family values and all that jazz...

I almost never write about politics, but I'm going to make an exception. I'll admit that initially I couldn't decide whether I thought McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate was a gift to Obama or a joke...but then today, Palin announced that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol (the one you see holding 3 month old baby Trig) is herself 5 months pregnant and has "decided" to keep the baby and get married...

Uh-huh. McCain supposedly knew about this before asking Palin to join him on the ticket. If that's true, he's even more of an idiot than I thought. And Palin supposedly knew that Bristol was pregnant before accepting the number two spot on the ticket. If that's true, what was she thinking? Didn't she know the media would have a field day with this, at her daughter's expense? Or didn't she care? She says she's supportive. In fact, in case, somehow, you managed to miss it, here's the statement she issued regarding Bristol's pregnancy:

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. 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."

When's the last time the media respected anyone's privacy? That sentiment is right up there with "size doesn't matter" and "the check is in the mail". But conservatives are not, overall, known for their compassion or ability to empathize. So if Palin did indeed know about Bristol's pregnancy before she accepted McCain's invitation, did she do so thinking Bristol had made her own bed and now could lie in it (no pun intended)? Or is Palin so incredibly ambitious, politically, that she didn't care about throwing her own teen-age daughter under the bus?

This whole mess raises a slew of questions that McCain and Palin will have to field in the days ahead. And Palin, a big proponent of abstinence only education, might want to re-think her views on that topic, since she now has irrefutable evidence that even her own daughter clearly doesn't believe in it...