I'm really sorry, but the above clip shows very clearly that pregnant Bristol and boyfriend Levi are quite happy to be in the political spotlight. McCain, who is seen shaking hands with the stout lad and giving grandfatherly hugs to beaming Bristol and hold both of her hands like he's been doing it all his life.
And this wasn't some film crew capturing a personal moment - McCain and Palin did this for media purposes, to ensure that these images went around the TV screens and the internet.
All these angry people (and I'm not pointing fingers at any regular commentators here btw) who are furious about the media coverage of Sarah Palin's private life and that of her poor teenage daughter need to realise that both Palin AND McCain have, by creating this photo op, turned Bristol's pregnancy into an attempt for political gain.
Here's Josh Marshall from TPM:
Since there is widespread agreement that the children of candidates should not become topics of campaign debate, it behooves us to note that the McCain campaign has almost singlehandedly made Sarah Palin's daughter a central figure in the Republican convention.(BTW I disagree with his assertion that the McCain campaign was the source of the "Is Bristol the mother of Trig?" rumours)
It was the McCain campaign that announced Palin's daughter's pregnancy. That alone might be understandable since it appears a supermarket tabloid was about to print the story. But it was the McCain campaign, entirely on its own, that dished up unsubstantiated claims about maternity tests and all sorts of other lurid nonsense that had never been seen in print anywhere. And now the McCain campaign has staged a ceremonial laying-on-of-hands on the tarmac in St. Paul in which Sen. McCain has given his official blessing to the young couple and embrace of Bristol's boyfriend Levi.
6 comments:
I must say I saw that newsclip on TV and was surprised.
The circumstances just do not make sense. The boy friend (boy friend!!!) is being endorsed as well. I think the question is "when is the wedding?"
As per your heading "let's talk about Bristol and ignore the experience etc etc of Sarah"
Politics are dirty here. I get a kick out of flipping between liberal talk radio and conservative talk radio. Rush Limbaugh (he's been around a long time but you may not have heard of him in Australia... he is a conservative talk radio personality) was pointing out how everyone was slobbering on themselves over Obama during the DNC but... this week during the RNC... you should hear him! I think he's in love with Palin! Talk about slobbering!
You have to take just about everything with a grain of salt and rely on the facts... like records.
Yeah I have heard of Rush and others. We don't broadcast them here in Australia - we have our own right wing shock jocks.
Fox News is broadcast here though on satellite TV which not everyone has, so people do get to hear Hannity and O'Reilly.
We love Bill O'Reilly here in Australia. he was a great cricket player.
There is certainly such a political rift in the US that one party's big hero is the other party's enemy. I have listened to neither Obama's Berlin speech or Palin's recent one because I wish to focus on policies and what is achievable. I'm not excited about Palin but I'm not amazingly excited about Obama either.
But I don't want a Republican President.
I find you most interesting OSO. You are an Australian living in Australia... Why would you state that you don't want a Republican president? Does who the president is in the USA affect Australians in some way?
You are way over my head in your economic posts... I'm wondering if some of the ideas you've come up are on a global scale rather than just for your country...?
CB,
Yeah it's interesting isn't it? Why would I wish to have any interest at all in the US?
The reason is simple - what the US does and how the US runs itself affects the entire world. Therefore America's choice of president affects me many magnitudes more than Australia's choice of Prime Minister affects you.
You need to understand that US culture is everywhere in Western countries. Most of the TV programs we watch in Australia are American. Much of the news we see on TV is American news.
For good or ill, America influences the world. When the US economy is going well, the rest of the world benefits. When the US economy begins to tank, so does the rest of the world's.
So when I look at the economic mess the US is in, it can't help but end up affecting me and my neighbours here across the Pacific. America's parlous economic state has a lot to do with damaging policies enacted by the US government. And on that score I have to argue that about 75% of the fault for this is in Republican politicians and about 25% of the fault is Democrat.
The seeds of America's economic problems actually started back in Reagan's first term. Since then the Republican party has dominated the policies of the White House and of Congress. Democrats are to blame too, but their control of the executive and legislative arms of the US government has not been as successful.
So, in many cases its simply a matter of me arguing "anyone but a Republican" for the White House. Obama doesn't excite me like he has others - but that's not the point. I honestly doubt that McCain and Palin will be able to deliver much benefit for the US if they win the election.
You also need to remember that HOW America uses its power and influence in the world informs and directs other nations as to what they can do and how much they can "get away with". This was why the 2003 invasion of Iraq was such a massive strategic error. If America could invade another nation based upon the flimsiest of evidence, then why can't others? And if America thinks it's okay to use the CIA to kidnap people on the streets of other countries and detain them without trial, then surely it is okay for other nations to do it. The worst, of course, is the issue of torture.
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As for my economic ideas, they are designed to work within a basic economic structure that all nations have. Although there are many differences, the US economic system is pretty much the same as most other western nations.
The Federal Reserve is an example of what economists call a "central bank". There are central banks in countries all over the world that have similar roles to play to the Federal Reserve. Every government has a treasury department. Every country has a financial community. Every country has a government bond market. Every country has taxes, every country has government spending, every country has inflation, every country has unions and every country has a group of ultra-rich people who hide their money away from taxes and who complain about tax rates for the rich.
Every single one of my economic ideas can be applied to the whole. None of my ideas is an Australia-only idea.
Obama doesn't excite me like he has others
That was badly worded. I meant to say "Obama doesn't excite me the way he excites other people". The idea being that cynical me can see through any political face and wonder just how incompetent and corrupt a person is.
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