Hey, let's quit piling on Palin. So she has good legs and secretly loves sex--that's cool, right?

America needs Palin even as Italy needs Berlu and France needs Sarko. Palin stands for who we are--writ large.

Here's the point. If we bash Palin we bash her with velvet gloves, keep her healthy and mouthy--Don't you love to hear her use words?

Tell the truth: Who would be a more evocative spectacle as Secretary of State--Hillary or Palin?

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At least this way Bristol can't extort child support to subsidize her decision. Levi might be a second class citizen for whom the 14th amendment does not apply, but at least he is worthless. How many diapers do you think he's changed? What is 25% of nothing?

Karen Decrow former NOW president:

"If women have the right to choose if they become parents, men [should] have that right too. There is a connection between legalizing abortion for women and ending of paternity suits for men. Giving men their own choices would not deny choices to women. It would only eliminate their expectation of having those choices financed by men."

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I've got to admit that staggering hypocrisy is hard to swallow, especially when it's largely backed by mind boggling amounts of think tank cash and advocacy groups who are transforming an Alaska family's life into a carnival attraction,...

...but I'm basically a gentle soul who feels genuinely sorry for people when their lives become cannon fodder in the march to sell an idea.

You're right, the entire spectacle is pathetic, and a frank conversation about bith control or a day after pill would have spared them all some grief, but I can't even muster much venom toward people who were stooped upon by GOP image hawks, swept up, transformed and marched into the spotlight...including the shotgun engagement of Levi and Bristol.

But...I'll save my full contempt for the organization and institutions that dragged these people kicking and screaming into the world spotlight with only a thin coat of whitewash to cover their basically human nature and personal foibles.

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Your question is rhetorical, of course, but I am baffled by the amount of logic we throw at Republicans in order to comprehend why we must coexist in the same reality with them. Think about it all we want, logic and reasoning are of no real value to them, or they'd be on the other side.
I live half my life in Europe, and when puzzled Europeans ask me for a shortcut into grasping the North American political dichotomy, I simply tell them that one of the two parties is designed to catch all the idiots, fools and lazy frightened cretins. They agree that subtleties are sacrificed, but thus, we get to move-on swiftly to another subject.

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The answer to Matt's question is simple: The Religious Reich doesn't give a crap about being rank, fetid hypocrites. A movement which can "prove" at a museum that the dinosaurs helped the Egyptians build the pyramids is not a movement which cares about liberal buzzwords such as "truth" and "veracity" and "proof" and "evidence". Blabbering on about abstinence as the solution to all of the world's relationship problems while your daughter is playing hide-the-bunny upstairs in her room is completely and absolutely par for the course. The only way in which this story could have been even better would have been if Levi had given the girl an STD to boot. But that wouldn't have made any difference to Ubermom either. This is a story which has its roots in the days of those fantastic television preachers who just couldn't keep their zipper up -- Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, that guy who snorted drugs with a male prostitute. And, for that matter, all of the Roman Catholic priests who also babbled about abstinence while fondling small children in the vestry, with the Roman Catholic church itself looking aside and whistling, just waiting for it to be over so that the priest could be quietly moved somewhere else. I think that the most important thought in Matt's excellent article is that the poor kid who was born into this situation is more or less doomed, particularly in today's 24/7 "we got it first" media world. This is apparently what the Religious Reich means when they talk about "caring for God's children." It is revolting. And it goes far, far beyond normal human understanding to comprehend how a sufficient number of Americans could ever think that Sarah Palin should be entrusted with the governance of the United States.

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SARAH PALIN FOR PRESIDENT

Let me rephrase that....

SARAH PALIN FOR CANDIDATE

Before he was even inaugurated, I predicted two terms for Barack Obama. Although at the time that was somewhat of a daring prophecy, it is no longer bold as it once was. As a matter of a fact, it is a near certainty. Which brings us back to the dilemma facing the "party of Lincoln" (Doesn't that phrase just make ya wanna giggle?) Three years from now they won't be able to nominate another bland and boring white guy, that's for damned sure! What to do? It's simple! Nominate a minority or a woman. I can just picture the bumper stickers: SARAH PLAIN/BOBBY JINDAL in '12". Count on it: Barring a miracle, scandal or tragedy, either one of them - or both of them - will be on the ticket in 2012. Remember, you read it right here on "The Rant", folks.

Judge Sonia Has Her Day

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

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Honestly, politics may mean "something" to us regular folks but when it comes to the candidates and privates lives behind the facade, it is all about spin coupled with the drive for money, power and greed. It matters not what the truth is when they can turn the truth to some other kind of reality to those listening and watching. For instance, the repentance of Bristol. Now, is she going to taste the fruit again anytime soon? Probably because the first bite is always the most difficult and well, sex is like a drug, once you've had it, you want more (pending good performance, of course!). Money, power and greed, that's the bottom line. No one in the Republican or Democratic party gives one iota about the people playing out the roles, it's all about money, power and greed.

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just a question, but was Mike paraphrasing or did BP REALLY SAY "girls need to close their eyes and imagine spending the rest of their lives with a screaming baby before they have sex —" ???? He didn't use quotation marks, so how accurate was that statement?

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There is a rumor in Alaska that Levi may not even be Tripp's Daddy.
I read it somewhere on a few different Alaskan blogs. While I'm not saying that it is true, don't you think it would be to Levi's advantage to have a paternity test done? That way, if it proves that he is not Bristol's baby daddy, he can make a clean escape from the clutches of the Palin Clan.
You have to feel sorry for Levi. He was just a regular horny, redneck teenager, who happened to get it on with Bristol. Then his entire life ( as well as his family's lives) were just blown away.
I don't think, (other than being a redneck and not too bright) that Levi or his family are such 'bad' people. I can't even imagine being trapped in the claws of the Palins.

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Clearly, she drives the loony tune liberals up the wall and she is as far away from Washington now as she can be. I'm voting for her.

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see a problem and start in with "moral values police" partnered with phony outrage, is when it's someone other then them. And I mean just the ones who are extra anal retentive. You know, the limpone's,....ah oh, limbaughs and all. It's the oxycotin they're on. We will never have a real war on drugs, just a bunch of drugged out, wash outs who've mastered hypocrisy. Who only make sense to those who listen to them. lol

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How important are the Palin's?

They're a collective train wreck, a WalMart of cheap, misaligned media distractions, symptomatic of a country that suffers from low self-esteem. >next.

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When Republicans do it, it is not a sin.

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Palin for the GOP in 2012? I am on my knees yelling, "Please! Please! Let me know how many sheep (or moose) I have to sacrifice to make this happen and I'll get started."

Incidentally, the film Idiocracy posited a dystopian American populated by idiots as a result of stupid people today having more children than smart people. I mention this because Sarah Palin has 5 children; the Obamas only have two (cue Twilight Zone theme here).

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Xtian beliefs fuck people up without them even knowing it.

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Matt, great writing, but, uh one thing. Isn't the newest Palin kid a BOY?????

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Anyone who can talk themselves into believing all the bull$hit in christianity has the ability to talk themselves into believing all sorts of falsities that do not follow Actual Logic. All you have to do is state verbally the exact opposite of your behavior; you know..."Do as i say, not as i do".

The blantentness of the hypocrisy is ASTOUNDING and what's more astounding are the Believers of it.

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is onto something here. If I were Levi, I'd damn sure INSIST on a paternity test. Just imagine what would happen if the child was'nt Levi's! If it was true, would the world as we know it dissappear? Probably not, but at least that should be enough "dirt" to bury the Palin's. That way we would'nt have to hear another friggin' word about Sarah Palin and her brood... .. ...

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Another trivial and pointless article.

Perhaps Matthew should compose for People magazine.

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She and her daughter are empty-headed soap opera comic book characters interesting only to those who think supermarket tabloids are what's really happening. Huh? What's that? That's about 50 million people? The hell you say! Uh, never mind.

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Got the sex of the kid wrong. Trashed the hypocrisy of BRISTOL Palin, a person of very little significance. Not that Sarah Palin's hypocrisy is news, but at least it is relevant, unlike Bristol's. The strongest point was that politicians bring their kids into the debate, but the article wallows in bringing kids into the debate, so that point falls flat. Slow news day? Or just some red meat for Palin haters?

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Why the so-called liberal press, mostly wannabes who only have the talent to write a few nasty, name-calling blogs; continue to pick on Sarah Palin is beyond me.

More than any National Candidate since Harry Truman, she is ONE OF US! An American!

It is obviously the old adage, that he/she who has nothing good to say about themselves or their own political beliefs, has to pick on someone who is much, much much, better than they are. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

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Bristol was actually honest about the notion that 'abstinence may not be totally realistic' and peep's Really Need to be careful if they're going to do what a popular segment of society (msmedia), and most of their peers, and hormones and human nature conspire to induce/seduce them towards.

BUT NOW? She's making money (and most likely will be a millionaire) off the fact she had unprotected sex.

...What do they call girls who have make money from having sex??

Oh That's right: Apparently, She's really just a whore.

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LOL!
Dude, Taibbi is funny...I remember reading his stuff in the Moscow Times back in 1997 or so...good times. It made being an expat a lot easier.

Too bad he's shilling against getting to the bottom of 911 once and for all. A lot of the mess we're in hinges on that.

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Matt Taibbi grosses me out. How does AlterNet let such slime writing appear as a feature article? I am being not to be surprise by the level of character of some of your contributors. This guy is a foul-mouthed anti-religion bigot. The Palins got careless and made a mistake. Now the daughter is maturing and performing a public service. If you do not believe abstinence is a good thing, check out the African-American community. I believe over half their children are born out of wed-lock. Result? Poverty being passed from generation to generation, and abundant crime and drug use. A lost generation and society. Liberals and so called "progressive" (regressives) hate Sarah Palin because she represents old fashioned “moral goodness” (and she is hot!—you can have Nancy Pelosi who is not bad for 67) and has the courage to speak out against this immorality and the harm it brings. Also, she believes in the God ordained institution of marriage and fiscal responsibility. Regressive can not stand that. Palin in 2016, or if Obama continues to screw up out economy, get a real economist as president: Romney/Palin in 2012.

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i don't think mcCain would have been a very good Pres. He gets angry very easliy. But, I think if Bill Kristol(PNAC) hadn't gone googoo over Sarah Palin , searching for her in the middle of no-where. McCain had no idea who the dickens she was. No one else did either, just those dirty ole men of the GOP.
gone, but not forgotten.

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Matt Taibbi is one of my favorite writers. Definitely the only good thing about that sack of shit magazine Rolling Stone.

But I think he's giving Bristol Palin too much credit to think she's going to care she's being used one day. Growing up in that family, she has to know her role as a political pawn for mommy by now. Either that or they're paying her very well for her contributions to the movement and doesn't care. It's like when a fat person is used for the "ew" factor of a weight-loss related commercial. They know they're being held up for humiliation as the "what not to be" portion of things. But why not use your disadvantage for advantage, right?

But Matt Taibbi is 100% correct on how this is going to affect the child in question. Held up as the ultimate example on why two idiots should use birth control. I'm sure I was an "oops baby" by learning my parents history when I grew up. But if they came out and said it to me, it would definitely be a little bit of a mindfuck. But I can't imagine being able to go back to dig up archive footage from talk shows and People Magazine cover stories with bajillions of newspaper articles discussing it in depth. How could you not feel worthless seeing "Yeah, I fucked up with some loser boyfriend. But don't be like me, girls" propaganda with you at the center?

But then again, this family will probably have the baby (whatever idiotic name they gave this one) programmed into their worldview so by the time it reaches adulthood it will have no problems being a pawn like mommy and her aunts and uncles for granny.

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is a boy named "Tripp," not to be confused with Sarah's baby who is named "Trigg." (I don't know why they have this obsession with Tr...)
There's one way parents could help their daughters to withstand the seductions of teen aged boys, and that's by telling the daughters the truth: Teen aged boys think of little else other than sex and food in that order. And they will say _anything_ , including "I love you," to a girl to get sex. It's that simple. Sex is what they're after, and teen aged girls are looking for "love." And often confuse the two. When I was young, just the thought of my father's wrath if I had gotten pregnant was enough to keep me pure. I remember telling more than one boy, "If you don't leave me alone, my daddy will kill you." And I really believed he would...and kill me too while he was at it. As for Sarah Palin, she is a big hypocrite, and it amazes me that people think she is presidential material. Just because she can talk a lot doesn't mean she's got a lot upstairs. Most women can talk. It's saying something meaningful that counts. That's where the less sexy gals like Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama leave Palin in the shadows.

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Palin president? She can't even handle Alaska. She'd do better to pose in Playboy. She'd get plenty of attention, and won't be destroying our lives and country. Palin is a MAJOR hypocrite, along with many other choice words.

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the fact that she has gotten in bed with "big oil" and sold out the Alaskan ecology to them. She's taken millions of dollars of oil money, and that's great so long as no oil leaks out to contaminate the ground forever. Valdez will never be a decent place to live since the Exxon oil spill which covered a huge tract of land and ocean and from which it has never recovered, nor has Exxon had to clean it up the way they were supposed to. Palin doesn't give a toss about the Alaskan wildlife either; she has sold out to the big game hunters who want the wolves killed even though wolves do not eat the brown Alaskan bear, the moose or the elk; anyone who has a modicum of knowledge of wolves knows that they eat mostly small game--rabbits, and a lot of mice (Farley Mowatt's story: Never Cry Wolf was a study he did of a wolf pack in northern Canada, and that's what the wolves ate: mice.) Palin has taken money to have the Alaskan wolves hunted down from low flying airplanes, then they are shot to death from the air. The wolf pups are killed too. She doesn't care about the endangered polar bears either, and they are fair game for the big game hunters to kill and mount on their walls, etc. She sits in her living room with an Alaskan brown bear skin on the couch behind her, a big Alaskan King crab stuffed on her coffee table, (I have a picture of this) and she brags about shooting a moose (which I doubt she ate) and thinks she's some kind of macho female hunter because she likes to kill things. I don't know how Alaskans can stomach her.

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It isn't about the sin or even the explanation (rationalization, excuse, mendacity, call it what you want). It's about the redemption. Like they keep saying, they're not perfect, they're just "saved". Reads to me like a license to sin like hell as long as you die muttering about "Jesus".

Amen, pass the Oxy...

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Somewhat apropos of this, conservative townhall.com has an article today titled "Pregnant Women Have No Right to a Job". Every townhall article has a Comments thread following. Have fun.

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For shame! The sneering elitism of so much of the above is (yet another) demonstration of the moral imbecility characteristic of a people raised to embrace infinite greed as maximum virtue -- the condition that not only renders functional socialism eternally impossible in the United States (its primary purpose), but also blinds so many to Bristol Palin's tragic plight.

No less than a child deliberately sold into slavery by parents, Bristol has been handed over to the pitilessly profiteering national media for the psychological equivalent of gang rape. She is a victim who should be comforted, protected and helped to grow beyond her anguish rather than maintained as an object of public scorn for the nation's self-righteous voyeurism -- a voyeurism equally malicious whether from the bible-thump Right or the secular Left. For shame!

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You do know that Bristol's love child is a boy right???? Little Tripp or Trek or Trophy or whatever his name is will just have to cope. Mooma and Granny are riding the gravy train....

"family values" always was a crock .

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Ha. Good luck getting a prom date bitch.

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The religious right has made a fetish of sexuality, especially premarital sex, homosexuality and abortion. Jesus isn't recorded as expressing concern about these things, unlike violence, war, greed and oppression of the poor, but his followers are greatly exercised.

Sarah Palin was pregnant at the altar and has had several documented affairs. But she says the right things, so she's respected.

It's well known that condom distribution saves lives and doesn't increase sexual activity, but conservatives oppose it. Comprehensive sex education--unlike their cherished ignorance-only programs--reduce pregnancy, STDs and sexual activity, but they oppose them. Needle exchange programs prevent HIV without increasing drug use, but they (and Obama) oppose them.

It's all posturing, cheap political theater.

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First of all you are stating several things that are not factual. There is no proof that Sarah knew of Bristol's sexual activity for one. Cite your proof? WEhere do you get the information and proof of this. this is old newscommentary months out of the box so why are you posting this statements now? The assumptions in your story could only have been published by a left wing extreamist org.

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As usual it's o.k. if someone on the far right does it, but anyone on the "left" (in the far right mind, that means anyone left of the far right) does it and they're in a tizzy. (sigh) What a country...

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Letting her kid have sex at her home doesn't seem so bad to me... better there than drunk at his place or in some dive or his truck... I don't have a problem with that at all... what bothers me is the double standard where she'd lambaste another woman if she allowed the same thing, whether it resulted in pregnancy or not. Silly thing is that in thirty years even good Xtian Americans are going to be leading the charge for having way fewer kids... people keep making them and pushing them out into the world like there aren't already too many of us competing for a finite amount of water, food and space. I had one... so far his choice has been to have none.

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Sarah Palin's hypocrisy is old news. Why is this article even posted?

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..from Wingnut Trailor Trash?

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After getting punked by David Ray Griffin on the subject of 9/11 Taibbi has finally found a safe place to jerk off.

I don't know about you but I can't get enough of trashing Sarah Palin and Co. I just can't think of anything more important to do with my time.

Thanks Matt for more cutting-edge reporting, it's what we've learned to expect from you.

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" — her daughter is someday going to cough that line up, through sobs, in her fourth or fifth year of very expensive therapy."

Bristol Palin's child, Tripp, is a boy.

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Trowel
Truck
Travesty
Trans
Trouble
Tree
Trot
Trick

#@!

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