GOP Family Values are the Antonym for Palin Family Values

For years we have been told the Republican Party is the political party who promotes “family values”.  Sarah Palin has given lip service to that position through her TLC show where she proclaims that she loves Alaska like she loves her family.  The title of her latest book, America by Heart:  Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag, Palin attempts to reinforce the value of “family”.  However the truth is that traditional “family values” is the antonym for Palin family values.

Both Todd and Sarah have been reported as having extra-marital affairs.  Sarah was pregnant out-of-wedlock, and there is a real possibility that her first child is actually the child of another man. Todd and Sarah live in separate structures on the property in Wasilla, they don’t sleep together, and evidently throw cans at each other when tempers flare.  Her fifth child may be someone else’s first child. Bristol not only is an unwed mother, but was a 17-year-old pregnant teen at the time her mother was running with John McCain.  If McCain and Palin had been elected, it would have been the first time the Vice President’s illegitimate grandchild would be living in the white house with her.  Now with the announcement of Track’s spontaneous wedding with only parents in the “picture” and a party to be held later, there is great suspicion as to why the rush?

When Sarah Palin announced that Bristol was pregnant she was quick to say that Bristol was keeping the child, and that she would marry Levi.   The amazing thing about the announcement was that Palin thought that plans to marry would make the pregnancy acceptable.  Like her marriage to Todd, she suggested that marriage to Todd would make her out-of-wedlock pregnancy acceptable.  Sarah Palin misses the point.  If a woman is too young when having a child she risks her health and that of the baby.  If the mother is too young she may not be mature enough to be the best mother she can be. As we have seen with Bristol, completing an education is difficult or impossible if a baby is in the picture.  If a man and woman marry too young their chances of having a happy and healthy marriage decline.  It can happen; it’s just not as likely.  Sarah Palin and the Republican Party miss the point to suggest that marriage alone is a sign of traditional family values.

With the recent focus on Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and his “love child,” it is important to pause and consider the number of Republicans who have established their true attitude about traditional family values.  There was Dick Cheney’s daughter who is lesbian and she and her partner became parents.     Thomas Jefferson had 7 children out-of-wedlock.

Ted Nugent, the promoter of Palin through the Time Magazine article, had two wives and eight children, including three children out-of-wedlock.

In February of this year Congressional Republicans were involved in running a prostitution ring.

The list of Republicans who deviated from the GOP’s traditional party platform regarding family values could provide material for an entire year of SNL episodes.

Here are just a few worthy of note:

Mark Foley

U.S. Representative
(September 28, 2006)

The Crime: Sending sexually laced, grammatically challenged instant messages and e-mails to teenaged boys in the Congressional page program for more than 10 years.

The Hypocrisy: Chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children and one of the foremost opponents of child pornography in the Senate.

The Quote: “get a ruler and measure it for me”

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Ted Haggard

Leader of the National Association of Evangelicals
(November 2006)

The Crime: Paying male prostitutes for sex and snorting crystal meth.

The Hypocrisy: A powerful force in the evangelical movement, Haggard participated in weekly meetings with President George Bush and top advisors where he gave spiritual advice. He taught that homosexuality was an abomination and actively lobbied against gay rights.

The Quote: “I did not have a homosexual relationship with a man in Denver.”

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Larry Craig

U.S. Senator
Senate Liaison for Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign
(June 11, 2007)

The Crime: Soliciting sex from an undercover cop in an airport bathroom

The Hypocrisy: Craig twice voted against adding the words “sexual orientation” to the federal hate crimes law. Craig also voted to give states the right to refuse to recognize gay marriage–a right they already had, but the Senator wanted to really, really prove he didn’t like gay people.

The Quote: “I am not gay; I don’t do these kinds of things.”

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Bob Allen

Member of the Florida House of Representatives
Florida Chairman of John McCain’s Presidential Campaign
(July 11, 2007)

The Crime: Offering an undercover cop $20 to allow Allen to blow him in a men’s room in a public park. After being arrested, Allen tried to explain that he only offered to blow the cop because the cop was a “burly black man” and he “didn’t want to become a statistic.”

The Hypocrisy: Allen was one of 21 Florida legislators to sign Gov. Jeb Bush’s friend-of-the-court brief supporting the state’s ban on gays adopting children, and he co-sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would have enhanced penalties for “offenses involving unnatural and lascivious acts” such as indecent exposure.

The Quote: “I certainly wasn’t there to have sex with anybody and certainly wasn’t there to exchange money for it.”

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Glenn Murphy Jr.

National Chairman of the Young Republicans
Chairman of the Clark County Republican Party
(July 28, 2007)

The Crime: Murphy got a fellow Young Republican drunk and then spent the night at his house. The other young man woke up in the middle of the night to find Murphy giving him mouth-to-penis resuscitation. After this incident, a 1998 sexual battery report came to light in which Murphy was alleged to have done the exact same thing.

The Hypocrisy: Murphy was a well-paid political consultant for Republican candidates and often advised them to use gay marriage as a wedge issue to paint their opponents as out of touch with traditional values.

The Quote: “I was in the Sound of Music in High School…don’t ask” (from his now-defunct Myspace page.)

The Video: Unfortunately, the Young Republicans took down all of their videos of Mr. Murphy. So instead, I give you: http://www.badmouth.net/top-five-republican-gay-sex-scandals/

Here is a more complete list:

In considering the current we site of the Republican Party, under the “issues” section there is no reference to family values or abortion or homosexuality. Maybe they will add these in a few more weeks after the focus on Arnold, Track Palin, and Republican Rep. Paul Scott has died down.   Maybe the Republican Party and Sarah Palin should stick to politics and just consider family matters off-limits?