Juneau

September 2, 2008 By Guest Contributor 36 Comments

Adding to the Bristol Palin onslaught, I know. But I found the picture funny.

That is all.

(via Reddit)

Filed Under: General 36 Comments
  • http://consonants.blogspot.com Deepa

    Oh c’mon. This is too much. Photoshop the mother, leave the girl alone please. She has done nothing to warrant such ridicule.

  • http://www.thoughtcounts.net/ thoughtcounts Z

    Yeah, and we’ve all been thinking about but not making the Juno/Juneau joke since the story broke. It’s just too easy.

    McCain’s face is pretty hilarious though.

  • http://www.banalleakage.com martymankins

    She’s done nothing? Sounds like she did something.

    Obama said the family is off limits when it comes to political campaigning, but little puns like this (which I’m sure SNL and MadTV will parody at some point) are harmless.

  • http://whall.org/blog whall

    Nothing this public is harmless. The photoshopping and joke is inappropriate and I highly question the integrity of someone who would post it.

  • http://stevemegan.blogspot.com Megan

    No, no. Not cool. Leave the teenage daughter alone, please.

    I have huge issues with Palin, but the kids have to be left out of it.

  • http://bjornisageek.blogspot.com Bjorn Watland

    Hemant, I think your baby clock is ticking.

  • http://thehappyhuman.wordpress.com jtradke

    Really? I think this is poor taste. I dunno. I think it’s okay to use Palin’s daughter as an illustration of why abstinence-only doesn’t work, but don’t make it personal like this.

  • nontheist

    I’ll have to throw in with jtradke here. while it is unfortunate that she is the focus of criticism, as long as the criticism is of a mother that cannot see what is plainly in front of her that abstinence only sex ed is at least part of the problem and should go away for everyone’s sake.

  • http://www.houseofcarr.com steve

    I’m about wore’d out of this too.

  • brad

    The fact that you find it funny is irrelevant. The question is whether it is appropriate. If one of your students was pregnant, would you post photoshopped pictures of her on your blog?

    Leave her alone.

  • MikeN

    I think that’s rather beneath you and this blog.

  • http://www.cvaas.org R.C. Moore

    I find it ironic that while my family has had to live with shunning by the community, death and bomb threats, and shrinking income because we work for and support Planned Parenthood, a little humorous blowback aimed at the religious right gets people all up in arms.

    Your civilization is getting buried people, and Sarah Palin is right in front with her shovel. Anonymous self-righteous indignation in a blog comment is totally missing the point. The Palin’s deserve to be hit where it hurts on this issue.

  • http://www.otmatheist.com hoverFrog

    She looks pretty happy about it. I’m not so sure that she makes a good role model for other children of her age though or for parents worried about their daughters.

    It’s OK though. Her mother says that she’s getting married. That makes her a good role model immediately. Shotgun weddings will be law under the new regime.

  • SarahH

    The Palin’s deserve to be hit where it hurts on this issue.

    Perhaps Sarah Palin does. Not her daughter, who has no control over the political ambitions (or values) of her parent. She doesn’t deserve this any more than the thousands of other pregnant teenagers in this country do. The criticism and ridicule should be aimed at the policies and beliefs that lead to increased teen pregnancies, not at this girl.

  • Undo

    Nothing is off limits when this country is sinking down the crapper. Expose the hypocrisy.

  • PrimeNumbers

    Better a small amount of humour now, than many unwanted pregnancies tomorrow. Bristol is hardly a child though….

  • http://blueollie.wordpress.com ollie

    That is so wrong. So wrong. So wrong.
    Must not laugh. Will not laugh. Must not laugh…….

    BWWAAAAAHAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

    :)

  • http://www.cvaas.org R.C. Moore

    She doesn’t deserve this any more than the thousands of other pregnant teenagers in this country do. The criticism and ridicule should be aimed at the policies and beliefs that lead to increased teen pregnancies, not at this girl.

    I disagree. Humorous takes on today’s important issues (the Daily Show excels at this) is exactly the way to approach this. We need to get at the truth, we need to be honest, and this parody exposes the issues (as the original movie did) and allows intelligent discussion without being personally mean to Bristol. Even the hate filled Rush Limbaugh show suddenly becomes informational and valid when he airs parodies.

    Some want to portray Bristol Palin is a naive child in this, which is nonsense. Humans of Bristol’s age have many of the responsibilities we hold out for adults — alcohol, voting, and yes, sex.

    Treating young people like children is exactly why we have the teenage pregnancy rate we have in this country. I host European exchange students who are 14 and 15yrs, and I guarantee you they are as adult as most American 18 year olds.

  • Gullwatcher

    If she’s old enough to have and raise a child, she’s old enough to take a little heat. Either she’s a child to be protected, or she’s an adult capable of raising a child. She can’t be both.

    As far as dragging Bristol into this, it wasn’t the media who did that so much as it was Sarah Palin and John McCain. If they wanted Bristol protected, they shouldn’t have put her in the middle of election year politics.

  • http://www.parentingbeyondbelief.com Dale McGowan

    Well, I didn’t see THAT whiney comment thread coming! Follow the links — most of those sniffing about appropriateness are conservative and/or Christian bloggers. The sudden claim of family immunity from mild satire rings hollow.

    I am admittedly a sucker for the layers of cleverness in the piece. Most of all, I want to see the abstinence-only angle kept front and center, and Bristol is in the middle of that question. And, to paraphrase Chris Crocker, “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? LEAVE SATIRE ALONE!”

  • Lynn

    If someone was attacking this girl on a personal level, I’d be furious, but this bit of satire pokes at the whole obvious situation, and that’s fair.

    McCain’s judgment and Palin’s judgment are not just fair game, they’re what we should be wondering about. That he chose Palin so quickly and for such obviously superficial reasons is scary. That she accepted so quickly and with such obvious family issues going on is also scary.

    Actually, she’s just scary…like Nancy Grace scary…if McCain wins, he’d better watch his back…

  • http://intj-mom.livejournal.com INTJ Mom

    I thought it was amusing. If SP wants to put her own ambitions above everything else, then call her out for it. This is one way to do that. She’s the one who willingly put her family in the spotlight.

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  • Aj

    This certainly isn’t criticism aimed at Bristol Palin. That’s what you conservatives would be doing, criticising her for having sex. It’s her choice to have sex and keep the baby, there’s nothing wrong with that.

    It’s not good enough to throw around words like “inappropriate” when it’s an inconvenient truth. I don’t see any grounds for why she should be protected from public attention. She’s 17 and of public interest.

  • Milena

    Yeah, I’d rather leave the girl alone. Not only is the Bristol-is-preggers schtick getting a little tired, but it’s not like she’s actually part of the campaign. While I can appreciate the satire in this, I’d have to agree with Obama when he said that families are off-limits. Who cares if she’s old enough to have a baby. This is still humiliating for a 17-year-old. I’m only two years older than her and I’d hate to be stuck between the options of dashing my mother’s political aspirations or seeing my face plastered all over the internet.

  • http://thehappyhuman.wordpress.com John

    This certainly isn’t criticism aimed at Bristol Palin.

    Then why is her face on the poster? That’s my *only* problem with it. By putting her face on the poster, the artist has put the girl forth as a subject of ridicule.

  • Aj

    John,

    Then why is her face on the poster? That’s my *only* problem with it.

    Why would her image imply criticism?

    By putting her face on the poster, the artist has put the girl forth as a subject of ridicule.

    The artist is not ridiculing her. If she’s a subject of ridicule it’s in the minds of the ignorant. This information was released by the Palin’s, were they putting the girl forth as a subject of ridicule?

  • http://thehappyhuman.wordpress.com John

    Why would her image imply criticism?

    That’s just how it looks to me. It’s necessarily subjective and I admit it’s not cut-and-dry, but still, her face is there along with the people who are definitely being criticized. She’s at least unnecessary collateral damage.

    The artist is not ridiculing her.

    Unless you’re the artist him/herself, how can you say that with any certainty?

    If she’s a subject of ridicule it’s in the minds of the ignorant.

    Well of course, but how do we know the poster’s maker isn’t one of them?

    This information was released by the Palin’s, were they putting the girl forth as a subject of ridicule?

    No, but that’s not really analogous.

  • http://www.BlueNine.info Blue Nine

    Conservatives thought it was funny when Fox News called Michelle Obama Barack’s “baby mama”. But now that the VP nominee’s daughter is preggers, now it’s a private matter.

    Seriously, why do people vote for these slimeballs?

  • Aj

    John,

    That’s just how it looks to me. It’s necessarily subjective and I admit it’s not cut-and-dry, but still, her face is there along with the people who are definitely being criticized. She’s at least unnecessary collateral damage.

    That she’s pictured next to people who are criticized? Damn right that’s “not cut and dry”, that’s wafer thin.

    Unless you’re the artist him/herself, how can you say that with any certainty?

    I am very confident I understand the message of the poster. I don’t see any signs of criticism of teen pregnancy and the source movie isn’t negative towards it.

  • Roland B

    Teenage pregnancy is no joke though.
    I wish them good luck…

  • Siamang

    Then why is her face on the poster? That’s my *only* problem with it. By putting her face on the poster, the artist has put the girl forth as a subject of ridicule.

    I have to ask… what harm does this really do?

    Did this photoshopped poster invade Bristol’s privacy?

    no.

    Did it bring to light any private aspect of her life or her pregnancy?

    no.

    Did it make you aware of any true or false aspect of the news that you weren’t previously aware of, or wasn’t previously public knowledge?

    no.

    This is where I can’t quite get what’s wrong about this image… here someone’s taken a photograph of a person who is a public figure, who has consented to being photographed, who is appearing tonight on the STAGE of the republican national convention, and juxtaposing it with the image of a popular movie poster that was about a pregnant teenager.

    So, it’s OKAY for the republicans to use her and her image as a campaigner up on stage, but NOT people opposed to Palin’s views on family planning, contraception, sex-education and support for unwed mothers?

  • Aimee

    That’s funny, I don’t care who ya are.

    As others have said, she is in no way a ‘child’ that needs protected. HER family put her situation out there. This show’s that Palin’s views on abstinence only cannot be taken seriously if she can’t even keep her own kid from getting knocked up.

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  • http://badidea.wordpress.com Bad

    While I can’t understand why anyone would support ignorance-only education, I think it’s important to admit that the evidence does not support the claim that real sex education has much of an effect on rates of things like teen pregnancy and so forth. Abstinence-only education doesn’t work… but neither, it seems, does real education, in this realm. As some have pointed out, the real problems here are structural, not informational.

    Very few kids are so ignorant of sex that they don’t know that it can lead to pregnancy, and that contraception can stop it… with or without the help of a sex-ed class. The problem is rather than kids are impulsive, unrealistic, and often act without really considering the consequences. And in some areas, teen pregnancy is actually seen as a normal and even helpful thing given socio-economic realities.

    No mere 4th period lecture can change that.

    I’d rather kids be informed than lied to or denied information. But without good evidence to the contrary, I don’t think we can in general blame lack of sex ed for this or that pregnancy unless we can really show that sex ed would have helped.

  • http://www.cvaas.org R.C. Moore

    I think it’s important to admit that the evidence does not support the claim that real sex education has much of an effect on rates of things like teen pregnancy and so forth

    Perhaps in your alternate dimension it does not, but here in “reality” sex education has had an enormous positive effect on the number of teen pregnancy and STD infections, when one considers the higher rates of sexual activity among teenagers.