Some days you don't know who pulls the strings on whom. Do the Democrats control the media or does the media control the Democrats? Is there any demarcation at all anymore in the march of the left? Some call themselves journalists and some call themselves politicians but they both bleed Democrat blue. And they both hate Republicans.
And Sarah Palin's daughter walked into both barrels of that. Never has a teenager in trouble been held up to more scrutiny or scorn. The party that facilitates out-of-wedlock birth has decided to call the kettle black.
So let's get things straight. There is a right way in life, and a wrong way. We all know what the right way is, but a fair amount of the time we still do things the wrong way. For example, you're not supposed to have sex until you're married. Some people live up to that standard, and some people don't. And sometimes those who don't will get pregnant. Sometimes those people will be young, even teen-agers. At least that's how it was in my hometown.
Sometimes you'd think the bride looked a little plump or the wedding seemed a little rushed or the baby, at 8 or 9 pounds, seemed a little big for just four months gestation. Sometimes it went that way. And nobody had a problem with that. If you screwed up in the first instance, there were additional expectations so that you hopefully didn't screw up in the second instance. The wrong thing is to do what it takes to make a baby. The right thing is to then do what it takes to make a family.
They used to be called shotgun weddings. And I've bought golden-anniversary presents for people who had them. It might not be quite according to Hoyle, but in the real world, it's how it sometimes works out. And though it sometimes comes with a little regret and repentance, it can also come with joy and family. Experience teaches us that it can come, over time, with a lot of joy and family.
Of course, they're bashing the girl's mother because she believes in abstinence education in the schools, and because it's a church-going family, and because she's a Republican. For political points, they choose to see the girl as a referendum on her mother's politics. And that's not fair to either.
Every mom and dad hopes and prays that their children will avoid life's pitfalls and traps. It is a season of worry as children enter middle school and adolescence and progress into their 20s. There is the fear of drugs and alcohol and dangerous driving and squandered educations and inappropriate sex. Life presents so many temptations to damage or destroy a young life. And not every child comes through unscathed.
Home life can help pull a child in one direction or another, for good or for bad, but ultimately we are all free, and so are our children, and people make their own decisions. Even if those people are in our home, under our roof.
There's nothing wrong with having a child when you're 18. Barack Obama's mother was 18 when he was born. My mother was 18 when I was born. But Barack's mother was married and my mother was married, and so might the governor's daughter be.
And regardless of this situation, or one's views on this situation, the larger and more relevant issue is out-of-wedlock births. There is a catastrophic cascading of out-of-wedlock births in this country, a dramatic cultural shift, and it carries with it a crushing social cost. Will the governor's daughter be part of that? We'll have to wait and see.
But all – from the left and right – must be part of an effort to curb out-of-wedlock birth. Nothing – not race or income or where you're born – has a statistically more negative impact on a little baby's life prospects than being born out of wedlock.
It is, tragically, a huge indicator for a long list of very bad things – educational failure, welfare reliance, criminal conduct. Whether you believe in cutting out-of-wedlock birth by handing out more condoms or by teaching more abstinence, there must be agreement that it is bad even if you're the governor's daughter.
The right thing is to keep your pants on. If you don't, and there's a baby involved, the right thing is to get married. That's how it was in my hometown, and apparently that's how it is in Alaska.
And beyond that, it's none of anybody's damn business.
