 |
| "Look at me, look at me, look at me now!" |
I was not going to include any Palin interviews today, because frankly I am fed up with Palin's flirtatious Fox photo-ops.
However this one, where she wanders into the studio of some radio host I have never heard of called
Tom Sullivan, was interesting in that Palin seemed to completely misunderstand the point he was making, and tries to defend HER version of "family values" by using Bristol as an example.
Here is the statement that Sullivan makes:
"The day before President Kennedy was assassinated, most rich people, most poor people. Most minorities, most majorities. 98% of the people were..that were adults..were married. They mostly went to church. They may have been in different economic zones, but they all kind of had the same values. And we don't have that now. Not even close to that, now we're down to something like 40% of adults are married, we're at a minority."
Now he is quoting from a book written by Charles Murray, and I am very suspicious of his data on this, but the point that Sullivan is making is clear. He blames much of the "breakdown of the American families" on a new looser moral code. This is, purposefully or not, a direct attack on Palin, her morals, and how she has raised her family.
I am not at all sure that his point was completely understood by the Grizzled Mama who responds with this:
"You know what though? Look at my own, kinda thinking selfishly here, look at my life situation and how, perhaps, some of the things that I personally have gone through can be used as an example of, 'life happens.' For instance look at my daughter, she was a teenager, she was pregnant, she has this most beautiful baby now, but she recognizes, wow life would have been a lot easier and made more sense had this happened to me a decade from now, once I had my education, if I were married, and all that. However, and life also is all about, and your chances for prosperity and for success are all about how you are going to deal with the circumstances that your facing. My daughter Bristol decided, welp I'm going to DO this, I'm going to be independent and responsible, I will take responsibility, I will work extremely hard. She has two jobs, she works very, very hard. She's quite..um..modest and humble about where she does spend her money so that she has a future for her son. She's reacted well to the circumstances that she has been in, and it's an example of, okay life happens, it's not always perfect, ideal situations, how are you going to react to those? And again are you going to be personally responsible or are you going to have government do it for you?"
Now I am not a moralist, and don't necessarily agree with Sullivan, but his point about the fact that strong healthy families, usually make for strong healthy children, who then go on to have strong healthy families of their own, is not entirely incorrect. (Though I also believe that unhealthy relationships which "stay together for the children" can be much more damaging than divorce.)
I don't believe that Palin recognizes that the unhealthy environment which she had created at home (And which has been colorfully illustrated by Joe, Levi, and Frank Bailey's books), had essentially predetermined some of the problems her children are facing today.
So instead she did what she always does. She invented a healthy outcome for her daughter's "mistake," in which today everything is perfect, despite imperfect decisions in the past. Bristol is working two jobs, is modest and humble, and is NOT relying on the government for a hand out.
Of course WE know that Bristol's reality show, her job, seems to have crashed and burned, she has had several cosmetic surgeries, and that she is being partially supported by her mother.
She doesn't need a government handout because her mother's influence has helped her to get a book deal, appear on television, and film a pilot for a now defunct reality show.
So how was that being "personally responsible?"
And let's certainly not forget that Bristol got pregnant on purpose, it did not just happen to her.
She did it to get her mother's attention, force her to stop making her take care of the house, and to force her to stop taking her for granted. And it worked.
And, if rumors are true, it is STILL the best way to get Mommy's attention.
In a nutshell those are Sarah Palin's "family values" whether she admits them or not. How does that stack up to what the GOP is promoting in this 2012 election cycle?
Still think she will emerge victorious from a brokered convention?
(P.S. to hear this interview for yourself just click Tom Sullivan's name at the top of the post.)
Update: I don't want to do yet another Palin post today so let me just attach the link to the Grizzled Mama's
personal message to fans here.
And here are a few of more interesting excerpts for your enjoyment.
I’ll miss the start of the race because I’m visiting troops in Indiana on their way to Afghanistan, and it is important … these deployed troops and those returning — whom I so honor — they are our heroes. So, I’ll miss the first day of the Iron Dog, but then I’ll get home to cheer Todd on throughout that week. That’s one day in our lives, that’s Sunday. (laughter)
Yep just visiting the troops, like any ex-reality show star would do. Certainly does NOT indicate any problems in the old marriage, right?
The kids are very busy. My son’s in the service, the oldest. And Bristol’s very busy. She’s working full-time for a dermatologist. She loves her job in an office there, raising her son Tripp, a single parent, doing great. She’s also shooting a [documentary] series – kind of the antithesis of the ‘Teen Mom’ stuff you see on MTV, for Lifetime. She’s shooting these segments that show what real life is like for a single mom who loves her son more than life itself, but sure wishes that maybe a decade from now after she had an education, after she had some career experience under her belt, then she would have had a baby.
Actually there may be a NEW Alaska based reality show in the works for Bristol. Or so says some film insider pals of mine. Apparently THAT is one of the "two jobs" she is currently working on,
Willow’s doing awesome. She’s going to graduate high school a year early, and then she’s going off to hair school, and she’s so excited about that. She’s 17, and she was in New York and D.C. with me at the beginning of the week, and Willow got a little taste of real life because she was telling some folks that she was proud that she was getting to graduate a year early and that she’d gotten everything lined up and then she got accepted to hair school. Then it occurred to her, she was like, “I think they looked at me, mom, like, ‘well if you’re willing to pay the tuition, doesn’t everybody get accepted to hair school?’” But she’s still real excited, and I’m excited for her.
I will let this pass without comment. I am sure many of you will take up the slack.
And Trigg is just the light of our life … just an awesome little kid. He got glasses yesterday. He’s almost four years old, and [it's] just the sweetest little heart of gold that he has. He keeps us grounded, keeps us knowing what our right priorities are.
Trigg got glasses today? Well that's about damn time!
