October 2

The only scheduled debate between vice-presidential candidates is October 2. I hope Biden shows up. ;)

You know what has really stuck out the past few days? Urban/suburban folks--especially in the media--like to go on about how they're smart and sophisticated and rural folks are naive mouthbreathers, but the ones making the most noise seem to have lived really sheltered lives. Change-of-life babies, older sisters babysitting (hi Joel!), nieces and nephews going to preschool with their aunts or uncles--there is nothing going on in the Palin family that doesn't happen outside of major metropolitan areas everywhere.

Except maybe the PTA. Does MPSD have a PTA? That's not a joke, really...

Much has been made about the "hypocrisy" of supporting Bristol Palin while "condemning inner city women who bear children out of wedlock." Hey, if 2012 rolls around and Bristol has one or more additional children out of wedlock with one or more different men who are nowhere to be found, I'll be the first to say, "Wow...that's just wrong." I've never condemned anyone who had an accident, only people who don't learn after the first 2-3 accidents, and people who encourage their behavior. And it's not a "racism" thing as the snide comments imply--there are plenty of dumb white women with 3 kids by 4 men.

(And hey, if any boy who wasn't my cousin had given me any attention in high school, I could have been in Bristol's situation. No condemnation here.)

Best comment: Tonight, she showed how to field dress Democrats. Heh, after Fred Thompson made the comment Tuesday about field dressing moose, I got a mental picture of the Obama staff Googling "field dress" to try to understand why moose need women's clothes.

New Youth Trend

Once a week or so, I catch up on Dear Abby:

My daughter later told me that several of her other friends were considering trying to get pregnant near prom time so they, too, wouldn't have to deal with the pressures of going to college. Apparently, parents are less strict about their children's whereabouts on prom night and let their teens spend the night in a hotel or at mixed-gender sleepovers.

I thought this sad trend might be local to our area, but during a class reunion in California I learned the trend may be nationwide. One of my oldest friends, "Dana," confided during the reunion that she had become a grandmother at 43 due to her daughter having a prom baby.

Shit. I couldn't get a prom DATE, much less one that wanted to have sex with me. *sniff*

OK, personal bitterness aside, there's some good stuff here. First, all the people in the story, including the Californians, are raising the babies they made. No one's advocating killing the babies so they can go to school unencumbered--this is a huge cultural shift from when I was in high school. Girls with good grades had abortions; average girls had babies; Heather had a computer. Second, Abby sticks up for potential victims of these bizarre schemes:

The individuals who should be warned are the young men who will be escorting those young women on prom night. One foolish mistake could lead to a 20-year commitment to support a child before they are emotionally or financially ready for that responsibility. And all because their prom date was afraid to tell her parents she wasn't ready for college? I'm appalled.

Yup...fathers have equal responsibility--and they can avoid it by making responsible decisions about sex and birth control, in case their dates "pull the goalie" (yes, I listened to Rush today).

Lastly...well, it's not the end of the world. It might even be a good thing. Young mothers can always go to school and have a career when their children are older; most of us who wasted our child-bearing years on school and career won't be having children later, no matter how much we want.

Dammit.