It Matters What We Do: Bristol Palin’s Story
Posted by: Blue Collar Muse in 2008 election season, Common Sense, Family, Geopolitics, Individual Responsibility, McCain Palin 2008, PoliticsI dislike the parts of the news cycle which exploit the personal failings of others. There are times when, reluctantly, I concede they may be relevant. I intentionally stayed away from the John Edwards adultery story, for example. But I admit his behavior, had it been known, would likely have derailed his candidacy. Which would likely have changed the Democratic primary. Which may well change the history of both our nation and our world should Barack Obama be elected President of the United States.
Seen in that light, discussion of Edwards’ adultery as it applies to the political consequences of his candidacy is legitimate. It matters what we do. It is through this lens that, as a father of 5 and as a man who has answered for his share of unwise decisions over the years, I view the past week’s politics. It matters what we do.
John McCain faced the most important decision for his campaign to date. Who to choose for VP? Be the maverick, choose Lieberman and the base be damned? Play both ends against the middle? Choose Romney or Huckabee and both appeal to and repel a portion of the base? Or make a bold play to the base, the country and the world and go with Sarah Palin? Tough choices. Important choices. It matters what we do.
Millions of dollars in donations over a few days, an almost unanimously energized base, the best possible poll results and frantic, desperate, Democratic spin and attacks later - it would seem he chose well. After all, if the response of most reporters and news rooms to Obama’s candidacy is cheering and open campaigning on his behalf, it then speaks volumes to me that those same newsies respond to the Palin pick with laughter. They’ve fashioned for themselves, by their own actions, a reputation in the public eye that ranks right down there with our Democratic Congress. If they’re against it, it must be the best thing going! It matters what we do.
Which brings me to Bristol Palin. Who would have thought a 16 year old from one of our least populous states would, by actions undertaken in private and never intended to be made public, have the ability to reach out and touch a family, a country and maybe a world? I cannot imagine what it is like to be Bristol Palin tonight. A lot rides on this election. It is impossible to calculate how her behavior will impact that election and thus, the world. It is an academic exercise in the theory of “What if?”. But it’s real. It matters what we do.
Given the predictable, inevitable response from the Left once her story became known, her family’s choice was bold and courageous. They would support Bristol and her decision to both have the baby and marry the father. Grace under fire. The courage and strength that come from actually having convictions even if you don’t always live up to them. It matters what we do.
We have come to the last weeks of the election. I didn’t watch much of the DNC’s antics. I won’t watch much of the RNC’s either. I will tune in for Sarah Palin’s speech. It’s time to stop watching and start working. Working to stay true to what I believe. Giving to those men and women that I believe in. And voting on November 4th for the people and the party I believe are best for the country and the world.
Because I’m reminded this week, by a 16 year old Alaskan mother and wife to be and a 72 year old Presidential wannabe, what I’ve always known, what it is vital I continue to teach my children, and what I must continue to live by myself. Behave as if the world depended upon your actions. It just might. It matters what we do.
Blue Collar Muse
SEE ALSO:
The Battle of Bristol: John McCain has the Upperhand by ACK at Post Politics.
What Bristol Palin’s Pregnancy Really Reveals by Cyndy Shearer at Contending With the Culture.
Dave Screwtape’s Complete Guide to Discrediting Sarah Palin by Adam Graham at Adam’s Blog
Wasilla by Bad Idea Guy at Target Rich Environment.
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Tags: Bristol Palin, Consequences, Convictions, It Matters What We Do, John Edwards, McCain Palin 2008, Sarah Palin, Values
Entries (RSS)
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
I can’t agree more with your post here. It absolutely matters what we do.
My biggest concern right now, BCM, is that there’s a growing number of people who are choosing to ingest the pill that “it doesn’t matter what you do,” with the predicate that someone else will be responsible for it. It seems like we’ll hit the tipping point where things stop working once too many people take that pill.
I look at Edwards and Bristol Palin’s situations differently. Edwards was out there pimping his wife’s terminal cancer for political gain while conducting his affair, as well as having his people hide the pregnancy.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
@ Bad -
Indeed! There are a host of paths we are running down that, once chosen by a majority of the population, spell disaster. The idea of government supporting us, whether by employment or by entitlement, is another one that comes to mind.
You are correct. Edwards and Bristol could not be further apart. They are polar opposites. As has been noted by those wiser than me, your behavior is what gets you into predicaments; your character is how you behave once you arrive.
The Edwards family’s handling of their situation stands in stark contrast to the Palin family’s handling of theirs. They both should equally be on the receiving end of our prayers and our concern. But our evaluation of their character in the midst of the fire should be equally different.
Different seeds sown mean different harvests to reap. I’ll take the harvest coming out of Alaska over the one in the Carolinas hands down, any day.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:28 am
[…] I was travelling over the Labor Day holiday when the VP announcement broke. I was very excited to hear that Sarah Palin was the pick. I’ve been watching her for about six months. I always thought she would be the best female choice, but I didn’t really think he would do it. This pick sucked all the attention away from Obama and to the McCain campaign. I don’t have a lot to say about the situation with her daughter except that I have two young daughters and I hope I never find out what that’s like. Blue Collar Muse has an excellent post on this topic. […]
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
After witnessing the Democrats invent the “Borking” of political rivals in the 1980s and relentlessly practicing this dark art on Justice Thomas, Newt, Dan Quayle, Rush, etc… I had thought the Democrats and their obnoxious toadies in the MSM had finally bottomed out in the depraved political cesspool that is the Far Left; but in watching this pack of political sharks hunt down and try to kill Gov. Sarah Palin it would appears that there are no depths too deep, too dark, too malevolent for them to sink in their ritualistic practice of the blood sport known as “the politics of personal destruction.”
But, on top of their innate desire to utterly destroy a political rival, their shameless hypocrisy is even more breathtaking. The Democrats/MSM have spent the past week turning themselves inside out to in their quest to destroy Gov. Palin and her pregnant, unmarried 17-year-old daughter. After the Dems/MSM spent the 1990s telling us that a married, sitting President using an intern as a humidor in the Oval Office was a “private” matter they suddenly believe that a candidate’s daughter’s sex life is a matter for public consumption. It is here that non-profane words fail me and I have to stop writing ……
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
@James
I always hate it when you get all subtle on me and play your hand close to the vest. Why don’t you just come out and tell us what you really think for a change?
One thing is for sure, if the Left thinks she’s going to burst into tears and run away like a girl, they have a rude awakening ahead. I’m guessing the worst thing they ever did was to go after this woman’s family and her personally! After hearing her speech tonight, I get the impression that most men on the Left wouldn’t last 30 seconds going mano-a-mano with the Governor of Alaska.
Not that they won’t try from afar and with as little personal risk as possible. They’ll only succeed in amplifying the portrait of themselves as craven cowards and whiny children which they have so masterfully painted.