For over a generation, Republicans and their conservative allies have been screaming about "the sanctity of marriage" and how government must step in to preserve and protect it. This, they claim, is especially true with regard to raising children.

The problem is, they have no idea what they are talking about.

From 2002 to 2007, a period when Republicans controlled just about everything, the percentage of births to unmarried women in this country rose by 26%, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Clearly, Bristol Palin is not an anomaly; even women in their 20s and 30s are choosing to have babies out of wedlock.

This is not a new trend; births to unmarried women have been rising for decades. But it is clear that the Republican screed on this subject is mere words, and that everything they try in the phony name of morality is worthless.