Imagine if Chelsea Clinton had gotten pregnant at 17

[LiberalEsto]

Chelsea moved to the White House with her parents in 1993, when she was only 12. She was already a target for vicious, uncalled-for remarks by hate-filled Republicans like Limbaugh and McCain.

Just imagine how they would have sliced, diced and eviscerated Chelsea and her parents in the media if she had become pregnant five years later, at age 17, like Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol. The Republicans and fundamentalists would have accused Bill and Hillary of horrible parenting (they constantly accused them of that anyway) and much worse.

No matter what choice Chelsea made, whether to have an abortion, give the baby up for adoption, keep and raise the baby with her parents' love and support, she would have been torn apart, and made the subject of thousands of cruel jokes and sick humor.

According to this on-line bio of Chelsea

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/archive/peoplearchive.php/Chelsea_Clinton/biog

"On November 6, 1992, three days after her father won the elections, when Chelsea was still in braces, Rush Limbaugh said the following on his television show: 'Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat; Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?' He then pointed to a video monitor, which switched to a picture of Chelsea. Limbaugh has claimed that it was a technical error, despite the fact that the show was taped in advance of its broadcast, giving Limbaugh ample time to fix the 'error.'

McCain infamously and publicly called her ugly. This was a kid, for heavens' sake.

She certainly wasn't off-limits to their nasty mouths, even though she was only a child.

Hillary and Bill tried their best to keep Chelsea out of the public eye and not parade her around as a political prop. I think this was an admirable decision. Chelsea has grown up to be a well-spoken, well-behaved young lady with a master's degree from Oxford University.

I've never heard of any incidents of drunken puking in bars, unlike the Bush twins. Frankly, for all the Republican mouthing about "family values," I think Chelsea was much better raised than the Bush twins or Bristol Palin appear to have been.

I'm not condemning Bristol, but I do think that a mother who yammers publicly about abstinence and family, but dumps her kids on other caregivers in order to play governor at a time when a young teen needs guidance, is a hypocrite of the first order.

After seeing the stuff my kids' classmates were up to by 5th and 6th grade (oral sex, drinking, drugs), I decided not to go back to work full time as I had planned, and found part-time work so I could be home with my daughters during those critical after-school hours when so much of the bad stuff takes place. I'm not saying that this is the right choice for everyone, but it my case I think it worked out well. My now-grown daughters say they were glad I was there for them, even though it meant pinching pennies for many years.

I'm pro-choice and belong to a very liberal religious organization that some fundies consider evil (Unitarian Universalist), but I would gladly put my own family values up in comparison against those of the Bushes and the Palins.

I strongly agree with Obama's request to lay off Bristol; it shows the great consideration, decency and respect that one expects of a topnotch Democratic leader.

I only wish the Republicans and their leaders were capable of similar consideration, decency and respect, but after watching the way they have trashed their opponents and their opponents' families for many, many years, I'm not sure that's possible.

[chelsea0011]

1. Thanks for listing the awful quotes and if she were pregnant, they would be twice as bad.

[hobbit709]

2. "consideration, decency and respect"

Those words are not now and never will be in the Republican lexicon.

[napi21]

3. That's pretty much what Ed Schultz said on Larry King last night.

He said he's sick & tired of the Pubs telling us Dems they have no family values and are morally bankrupt, but now when one of THEIRS does something that doesn't quite fit into their program, we're not allowed to TALK ABOUT IT! Big Eddie was on roll last night and really smacked the 2 Pub guests around, and rightfully so!