Its one thing for a man to help raise his own child… but its another matter when he allows his own daughter to foist her responsibilities off him. Is that another message we want to send – that young girls who have children out of wedlock are freed from the obligations of motherhood and adulthood? Blurring the gender lines is fine up to a point… but when both parents send the message single motherhood is cool then its going way beyond what is reasonable. Or are conservatives going to tell us now they can live with the “anything goes” ethos so prevalent in our society today?

NormanF on May 28, 2009 at 10:26 pm

I guess I do not understand your obsession with the Palin family. Never judge anyone, you have no idea what may show up at your own front door.

sharon61 on May 28, 2009 at 10:39 pm

What Debbie is saying is that in general non-traditional families haven’t worked well and there are sound reasons conservatives haven’t supported such arrangements. Whether its Mr. Mom, single motherhood or gay parenting, we all know they are not good for the children. So Debbie’s point is not just about the Palin family but about how conservatives have been willing to overturn all they hold near and dear to sanction behavior (for this particular family) they would never countenance in other circumstances. And there’s there a name for it.

NormanF on May 28, 2009 at 10:49 pm

Great explanation Norman, point taken, thanks!

sharon61 on May 28, 2009 at 11:32 pm

By being Mr. Grand-Mom, Todd Palin is enabling young Bristol’s lack of responsibility. He is sending a bad message to young girls everywhere, not to mention giving masculinity a bad name. He needs to turn in his man card. This is why I WON’T be supporting Sarah Palin in 2012.

Jon464 on May 29, 2009 at 12:05 am

I have been on the fence through much of the Bristol Palin saga. I figured that it wasn’t my business, as Palin was no longer running for national office.
But, I draw the line here. True, there is a possibility that Todd Palin was misquoted. But, I think it’s clear that Bristol is, like many teen moms, married or not, evading her responsibilities to raise her own child. I wouldn’t have this visceral reaction if she were attending classes or working, and asked Dad to watch her child to make it possible. But running around town just “having fun” is not right – it’s her kid, she needs to step up to the plate, as most mothers do.
More importantly, it’s VERY bad for the child. I’ve known mothers who used their parents to provide child care when she didn’t want to have all the responsibility – their kids turned out badly. They looked on the grandparents as their real parents (which is what they were acting like), and when later, the “real” mother tried to take over, they were resentful. You can’t build that bond without working at it.

Linda F on May 29, 2009 at 2:06 am

Debbie…You’re devoting an excessive amount of time and space to “demonizing” the Palin family at a time when our nation is being destroyed by an espionage agent posing as president. Do you really think that’s a wise investmeent of your time??

joesixpack31 on May 29, 2009 at 3:54 am

Joe-I totally agree with your point…”our nation is being destroyed by an espionage agent posing as president.”
I think the point here is that Sarah Palin is still being touted as a potential candidate for future elections. I’ll be the first to admit that I was rather taken with her. Straight talker, gun owner AND frequent user of said guns, etc. … If Todd wanted to do the house husband thing, whatever. It’s their house.
When this travesty with Bristol surfaced, as well as the birth of her own special needs son, I slammed on the brakes. I don’t want somebody with this much family baggage a heart beat away from the “big chair.”
As women, we’ve been told for decades that we can do it all. Children, careers, husband, friends, travel, and on and on. Nope. Big lie. Something or somebody ALWAYS suffers. It’s usually the children. (I’m not talking about the women who have been struck with some type of tragic event(s) and have to do it all.) Though some creative scheduling, we can do alot. But, as a stay at home mom, superwomen no longer impress me.
As for the whole grandparents caring for the grandchildren thing…if you have to do this due to extreme circumstances, fine. But, spending that much time with the grandchildren in a daycare type situation, the grandparents are ultimately raising the kids.
Casey
(whose 3 year old daughter refers to Abu Dhabi as Awful Dhabi. Makes me laugh every time.)

cirrus1701 on May 29, 2009 at 8:16 am

The Republican party is in tatters. There is no way they can ever rebuild unless they are serious and get someone who is no nonsense. The pandering to the media and the left is atrocious. I say Dick Cheney 2012!! We can rebuild him. Seems liberals have no idea how to handle N.Korea or Iran. Four years may be the time necessary for Muslim countries to have a full arsenal of nukes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HofoK_QQxGc

californiascreaming on May 29, 2009 at 10:49 am

If they did as they said, no one would be having any problems. Its the hypocrisy that should rub people the wrong way. The Palins aren’t a role model for the rest of America and we don’t want them in the White House. We have enough of people who say all the right things but never mean them. The larger question is what does it mean to be a conservative these days? If we fight from the other side’s premises, the values we believe in will never be maintained, let alone be restored in this country. That’s we need to draw a line somewhere so we will always know who we are.

NormanF on May 29, 2009 at 2:22 pm

The thing I find most disturbing though is that Bristol won’t let the real father be involved with the child. I think Todd is one of those “men” that enjoy attacking other men to help himself as he is doing with the real father who was denied any contact with the child and sadly you have women like Sarah who are attracted to immoral men like this and sad to say many women like men that rather then point out their strengths would say false things about other men to attract a women. In the Orthodox Jewish world and on Frumster you have women who seem to love the kind of guy that is very mean to other men (feminist lawyers and the male therapist or male Rabbi who will always blame the man for family problems without hearing the whole story. The women don’t like men that actually provide some service in their role as a man but instead make money by destroying others)and call men like me vicious names for standing up to anything. It says a lot about Sarah’s character to have married a man that his whole life has attacked other men to benefit himself and he has. He has 5 kids and now a grandchild as well. If this is the kind of man that women reward and have many children with this country is in a lot of trouble.

adam6275 on May 31, 2009 at 1:51 am

Todd probably just likes kids and enjoys working around the house rather than slogging 12 hours a day on the oil fields. That’s an IQ test folks.
It also seems obvious that he spoils Bristol beyond redemption as my husband does his daughter. Observing my husband, it’s clear they can’t help themselves. I would prefer Bristol held to convictions but she’s a puppy and so they’re vague at best.
The family was put through the grinder during the campaign. No need to pile on here. Let’s save it for the left and the country’s enemies.

iowavette on June 1, 2009 at 4:56 pm