Bristol's Message

Bristol Palin sat down for an interview with MTV earlier this week, the most recent in a string of appearances to promote her new PSA aimed at encouraging teenagers to stop and think about the consequences of sex.

Before I jump into the PSA itself, I want to address the "She's promoting abstinence-only! Abstinence-only doesn't work!" issue that still has some people's pants in a bunch.

Bristol has made it pretty clear that abstinence is a choice she has now made for herself. She encourages others to make that same decision since it's the one way you can 100% guarantee you won't end up being a teen parent, but that does not equal some push demanding that abstinence-only programs be taught in all high schools. Is she not allowed to make a personal choice and encourage others to consider the same?

It mirrors the panic over the Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad. An inspiring story that might in some remote way persuade women to choose life is taken as an immediate threat to abortion rights everywhere.

Honestly, Lefties. Overreaction, much?

In the MTV interview excerpt below, Bristol gives her take on the slogan "pause before you play." -

Pause before you play can mean anything to anybody. It could be pause and get a condom, or it could be pause and think about your future.

Yeah. She's definitely telling everyone to be abstinent with those condoms. (eye roll)

By the way, the idea that Sarah Palin is a staunch advocate of abstinence-only education is yet another media-driven myth:

Some reporters insisted that I favored abstinence-only sex education in public schools. "And see?" they said. "It didn't even work for her own daughter."

The media got that wrong too. The only time I had commented on sex education was in answer to a gubernatorial candidate question asking whether I supported abstinence education versus "explicit" sex education in public schools...

Given the choice, I answered that I would support abstinence education over "explicit" sex ed. I never said I didn't support contraception; I did. I also explained about being a longtime subscriber to the philosophy of Feminists for Life, a group of pro-life feminists who do not oppose contraception.

- Going Rogue, 237-238

I have seen others take Bristol's PSA to mean that it's only not okay to be a pregnant teenager if you're poor. I can see how the PSA could be misconstrued, but the message to me is obvious.

One criticism of Bristol's situation came from the early hand-wringing of the Left that a high-profile teen mom would in some way "glamorize" teen pregnancy. I mean, come on, Bristol seems like a strong, independent young woman who's part of a successful family and has an adorable little boy who usually seems to fall into an angelic sleep just in time for the cameras to capture him. How hard can it be, right?

So the PSA's message is, "Okay, what if I wasn't famous?" (as most teenagers are not). "Do you really think the life of teen moms is 'glamorous'? Do you think my life is glamorous? This is the reality: it's a ton of hard work. Don't get caught up in the image or the fantasy TV version of what it might be like."

"I hope that other young girls and even young guys see that having a child isn't glamorous at all, that it shouldn't be glorified. I think that other TV shows do glamorize sex and make it seem like there are no consequences to it, but there's tremendous consequences, and people need to start talking about those consequences."

Bristol is in a better situation than most teen moms, and she knows it. This also means she's in a position to do more good from that position than most, and she's doing a fantastic job of wielding that "double-edged sword":

Bristol was criticized from all sides as a hypocrite because she took up the cause of helping prevent teen pregnancy. Critics couldn't understand how she could love her precious son, Tripp, with all her heart, and still wish that he had been born ten years later.

She wanted teens to know that though they had choices to make about contraception, the only surefire way of preventing pregnancy is to not have sex. This pragmatic position was attacked by both the right and the left - the left because abstinence seems to be a dirty word and the right because even mentioning the word "contraception" "sends a mixed message."

Bristol wasn't trying to draft a national sex-ed policy. She just wanted to help her peers. She simply told teens what she has told her sisters: "Don't make the same mistake I did. Wait."

- Going Rogue, 371

Charita Goshay offers the following perspective:

Bristol Palin is arguably the world’s most famous teen mother, so her willingness to use her experience to educate others about the difficulties of unexpected parenthood has merit...

Avoiding sex and unplanned parenthood is not something kids will necessarily hear when their parents preach it — Palin herself is proof of that — but the message might get through when it comes from someone who’s been there, doing that.

In one public service announcement, Palin states: “It could mean pause and go get a condom, or pause and think about your life. And it could even be pause and wait for marriage.” That may not be exactly what abstinence-only advocates want to hear, but it’s realistic for a generation that has been weaned on sexual imagery....

If Bristol Palin can make just one teen stop and think long enough about the lifelong consequences of an irresponsible moment, her effort is worth it.

Bristol could have chosen to stay out of the spotlight after the election. It certainly would have meant less criticism. But she decided to put herself out there at the risk of being mocked by tolerant Leftists who have led entirely perfect lives and whose own morals leave absolutely nothing to be desired. All in the hopes that a few other teenagers might stop and think of the consequences.

And you gotta admire that.

You can view Bristol's PSA, as well as some behind-the-scenes footage and interview here.

Another MTV clip here.

Michael Graham: Let the Party Begin!

By Michael Graham in the Boston Herald:
---------------

Hey, I can see Palin Derangement Syndrome from my house!

You’ll see it too if you come to Boston Common tomorrow morning when Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express roll into town. I’ll be broadcasting my radio show live during the event and I’ve been asked to be part of the program as well. But what I’m really looking forward to is seeing the gathering of hate-spewing, anger-crazed lunatics.

Or as they’re more commonly known, “Massachusetts liberals.”

What - you think the Tea Partiers are angry? You obviously haven’t picked up the latest copy of the Weekly Dig, a local “progressive” publication that invited readers to design signage to welcome Palin and push back against Tea Party hate speech.

Among the signs published are several featuring a word very similar to “witch,” a couple of swastikas, a Hitler mustache and - in an odd move by anti-Second-Amendment liberals - one with an American flag, a bleeding tea bag and numerous bullet holes.

Stay classy, Boston liberals!

The problem with Palin is that, as everyone knows, she’s stupid. For example, she didn’t support President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus (actual price tag: $860 billion and rising) which has created so many great jobs . . .

She ignorantly opposed the Obama administration’s decision to try Kalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9/11 terrorists in Manhattan . . .

She made the idiotic claim that Obamacare would raise taxes on people earning less than $200,000 . . .

Anyway, Palin and the Tea Party movement are nothing but name-calling dolts, and so the only responsible, progressive thing to do when they come to Boston is to show up at their rally, wave idiotic signs and call them names.

No, really. According to several “progressive” Web sites, local libs are organizing to do just that on the Common tomorrow. “Nitwit central is headed our way, Boston,” warns one left-wing site bemoaning the “hatred being generated” by Tea Party protests. The Web site is urging followers to make their own signs parroting the “extremism” liberals expect to find there. So if you see a wildly offensive racist sign in downtown Boston - thank a liberal!

Why don’t supporters of Obamacare, the stimulus and other failed policies just have their own rally supporting their ideas? Other than because, well, they haven’t actually worked, I mean?

Because that’s not good enough for our irate liberals. Palin is “bringing her big hair . . . and legion of racist militia members to Boston,” complains bostonist.com. Another online site screams “We can’t allow Sarah to take a big Alaskan Husky dump in our back yard!”

Like I said, “classy.”

The goal here, as it’s been from the beginning of Team Obama’s assault on the Tea Party movement, is to intimidate concerned citizens into silence. But it’s not going to work - other than the glaring exception of Sen. Scott Brown, that is.

Voters and taxpayers are going to show up tomorrow and keep doing what we’ve been doing for a year now: Make arguments and ask questions. How do the economics of Obamacare make sense? Who’s going to pay the $3 trillion in new debt? Why should we tell our enemies in advance when we will or won’t use nukes?

And the left will keep responding with insults instead of answers. But at least they’re entertaining. There’s nothing funnier than a liberal protesting right-wing hate by waving a “Palin Is A Nazi B**ch” sign.

BendyStrawGate!

"Rogue" elephant bendy-straw

Continuing the narrative of the Leftist media spending its time on things that are insignificant in the extreme, the latest Palin "scandal" has hit the fan. A copy of her supposed contract with the WSB was supposedly found in a dumpster.

Allapundit smacks some of it down here:

So she’ll fly commercial unless you want to hook her up with a particular private jet. In fact, she’ll actually fly coach, which ABC doesn’t tell you, under certain circumstances: Read the rider and you’ll see that it’s only for flights to or from Anchorage that first-class is mandatory. If she’s traveling within the lower 48, riding in the back with the hoi polloi is fine. (For international flights to the lower 48, she asks for business class.)

Actually, there’s no ironclad proof that the contract is even hers: Her name is never mentioned, but given where it was found, the fact that it comes from her speaker bureau, and the fact that it refers to travel from Alaska, the inference is made.

Frankly, I’m amazed that she’s willing to fly commercial at all. Considering the intense loathing she inspires in some quarters, I assumed she’d long since passed the point of needing a security detail when she’s out in public. Is it really just her and Todd (or an assistant) crammed back there in coach among lefties who feel queasy at the thought of her? Good lord.

Oh, something else: Hotline claims that the rider demands that all questions, whether from the audience or from the moderator, be pre-screened, but I can’t find that passage. I see that there’s a pre-screen provision in the section on “Satellite Events,” but there’s nothing about it in “Audience Q&A.” I probably just missed it in my haste of skimming the document. Let me know and I’ll update the post.

If you must read the alleged contract itself, you can download it here.

I simply must paste some of the comments I’ve read over at C4P. It’s a tad long, but good:

yogi41 - BendyStrawGate!

And not just any water…. UNOPENED water! Why not use a water hose, Sarah, like the good little “hick” that you are? / extreme sarc

New User - Can someone find me the famous “Kill all the rich people” speech Palin gave? I must have missed that one.

RINO-Hunter – She has a schedule to maintain. When somebody pays six figures for her to speak, she has to show up on time. First class = you don’t get bumped and put on standby if the flight is overbooked. And the first class clause only applies on the Anchorage to Seattle leg. Once she’s in the lower 48 and there are more travel options, she flies coach. At least according to this “document” they dug up, which may or may not even be authentic.

As far as the water and straws go, she specifies that the water be unopened because some Obama-worshipping libturd would poison it if it weren’t, and who the hell cares what kind of straw she uses? I don’t think it’s “elitist” to aks for water and a straw while giving a speech.

Allie – I used to fly round trip from Alaska to the East Coast about once a year and everytime I flew first class. It is a very long flight and uncomfortable otherwise. When my husband went to Alaska as a consultant for various companies his contract also stated First Class Travel for the same reason. As a matter of fact, whenever he travels as a consultant anywhere his contract states that he gets paid for ten hours per day that he is away from home (flight time is also included as a day away) unless there is a flat fee that was previously negotiated. That is standard. If the flight is less than four hours, then a coach fare is fine.

I wish these people would get some sort of life and if they are going to be so scrupulous in reporting their news then they should report everyone’s flight arrangements and/or speaking requests. I honestly do not blame her for requesting unopened bottles of water since I can just imagine someone putting ipecac or something in the water to embarrass her during her speech.

Lipstick AKA Speedchick – Well, I couldn’t help it so I am reading the contract. I am half way through and I hate to burst all of our bubbles but Palin has the GALL to request if she is seated on stage at a table that the table be skirted. Also, if there is a book signing, the table must be skirted. I don’t know about you but I think that is TOO much.

Come on Guv, your in a dress in front of an audience and you are MODEST enough to DEMAND tha table be skirted???

Get over yourself! /sarc

(I might add – Good thinking on the Gov’s part. Her skirts usually go to her knees, which means she’s got to sit with her legs together constantly. All it would take is for her to forget for a second and someone to snap a picture. Yikes!)

Lipstick AKA Speedchick – Hmmmmm. On page four it says for international events the Speaker reserves the right to visit privately with the host government’s Head Of State, Head of Government, Ministerial Officials and US Embassy.

I really see nothing in it that is a big deal at all. Actually I bet it is a standard type document that WSB uses for all its clients. They just put in a few details, I bet even the water and straws are standard. I teach school and I need to have a drink available in case I need it while talking a lot that day, if you are giving a speech I would say this is mandatory.

Also, I imagine the flight needs are standard too, but I bet many speakers are not willing to fly commericial as she is or even coach on certain occassions.

Much of the contract seems to be a no brainer to me, but you HAVE to put everything in writing or someone would book you flying stand by and send their teenager to the airport in the drifter car to pick you up and book you at the Easy Night Motel and leave you to walk next door to Chicken Express for dinner.

Besides, we are getting a fence soon. We may put it up ourselves but we are getting bids to have it turn key. If we have it done we will sign a contract, it is a private contract between someone providing us a service that we willingly want. Just like the guv.

Paddy Hugh of Oz – This is standard terms by any agency. I suspect “students rifling through dumpsters” is actually lefty-speak for “anklebiters downloaded a standard WSB terms pdf on the interweb”.

A funny thing among many, many other funny things throughout this, is that lefties actually boast about spending time in very large garbage bins.

yogi41 – Well, she certainly has to have some fun with this “scandal”. I hope tomorrow, while she’s speaking, she makes a point to take a long sip of water through a bendy straw.

RINO-Hunter – At her next speaking engagement, just to stir the pot, she should drink Cristal from the bottle through one of those twisty crazy-straws.

(A “Rogue” elephant bendy straw here.)

Jerry Brown - Solidifying California's Image as the Land of the Fruits and Nuts

Don Surber takes down Jerry Brown's call to prosecute the sponsor of Sarah Palin's speech at CSU:
-------------

The latest lefty attack on Sarah Palin is to attack those who would dare to bring her to a college campus.

Like many speaker, she has a nondisclosure clause in her contract.

A private foundation is financing her appearance in June. Lefties want the contract disclosed. Someone retrieved a copy from the trash. Now Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Jerry Brown, is going ballistic — threatening the foundation with some sort of prosecution/litigation for daring to contract with Palin.

Apparently his campaign theme will be “we’re hopelessly broke, but I will fight to keep Sarah Palin out of California.”

Brown said in a prepared statement: “This is not about Sarah Palin. The issues are public disclosure and financial accountability in organizations embedded in state-run universities.”

Bull. Then Brown should post the contract of every paid speaker to a California college in the last 10 years.

It is harassment wrapped in the self-righteous cry of open government.

It is all about Palin.
---------


"Harassment wrapped in the self-righteous cry of open government."

How did Dan Surber know about Andree McLeod?

With California drowning in debt, don't you think Jerry Brown and Yee could find something more profitable to do with their taxpayer-funded time than trying to find out how much Sarah Palin makes for a speech? Oh, that's right, they're from California. Never mind...

The Boston Tea Party

You hear that? It's a bunch of patriots getting read to make some tea, on a Boston Harbor scale:

Mark Levin talks about the Boston Tea Party:

A great informative video from PJTV here.

All I can say is, I wish I could be there in body, but I'll have to be there in spirit: