Posted by
Patrick Baldwin on Monday, September 01, 2008 9:00:00 PM
Congratulations Bristol Palin, on the upcoming arrival of your little bundle of joy! I pass along best wishes for your future and the future of your child, and also my regrets that this moment in your life has been invaded by the world. While it can be argued that your mother's political involvement opened the door to the scrutiny of your life, I disagree. I find myself angered by the invasion of your policy, as angry as I would be if this same treatment was given to Sasha and Malia Obama. I never believed that the media should have attacked Chelsea Clinton, nor Jenna and Barbara Bush. Really, when you think about it, unless the child of a candidate has done something heinously illegal, does the public need to know more than their names?
Those people that argue that the decision of the parents to enter an election, creates an "open season" environment, I say to you that you are utterly wrong. I can agree that in many instances the spouse of the candidate, from whichever side, steps onto the stage of their own choice, but the same cannot be said for the children.
While we apparently have reached a point where the right and left in this country are unable to respectfully disagree, where everything must be an attack, perhaps we should take a collective breath and try very hard to reach agreement on one single item. That item would be simple, the children of our political candidates must be off-limits, their privacy must be protected and respected. Maybe this one act of civility can be the first step back towards behavior more representative of the American people.
So, congratulations Bristol, and now we will pull our noses back out of your life, and say that we are sorry that we forced you to share this with us.