Imagine if Chelsea Clinton had gotten pregnant at 17

[LiberalEsto]

Cross-posted from GD-P

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/people...

"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.

[malaise]

1. No - imagine if she was pregnant right now

and unmarried.

[lpbk2713]

2. OxyRush Limbaugh would have been non-stop hypocrisy.

Remember what he said he wanted to do with drug users?

Well, that was before he was found guilty of being one.

[Epiphany4z]

3. first off

slut jokes would be everywhere, we would hear godless all dems are because of it and then they would try to tell its not that she is unwed and prego its because she lied about it to the press...

its all about the lie...isn't that what they said when invading Bill's personal life?

[MoeHayNow]

4. Excellent point!

Had Chelsea gotten pregnant, the Repugs would STILL be talking about it.
It's good that Obama doesn't want to get into all that, but the trouble with that is it's a bit of a high-road stance, one that the Repugs and their lapdogs would have NEVER gotten behind...

Family values is a friggin sham when it comes to the Repugs and their ilk.

[alfredo]

14. Obama fathered two black kids.

[realisticphish]

19. hahaha

:rofl:

[salvorhardin]

5. Just imagine.

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.

Yeah. And just imagine a whole bunch of liberal and progressive Democrats behaving in just as deplorable a fashion. Oh, wait. I don't have to.

[Fumesucker]

9. The difference being though

That liberals are not the ones wishing to push their parenting values on the rest of the country via force of law.

Another difference is that I have read very few, if any, condemnations of Bristol Palin herself, the condemnations are of the hypocrisy of Bristol's mother, who no doubt would have condemned any Democrat who happened to find him or herself in the same situation.

Condemning hypocrisy is not the same thing as condemning the behavior itself.

[grace0418]

10. Condemning hypocrisy is not the same thing as condemning the behavior itself.

Amen to that.

[Loge23]

6. Great post!

Terrific post and a great recap of what an outstanding young person that Chelsea has become.
When the real values are in the heart, as they are with many Dems/supporters, and not merely sound bites - good things happen.
But your initial point is well taken - the self-righteous right would have destroyed the Clintons (or the Obama's) over anything remotely close to what's going on with their candidate.

[xchrom]

7. recommend

[nichomachus]

8. They would have started a new cable channel

that would have been devoted 24/7 to Chelsea. It would still be running.

[stubtoe]

11. You've said it so much better than I could.

The Clintons would have been excoriated 24/7 for being Horrible Liberal Parents.

I hate this double standard for Republicans.

[LiberalEsto]

12. Here's the McCain comment on Chelsea

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_and_political_image_of_John_McCain

'In 1998, McCain made a joke during a speech at a Republican fundraiser about President Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, saying: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." '

Wiki Source:
Corn, David (1998-06-25). "A joke too bad to print?", Salon.com.


Who the hell is McCain to judge a woman, no matter what her age, based on her looks? But that's apparently exactly what he does. After all, he dumped his first wife after she was disfigured in a serious car accident, for his attractive mistress, now wife Cindy.

Would McCain have picked Palin as his VP choice if she were plain looking?

I seriously doubt it.

[bmbmd]

13. Remember this from September, 2002?

http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2002/09/13/20020913_205811_cc.htm

CONTROVERSY AFTER PEOPLE MAG PICTURES CHELSEA CLINTON IN 'AROUSED' STATE

Editors at TIMEWARNER's PEOPLE magazine found themselves in controversy on Thursday -- after the weekly published a photograph showing former first daughter Chelsea Clinton in an apparent "aroused" state.

Clinton is shown "erect" as she is embraced by her companion Ian Klaus at last week's US OPEN tennis tournament; her face: showing "bedroom pleasures."

Publishing the provocative photograph of the media-shy Clinton is the latest attempt by new PEOPLE editor Martha Nelson to heat up the magazine. The snap is featured near the front of the book in the September 23 edition .

But the controversial shot of Clinton pulled mixed reviews -- even from within the magazine!

"I work here, I found it in very poor taste," a PEOPLE staffer told the DRUDGE REPORT from New York. "Why don't we just run a photograph of his hands down her pants?"

Editors defend the publication, noting Clinton's display was in a public setting.

[tblue37]

15. Think of all the Dem WH kids: Chelsea, Caroline & John Jr.,

Amy Carter. Think of John Kerry's daughters (if he had not had the elections stolen from him). Think of the Obamas' daughters. Now compare the Democrats' family values, as reflected in their chidlren, with teh Republicans'. Obviously the Dems are way better at raising well-behaved, responsible kids.

[libodem]

16. It's a double standard of

the 'do as I say, not as I do' mentality. The left is so used to being painted as the social 'liberal', anything goes, no moral vales, no religion, no traditional, no class consciousness, free love, irresponsible, welfare taking, slackers, hippies, communists, what-evers, that we feel guilty that's its our fault Bristol got pregnant, because we loosened up the standards with our out of control appetites. Yep, they will blame us for Britney spears little sister and Bristol if they can. Republicans don't accept responsibility, apologies, show remorse, they blame and deflect. We are defined by them because we let them or they are just louder and have more access to putting out their message of lies. This is my wacky take. The Repukes are like the 'male' party and the Dems are like the 'female' party. The traditional roles dictate that males are strong, decisive, and the boss of everything. Women are subservient, and nurturing. We aren't on equal footing. We gotta 'man' up.

[FatDave]

17. Exactly right.

And this is why I don't give two shits about poor little pregnant Bristol. Her mother should never have accepted.

[DCKit]

18. Hardly a fair comparison when Chelsea's virginity had Sekrit Servis protection. nt

[LiberalEsto]

23. So did the Bush twins

and that didn't stop them from getting shit-faced drunk and puking on barroom floors in public. I never heard of Chelsea doing ANYTHING like that.

[tishaLA]

20. Imagine it was Malia.

The republicons would go apeshit about "another unwed black teen mother." Hell, they went apeshit about Hannah Montana posing in a sheet.

[Skittles]

21. she would have been denounced as a whore

there would have been a lot of talk about how far the fruit fell from the tree

[LisaL]

22. I sure doubt it would be "love, love, love and how great

that she is going to have the baby."

[wickerwoman]

24. Plus remember the freepers going apeshit about the picture of Chelsea

sitting on her boyfriend's lap when she was in her early twenties in a posture that they claimed showed "bedroom knowledge".

Maybe she should have gotten knocked up since apparently you're a huge slut and going to hell right up to the point where you "choose life" and then suddenly you're "an American family".