I don’t know much about Alaska, but–riot police activities in St. Paul during the GOP convention notwithstanding– I have heard that Minnesota is a progressive, child-friendly state.
And the federal government is sort of progressive, too, when it comes to protecting children. For example, it is against the Mann Act to bring a minor across state lines for sexual purposes.
But what about when the purposes are political? Are there any penalties—local or federal–for bringing a minor across state lines to display her—unmarried and pregnant–on podium and television for political gain? Legal or not, like Chris Kelly at the Huffington Post, I find this pretty disturbing.
About 20 years ago, when an angry mother in California planted her youngster out in her front yard with a sign around his neck, detailing what she perceived to be her offspring’s wrongdoings, her public humiliation of the child provoked public outrage and disgust.
So we’ve abandoned the stocks and moved beyond Hester Prynn and her scarlet letter. Or haven’t we?
The American heartland was once exemplified by a Grant Wood painting depicting an upright rural family. In Wood’s iconic “American Gothic,” a staid farm couple pose before an arching farmhouse window. He is in overalls, pitchfork in hand, gazing straight at the viewer. She is in a patterned apron and looks to her left with a world-weary face. Times are tough, as their faces show, and they appear a bit puritanical, but neither appears a likely candidate to publicly humiliate a pregnant teen.
But the times are apparently a’changing. Now we have new images for the heartland: a candidate for president whose recurring mantra in his acceptance speech-–kind of like the chanting of a Cold War-era high school pep rally—is “fight.” A man who needs his wife’s assistance to get onto the Internet and who in his maverick independence has plucked up a caribou hunter from Alaska to serve as a political ideal of motherhood and women’s achievement. An honored vet whose vetting is in question. And his choice for vice president is a parent who would do this to her own kid. Wow.
Readers, would you let either of these people carpool your child to soccer practice? Would you hand either one the keys to the car? To the country?
This goes way beyond gothic. It’s American grotesque.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Iris // Sep 6, 2008 at 5:58 pm
A point of view I haven’t considered yet. Interesting point! Of course, it is disgusting that this woman uses her own daughter to gain popularity. I can’t imagine how the girl must feel – after all, there is a lot of shame associated with teen pregnancy. Also, I find it surprising that this poor girl, whose childhood is now over, has become the poster child for the Republican Party. While I do not believe that a pregnant teen should have to go into hiding. The Republican Party is the same party, whose henchmen would have been all over the media if a democratic candidate’s child had found herself in this position. And worst of all, it is working. I am reading everywhere about Palin’s sudden popularity and apparently she is now also qualified to be VP. What is happening in this country? Have we all become blind, unsympathetic, pathetic people who have mashed bananas for brains?
2 Paula // Sep 6, 2008 at 6:07 pm
They apparently cleaned up the boyfriend and brought him along to promote out of wedlock procreation. I don’t watch TV but I saw him on the front page of my local newspaper. I have to admit I just don’t get it. How does being the mother of a pregnant teen make you a hero? I haven’t seen any pictures of her with her baby. I know all this makes her the poster child for not having abortions, but I guess I just don’t understand Republicans.
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