Abstinence only seems to be both a cash cow and a political hotcake. And it got lots of headlines this week.
First off, Bristol Palin will be paid up to $30,000 per gig for her abstinence only promos. What kind of message does this send to the very audience the message is intended for? Don’t have sex before marriage. However, if you do and if you have a baby, you can make 30 grand talking about it and telling others to do as you say, not as you do? That’s a hideous message.
According to SeattlePI.com:
Opportunity knocks when you are America’s best-known teenage mom, and Bristol Palin has signed on with Single Source Speakers to give lectures at $15,000 to $30,000 a pop, more lucrative than her current job at an Anchorage doctor’s office.
The second outrage is Mark Souder and the ‘other woman’ who just happened to be his staffer, ‘starring’ in an ‘abstinence only’ video. From Politico:
Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.), who will resign from Congress as a result of an affair with a female staffer, filmed a video interview about abstinence only education with that same staffer.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Souder admitted the affair took place with a “part-time member of my staff.” GOP sources identified the woman that Souder had the affair with as Tracy Meadows Jackson. Jackson has been a part-time employee on Souder’s staff since Dec. 2004, according to House financial disbursement records. Jackson could not be reached for comment Tuesday morning
Such hypocrisy. In fact, the fact that non-abstinence people are pushing abstinence is pure hypocrisy. The fact that abstinence is being pushed at all is hypocrisy. Modern life is overloaded with sexual messages from everywhere. Kids get bombarded with these messages from the time they are old enough to be aware from various multiple sources: on the news, radio, Internet, films, advertising, magazines, music, TV, politics, Madison Avenue, the clothing industry…. There is no escaping it. Kids cannot be protected but so much from sexual messages. The taboos that were in place when I was growing up are simply not there now. They won’t come back. The times they are NOT a’changing. They have changed and they will stay changed.
Young people need to be encouraged to make responsbile choices. Parents should be setting goals and behavioral expections for their children. Kids need to be know that sex has consequences and very often these consequences are life altering. Kids need to know about contraception, disease prevention and other vital information in the event that they do become sexually active.
‘Don’t do it’ only works so well. A good dose of practicality needs to be thrown in with the don’t do it. Ms. Palin is just capitalizing on glam. Souder is beneath contempt. How dare he. Maybe his wife will take him to the cleaners.
Very little has been said about Mark Souder. Frankly, I don’t care who strays. That’s between them and their spouse. What I do care about is the hypocrisy. Abstinence only commercials and then he is out doing the deed with his commercial mate? Give me a break.
Additionally, he didn’t 100% man up in his apology. He said the following: (bold is mine)
He still blames Washington instead of his horn-dog self. I wish he had said he was a hypocrite, and that had failed his family and that he was going to stay in office and become a better person, thus a better role model, and not try to legislate morality. Any apology to the American people is owned because he tried to use virtue as a political tool. He appeared to have thrown his partner in crime under the bus also with the word ‘part time.’
Poisonous Washington didn’t make that zipper come down. He did. He also needs to be reminded that some kid’s hormones are a lot wilder than his, while he is preaching.
@marinm
I mean the horror of belonging to a partisan club!
I’m also trying to picture you wearing silk. 🙂
@PWC Taxpayer
Ya know, you can have those kind of wierd dreams when you have your head in some undisclosed location. While I am not certain, I suspect it could be due to the methane fumes combined with other gases given off by partially digested foodstuffs found in the location of your head. It may also explain why you have such a crappy outlook on things.
@Rick Bentley
The reason that Taxpayer makes the same accusation all the time is it is the only phrase he knows–it comes from the Tea Party song book. It must be frustrating for him to have such a limited repetoir. Just remember that Forrest Gump said it best about these kind of people: Stupid is as stupid does.
George, got anything useful or insightful to move this thread forward or would you prefer to use school yard tactics of calling people names?
Pathetic.
As MH said; don’t hurl insults at others.
@George S. Harris What distinguishes your crude comment from PWC Taxpayer’s comments?
I find it amusing that Marin and Emma quickly jump on George but never raise an eyebrow over the crap that is directed at Pinko, Elena or me. It speaks volumes.
I have been cannon fodder for tp and not one of you all ever speaks up. Frankly, I don’t much care what George says to him. Give a little, get a little.
The way I look at it is I don’t have to defend you (MH) as your an adult and you do pretty well on your own. 😉
You said he crossed a line. At that point the line is drawn in the sand. After that the first attack I saw was George so I called him out on his childishness. If it had been Emma I would hope I would’ve done the same.
Personally, I try never to restort to attacking a person on here and try to hold everyone with atleast the level of respect that I would have for any adult that I don’t know. There is a line and if people cross it they should get smacked down regardless of who it is.
I hope to never cross that line but if I do I welcome someone hitting me on the nose with a newspaper. 🙂
Let’s just be crystal clear here, the “method” of abstinence as birth control FAILED, she got preganant! Every research article I have ever read, having done a paper in grad school on this very subject, points to the FAILURE of abstinence only education when it comes to preventing pregnancy. I am completely supportive of abstinence as a valuable discussion point, however, you are putting young people in a losing situation if you don’t also impart upon them the knowledge of birth control…….. PERIOD.
furthermore, I cannot recall one time when those who are giving George a hard time, ever chided Taxpayer for his unflattering comments towards posters here. All’s fair in love and war…….and blogging.
So, the whole knock it off final warning is meaningless if all’s fair in love and war…and blogging?
Unbelievable.
No, that isn’t what it says at all, Marin.
I guess probably the bottom line is, we decide who crosses the line–same as you would do in your own yard, Marin. There are people who occassionally cross the line. Often it is unintentional. Usually, if it isn’t directed at us personally, I might just mention it. I have emailed several people, if I have a valid email address.
However, there are some people who come here continually to pick and label and name call at me. Think of those as the habitual offenders…those are the people who will end up in time out.
And I do find it amusing that people can beat me on the head with a club and no one but Rick or Elena so much as blinks. Let someone attack the attackers and the someone is vilified.
Why not find a Role Model to look up to, not a person who suffered a mistake. For example, look towards people with character like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Shania Twain – people who have their act together instead of Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan or Paris Hilton.
WE as adults have a choice who to expose our children to as role models – and we are not doing a good job of it.
@Moon-howler Well, since I’m being lumped in with people who stand by while you feel you are being attacked unfairly, I might as well respond, even though I was only speaking to George.
Moon, when you have been asked about your silence at the frequent, outright nastiness and namecalling of Starry, George and some others, your response is often something like, “What would you want me to do?”
Your words say a lot about your politics, and it’s really all we have to go on in an anonymous blog setting. It’s not hard to see why Taxpayer has read you in the way that he/she has, and maybe sometimes in judging you by whom/what you choose to defend and whom you would prefer to twist in the wind. So I will turn the question around and ask you: What would you want me to do?
Not to bring up the past or anything, but I have defended you on some fronts, and not just on this blog. You have a short memory when it comes to the people you don’t care for so much.
@marinm and Emma–I didn’t realize it was insult to simply state a fact. I guess that “crappy” might be considered crude. I suppose I could apologize to Taxpayer, but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to do that.
As to the topic–If her name wasn’t “Bristol Palin” no one would give a rat’s rear. A girl down the street had a child “out of wedlock” and she hasn’t made a dime from it.
As for Souder–his zipper didn’t just fall down and he didn’t just accidently find himself “in flagrante delicto”. But I will say, he didn’t cry, he didn’t blame anyone else and he wasn’t off hiking the Appalachian Trail. He took responsibility for his actions and did the right thing–resigned. Or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he should have let his constituents decide at the polls.
I try to take aim where I think the arrow will do the most good. I am glad that MH and Elena are willing to put up this blog and take the hits. That’s more than many are willing to do or are capable of. Isn’t the First Amendment a great thing?
@Emma
Its common – even expected – for one to not react to views you agree with and to support different standards over rudeness or even the analytics when in reflection of commonly held views. To do otherwise is the challenge.
For the record, the issue here started at comment # 4 and comment # 9. Beyond the “Bite me,” which I am pretty sure I would have been sent off for, I think I was also called ignorant ” “Your ignorance and rudeness continue to astound me.” If any of us don’t want our views challenged or otherwise (politically) labeled, maybe blogging is not the place to set them out. That said, M-H and I have agreed on occasion – rarely – but on occaision.
You actually don’t recall that I have spoken to several people on here. You also don’t know whose comments have ended up in moderation. Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t bet the ranch.
As for George, He isn’t one of the blog bad boys. Why pick on him?
Taxpayer, it is your rudeness, not your ideas. As for bite me…sorry about that. It just slipped out and probably will again. Sort of hard to get thrown off my own blog isn’t it?
So, lets all kiss and make up and support President Palin and Senator Rand Paul…
One can dream, right?? 🙂
“look towards people with character like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Shania Twain ”
Swift has character? i thought she was just some young chick who can’t sing and can’t act marketing herself based on looks.
Twain was married to record producer “Mutt Lange” who produced AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” album among other things.
Marin…..in another lifetime.
Rick,,,Huh???? Who said swift had character? I dont know if she does or doesnt.
This is amazing to me. There is actually a blog on which one can find a lengthy, civilized discussion re blogging civility. Folks, there are blogs right in this general area where you can get banned at remarkable speed just for expressing a contrary opinion — not to mention harsh language and name-calling (depending on your ideology, of course). There is one blog — no names, please — where people on other blogs are laying figurative bets on how fast they can get banned from that particular blog just by presenting an opposing viewpoint. I would suspect that I and Emma and Marinm and Cargosquid and some others here would probably last only one or two posts before being chucked out.
Such blogs, devoted as they seem to be to ideological and political purity, do eventually turn into echo chambers. That has not happened here. Quite candidly, back in the “fighting days” of 2007, the anti-BVBL did have a somewhat similar reputation; but, sheezam, something happened here to the comfort level for those with opposing viewpoints. And that “something” appears to be pretty positive. Let’s not spoil it. Every argument has its strengths and weaknesses. You can find many points of disagreement as well as places where the minds can actually meet, shake hands after a sharp debate, and come back the next day without feeling instictively negative about how your thoughts will be treated. That, in my opinion, is aces above a lot of other things going on in this society, including our politics. If we can just keep the tone of the debate on an even keel, this place can become a blogging “home” for all kinds of diverse viewpoints. I’ve got no quarrel with partisan debate. It’s just how you go about it which determines whether the debate goes on or ends abruptly in a fit of pique. Moonhowlings.net, in my view, is getting very close to finding the secret of the former. As I have stated before, if you can get a dyed-in-the-wool conservative to keep coming back here, you are onto something.
It’s a great board. I agree.
Thanks guys.
Actually I think that a lot of the fighting days was hype. Very few people who weren’t totally outrageous got banned. I would say retrospectively, more people should have. I never made any non-censorship promises though. A few people also planted things here, then went and picked them up and deposited them elsewhere (another blog) before we knew they were there and could take them down. The admins are the same. Perhaps it is the users.