well that grandma vice president will be raising her one month old grandchild, as well as her seven month old son, as well as the rest of the children.

If it's the latter, heaven help everyone; especially the baby.

I find it curious that so many of us are continuing to engage in what has boiled down to junior high-style gossip, days and days after this story first broke. On the one hand, we say "how dare Sarah Palin run for VP during her daughter's time of need" while at the same time casting severe judgement on the Palin family, and asserting that we know the causes of this pregnancy as well as what Michelle Obama would do. I think this whole conversation is extremely inappropriate, considering that most of us have acknowledged how deeply personal the situation is. The assertion that comprehensive sex ed would have "saved" Bristol is ridiculous - yes, it's an absolute necessity for adolescents, but it's certainly not a guarantee, nor is condom use.

Instead of throwing all of our rage at the Palin family for Bristol's pregnancy, perhaps we should be channeling that energy into getting the story off the front cover of every single mainstream celebrity magazine, every 24 hour news network, etc, because we are ultimately exploiting Bristol just as much as her mother is - probably more so.

Those of us with longer presidential political campaign memories recall how the Right Wing Noise Machine savagely attacked then 13 year old Chelsea Clinton.