Barney Frank: Sarah Palin's family life is fair game

[PageOneQ]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Rep. Barney Frank is among the first Democrats to publicly say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s family background, including the pregnancy of her unwed teenage daughter, should be fair game for campaign discussion.

"They’re the ones that made an issue of her family," Frank, D-Mass., said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Read more: http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/palin080208.html

[tekisui]

1. Tell it Barney!

[msongs]

2. the family values phoneys have no family values themselves lol nt

[Binka]

3. You Have Chops Barney!

As the proud mother of a gay son rock on!

[Divine Discontent]

6. he certainly does - and these people on here that question why WE shouldn't be pushing the fact

of their hypocrisy are naive. It's not Barack's job to do this, he's a leader and doesn't have time for this. We have to point out this Sarah Palin's hypocrisy in cutting funding for Teen Moms and pushing abstinence only sex education, we're not assailing the kids - we're pointing out how POORLY she's "led".

And as the gay son of my Mom, I say you rock!

MORE AT www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[Iris]

8. Totally agree. We need to remind them of Dan Quayle's speech about Murphy Brown and her "lifestyle

choices." Apparently, in the late 80s/early 90s it was totally unacceptable by the GOP for a 40-ish, financially stable unmarried woman to choose to continue an unplanned pregnancy and raise the child herself (I think they thought she should give it up for adoption.) But lo and behold! 20 years later, they tell us the CORRECT solution to this problem is an teenage marriage because, clearly, it is better to be raised by 17 & 18 yr. old parents than to have an unmarried mom with only maturity and financial stability on her side! (And never mind the fact that Qualye was talking about a FICTIONAL character at the time.)

[darkstar]

9. Well said....

:applause:

[Iris]

12. thank you.

I'm on my soapbox today. And have been chastised at least once for my use of caps. But I must say, if I were talking about this in person, I'd be yelling wherever the caps are.

[Divine Discontent]

11. OH GOOD ONE! DAN QUAYLE ON "MURPHY BROWN" shame on the Palin's for GLORIFYING

unwanted pregnancies of underage girls by parading her around as something that other girls should emulate, as Dan Quayle would say! And to make it worse, it appears that perhaps the boy who fathered her, and is 18 now, may not be in school anymore, but if you can believe it - they're actually going to parade him up on stage TOO!

SOMEONE GET DAN QUAYLE ON THE LINE, PRONTO!

[Stryguy]

37. 2nded, well said

[last1standing]

4. Sarah Palin held her family up as an example. Let's learn the lessons it holds.

Let's learn that ignorance does not protect you from getting pregnant.

Let's learn that selling out your daughter to protect your own image is not good parenting.

Let's learn that these things can happen to anyone so to cut benefits for unwed teen mothers who don't have the resources Bristol will have is wrong.

But let's also learn that Bristol is a young woman who is going through quite an ordeal right now and we should focus our attacks exclusively on her mother, the VP candidate.

[poverlay]

10. Like Mclame did in '98 when he said "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is

Janet Reno."?

My better instincts are to avoid attacking the poor girl, but I'm not sure my children's future will withstand such honor...

They made family the issue, so let's talk about their families. We can do it with more sensitivity and intelligent cleverness than they can.

We MUST frame the debate. No less than the fate of the world relies on it.

[last1standing]

14. It's not an attack on Bristol to say that her mother is a hypocrite.

Bristol is just an unfortunate young woman who, because of her mother, is being held up as an example. We at DU didn't do that, Sarah Palin did when she approached that microphone on Friday and claimed the mantle of "family values". She brought her family on stage and told the world that she was morally superior to us nasty Dems because of her picture perfect household.

Now we're finding that there are chasm sized flaws in that picture and that Sarah Palin's ignorant, hateful beliefs may have contributed to them. We find that while her daughter will have the benefit of wealth and luxury in which to raise her child, Palin has cut funding for teen aged unwed mothers by 20%. These are issues that need to be discussed because Sarah Palin wants to force her beliefs and policies on all of us.

None of that is an attack on Bristol, it's an issues oriented attack on Sarah Palin. I wish more DUers understood that.

[poverlay]

31. Well said...n/t

[RaRa]

15. OMG did he really say that? eom

[Alcibiades]

22. He did.

[Captain Hilts]

28. People here don't remember the Clinton years - and the shit slung at them - at all.

And, no, it wasn't the Clintons' fault he said that or that people laughed.

[Iris]

5. "the recent disclosure"..."blunts conservative claims that liberalism harms family life."

bingo

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

30. To hear the conservatives tell it...

We liberals and progressives spend our days walking around nude, with a viagra/cialis drip in our arms, in an incessant state of Rockwell Scale 11, case-hardened tumescence, schtupping everyone and everything in site and investigating holes in the ground for things not in site.

Damn. Don't I wish.

Frankly, my experience is that we are a boring lot. Sure, some of us live lives that are far too interesting for our own good, but by and large, we are a more effective soporific than a fist full of Quaaludes. We do what we do to get by, tire ourselves out in the bargain, get to bed on time, maybe have a few drinks on the weekend or a bone or two, but that's about it. Our idea of fun seems to be sleeping in until 9:00AM. On the other hand, the evidence is far more than anecdotal that our conservative counterparts seem to lead lives far more...interesting...than we do. One need only read that website with all the repuke officials who have tested the veracity of that old political saw: "A live boy or a dead girl". Luckily, they have shown the great good taste, in spite of themselves, to keep the "dead girl" part down to a healthy minimum, Joey Scar notwithstanding.

Frankly, the cause of our sin, in their eyes, is that we really do believe that individuals, when left to their own devices, will generally make the right choices for themselves. We find it tedious to get all worked up about who people love and how they love, as long as we are talking consenting individuals over the age of majority. We accept the reality that kids will be kids, and part of that is sexual expression, and that turning them into criminals for following their natural urges is more than a little counter-productive. We rightly reel in horror at the explosion of incarceration in our society, and the apparent use of said incarceration as a substitute for jobs and true equality. We abhor police who indulge in brutality against our fellow citizens who are engaged in the practice of their constitutional rights. We recoil at government run amok with abrogations of personal privacy.

Come to think of it, we sound more like classical conservatives. Damn. Now THAT'S boring.

[Iris]

32. yikes! Maybe we really should get us some of those drips!

nicely put.

[avaistheone1]

36. It's abstinence only education that disrupts families' and teen lives.

Just imagine the shock and disruption that happens to a family when they find that their teen daughter is pregnant, and how stunned the teen usually is.

That program has been a failure nationwide and Bristol is a prominent example of that.

[central scrutinizer]

7. spot on!

If you are going to trot your family out as props to bolster your image, you can't then hide behind them and say "no fair". Either keep your family life private or not - your choice but be willing to take the good with the bad.

[Captiosus]

17. Exactly!

Plain tried to score political points by talking about being a special needs mom and how her son just joined the Army. That is beyond the simple "family photo op" and into the territory of full blown political props.

I'm loathe to give a "pass" to someone who supposedly vehemently promotes abstinence, and has slashed assistance to teen mothers but ends up having a daughter in her own household who clearly epitomizes everything Palin publicly stands against.

[Chef Eric]

13. At the very least, we can discuss Sarah's recent pregnancy.

In 2004, the Republicans demanded to see the Kerrys' financial records. Why shouldn't we demand to see Sarah Palin's medical records? Oh, I forgot. It's O.K. to be intrusive if you're a Republican.

[4lbs]

16. One-Way streets sometimes lead to dead ends...

Interesting how the RNC and the ultra-right members of the GOP have no problems whatsoever going after a Democrat's credibility, family, and making it personal.

However, if the vice-versa happens, they suddenly cry "Foul!" and whine and moan that it is a dirty low-blow to "go there".

It reminds me of the phrase "You can dish it out, but you can't take it."

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Barney Frank rocks!

I sure have noticed that the contingent here at DU that wants radio silence over Palin's so called private life have a very different life experience than I do. They wallow in self centered privilige, unfought for and unloved. And they can kiss my ass, if I want to go after any of it I will, because Sarah comes after my family with impunity. And because she put her family in the spotlight. She did that. Barney understands what so many here are lucky enough not to HAVE to understand.

[MannyGoldstein]

19. Oh Great. Barney Is Contradicting Our Nominee.

Marvelous.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. That's ok...He's as entitled to an opinion as Obama is.

Obama has made it clear that he isn't going to trash-mouth the family. He's the candidate, and he's shown that he's going to take the high road.

I don't recall Dumbyass ever making snide remarks about Kerry's service record. In fact, I seem to remember that he, at one point anyway, disassociated himself from the swiftboater assholes. He let them take care of the nasty smears while he appeared to be the perfect gentleman.

[JoFerret]

33. Not a problem

When someone has been vilified as much as Frank he can do what he wants.

[ckramer]

20. Oh, how deliciously gay!

Silly Obama trying to be a nice guy will eventually cost him the white house.

Fool.

[GinaMaria]

21. Great Quote

"They have said that it’s liberalism and liberals who have undermined families — same-sex marriage has been a problem, they don’t want gay people to adopt ... This helps undercut those arguments."

Maybe if the Palin's had focused their attention at home instead of on the lives of others, her daughter would not be in this current situation. That girl needed and needs a committed parent. Holy shit on a stick does this ever stop? It just gets more dysfunctional with each passing minute.

If the GOP had vetted her properly, people here wouldn't have had to scrutinize and question her qualifications. John InSane left it up to the bloggers and reporters to do the work and now he's stuck in a spiraling vortex of defensiveness. We have had our fill of stupid and reckless, it's time for a change.

[ckramer]

23. Why did Obama let go of this opportunity of attacking hypocricy is beyond me

Ah, can't stand it.

[JI7]

41. it's Obama's job to appear above it as the Presidential Nominee

while others like Barney Frank bring it up.

Obama did the right thing and politically smart thing.

[hay rick]

24. Not gonna talk about Jamie Lynn Palin

Nope. Nope. Nope.

[Suji to Seoul]

25. Politics is a full contact sport

You can't maintain the high road when you're undercut by those who always take the low road. It's tantamount to building a house from the roof down instead of the foundation up.

These Republicans used the following things against Obama so far:

1: Wife
2: Pastor
3: Upbringing
4: Religion
5: Achievement
6: Race
7: Age
8: Lineage
9: Name

Give it time and Sasha and Malia will be used against him in some repugnant way.

Why isn't Palin's bimbo daughter and her "boyfriend" fair game in a "family values" family? Especially one as hypocritical as Sarah Palin's family?

This is politics. EVERYTHING IS FAIR GAME. . .I learned that from rat-fuckers like Halderman, Atwater and Rove. Time to use their tactics against them!

[VWolf]

40. Wow, I like your analogy

"It's tantamount to building a house from the roof down instead of the foundation up."

Can I steal it?

[Suji to Seoul]

44. Sure.

[trthnd4jstc]

27. So Republican Cutting Funding For Social Welfare Helps Families? n/t

[Chef Eric]

29. Stay tuned for Sarah Palin being put on an enormous pedestal!!

She will be portrayed as the new flag-bearer for the pro-life movement, a "courageous" woman who gave birth to a child at the age of 44. Of course, perhaps after the election is over, we will finally learn the truth... that she was NOT the one who gave birth to the child. But forgive me, I digress; Barney Frank is absolutely right. There is no reason that we should not ask questions. For example, why hasn't abstinence-only education worked for the Palin family? Is it because it is inherently INSUFFICIENT?

[question everything]

34. It's the hypocrisy, stupid

If a Democratic candidate had a pregnant unmarried teen, the talk radio and Fox would be all over them.

But here, she is supposed to be a "regular mom." Most mothers do not face this.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

35. Normally I wouldn't agree with him, but...

Since Palin has blockaded programs that help with teen pregnancy and pregnancy prevention, we should bring the issue up: Ms. Palin, have you changed your mind on this issue? If the answer is "no" then it becomes fair game by virtue of family hypocrisy.

[orleans]

38. K&R n/t

[pampango]

39. So it's Barney Frank versus Barack Obama.

Either Obama (like Bush) took the high road with a wink and is happy to have Frank and many others go after the Palin family (as Bush was with the Swiftboaters) OR he is sincere and Democrats are a fractious group who are not as adept at staying on message as are repubs OR Obama is sincere but he is so naive that we (DU to the rescue) have to do the dirty work for him in order to save him from himself (admittedly that implies that we are more politically astute than Obama is).

Of course, most of us (not being on Obama's staff or in his campaign) will do whatever we want. We were doing it before Obama made his statement and before Frank made his statement, though we can now cite one statement or the other to back up our approach. It will be interesting to see if Obama and Biden repeat their request to leave families out of the campaign or go quiet and let others go after the Palin family.

[woodsprite]

42. IMO - If she could be VP or Pres and she can tell me what to

do with my uterus or my daughter's uterus, then her 'girly bits' and morals should also be up for discussion.

[slackmaster]

43. Why isn't Barney Frank on our ticket?

:argh:

Seriously, he's probably the sharpest person in either house of Congress.

[hedgehog]

45. In other words, it's the her family's problems, it's her h\yprocracy!

Bravo, Barney!