I am not opposed to bringing up unplanned kinder so let’s not get off on the wrong foot here and let’s not pretend that I’m surreptitiously advocating for abortion though you’d be correct to surmise that I’m not immune to arguments in favor of forestalling pregnancies particuarly in cases where children are having children but let’s also be clear that Sarah Palin’s daughter who has been interviewed by NBC is in fact just a baby herself and yes, she looks like a deer caught in the headlights as she attempts to reassure viewers that she’s never been happier. Yes she’s never been happier though neurological studies tell us that 17 year olds aren’t fully developed intellectually or emotionally. She’s never been happier though she’s forgoing the last years of her own childhood in the service of her parents’ impacted moralism with a side dose of sectarian claptrap about the unrestrained goodness of families “pitching in” though no one can say just what that means. Apparently the idea is that children who bear children are fairly and appropriately sustained by their families though the Palin’s have no advice about how poor and/or working class single mothers might garner the same familial support. Like so many other ideas brought to you by the neo-conservatives the underlying idea is to turn the clock back to the 19th century. Children having children fits nicely into social nostalgia for the 1870’s when children had children and expected little more from life save having the fully bridled opportunity to serve their ministers and their fathers. Why, children having children is just God’s way doncha know? And you, you smug, progressive stinker, you would propose abortion, the sin of sins because you do not value life like all us good Pilgrims and how dare you look askance at our moral commitment to serving our Lord and all his children.
No I don’t believe in abortion in all circumstances. I don’t believe that people who are likely going to have a blind or deaf child should be granted automatic abortions and I’m opposed to abortions for the sake of convenience but I can’t get over the sight of a frightened and grandly uncomprehending child talking like a Stepford teen about the joys of parenthood while her eyes are desperately searching for something off camera and yes, my video description is unimpeachable. This is a scared child and I’m not buying the Palin’s line of the day.
S.K.
Planet of the Blind 