Bristol Palin: Just say no

Typical Republicant response. Do as I say, not as I do. Abstinence has been proven not to work (see Bristol Palin), yet they're still beating that same old drum. Any wonder only the absolute deadenders (little JohnnyD, Inky, etc.) still identify themselves as neo-nuts, er, Republicans.

Is she the right person to talk about Pregnancy Prevention??? That's like having David Hasslehoff talk about abstinence from alcohol!!! Another bit of comedy from the sinking Repulsigans...

with a Good Morning America explanation about the only, "100 percent, foolproof'' way to avoid pregnancy: abstinence..

Yes indeed it worked a 100% for her. Guiding the way to the 1800s.

Bristol Palin's message would be more effective if she wasn't trying to be America's Top Teen Mom for Abstinence but rather promoting responsible sexual decision making, including the use of contraceptives.

Rev. Debra Haffner
http://debrahaffner.blogspot.com/2009/05/teen-spokesmom-for-abstinence-huh.html

Typical Republicant response. Do as I say, not as I do. Abstinence has been proven not to work (see Bristol Palin), yet they're still beating that same old drum. Any wonder only the absolute deadenders (little JohnnyD, Inky, etc.) still identify themselves as neo-nuts, er, Republicans.

Posted by: neal | May 6, 2009 10:12 AM

neal-Abstinence does work 100% of the time..

Bristol did not practice abstinence... (clearly)

Whats wrong with telling our kids that they should wait until they are married and/or become responsible adults and ready to be parents before they have sex?

Sounds like Bristol Palin has been well counseled for her new role as dropout, unwed teenage mother, estranged from the baby's father, promoting abstinence. Watched her on the Today Show, holding Trigg, seated next to Todd. The Wasilla hillbillies on display.

Whats wrong with telling our kids that they should wait until they are married and/or become responsible adults and ready to be parents before they have sex?

Posted by: heartburn | May 6, 2009 11:25 AM

Polls say most teenagers say it doesn't work, the other 33% are teens such as Bristol. Pregnant!

Of those who answered, 64% said no this is not an effective way of reducing teen pregnancies. However one in three people - 33% - felt it was. A further 3% were unsure about the issue.

heartburn, there is nothing with telling our kids that they should wait until they are married and/or become responsible adults and ready to be parents before they have sex, as long as we also make sure that they are educated on what protections they should take if they choose to do otherwise. It isn't abstinence education that's the problem, it's abstinence ONLY education. Perhaps if Ms. Palin had been properly educated about her many options if she did choose to have sexual relations, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant.

Neal, when you refer to those who do as I say, not as I do, do you also mean Tax-Cheat-in-Chief Tim Geithner? Or how about Tom Daschle? Dianne Feinstein? John Edwards? Blago? Urkel Stroger? Or even the Messiah himself?
Anyway, just because someone made a mistake is not a reason for that person being unable to speak about it. As an 18-year-old mother, she is able to tell teens the reality. It's a fellow teen talking to them, not some adult.
Will teens have sex? Of course. But what is wrong with telling them to wait? And what parent would rather have their child, especially their daughter, wait?
Course, common sense and reality never have had a relationship with the loons from the left.

Polls say most teenagers say it doesn't work, the other 33% are teens such as Bristol. Pregnant!

Of those who answered, 64% said no this is not an effective way of reducing teen pregnancies. However one in three people - 33% - felt it was. A further 3% were unsure about the issue.

Posted by: bill r. | May 6, 2009 12:07 PM

bill - it doesn't work well because often times when someone sticks their neck out and tries to communicate the common sense " you shouldn't have sex until you are ready" or ( god help us) " wait until you are married " message they are mocked- or worse labeled as bigots trying to force their values on everyone else...There can’t even be a healthy debate about the destructiveness of single parent homes w/o the angry charges of racism being leveled.
The bottom line here is that Bristol’s message is a good one- and should be supported by anyone seriously interested in reducing the amount of children born to single parents. It should be at least as well supported as any messaging about birth control methods or Planned Parenthood.

heartburn......Having sex isn't something new sir. Abstinence only has brought us:
1) 6,706,993,152 people in the world.
2) unwed teenage moms like Bristol.
3) I doubt you were a virgin on your wedding night.

Isn't Bristol Palin talking to kids about preventing teen pregnancy similar to ex-drug-addicts, or ex-offenders talking to kids about not following in their footsteps? Isn't somebody who has been there, done that, got the souvenir T-shirt (or in Bristol's case, the souvenir Tripp) a more effective communicator of those matters than the kids' teacher, who they know is talking about the subject only as an abstraction?

Actually, I think that Silva throws in these occasional Palin items just to get the bill r's of the world riled up. Reminds me of a fish hatchery near my dad's place in Missouri that I used to visit. For a dime, you could buy a handful of the food pellets that they fed the fish. It was great fun to throw the pellets in all at once and watch the fish jump all over each other to get to them. Having fun, Mark?

Parents Beware: if you have children and you make your career number 1, your children will have behavioral problems. make your offspring your number 1 priority and the rest will fall into place. sarah palin is simply not there for her children. what a shame.

DaveB, stop trying to talk sense. This is a chance for liberals to get on their soapbox and mock a teenage mother. Either start mocking this teenager right now or get out of the way.

Seriously, I think Silva posts these Palin articles for the reasons you mentioned, and because he has a bizarre fixation with that family. At least he stopped posting about Obama's dog.

Herbie is right. Never contradict a Palin. Whatever any Palin says is beyond discussion. If they say Abstinence is the only annswer, it is the only answer, end of discussion. Do not question. Do not disagree. Do not discuss. That is mocking her. You must simply genuflect, say, "Yes Lady Palin" and, above all, OBEY!" Be thankful that Bristol is there to show you the one true path!

with a Good Morning America explanation about the only, "100 percent, foolproof'' way to avoid pregnancy: abstinence..

Yes indeed it worked a 100% for her. Guiding the way to the 1800s.

Posted by: bill r. | May 6, 2009 10:59 AM

Even in the 1800's (and I'd bet even farther back!!!) kids were sneaking off without their parents knowing about it -- AND WERE HAVING SEX AND GETTING PREGNANT BEFORE MARRIAGE, or WITHOUT EVER GETTING MARRIED AT ALL (pause for the shock to wear off.....)!

So we're left with this: Yeah, if you don't have sex, you're extremely unlikely to get pregnant (ditto catch STD's). Unfortunately, we're also left with THIS: Try as they might, parents can talk themselves blue in the face telling their kids that sex is an awful, evil, terrible, disgusting act and that decent people just plain DON'T DO that kind of thing. Kids who want to have sex (I know this is going to floor people, but it's true)... ARE GOING TO HAVE SEX.
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And, for the parents of teenagers, something ELSE for you to think about. Lots of 'em have sex IN THEIR PARENTS' BEDS. Teenage GIRLS, especially, seem to think it's hot, although the boys certainly aren't going to let that kind of formality stand in the way of getting laid, either.
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Sleep tight!

billy - you argue simply for the sake of argument these days.

When you say, "Abstinence only has brought us:
1) 6,706,993,152 people in the world.
2) unwed teenage moms like Bristol.
3) I doubt you were a virgin on your wedding night." Your ignorance shines light the guiding liberal light it is.

Abstinence does not result in any babies being born.

Abstinence does not produce teenage moms.

And actually, no body cares about your thoughts regarding anyone elses virginity on their wedding night.

When you wake from your stupor and pick up the clue phone you'll realize as the rest of us have done. Palin, simply the name, scares you! Don't worry though little billy, Bristol isn't going to hurt you!

Leave it to that wanna be journalist, little JohnnyD, to equate teenage pregnancy with tax problems. See, little wingnut Johnny, if you can't focus on a specific topic, no respectable media will ever hire you. You'll have to keep writing for two-bit trade rags and post on blogs...you and the Repulicant party have the same type of future...NONE!

Herbie H., there are plenty of teenage mothers, of multiple kids yet, and thirty-something grandmothers for liberals to mock in their own constituencies. But wait - Those people vote liberal! So they're off limits.

Missy, I think there might be a middle ground between attacking her and obeying her. Maybe not for you. I guess if I saw life through your bizarre lens and those were my only two choices, I would probably attack her too. But I don't think that's the case, and I'll never understand why there is so much fear, hate, etc. of the Palin family.

They seriously need to stop pimping this girl out like that. And yes, "pimping" is an entirely appropriate choice of words, because that's exactly what this is.

It disgusts me how Sarah Palin is using her daughter, and how the media has such a dearth of ethics that it will actually put pen to paper to cover this.

The only psychological message this sends to kids is that it's great to get pregnant early.

And this "teen ambasadorship"... Have you seen the ads? "I'm sexy enough for you to wait...." Riiiight.. Shoving sex right in kids faces is TOTALLY going to get them to stop having sex with each other.

Wow. Just wow.

"DaveB, stop trying to talk sense. This is a chance for liberals to get on their soapbox and mock a teenage mother."

You're right, liberals hate all mothers, even our own... Give me a break!

We're not mocking her, just pointing out that whichever one of Sarah Palin's advisors thought it would be a good idea to shove her daughter in the spotlight like this should be fired. It doesn't make practical sense and is deeply exploitative of a young teenage mother, whom you apparently are pretending to care about.

Let this girl live her life and raise her beautiful child, lord knows she will need to devote her full attention to her child and her own future.

And if you think that kids will actually get her message, you're kidding yourself and you've probably never had kids. In this absurd celebrity-adopting, child-collecting society of ours you're going to have to do better than "do as I say, not as I do".

And actually, no body cares about your thoughts regarding anyone elses virginity on their wedding night.
Posted by: springfieldspringfield | May 6, 2009 3:44 PM

Yeah I didn't think you waited either. Case in point.

Oh Neal, Neal, Neal, "trade rags" have been pretty kind to me. Anyway, the point of bringing up the tax cheats was on the issue of accountability and responsibility and "doing what I say, not what I do;" not correlating taxes and teen pregnancy. But then, being a loon that correlation was too much for you, I guess. Also, I listed more than just tax cheats.
How about the example folks like Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, etc. set for their kids and families? And, before you yell David Vitter, he also set a lousy example to his kids.

Abstinence does not result in any babies being born.

Abstinence does not produce teenage moms.

And actually, no body cares about your thoughts regarding anyone elses virginity on their wedding night.

When you wake from your stupor and pick up the clue phone you'll realize as the rest of us have done. Palin, simply the name, scares you! Don't worry though little billy, Bristol isn't going to hurt you!

Posted by: springfieldspringfield | May 6, 2009 3:44 PM
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You're correct. "Abstinence" does NOT result in pregnancy. HOWEVER, using "Abstinence Only" as the sole philosophy/method of teaching and counseling your children about sex DOES result in teen pregnancy. That's because "Abstinence Only" is not actually stopping people from having sex if they decide they want to; it's only a way for parents to feel like they still have control (they don't) and for them to get through the whole "Birds and Bees" lecture quickly and easily: "About sex. Don't." Because "Abstinence Only" isn't deterring kids from actually having sex AND SIMULTANEOUSLY isn't giving them any information whatever about STD's, "Abstinence Only" is ALSO leaving unfortunate kids who don't know any better (because their parents didn't bother teaching them) vulnerable to AIDS and other diseases.
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Look. IF "Abstinence Only" truly worked at actually stopping kids from having sex, then the discussion WOULD be over, and you'd have just about everybody agreeing with you pretty easily (certainly, I'd agree with you). The unfortunate FACT is that adhering to this method of teaching young people about sex ISN'T working and HASN'T worked; it's dangerously inadequate, and, in that, the light of your CONSERVATIVE ignorance is shining through like a beacon. If "Abstinence Only" really worked, Bristol Palin would not have a child to raise when her main priority at this point in her life OUGHT to be what she's gonna be when she grows up or what graduation parties she wants to go to.
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That would be the point. "Abstinence Only" doesn't stop kids from having sex; it only deters them from being honest about it.
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And I'm NOT scared of the name Palin. PALIN PALIN PALIN PALIN PALIN. There. Still not scared. Bristol isn't somebody to be mocked or ridiculed; she's just a poor unfortunate kid who made a bad choice and now has to put any ambitions she might have had for herself on hold while she raises her child. And that (along with the situations of thousands of young women who find themselves in the same boat every year) is the real shame.

Seems she should be at home taking care of her Son..Each person can take of their life without her input. Perhaps she can write a book.

>>>Seems she should be at home taking care of her Son..Each person can take of their life without her input. Perhaps she can write a book.

My thoughts exactly!

Travis I was being facetious; sorry if you didn't catch it. I don't really think you hate your mother. And I don't really care much for the Palins. I just think it's bizarre the level of personal attacks on that family. Your comments on Palin's advisors drumming this up I don't know anything about. If it is really Sarah Palin using her daughter as a pawn to further her own political career I would agree that is horrible. But I don't know Bristol Palin's
motivation for doing this and won't pretend I do. If you are privy to such info please share.

As for people not mocking her, please reread some of these posts and others on the Swamp. Silva posts one every five minutes so you should have no trouble finding them.

As for my personal opinion about her message, which you seem to have conjecture about, I think abstinence only education is admirable but naïve. Its a tough issue that every parent has to face and I don't pretend to have all the answers.

I Think Bristol would make an excellent spokesperson !!!
They use an acoholic for a PSA on the misuse of acohol.
They use people whos lives never go anywhere to show the demons of drug abuse !!
I Applaude Bristol for wanting to contribute to society !!!!!!!!!

Swamp does not have funny papers, but if it did, this one would be L'l Abner.

Palins are the Osbornes of politics.

"Abstinence" as a plank in your party platform, Replicans?

And you wonder why you are not taken seriously.

As a political party offering solutions?

We are lovin' it. Keep it up.

O, and keep calling people "baby killers".
That one is really effective for you as well.

>>>Seems she should be at home taking care of her Son..Each person can take of their life without her input. Perhaps she can write a book.

My thoughts exactly!

Posted by: amber | May 6, 2009 10:05 PM

Isn't that a "keep 'em barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen" kind of thought?

Aren't women supposed to be able to have a life beyond cooking and cleaning and popping out babies?

I always thought so!

Aren't women supposed to be able to have a life beyond cooking and cleaning and popping out babies?

I always thought so!

Posted by: DaveB | May 7, 2009 9:41 AM

Good point. Maybe you can hire her as COO of your company, once she gets her GED.

Kinda late to be talking abstinence. Plus seems her mother made her change her view since Bristol said on Fox that abstinence is not the reality. So she had to preach this for mom just like she was going to have to marry Levi had Sara won VP to make the family look respectable.

I can see it now--Bristol 40 years old writing a new book--"mommie dearest" who wanted to be president.

Kinda late to be talking abstinence. Plus seems her mother made her change her view since Bristol said on Fox that abstinence is not the reality. So she had to preach this for mom just like she was going to have to marry Levi had Sara won VP to make the family look respectable.

I can see it now--Bristol 40 years old writing a new book--"mommie dearest" who wanted to be president.