Prelude: My own son, Jake, was conceived unexpectedly and out of wedlock. He is now in his Junior year as a Music Composition major at his university. He is a blessing for which I am very grateful. And he plays beautiful music (1,2).
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We shall soon enough know the truth about Evangelical reaction to Bristol Palin's pregnancy. This is a fascinating sociological and political experiment. The results will reveal more truth than any Gallup Poll.
I'm fascinated with how this is going to play out. Since I've been in the blogosphere - aka in comment sections of other blogs - I've defended Evangelical groups as being largely characterized by compassion and love. I've wondered: what might be out there in Evangelical-land that I don't know about? I've asserted there is no secret about what is out there: Evangelicals nationwide are essentially compassionate and loving. There are exceptions, yet they are small in number and even smaller in influence. Therefore, I'm now fascinated with how Bristol Palin's pregnancy will play in the November election. This is a test of my thesis.
The left believe Evangelical voters will rush away from Sarah Palin because of Bristol's pregnancy.
Some Evangelicals will do so. Dramatic statements of condemnation will issue forth; media will gleefully highlight them - and will in fact seek them out to the point of both instigating them, and then mischaracterizing them for greatest effect.
What percentage of Evangelicals will react as the left and media fully expect? I say a small percentage - too small a percentage to throw the election to Barack. We shall see. I'm actually excited to find out.
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Postscript: because Bristol Palin's pregnancy is an awesome and miraculous gift from God, because her pregnancy is a blessing to be celebrated (albeit with grace and discretion), therefore I do not deem it inappropriate to discuss the political/sociological aspects of it's effect on the election.
It must be obvious I wish Bristol Palin all the best. Inappropriate things can and will be said about Ms. Palin. I will not be saying them. I, of all people, will not be casting any stones!
Ben Domenich:
Have no doubts about this: Bristol Palin is brave. [...] Brave enough to know that it's not enough to talk about doing the right thing - it's doing that right thing when the moment calls for it the most.
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8 comments:
Nice, McCain. What kind of soldier uses a pregnant 17-year-old girl as a political shield? You knew what this was going to do, how it would divert attention away from your policies. You are throwing her under the bus.
- Lucas
Wow. "Lucas" comment happened 2 minutes after I published this post. I doubt that 2 minutes is enough time to read this blogpost and then to compose and publish a comment. Therefore, I suspect Lucas had his comment prewritten, and was searching out blogposts into which to insert his comment. I strongly suspect Lucas is engaged in his own kind of political activism - and there's nothing wrong with that. I do resent, however, that "Lucas" commented without reading my blogpost!
Actually, I have SiteMeter, which allows me - if I wish - to search out where various visitors come from, what time they visit, and how long they stay. "Lucas" arrived from a server in Minneapolis at 2:01:27. He stayed 13 seconds. LOL.
As the Repubs did in Denver, the Dems/Obama Campaign have a rapid response team onsite at the Repub. Nat'l Convention. That team is sitting in their Minnesota war-room, staring at computers, drinking Diet Coke and eating donuts, and they've no Republican Party comments to respond to today, and basically nothing to do. It makes sense that the team would be monitoring breaking Blogger blogposts(as Blogger makes doing so very easy), and would be entering comment sections with a proscribed message.
Therefore, "Lucas" message:
"What kind of soldier uses a pregnant 17-year-old girl as a political shield? You knew what this was going to do, how it would divert attention away from your policies. You are throwing her under the bus."
is possibly the official Obama Campaign meme about Bristol Palin's pregnancy, and is the best the Obama Campaign can do at this time.
My initial response is that "Lucas" message is weak. The validity of "throwing her under the bus" depends on accepting the premise that Bristol's pregnancy is somehow shameful. I do not accept that premise.
Further, since the McCain Campaign says they knew about the pregnancy in advance of selecting Sarah Palin onto the ticket, and Bristol Palin's pregancy does present political risk, it seems to me that Sen. McCain showed admirable Mavericky-ness in selecting Governor Palin for the ticket.
Last: does this development argue in favor of Sarah Palin's selection being decided according to political talent, as opposed to being decided according to gender?
How in the world would the pregnancy of a 17 year old girl be a political shield? Lucas, no doubt, is a typical Obama supporter and an ignorant ass. Wish I could throw HIM under the bus.
This is a plus. As Mark Steyn points out in his recent best seller, America Alone, if our western civilization is demographically to survive in the increasingly “hostile to the west” islamic world — and not end up like the sinking European populations — these are the precise people (the Bristol Palins’) we should thank for increasing their progeny.
emjay, does your refridge magnet say "speak softly and carry a big bus"? :) This is why I try and stay on your good side: because your bus is big and tough, and you are not afraid to deploy it!
Now lets consider Ted. He left the identical comment on another blog. So, again deploying SiteMeter for research, we see Ted arrived from Waban, Mass at 5:29:21, and departed 33 seconds later! LOL again!
Ted arrived via Google blogsearch for "BristolPalin", copied his preferred comment into this blog, then hightailed it - presumably in search of his next victim. I cannot figure out exactly what cause Ted is promoting. I most suspect he is attempting an ironic jibe at conservative opposition to Islamo-facism. He might be attempting a jibe at persons who care not a whit about population control. He might be serios. We will never know, for Ted never reads blogposts or comments! He is a copy and run artist - in 33 seconds flat! He would be better off with an editor who could make certain his point was understandable.
Now I've seen Lucas leave the exact same comment on the Ace of Spades blog. So, "Lucas" in Minnesota and "Ted" in Massachusetts are serially flying from blog to blog, leaving their comments, then departing, all in under 45 seconds flat. At least I understand what "Lucas" point is.
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