We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.
You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God can give us, to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.
You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs - Victory in spite of all terrors - Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
No shock
The problem is that Sarah Palin teaches abstinence only, a thoroughly bankrupt concept. Her daughter's pregnancy only demonstrates that bankruptcy.
The debate here should not be about Briston Palin, who is not running for Vice President. Nor should it be about Sarah Palin's qualifications as a mother. Instead, it should focus on how out of touch with reality the extreme right is.
Studies show that teenage girls who take an abstinence pledge are far more likely to get pregnant, and teenage boys who take the pledge are far more likely to get a girl pregnant, than teens who don't. The reason is that, while teens who take the pledge are somewhat less likely to have sex, those who do have sex are far less likely (almost completely unlikely) to use birth control -- or at least to use it correctly. The result -- pregnancy.
The debate, therefore, should not be about hypocrisy, but about reality. Democrats should say, "We want to lower the teen pregnancy rate, and only we know how to do that." (I'm being flippant here, but you get the general idea.)