Blood Loyalty

There's a rather small, back-water debate going on in conservative circles about the decision of Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston not to get married. Bristol, you will remember, is the teenage daughter of Governor Sarah Palin, who was lauded in pro-life circles for keeping her child and announcing that she would marry the baby's teenage father, Levi Johnston. I was among those applauding. It was a decision that showed respect for life, and for taking responsibility for that life, by giving the toddler a mother and a father. The two of them made a mistake, but they were taking responsibility for that mistake, by having the child, and starting a new family.

Well, it looks like the "new family" part of the deal is on hold. Bristol sold the pictures of her new child to People Magazine for $300,000, and she announced a "mutual" decision not to get married.

I feel something like a fan, rooting for an inglorious underdog on American Idol, only to find out her agent negotiated a big prize money deal, if she agreed to take a fall on stage.

There was a time, in America, when even a divorce meant you were finished in politics--even if the divorce was not your fault. Now, as Teddy Kennedy proves, you can even dump a girl in a river and get nighted for it by the Queen of England. We've gone from a fairly high standard of integrity for both politicians and their families to a sense that everyone screws up, so...whatever...move on people...nothing to see here.

Of course, conservative family-values politicians get raked over the coals far more vigorously for moral failure because they make the mistake of championing the ancient truths in the first place, but it seems that even the "values voters" are reconciled to accepting not just a little personal weakness--but a whole lot of it. When Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani last year, it was a signal that some values voters don't believe the political power of those values, or in the likelihood of any politician representing them.

In the instance of Bristol Palin, we are told, first of all, that Sarah Palin bears no blame for her adult daughter's actions--and certainly that is true, to an extent. We hope that Mom's values will influence her children, but Bristol's television admission that "abstinence" is "not realistic," either means Sarah shares her opinion, or Bristol wasn't listening. Since, Sarah, however is the public figure, the one selling conservative family values to the American public, we would expect--at the very least--to hear her response to her daughter's decisions.

It could take a lot of forms: "Maybe I should have spent a little more time teaching and less time governing," or "I gotta tell you, I taught my daughter well, but she made her own decisions, and I don't agree with them," or even "heah, at least she didn't kill her baby, even though I'd like her to take the next logical step and marry Levi." The American public is very forgiving--praise be--but forgiveness begins by admitting a mistake.

It would seem that some sort of public statement is in order, particularly for a politician whose commitment to pro-life values includes a huge personal and self-sacrificial commitment to life, and particularly a politician who advocates personal self-government over the welfare state. Small government is made possible by a people who rule over themselves, and govern themselves--starting with their own families. It's very difficult to argue against the state assuming responsibility for single mothers if you argue--by your actions, or by your failure to comment upon wrong-doing--that fathers aren't important to the raising of children. If Governor Palin doesn't say something, she will be talking up traditional families in the abstract, but living out a matriarchy in the flesh.

What is the argument, by conservatives, against this sort of a statement? Why is Sarah Palin being allowed this inconsistency? It involves her "family." Blood is thicker than water. Even conservatives are arguing that a politician shouldn't have to state what is good and bad behavior, if it means her children's feelings might get hurt. The results of that policy are clear: enter, stage left, the destruction of the very principle itself. No one can argue for a public standard if they won't allow that standard to be scrutinized in their own household. The American people can forgive a mistake, but they can't forgive an unwillingness to even discuss it.



Governor Palin: the little guy deserves a dad--and you should say so.