I liked your quote, “I certainly have no beef with Bristol. I suspect that what Bristol needs most right now is some privacy, a really good midwife or doctor, and a few very close and dependable friends.” When this story broke, my thoughts were that I could only imagine what she is inherently going through with her pregnancy at 17 and then to add that it is national news to it. Teenagers have enough to deal with. I hope she is strong enough to make it through this. And I wonder if Sarah Palin talked to Bristol about what this means for her prior to agreeing to be the nominee. My next thoughts turned to how we as a nation have the opportunity to have the discussion of teenage sexuality and education. My hope is that there could be a great lesson to be learned here about what could be gained by educating teenagers about sex, a woman’s right to choose, and public programs to help young mothers. But this is also something that my usual optimism isn’t quite there on. I feel like this situation will only be used to serve someone’s agenda.

As always, enjoy reading your site.

~Jairy

PS - OWL starts Sunday! Can’t wait!

I certainly have no beef with Bristol. I suspect that what Bristol needs most right now is some privacy, a really good midwife or doctor, and a few very close and dependable friends.

I have substantial issues with Sarah Palin - who is the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate. Palin does not support educating teenagers about sex, does not a woman’s choice to terminate a pregnancy, and she does not support public programs to help young mothers. From start to finish, she is condemning young women to stepping back in time when their options and resources were severely restricted to the home - to a time when a woman would not ever be considered for the office of Vice President.

Yes, it might have been fair to ask Edwards if he “knew what caused this” if turned out that his mistress’ baby was in fact his and if he were the Democratic Nominee. But we don’t know yet (he says it’s not his child), and he’s not the nominee.

Regardless of who we’re asking, the entire point of asking is to start the political conversation - not a personal conversation - about sex education. Asking these questions of Edwards will not start a political conversation. Asking them of Palin will. And is.

Why give Edwards a pass and publically skewer this young woman?

It’s clear that comprehensive sex education - lots of good information and conversation - decreases sexual activity and unsafe sex. It’s also clear that abortion must be the woman’s choice - a point which Palin disagrees with, even in the case of incest and rape. This is a poignant time to talk about these issues with Palin’s daughter as starting point.

John Edwards is supportive of comprehensive sex education - his pass is not because of his gender but because he supports legislation and education that could prevent a mistake like the one he made.

How do men get a pass on this topic?