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Blogger calls Sarah Palin's child a 'prop'
Filed under: Work Life, Celeb Kids, Celeb Parents, In The News
Blogging is, by its very nature, a personal thing. Bloggers express their opinions and readers are free to express theirs by way of comments. But nobody ever said that freedom of expression means freedom from consequences. This is something that blogger Susan Bruce learned the hard way.Bruce, a campaign blogger for Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), has resigned after commenting on an article on PolitickerNH.com. The article was about vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's visit to New Hampshire last week and the comment Bruce contributed was just vile.
Referring to two of Palin's children, one who is seventeen and pregnant and the other who was born with Down syndrome, Bruce wrote this: "I don't think that putting a scarlet letter on your own teenager and throwing her to the wolves in front of the whole world is something to be proud of. I don't think that using a special needs baby as a prop on late night TV appearances is a value to crow about."
The New Hampshire GOP denounced Bruce's comments and suggested that Rep. Shea-Porter should fire her. Bruce, who insists she was only speaking for herself and not Rep. Shea-Porter, saved her the trouble by resigning.
I know that some people are very passionate about their candidates and sometimes get a little worked up when discussing those on the other side. But I don't think that insulting a political candidate by insinuating that she's using her own children for political gain is something to crow about, either.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-19-2008 @ 2:11PM
john said...I feel the same way. She is using them as props. The whole family is a campaign prop. They are all together at any type of gathering at any time of day or night. I am sure if she won the VP (God forbid) that the child would be in the Senate Chamber every day. That is the impression that Sarah gives me. The children should not be brought into the campaign for any reason.
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10-26-2008 @ 5:47PM
Carlos Navarro said...If Sarah Palin is such a loving mom, so solicitous of her children’s wellbeing, why does cart them around with her in her campaign appearances all over the country? Having them for emotional support in the safety of a hotel room is understandable, but using them as props, exposing them to hecklers and potentially dangerous characters in the crowd, is tantamount to child abuse. Especially at risk is her six-month old (?) son, Trig. Babies with Downs Syndrome tend to have a weaker than normal immune system, which renders them susceptible to respiratory and other serious infections. Or is this the way pit bulls with lipstick traditionally toughen up their litter for survival in the wilds of Alaska?
10-19-2008 @ 3:38PM
notfooled said...Sorry Sandy - I don't think the blogger's comments were "vile" in the least. Sarah Palin is totally using her children as props, and especially her Downs Syndrome child. She is supposedly the "most informed American" (to paraphrase Jonh McCain) on special needs children, simply because she has a niece/nephew (don't know which) who has Autism, and she gave birth to her DS child 5-6 months ago. She's only JUST starting down the road toward knowing anything about special needs children. Would this issue have been so near-and-dear to her heart if her child had not been DS? I doubt it - show me anything that she has done prior to become candidate for VP where she did something to benefit the special needs population. She's using her DS child just like she's using her son's military service, or her daughter's so-called "choice" for life - as a way to project herself as the perfect mother, and "just like us" and therefore, by some strange twist of logic, magically qualified to be VP.
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10-19-2008 @ 4:07PM
Sheryl said...I'm no Sarah Palin fan, but it's pretty darn cynical to say that she's using her family as a prop. This is her FAMILY we're talking about, people. The fact that her teen and youngest have "issues" may cause the media to cover them differently than previous campaign kids, especially since her pro-life stance is directly related to both of them.
Why shouldn't we see the first families kids? We saw the Bush girls, Obama's kids, heck, I remember watching Amy Carter who was just about my age, and I thought it was great. These are the same people who criticized Elizabeth Edwards for campaigning with two young kids while she had cancer. These candidates are people, and I think they deserve a modicum of respect, or at least a little common courtesy.
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10-19-2008 @ 5:04PM
notfooled said...She's not just showing off her family like any proud parent would; for example like Obama did at the DNC or even McCain does occasionally. She is using her daughter's pregnancy to further her pro-life/anti-choice rhetoric and she is using her DS baby's condition to create a fake platform to get sympathy from people who truly do care about special needs individuals. She also used her child Piper to shield her during her third (?) interview with Katie Couric and used her again last week to off-set the huge chorus of "boos" from the hockey crowd when she dropped the puck at the Flyers game. You do not see Obama's young children being paraded around in such a manner. Just the fact that, as Sheryl pointed out, the media may cover her children a little bit differently, is even more reason why she should be trying to shield them, instead of parading them so shamelessly. So yes, in her case, she is totally using her children as props to further her own personal goals.
10-20-2008 @ 11:09AM
Sadaf Trimarchi said...I think people are missing the point. This individual made a pointed political comment about a national figure, running for office, on a political website. I think it's outrageous that people suggest she be fired for it. That she resigned, likely out of respect to her employer, is commendable of her, but it's ridiculous. You don't have to agree with her opionion. If you don't like it, counter it with something more credible.
S
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10-20-2008 @ 11:18AM
Mihir said...does it really matter what the posters above write? if she brings the kids, they're props. if she leaves them at home, she's abandoning them. either way...she ends up being a bad mother. so...let's leave the kids out of this.
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10-20-2008 @ 12:11PM
Joy said...I couldn't have said it better myself Mihir.
10-20-2008 @ 12:51PM
Melissa said...I agree....she DOES use the whole family as props! And did anyone notice at one of the VP debates (I think it was the second one, but can't be sure), how she handed that baby off to the YOUNGEST child to hold! That little girl is no more then 7 or 8, and this baby was handed to her, and she walked down the steps with him! I never even let my 12 year old cousin carry my daughter around like that when she was that little! Sit and hold the baby, sure! Hold the baby and struggle down some steps, I don't think so! She's just an idiot anyway, but that made her look even worse!
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10-20-2008 @ 3:47PM
Secret Mommy said...The conversation taking place nationally (mostly in blogs and comments such as this one, but also in the media) is so sexist I can hardly stand it.
I'm a conservative and so admittedly in favor of Sarah Palin, but I would never criticize any candidate for spending time with their family, taking their family to political events (Barack O'bama does it frequently), or letting them participate in the campaign. I agree with the previous comment, if here family were not around people would be saying she is abandoning her children.
She is not an idiot, but rather an intelligent, capable woman (as all mothers are) and whether you agree or disagree with her politics, slamming her family is just distasteful. And labeling her special-needs child a "prop" is particularly ugly and disrespectful of his condition. As if he were an "item" rather than her child whom she chooses to spend time with while she runs for political office.
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10-20-2008 @ 4:50PM
SKL said...Why can't people just disagree with Palin's political positions and leave it at that? Why must it always be about her biology? God forbid anyone even admit noticing that Obama has brown skin.
It makes me sick that it's women doing this - bringing politics to a new low. Had this been observed a hundred years ago, we never would have won the right to vote.
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10-21-2008 @ 9:00AM
jen said...Sorry but I don't think she should have been forced to resign. There is such a thing as freedom of speech, and that was her opinion. One that I firmly agree with in this instance. I live in the UK so will not be voting - but I sure as heck hope that Palin gets as close to Washington as she is now; i.e. back in Alaska.
Politicians' families are props whether it is a good or bad thing - they use their family to illustrate their values, and certainly the amount that Palin has harped on about her family shows that although I am sure she loves them dearly, she is also using them as props for her campaign - whether intentionally or not.
Us Brits are just shaking our heads at how exactly she was put in such a potential position of power, and are just hoping for the sake of your country - and ours - that you guys see sense. That's my opinion and in the interests of free speech, I would like to voice it.
Personally, a President from Krypton (!!) would be a vast improvement on the one you have now.
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