The bridegroom to be with Uncle John

Ah, togetherness...  As Eleanor of Acquitaine (the character) says in "The Lion in Winter,"  "Every family has its ups and downs..."  pl

NY Times

Comments

[Paul]

May they will hump happily ever after.

[TomByrd]

One look at the swollen jaw McCain sports in this photo, the side where he had the skin cancer surgery, should scare anyone thinking "Palin as VP? What difference does it make?"

[Richard Whitman]

Is this the behavior that we want to project from the White House to every teenager in America? If so, the maternity wards will be full.

[Fred]

Yes, every family has its problems; but unwed single moms are not helped by Governor Palin, from the Washington Post:
Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/02/palin_slashed_funding_to_help.html

When I was in high school teenage pregnancies were a scandal. Are they acceptable now? I believe we can accurately say that abstinence only education didn't work too well for this family. Perhaps we can start teaching " abstinence plus" education. We sure don't teach drivers education to cause more accidents, why would we expect sex educaton to cause more pregnancies?

[fnord]

Since this is in the humour section, may I suggest that they have cropcut the image to hide Todd with a shotgun standing just behind him?

[S.D.]

A fine young man. Is he going to enlist, as the British would say, in "the Forces"?

He would make a good Marine.
He has the gun, now he needs a rifle.

Maybe serve in the Kunar valley? Go on patrol in Khost? Train Georgian infantry?

Or perhaps just be a good little young neocon and cheerlead from the sidelines.

[Cujo359]

I'm laughing hysterically, even while I'm reflecting on how sad all this is.

[mo]

Colonel,
Ever run a caption competition on your blog? If there was ever an opportunity...!

[zanzibar]

Choreography

[Lynne]

This election is surreal. The GOP is attempting to control the narrative; it is failing. A bit of irony, GOP pundits Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy were caught on live microphones on MSNBC expressing their true feelings re Palin. Ms. Noonan wrote in the WSJ about the 'Clear and Present Danger To The American Left.' To hear Noonan state It is Over....Political bull**it, etc. with Mike Murphy and Chuck Todd indicates that not all Republicans are falling in line. The video is on YouTube.

[lina]

Byron York:

"Perhaps I'm focusing on an irrelevant issue, but the presence, or non-presence, of Johnston on the stage tonight strikes me as important. It's one thing for delegates to be understanding and compassionate about the fix these two teenagers have gotten themselves into. It's another to actually celebrate it. And, given what we've learned in the last few days, if Johnston is up on stage with his girlfriend and the Palin family, and Republicans are wildly cheering, it will certainly look like they are celebrating this situation.

I don't usually engage in these scenarios, but I'll do it here. If the Obamas had a 17 year-old daughter who was unmarried and pregnant by a tough-talking black kid, my guess is if that they all appeared onstage at a Democratic convention and the delegates were cheering wildly, a number of conservatives might be discussing the issue of dysfunctional black families."

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmNlZGFhNmI2Yzk1NzAzNDViM2VmZTA2NDRhN2ViN2Q=

[Canuck]

Having Bristol and Levi on the RNC podium should draw the media like moths to a flame! L0L

[frogspawn]

Ah, togetherness...

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I saw this post- beer all over my laptop. Coulda got ugly.

[fasteddiez]

Lina Said:
.....a number of conservatives might be discussing the issue of dysfunctional black families."
Yes, and that is because said dysfunctional black families tend to create a surplus of "Roving bands of Negro Youths (a sixties Time/Newsweak descriptive construct)."

On the other hand, the unbridled procreation and multiplication of God fearin' Redneckoid Trailer Trash is to be celebrated, notwithstanding any perceived Christian mores, because of the Lord's forgiveness of these sinners.

More importantly, this stance of looking the other way with unplanned births will provide more Christian soldiers to the fold, who will: vote the right way; forever banish any critical thought; and fight God's future wars, which will herald the Rapture of the saints. I trust the targeted hordes in these forthcoming wars will include the usual menu of Wogs, Libruls, Euros, Russkies and Orientals....in short, creating a target rich environment, as they say in the métier.

[fasteddiez]

Lina Said:
.....a number of conservatives might be discussing the issue of dysfunctional black families."
Yes, and that is because said dysfunctional black families tend to create a surplus of "Roving bands of Negro Youths (a sixties Time/Newsweak descriptive construct)."

On the other hand, the unbridled procreation and multiplication of God fearin' Redneckoid Trailer Trash is to be celebrated, notwithstanding any perceived Christian mores, because of the Lord's forgiveness of these sinners.

More importantly, this stance of looking the other way with unplanned births will provide more Christian soldiers to the fold, who will: vote the right way; forever banish any critical thought; and fight God's future wars, which will herald the Rapture of the saints. I trust the targeted hordes in these forthcoming wars will include the usual menu of Wogs, Libruls, Euros, Russkies and Orientals....in short, creating a target rich environment, as they say in the métier.

[Duncan Kinder]

McCain's eyes are narrow; his jaw clenched; his hand grasping the boy's arm. He is leaning into him.

The boy's eyes are wide open, and he is leaning back.

The girl's eyes are narrow; her smile forced.

McCain is furious and threatening; they are terrified; she is miserable.

[Mike Martin, Yorktown, VA]

This is not about the forthcoming "marriage", this is about keeping the kid on a short leash, i.e., not shooting off his mouth to the press.

[David W.]

How's that 'abstinence only' sex edumecation working out for you kids?

[Cold War Zoomie]

What planet am I on?

I remember when I first came to read SST, and figured that Col Lang was most likely a conservative of the libertarian variety yet the majority of his "following" here are lefties (don't get mad!) when compared to the modern GOP. And that's an important distinction - when compared to the modern GOP.

One of my first comments was something to the effect of entering some bizarro world where a spec ops, intel Colonel with Vietnam combat experience is a hit with the lefties! (don't get mad!)

Now we have an evangelical, fundamental "family values" Christian trooping out her unwed, pregnant teenage daughter, with Mr. He-Man-Who-Took-Care-of-Bidness by her side, as part of her VP campaign.

To quote an oldie but a goodie - I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue!

[Cieran]

Whiskey Tango....

[Nancy K]

I'm a public health nurse and work with families in trouble, mostly very young married or unmarried mothers, who have had several children. These women have not been able to obtain an education and are often in abusive relationships. I'm happy that the Palin daughter has a supportive family yet I hardly think this is a role model for our young. Does her boyfriend really want to marry her, according to his Face book, he didn't want children. Now she is being rolled out as a model for the Christian Coalition. I find it all disgusting at best.

[fasteddiez]

CWZ:

The Colonel probably started paying attention to politics in the Ike administrations, I, in the JFK era.

To have political clown shows, (such as we have witnessed over the past few days), been presented to an audience during the fifties-sixties time period, to an audience that had recently witnessed WWII, is beyond incomprehensible.

Ike was a serious man, who transcended political affiliation, and warned of the dangers of Poli-Mil corruption. The fact that there is less seriousness about in the political circuses of today bespeaks the massive increase in stupidity and vacuity in today's American populace (writ large).

As such, identifying the SST blog's opinions or their authors as left or right is, to my mind, inexact for these times. I don't know where you think the modern day's stake holders of the USAF stand (left/right or competence wise), as compared to the past; you probably rank them poorer, more religious, and more provincial.
However, I can easily say, (as a plank owner of sorts in the following disciplines...joke) that the ground pounder/operator, as well as the Intelligence community stake holders, have not cleaved to the leadership examples of the past, but have instead "Gone modern on us."

My sextant is still measuring the same celestial bodies for guidance, but the bodies of water below my keel have changed radically, thus dangerously....kind of of a long winded riposte, I know

[Patrick Lang]

fasteddiez

My first political memories are of Truman speaking on TV when he fired Macarthur. I remember the '52 conventions. They, too, were on TV. pl

[Leila Abu-Saba]

I already had vertigo today when I realized that Clifford Kiracofe, self-described conservative former Republican, speaks for me on American values and the GOP.

Read this for a pocket guide to Palin language - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ridley/your-pocket-guide-to-spea_b_123606.html

Sample: "If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic." Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."

Similarly, if you name your kid Barack you're "unpatriotic." Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."

If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless." A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick." "

By John Ridley in Huffington Post.

[Leila Abu-Saba]

Also - Governor Palin, she who hoisted her Downs Syndrome baby for the cameras tonight, cut funding for special needs children in Alaska by 62%. SIXTY-TWO percent.

Keep your eyes on what they do and stop up your ears.

I too have a special needs child; he is thriving and blossoming at age 8 because of all the government-funded help he got from age 19 months. He will probably function independently in this world, work and pay taxes. (with God's help). I take this particular Palin lie very, very personally.