Seventeen

I'm just thinking out loud here, so forgive me if I ramble.

Today's been pretty quiet and I've been catching up on my online reading. Two posts caught my attention and made me wonder what effect the behavior of a couple of 17-year-olds might have on this election.

At RealClearPolitics, Linda Chavez has an article called The Unexamined Life, in which she wonders why the behavior of 17-year-old Bristol Palin is of such interest to the media when the behavior of (then) 17-year-old Barack Obama is not. Meanwhile, Amy Alkon has a post up that questions the wisdom of the decision for Bristol to have her baby and whether that decision should be hers or her parents. She links to a William Saletan piece at Slate that describes Bristol as a "maturing minor" who is, in essence "subjugated" because by law, she doesn't have the same rights as adults.

Now, a reasonable person might ask, why are either of these things important? One happened 30 years ago and the other is a personal matter that should be no one's business but the family's. But here's the thing...

One of these things (Obama's admitted drug use as a teenager) is not, and as far as I know, never has been talked about or explored by anyone in the press. At least, not beyond a casual mention. On the other hand, the comings and goings of Bristol Palin's vagina are front page news. Why is one item worthy of a full-court-press and the other a big fat ho-hum?

Saletan points out that Sarah Palin has been very active in trying to enact a Parental Notification law in Alaska that would have required Bristol to receive her parent's permission to terminate the baby. This, of course, is bad because, in Saletan's view, "maturing minors" should be capable of making that decision for themselves, along with eating junk food, going to tanning salons and staying out past 10PM. Something tells me that Saletan would be more than comfortable with Obama - at 17 - deciding just how much pot, booze or blow he should indulge in. After all, look how well he turned out.

So, should the behavior of either of these 17-year-olds matter in the coming election? For me, not at all. Sarah Palin's pro-life philosophy is a matter of record, as are all of her actions as Governor of Alaska. If Parental Notification laws make you squishy, so be it. Obama's admitted drug use doesn't bother me, but it would be nice if it mattered to the press at least as much as George W. Bush's alleged drug use did back in 2000.

However, I find Obama's method of dealing with his mom's concern about his drug use very interesting:

"I had given her a reassuring smile and patted her hand and told her not to worry, I wouldn't do anything stupid. It was usually an effective tactic, another of those tricks I had learned: People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves."

Somehow I don't think that would work with Bristol's mom.