09/02/2008
Congressman Barney Frank: Sarah Palin Family Life Fair Game
Congressman Barney Frank told the AP today that Sarah Palin's family life is fair game, reports the Boston Herald: "[Republicans are] the ones that made an issue of her family...Apparently she’s a great favorite with the conservative social movement. 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."
The Herald continues, "Revelations about Palin’s 17-year-old daughter’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy and other family troubles reflect the stresses and strains of modern everyday life more than anything else, said Frank. 'Well, hers is a family in great turmoil,' added Frank. 'She fired the state police commissioner because he wouldn’t fire her sister’s ex-husband. She has a daughter who became pregnant. That’s not her fault.' The Alaska governor faces accusations of firing public safety commissioner Walt Monegan because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper, in what amounts to a messy Palin family drama dating to her pre-gubernatorial days."
For our interview with Barney Frank at the Democratic National Convention, click here.
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Posted 8:27 PM EST by Andy Towle in Barney Frank, Democratic Party, John McCain, News, Sarah Palin | Permalink
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(I meant David Ehrenstein.)
Posted by: Distingué Traces | Sep 3, 2008 1:01:50 AM
I completely agree with those who say Bristolis fair game. ABSO-FUCKIN-LUTELY. If you are going to parade your family for all the world to see, and use them as an example for the rest of us, then hell yes, those kids are fair game. This is politics boys, not tiddly winks. If you want to spare the children, then get a job as a school teacher. What hangs in the balance is FAR bigger than one white girl who couldn't keep her legs closed. We've got thousands dying in an unjust war, no healthcare and millions drowning in debt.
If we have to go through Bristol to take back the country, then so be it.
Posted by: Britol's Baby Daddy | Sep 3, 2008 2:05:15 AM
I hate to point this out to all you Monday morning political quarterbacks but this whole "attack the hypocrisy of the family" thing already was tried. It was tried by the last Democrats who wanted to run for office by pointing out that Cheney's daughter was a lesbian. It was done on national TV and it was a disaster for the Dems. I see it as one of Kerry's major mistakes.
Mr. frank may make a good case for this but historically it has not been the best course of action to take. Political attacks on family go waaay back on our history and most of the time backfire badly.
Posted by: Las Vegas | Sep 3, 2008 2:11:27 AM
The good news is that Obama seems to be getting a pretty positive response across the ideological spectrum for his strong rejection of the vicious gossips.
That doesn't make it any less disheartening to see people of my own party behave in this repellent way.
Posted by: Distingué Traces | Sep 3, 2008 2:32:49 AM
Obama did the smart thing. Leave it up to the moderators, pundits, talking heads and interviewers to deal with her hypocrisy, lies, etc. Although I believe Obama has every RIGHT to give the Repugs a taste of their own medicine, what's FAIR isn't necessarily what's WISE.
Posted by: soulbrotha | Sep 3, 2008 2:54:22 AM
We're not hating on the daughter, we're hating on the mother THROUGH the daughter. This is a woman who's against sexual education and pro-abstinence-only. Well, that worked out really well for her family, didn't it?
It's a party that keeps running on the Family Values platform, its candidates conservative and against things that are no-brainers in, say, Europe (like sex ed).
We're saying "Hey, all of these things Sarah Palin is advocating, look how well they worked out for her and her family!".
Why is the family not fair game? How many idiots didn't say "Hey, Hillary's husband did this and that!" during the Hillary-Obama fisticuffs?
Why is family not fair game? As long as the criticism is relevant to the election, the hypocrisy, the failed policies, the things they want for America that's not even working for their own families... hmmmm...
Posted by: Philip Wester | Sep 3, 2008 3:03:58 AM
I agree that Obama should stay above the fray, and let the media tear Palin and her daughter to pieces.
Posted by: Manny | Sep 3, 2008 3:07:29 AM
SOULBROTHA said it perfectly, Obama has every right to attack her family as the right-wing has his, but, it wouldn't be smart to do so. The fact that his campaign is based on what I like to call "Classy Tactics" (brilliant name, I know) would hurt him if he took a sudden turn to the dark side and started calling the bitch out on her hypocrisy. Let the pundits shed the blood.
And in all honesty I feel bad for her daughter, and it's not appropriate to call her a slut. She's been with the father for years, that's not a slut, that's a chick who didn't wrap it up, that's all.
Posted by: FUMOBLUE | Sep 3, 2008 5:59:42 AM
How can we say that, in this case, family is a personal issue? The Republicans, and Sarah Palin is an obvious, good example of this, have made 'family' a platform, and attempt to build on it from a 'moral', political standpoint.
It would be remiss of us NOT to point out where a candidate's actions are immediately contradictory to the ideology on which he or she is running. Saying that we shouldn't is like saying that we would have no right to examine the actions of candidate who is secretly a vigilante crime fighter, who goes around executing criminals outside of the law, but rides on a platform that makes a point of opposing the death penalty.
Sarah Palin trotted out her family and put them in the spotlight, while she and her party of made family one of the primary positions on which it runs. Her family is fair game.
Posted by: Jon | Sep 3, 2008 6:12:18 AM
Republicans do not believe in Abortion, however I see Palin being aborted from the McCain/Palin ticket.
How in the world will they explain this abortion.
Posted by: mike | Sep 3, 2008 6:21:45 AM
Ann Dunham, the mother of Barack Obama, was born on November 29, 1942. Barack Obama was born on August 14, 1961, his parents were married on February 2, 1961. According to the math she was 3 months pregnant and had just turned 18 years old when she was married.
Posted by: lol | Sep 3, 2008 6:56:59 AM
Obama makes no bones about his background. Palin herself "had" to get married, eloping and giving birth to her first son eight months later. Like mother like daughter, but so what? I don't judge them for that at all! But I do judge them for judging others for that! That's why this is all fair game—run as a "family values" person, and your family and its values are fair game.
Obama will NOT be releasing ads making fun of Bristol Palin. That is what "not fair game" means.
But there is no good reason why she can not be asked these questions, particularly when—in order to throw suspicion off her (fake, IMHO) birth in April—Sarah Palin HERSELF issues a statement letting us know her daughter is pregnant and when Sarah Palin herself hypes up the fact that she is a saint who had a child with Down's Syndrome.
Sorry, but you can't make family your mantra then squawk as the "liberal media" does its job.
Posted by: Matthew Rettenmund | Sep 3, 2008 7:17:29 AM
Levi and Bristol were taught abstinence at a school where condoms are not made available. That makes these kids a valid story because of the Republican holy stance on sex education which Palin champions.
Posted by: A.J. | Sep 3, 2008 7:43:28 AM
Obama is quite right -- and quite smart -- to stay above the fray. This Rednecks-on-Acid clownshow will self-destruct quite nicely all by itself.
But that doesn't mean the rest of us need to stand back and say nother. Especially when the Rethuglicans never let an opportunity go by to attack us.
Bristol Palin is a walking talking demonstration of why "abstinence only" sex education is a complete fraud. And the Rethuglicans attempt to turn her keeping the baby into a rousing attack on abortion are PATHETIC.
The tabs are reportedly gearing up for this full bore. It's a readymade ultra-scandal story with teen pregnancy, newly celebrified Mom, and (his words not mine) "Redneck" Babydaddy.
And that's just part of it. For the tabs are going after the REAL story -- that Britol is Trigg's Mom. Note how she's the one who's always holding him -- and the look on her face while doing so. She's the Mom alright.
Pass the popcorn!
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Sep 3, 2008 9:06:37 AM
The Republicans don't mind telling everyone else how to raise their families so what's the big deal about pointing out that they can't even follow their own direction?
I honestly would like to know Gov. Palin's stand on sex education. It would certainly be interesting to know if she's a strong supporter of abstinence only teachings.
But frankly if Palin wasn't smart enough to know that this situation would be brought to light then she's not smart enough to be Vice President of the United States. I would never knowingly put myself in a position that would draw this much public attention to one of my children.
Posted by: Michael | Sep 3, 2008 9:29:14 AM
Being the brother of RB, I would have to say this is one of the few times that we would agree on things. I think the family should not be brought into it the mix. However, Sarah Palin herself and her stance on the issue of teen pregnancy is not. Palin should have known that having a 17 year old daughter that got pregnant would have ramifications once it was known.
Posted by: DCB | Sep 3, 2008 10:03:37 AM
Again. Just imagine if this were Barack Obama's or Joe Biden's 17-year old daughter. The right would be having a fucking field day with it! You know it's true.
Ugh I hate this. It's certainly not fair, but Barack is right. We need to leave this alone.
Posted by: ABC | Sep 3, 2008 10:24:25 AM
RB's brother is gay, too? But liberal? *confused*
Posted by: Nick | Sep 3, 2008 10:25:27 AM
Sarah Palin accepted the nomination knowing her daughter's pregnancy would be placed into the dirty public arena that is politics. She made the choice to put her family in the national spotlight; no one forced her to.
It is fair game because Sarah Palin has made family values a centerpiece of her political career, and her own family doesn't uphold those values. That's called hypocrisy. It's perfectly acceptable to point that out without personally attacking her daughter. (I think most people sympathize with her daughter's plight.) Palin opposes sexual education that might have helped her daughter to avoid this unfortunate situation. Palin doesn't believe that gay relationships (no matter how long-term) or gay families (that means YOU, gay parents with children) deserve any recognition, yet she has no qualms about her accidentally pregnant daughter marrying her boyfriend of the moment. It's not attacking her daughter to point this dichotomy out. Should her daughter's pregnancy disqualify her? Of course not. (There are plenty of other reasons she should not have been chosen.) But, with the information out there, questioning her ultra-conservative positions on family issues is absolutely relevant. (What Obama's parents did decades ago was obviously out of his control and is irrelevant to his policies. But, like Palin, he shouldn't be surprised it's come up. There's no such thing as privacy in politics these days.)
Posted by: Ernie | Sep 3, 2008 10:51:25 AM
Get her, no holds barred. Hypocrite.
Posted by: nikko | Sep 3, 2008 12:18:58 PM
Somehow, I don't think going after Palin's daughter will help us achieve equal rights in the end. What are we going to say anyway? That she's a big slut? This is as winning an attitude as Fred Phelps has.
Obviously, the daughter was not only having sex (violating the Palin family abstinence value), but also not using birth control (upholding a family value?) Strange that she would violate one creed and maintain a lesser one. My thinking is that she perhaps wanted to get pregnant to strike a blow against her mother. All very childish, and extremely unlikely to be the result of ignorance. The other possibility is that her stupid boyfriend wanted to "control" the situation by telling her to skip any birth control.
Posted by: anon | Sep 3, 2008 1:45:42 PM
Yes, Nick, DCB is my younger brother and he is gay. This is his first post on Towleroad. He is a great guy and I love him dearly. He has always been gay, as have I but he never dated/married a woman, and he is more liberal than me. Actually, much more liberal than me! But then again, he is not a father. This is deeply personal to me. The right wing thinks I should not be a father and the left wing is spewing venom at a child that is wrong. I understand the desire to protect your children. Come on, this is just wrong!
However, he will be the first to step up and say that however conservative I am, however republican I am, I am not a closeted self hating person. He actually will tell you that I blew the doors off the closet when I came out. Having said that, I did not leave my brain or beliefs behind. This is a 17 year old kid! She does NOT deserve the crap that she is taking. She, and her siblings are NOT running for election. THEY ARE OFF LIMITS PERIOD!
I do not agree with anyone's assertion that abstinance will work. I do believe in realistic sex education. However, having been raised in an extremely conservative household and one of three children of a Southern preacher I still hold on to some of those teachings. I have often asked my brother if we were actually raised in the same house because we are so different.
Kids should be kids! Jimmyboyo, I have two ages 6 and 11 and my partner has one age 8 and if anyone came at them because of my actions I would shred them! I know that my brother would do the same. He may actually feel my concerns through his neice and nephew. He is very close to my kids and understands. If I chose to run for public office they should remain off limits! I would say the same regardless of party. OFF LIMITS!
My God does anyone here understand? It is very hard to parent children these days. Having the vitriol being served here makes it damn near imposible! Attack Palin all you want but calling her daugter a "whore" as one here did is as wrong as any evangelical calling us a faggot! Yes it happens, but it is still wrong!
Having said that, love you bro, even when we disagree! You are the best.
Sorry for typos...I was excited to finally see my brother posting and was typing very fast!
Posted by: RB | Sep 3, 2008 5:34:48 PM
The repubs, Fix news, and the pseudo-Christian right has gone after everyone imaginable with their hate-the-fags, abstinence only crap for years. They started this divisive bullshit! I say bring it on and throw it back in their faces!
Posted by: William Miller | Sep 6, 2008 2:40:00 PM