One more thing…

And when the far right decides to lash out against the Obama children, our objections will be undercut by the kind of toxic thoughtlessness exhibited by TBogg here.

Obama could cure cancer and the “far right” would still find a way to attack the kids.

Remember the beauty contestant that fucked up her answer? T called her the future Mrs. Fred Thompson. I would have preferred T not put her up for shame but he did and the posters here went nuts on the kid. I objected (at the time, the moniker was “badnews”) and Lesley wrote that my objections gave me away as a Republican (or something); weird and wrong but whatever.

She’s not wrong here, Tim. You are.

First of all, when Barack Obama said “leave the children out of it”, Sarah Palin ignored his advice and then some. Obama did not parade his family around the country; neither did Bill Clinton, neither did “W”. Each of those men could have done so and chose not to. But Sarah Palin was different. She put her kids on a national stage–no one else did. She ran a joke of a campaign and when called on it, she said “we” were hurting her family. She went back to Alaska and, if anything, became an even worse politician. What did she do? She blamed “us” for hurting the family and then she quit. You want to defend that by taking issue with a photo? Be my guest. I’m not joining you. The photo is not an attack on the kids–it’s an attack on Sarah Palin and she deserves it.

Of course, calling TBogg a child abuser isn’t toxic thoughtlessness, it’s part of timcgarry’s job as an Internet Boy Scout Protecting America’s Biggest Assholes.

No, they won’t, actually, but thanks sooo much fer another reading of ur republiKKKan taliking points fer republiKKKan trolls.

Ruthie, my view is that you don’t set out to hurt children. I don’t know which hurts fade and which scar, and am unwilling to take chances. As President Obama has clearly articulated, a humane and ethical approach to political combat is to leave the children out of it.

Has Palin “used” her family more than other politicians, including those in my party, the Democratic Party? I don’t know. Whether or not she has, I’d rather wage the fight against her on other fronts (health care, for one). Waging it over her family simply enrages her partisans and provides no political benefits to our side. And when the far right decides to lash out against the Obama children, our objections will be undercut by the kind of toxic thoughtlessness exhibited by TBogg here.

It’s not just that tactics like yours invite a very ugly kind of retribution — they are fundamentally wrong. If you can think back to your own childhood, or if you have children of your own, you should understand the emotional cruelty you stand to inflict.

Most of us do remember our own childhoods. Yeah, having the most popular girl in the class erase the eyeballs from your class picture and tack it to the the bulletin board where everyone who mattered could see it hurt like hell–until about recess. Of course having parents who could put this in perspective for us helped immensely. And while our parents didn’t quite come out and say that the most popular girl in the class would probably get knocked up by the captain of the football team and be changing diapers in the local trailer park, while we were in college preparing for actual careers, they somehow managed to convey the fact that what goes around comes around. And we all managed to survive the third through fifth grades where this sort of humor was most popular.

It’s called “juvenalia” for a reason, Tim. It’s one of the reasons the author T.C. Boyle is so popular with adolescents. (Or as The Spouse put it, as he read over my shoulder: “‘Micturate?’ That means piss! I thought this was supposed to be literature!”) It’s easy to become fatigued and apathetic by the depressing drone of lies, deception and sheer crap that passes for political commentary–on either side of the fence. Sometimes “The Daily Show” is more informative. Same principal, as the illustration above, but bigger budget and better production values.

Now, as long as the wingnuts out there are in your “think of the children” mode, ponder this: What kind of mom pimps her family out for votes? Serioiusly–take a really good look at that original photo on Patterico’s site. Notice how the family is artfully arranged around Sarah Palin, hiding the proverbial “bun in the oven,” so that if Palin decided to take one of those last minute “fact-finding” trips to Sweden to investigate new “green” self-composting toilets for the Governor’s Mansion, she could have it discretely taken care of. Meanwhile, Bristol is not only down in the front, but she’s facing sideways, so it’s obvious that she’s pregnant. When the McCain/Palin campaign released that picture, Bristol was essentially denied any semblance of a choice–because in many states, it becomes problematic to seek an abortion after the third month of pregnancy.

And most teenage girls don’t dress like that. As my 14-year-old niece, who lives in hard-core Wingnut territory, pointed out: “Eeuw those clothes are SO WRONG….”
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If Palin is serious about the joys of raising a child with a developmental disability, more power to her. But if she has any political aspirations she’s going to have to do more than just haul Trig around the campaign circuit like a sack of rice and wave. The fact is that most Americans couldn’t afford to raise a child with severe developmental disabilties. She is fortunate that Trig is healthier than many Down’s Syndrome babies. The cost of pediatric intensive care, skilled nursing and attendants can be more than $100,000 per year. In some cases this is exacerebated by the fact that there is a shortage of skilled nursing staff that speak languages like Chinese, Korean, or other languages, where the primary language in the home is not English. Due to increased costs–which will only worsen with the present financial crisis–employers are cutting back on benefits offered to employees. Comprehensive health insurance is one of the first benefits to go. And a health reimbursement just doesn’t cut it if you have a family member with a chronic health care problem. As Peter G. Peterson pointed out recently, “We are the only developed country that doesn’t even have a BUDGET for health care.” And even if we did, we’d be faced with some tough choices: Do you want to provide life support for an anencephalic baby, or someone’s grandpa? It’s getting to the point where the public purse definitely can’t afford both–and we may not be able to fully cover either.

Don’t tell me, Todd went and grabbed his musket and joined up with the secesh, didn’t he?

Palin’s gone, huh? Too stupid for school I guess. I mean, when the likes of Letterman and TBogg can drive you from office it may be time to rethink your path. I wonder if Sarah and Todd paid their taxes on that meth production ring they were running from the Wasilla Town Hall basement.

How dare he refer to Palin as “it”…what a rude man! She’s a human being. Can’t we all just get along????????????