IMHO, Tucker includes some good (talking) points in her column this week, including how she has manipulated her image for the campaign/press at the expense of her family before any jokes ever surfaced.Gov. Palin, welcome to the clubby Cynthia Tucker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
...
Where was the governor when conservatives spent eight years ripping Hillary Clinton to shreds, even making foul jokes about her young daughter? Where was she when the right-wing attack machine went after Michelle Obama, blasting her as angry, unpatriotic and anti-white? Indeed, didn’t Palin notice that the first woman to be named to a spot on a major party’s presidential ticket — Geraldine Ferraro — wasn’t exactly celebrated in a national lovefest?
(snip)
When the news broke last summer that Palin’s unmarried teenaged daughter was pregnant, several parents I know wondered about her decision to accept John McCain’s offer. It was clear that Bristol would be thrust into the spotlight, with some criticizing her recklessness and others celebrating her decision to keep her baby. Either way, Bristol’s privacy had been sacrificed to her mother’s ambition.
Actually, it was worse than that.
McCain and Palin chose to exploit Bristol and the baby’s father, Levi Johnston. Palin announced that they would get married, and McCain greeted Johnston with a hearty handshake when Johnston arrived in Minnesota to attend the Republican National Convention — a video clip showed around the world. Johnston even campaigned for Palin at Bristol’s side.
So it surely didn’t come as a surprise to Palin that both traditional news media and gossip outlets were interested in the young couple’s split. Nor can she blame her political enemies for the fact that Bristol and Levi have started airing their mutual rancor in broadcast interviews or that Levi now plans a tell-all book. The governor gave Levi his first sip from the addictive cup of media celebrity...
More at
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/index.html