Palin Pregnancy

Let's unpack this Palin pregnancy thing.

Sarah Palin electrified the world when John McCain announced her as his running mate.

This is an impressive woman, but she has her hands full with her family.  She has a new special needs child.  With her affirmation of the child's humanity, she enhanced her moral standing.  I am, and remain, a big fan.

It now comes to light that Bristol Palin, her 17 year old daughter, is pregnant by her boyfriend, and a wedding is planned.

The problem will not be with the Christian base, as the pointy-heads think.  The problem is a perception of disorder, and we want our leaders' lives ordered.

There is no chance the evangelical comminity will condemn her, as the media snobs should know if they knew anything about evangelical Christianity and it's place as a foundation for basic traditional American thinking.  The beautiful people, however, are so ignorant of its nuances that one can only conclude that there are serious deficiencies in their education, even those with Harvard PhDs.

The Maureen Dowds of the world will expect that judgmental churchgoers will look down their noses at a sinner.  Talk about projection.  It's the pointy-heads who will be looking down their noses at these gauche provincials.

I would venture that most Evangelical Christians know someone who has had a child out of wedlock.  Usually it's the young girl who's sitting two pews back with her baby and her parents.  In these congregations, there is no condoning of sex out of wedlock, of course, but there is also no condoning of procrastination, gossiping, sloth, stealing envelopes from work, exagerating income tax deductions, etc.  These people in the pews look up at the cross, and they remember who paid for all these sins.  "There but for the Grace of God go I," many of them think to themselves.

So Bristol Palin will not be condemned by Christians.  But she and her mother will be looked down upon by the pointy-heads.  You'll be able to see it in their eyes: "Our kind of people don't get pregnant at 17.  Our daughters go to college on a glidepath."  A callous but witty Oscar Wilde quote comes to mind: “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”  Read that as: "One family experiencing an unusual pregnancy (that the Beautiful People couldn't ever see themselves permitting) might be seen as a misfortune, but two (in one year) make the Palins look careless. 

I regard these beautiful people as moral monsters.  But this is what I'm afraid might do damage:  If the candidate looks "careless" or looks like she lacks the necessary "class" or "polish" required of the job; or lacks the necessary control of her life, then even some normal Americans could say, "I don't condemn her.  She could even be my best friend here in the real world.  But a heartbeat away  .  .  .   ??"

Obama talks like he understands that condemning her is immoral.  He said, in effect, "Lay off this subject.  Families are off limits."  That's to his credit, but for one thing:  Obama's act is beginning to wear a bit thin.  A pattern is emerging:  First, one of his surrogates says something boorish.  Damage is done to the victim.  Obama apologizes for his acolyte's boorishness, so that the boorishness doesn't rub off on him.  Repeat ad nauseam.  This is starting to look so calculated that this observer can only conclude that Obama (or David Axlerod or somebody) is behind the strategy.  Either that, or Obama can't control those under him (not a good quality in a Chief Executive).

This is largely a tempest in a teapot, of course, and people vote for the leader of the ticket and not the running mate (Bush 41 won in 1988).  But I'm wondering if the Average Joe's (or Jane's) enthusiasm for Sarah Palin has been slightly dampened by the amount of seeming disorder in her family, even if they admire her and would not hold anything against her if she were an ordinary mortal; and even if they deeply admire her, as I do, for her affirmation of life.

What will happen now?  This electrifying woman will come out and speak again, and remind everyone why she became a sensation in the first place.  I actually think this will happen.  But in the mean time, all I can say is, "What a wild ride."  Thursday: Obama dazzles everybody.  Friday: Sarah Palin makes everyone forget all about Obama.  Sunday:  What will Gustav do?  Monday:  The Palin daughter is pregnant.

I think I've got a whiplash.

P.S.:  I hate to be one more voice publicly musing about a 17-year old girl's private business.  So let me say this:  I think Bristol's upcoming marriage has a greater chance of lasting 50 years than  most of the beautiful people's marriages have of lasting 5.  What's more, the Maureen Dowds of the world know it, deep down.  Because they're unhappy.