This is an odd one, Palins 5th child is apparantly her 17 year old daughters?

[jojosmaman]

... according to some reports in the US?

here

oh balls.

it's not nice, or fair, or good politics to make up unfounded rubbish about a candidate. of course not. noone is saying that those kinds of tactics are good things.

but the point people are making is that all the candidates are pursued with dirty tricks by the opposition. it's not a gender thing.

it's not misogynist unless you're saying 'because of this person's gender, they are unsuitable to be a candidate', or you are attacking ONLY the women.

which ain't what's happening.

as for 'frothing misogynists' - I'm seeing plenty of frothing on this thread from those who purport to support women. the Daily Kos just seemed to me to be a fairly scurrilous piece of political rubbish gossip.

just heard on radio that sarah palin's daughter is pg

does that help clarify matters at all?

very funny btw whoever said "shotgun wedding"

Cat, I think we've moved on from is it true or ain't it - we're onto the whole US politics thing in general now.

Sigh.

catissleepy, that makes it into a True Soap

yes she has views that i disagree with, but she has been accused of passing her daughters child off as her own.

what a load of bollocks, she loves her daughter ,she loves all of her children including her 4 month old son, the whole thing smacks of 'how dare she think she can run for office when she has recently given birth.' it is misogynist claptrap. I wish her daughter a peaceful pregnancy despite the press camped on her doorstep and hope she has a long and wonderful marriage, because to wish a 17 year old in her situation anything else, because of her mothers views is downright 'told-you-so-ism.'

we do the best for our children, we bring them up how we see fit and if they have sex (ohmygosh!) it really doesn't make us bad parents. 17 year olds have sex. probably considerably more sex than me. doesn't mean you've failed as a parent if they do.

No we all agree with you Perse

But we are all muesli-eating liberals

actually mp i'm a yogurt weaving liberal

and only muesli if it's Dorset Cereals

not just any old oats

Speak for yourself MP. I am a non-muesli-eating liberal. How dare you make that sort of assumption about my diet.

oh dear mp you've done it now....

I still don't see why allegations about the parenthood of a politician's child are misogynist just because the politician concerned this time is a woman

Dorset Cereals you ponce

They are like five quid a box innit?

Exploitation of the muesli-eating masses, that is. Although I'm told the berries and cherries is very nice.

not if you bought about twenty boxes when Waitrose did their half price offer....same price as Alpen then!

I am the official keeper of the EU muesli mountain.

i have dorset cereals for my children. bet my 13 yr old dd has lots of sex in the reasonably near future, despite my cereal choice.

just not under my roof!

I agree with Littlemydancing, I don't believe it to be misogyny, surely its the ways of politics and is irrespective of sex? Both Obama and McCain have had rumours spread about them with or without a shred of truth. Its what they call Dirty Tricks isn't it?

Yes, but in the same way that some of the unfounded rumours spread about Obama are racist, so some of the rumours spread about female politicians can be termed misogynist.

but you're not saying that all rumours spread about Obama are racist - only the ones that relate directly and negatively to his race, presumably?

so in the same way, it is possible for there to be misogynist tactics against Palin, but this isn't one of them. this one is about whether she lied, plain and simple.

it seems obvious that she didn't, but it has nothing to do with her gender beyond that only women can give birth.

If you stockpile muesli you will end up with Weevils

ah, tis all sealed in nice plastic bags and then those fancy cardboard packets they use.

but I am keeping a close eye out for mice.

the whole thing about palin though is it's judging her pregnancy and delivering (judging! i say!) oh my! how could she travel all that way when she has an amniotic leak/full scale waters breaking? how could she be back at work so sooooon? what kind of mother is she?!?

i drove myself 30ish miles to hospital after my waters broke with my third baby because i wante d to be at hospital, i wasn't in any pain and my ex was too drunk to drive. admittedly it's not a 8 hour journey, but i take responsibility for my actions because i am aware of the limitations or otherwise of my body. admittedly my son isn't SN, but theres not really any evidence to suggest Palin was aware that her son had downs, being a bizarre creationist (sorry , creationists) she may not have had amnio/comparable tests.

i don't necessarily think it's misogynist though, because any little thing will be grabbed by the media - ant slight possible half truth will be exaggerated it's a good old fashioned dirty fight and that capture s the imagination and makes people vote, albeit for the wrong reasons sometimes.

oh I can't leave this alone - nice segue into cereal there, we are on porridge at the mo (economising).

There are unpleasant rumours being circulated about Obama because he is black, just as there are unpleasant rumours being circulated about Pallin because she is a woman. That is why they are racist/misogynit, it is the motivation behind them, not the actual words employed.

weevils? like in torchwood? excellent - I'm applying for their vacancy. I'm sure a little practical experience will come in handy

But why are the rumours being spread because he is black/ she is a woman? Why are there rumours being spread about McCain? Because he is old?