Bristol Palin’s Learning Curve by Lindsey Boerma National Journal
Bristol Palin's latest Facebook response to critics: “Accusing me of hypocrisy is by now, an old canard.”
When they’re not cutting up ABC’s dance floor, Bristol Palin seems to have a hard time keeping her feet out of her mouth.
On the heels (pun intended) of Palin’s remark on Dancing with the Stars last week wishing “a big middle finger to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me,” another questionable comment from former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s eldest daughter is making headlines.
After being dubbed MSNBC host Keith Olbermann’s signature “Worst Person in the World” on Countdown earlier this week for her appearance in a Candie’s abstinence PSA despite being a young, unwed mother, Bristol—or a spokesperson (note use of the word “canard,” an unusual world choice for a member of the text-message generation)—published a Facebook post Thursday in response that more than 2,000 people have since “liked.”
“Accusing me of hypocrisy is by now, an old canard,” she wrote of Olbermann’s remarks. “Mr. Olbermann fails to understand that in order to have credibility as a spokesperson, it sometimes takes a person who has made mistakes.”
But Palin’s handling of her “mistake”—the teen pregnancy of her now two-year-old son Tripp announced in 2008, when John McCain’s appointment of her mother as presidential running mate thrust her private life into the spotlight—has been somewhat inconsistent.
In an interview with Fox News last year, Palin referred to contemporary expectations of teen abstinence as “unrealistic.” Three months later, she signed on with the Candie’s Foundation as a paid spokesperson for abstinence. Now, reference to the whole ordeal as a “mistake” could pose concerns.
Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said Palin’s terminology wasn’t ideal, and, in this case, would better be described as an “opportunity.”
“We don’t call it a mistake so much as what is the behavior that will result in the best health outcome,” she said. “If she believes it’s a mistake, she can call it that, but we have to remember, this is a young woman who has been through a lot, who has been cast into the public sphere through a decision that she made and that because of her mom’s public profile, has been prematurely thrust into the public eye, and she is using that opportunity so that young people can learn from her.
“I find it hypocritical that people like Olbermann are condemning the messenger because they’re ideologically opposed to the message,” Huber continued. “It’s not hypocritical; it’s called maturity. And admitting that ‘I should have made a healthier decision’ and encouraging others to learn from my mistakes rather than from their own is, I think, refreshingly honest, and the research shows it’s effective.”
On Friday, radio hosts Bob and Mark on Anchorage's KWHL framed the question around how the young mother would discuss her abstinence campaign with her grown son: “How will you reconcile with Tripp when he gets old enough to look at the clippings and the public service announcements where you’re telling people, you know, ‘Wear condoms, if you can be abstinent be abstinent’… how do you reconcile with him: ‘Look-- you weren’t a mistake?’”
Palin responded, “I don’t even think I’m going to need to have a conversation like that with Tripp. He knows he’s the love of my life, and he happened to me for a reason.”
But Palin didn’t keep the interview completely G-rated. The hosts floated the idea that Olbermann’s recent criticisms of Palin made him “a dick.”
Palin laughed, “I agree with you.”
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