[Update: Erbe appears to be factually inaccurate, to say the least. Reader Tim Lindell passed on an L.A. Times article from last year noting that in a 2006 debate, Palin called herself "pro-contraception" and added that "kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues."]
With the writing style and gravitas worthy of a high school newspaper columnist, PBS "To the Contrary" host and US News & World Report columnist Bonnie Erbe slammed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in her March 12 column, pitting her against her daughter Bristol who "displays a lot more personal maturity and decision-making ability than her mother" as evidenced by the breaking off of her engagement with boyfriend Levi Johnston.
Although Erbe is not a relationship expert or couples therapist, she plays one on the Internet (emphases mine):
[T]he youthful pair never looked like a loving couple. They looked like what they were: two sexually active teens who happened to "hook up" but had nothing beyond that in common. Besides, who wants to marry the son of a woman who's brought up on drug charges?
[...]
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From where I sit, Bristol should have been using birth control, and never should have gotten pregnant in the first place. If she weren't the progeny of abstinence-only education supporters, she might have been on the pill or using a diaphragm, or might even have been able to use Plan B, the so-called morning after pill. It's a shame for poor Bristol who has some wisdom and spunk to her. She said in interviews she's not ready to be a mother and it's not a glamorous endeavor.
So let me get this straight. Bristol Palin is nothing more than a hornball teenager who had an emotionally-devoid sexual fling with the son of a druggie and thanks to her mom's political views on abstinence education, was virtually doomed to an unwanted pregnancy.
Yet somehow this hormone-addled sex fiend is a much more mature decision maker than her mother?
But who needs logic when your aim is to trash social conservatives who believe in abstinence education?:
It's a shame for the baby, to be born to unwed teen parents who are ill-equipped to parent at that young age. It's a shame all around, as is abstinence-only education.
Erbe, you may recall, is the same columnist who railed about how requiring pre-abortion procedure ultrasounds are "invasive attack[s]" on women.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters




















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Comments Policy
This tells us something
March 13, 2009 - 12:33 ET by JimboThe left’s continued infatuation with Palin tells me one thing and one thing only. She will be a force to be reckoned with.
Yes indeed, endlessly using her daughter to tear Sarah down.
March 13, 2009 - 14:45 ET by WhoIsJohnGaltIt always amazes me how they will find a teenager such as Bristol who will tell us silly adults that abstinence doesn't work, and "we're gonna have sex anyway, so they should just let us". And they quote this teen like a sage descended from the heavens.
You mean kids...think that they should...be allowed to have sex??? Wow, what a revelation...next think you know they'll find a drug dealer who thinks that drug laws are too harsh...or a prostitute who believes that prostitution should be legal.
I'm dumbfounded.
They don't mind
March 13, 2009 - 15:30 ET by Paul Atreidestelling them just say no to cigarettes, though.
If I had my picture taken
March 13, 2009 - 15:21 ET by Paul Atreidesdoing that ridiculous Madonna video Vogue pose, as in the case of Erbe, I wouldn't be mentioning maturity and wisdom.
Remember, when we were all told that it was a private matter when it was Bubba?
Jimbo, they're problem with
March 13, 2009 - 16:28 ET by mattmJimbo, they're problem with her is that she's a babe, a mom, and a career woman, who doesn't need and never needed the feminazis.
Jimbo
March 13, 2009 - 23:18 ET by sccJimbo
Since Gov. Palin has been out of sight, using anything Palin is the only way that the MSM can keep pounding away at her. She scares them !!!! She scares them !!!!!
It's a shame, alright
March 13, 2009 - 12:46 ET by CobraMan"It's a shame for the baby, to be born to unwed teen parents who are ill-equipped to parent at that young age."
It's a shame, alright. It's a shame that Bonnie doesn't understand about Family and the commitments families make to each other, including the commitment to help raise children. I guess that come's from not having children of her own. Or, as Bonnie puts it, being "child-free." You see, Bonnie believes that children are a burden, not a blessing.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
This is why I don't want
March 13, 2009 - 12:47 ET by Radical1979This is why I don't want the left wing village raising my children, anything goes with them.
If anything, this shows that
March 13, 2009 - 12:54 ET by MrSnugglesIf anything, this shows that Bristol is an immature, foolish teenager lacking the common sense to realize that her baby needs its dad.
But I guess to the left, being a single mom is the more "mature" thing to do.
And yet they ridiculed Ann
March 13, 2009 - 14:58 ET by motherbeltAnd yet they ridiculed Ann Coulter when she said that leftists glorified single-motherhood!
I just hope that the Palins don't let Bristol write the father out of the child's life, and that she allows him to be part of the baby's life.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Not to worry, according to
March 13, 2009 - 16:18 ET by Gary P JacksonNot to worry, according to the family, Levi and his family are welcomed to be part of Tripp's life.
Actually, on the left a
March 14, 2009 - 08:22 ET by BDActually, on the left a single mother is the PREFERRED way to go. After all, men are extraneous/antithetical to their position.
Erbe is a female Larry Flynt, I see.
March 13, 2009 - 12:57 ET by ekslibErbe is a Typical White Liberal, who pays lip service to the privacy of a woman's reproductive life.
By threatening to expose Dubya's alleged, decades-ago involvement in an abortion, Larry Flynt did more to scare women away from abortion clinics than any other single person.
Who wants to worry that their abortion will be exposed years later by some slimy guy or gal with a political agenda?
If Bristol had had an abortion, you can bet the news would be leaked.
Leaked
March 13, 2009 - 13:04 ET by rockyracoonI think it would have made an above-the-fold front page story in the NYSlimes, WAcomPost; it would have led off all of the alphabets nightly newscasts; and it would be a continuing story on Chris Tinkle's, Bathtub Boy's, & Madcow's shows ad infinitum!!!!
Are you sure she's female?
March 13, 2009 - 16:29 ET by mattmAre you sure she's female?
back it up one category
March 14, 2009 - 13:32 ET by SickofLibsAre we sure she's a human?
proving Ann Coulter's point
March 13, 2009 - 12:59 ET by katainkentagain!
ps. is that really that woman's pic?
Yes, it's her real pic.
March 13, 2009 - 13:27 ET by Ken ShepherdYes, it's her real pic.
~Creepy
March 13, 2009 - 13:33 ET by choselife3x"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille"
Hope and Change= Despair and Socialism
then
March 13, 2009 - 13:50 ET by katainkentI'm a leetle skerred right now :)
Re pic
March 13, 2009 - 15:18 ET by slickwillie2001Really. It looks like 'I am woman, hear me roar' was playing during her pose at the corner Glamour Shots joint.
Mommie Dearest
March 13, 2009 - 17:23 ET by Lakewood BobNo, I think she is doing a Joan Crawford pose as a condescending, self-absorbed shrew!
A loving couple
March 13, 2009 - 13:48 ET by cocodrieWhat could be better than judging a book by its cover?
Of my lifelong friends, some are divorced and some are successfully married fifty years. Some of those that are happily married could be called "The Bickersons".
Love and devotion cannot be judged by the type of love portrayed by Hollywood. Public displays of affection are not good indicators of a healthy relationship.
Jesus Loves You
Erbe is like a shrew
March 13, 2009 - 13:51 ET by IamTinmanErbe is like the shrew who lived down the street from me, whose vicious gossip drove everyone away from her.
When she died alone and unmourned,, no one noticed for a month.
As I said yesterday, this
March 13, 2009 - 13:56 ET by marpelAs I said yesterday, this one (Erbe) is a Harpie. But, maybe I was being too kind. I'd like to see her at a cattle roundup down here in Texas. Do you think she'd cause a stampede? Yikes....put the "U" in ugly.
Hey, Bonnie--read this.
March 13, 2009 - 14:10 ET by Mike BrattonBonnie Erbe Lacks the Maturity, Smarts of a Salt-Marsh Harvest Mouse
So now it is written that Bonnie Erbe, who has made gender politics the motivating factor in her life, has lobbed stilted, awkwardly-written verbal Molotovs at both Bristol and Sarah Palin.
From where I sit, a salt-marsh harvest mouse displays a lot more personal maturity and decision-making ability than Erbe, who obviously tries to sound hip and with-it by using phrases like "baby daddy." But the once-youthful Bonnie never looked like a loving individual. From that ridiculous picture, she looks like what she is: a haughty, insulated woman who gets some sort of thrill writing romance-novel flotsam, such as her lurid prose about "two sexually active teens who happened to 'hook up' but had nothing beyond that in common. Besides, who wants to marry the son of a woman who's brought up on drug charges?" Ooh, you even threw in a subplot there, Bonnie.
Is this good for her career, serving Obama and flame-throwing his political rivals? Obviously not. Social conservatives believe PBS is only good when shows like "Sesame Street" are on (the reruns, not the new stuff), and even they're having to institute layoffs. "Yes, Obama... Thank you, Obama."
From where I sit, I need to get up and stretch my legs. Now that I've done so and have resumed my seat, from where I sit, Bonnie's mother should have been using birth control, and never should have gotten pregnant in the first place. If she weren't the progeny of parents who were (at least personally) pro-life supporters, her mother might have been on the pill or using a diaphragm, or might even have been able to use the services of a serial murderer known as a the so-called "abortion provider." It's a shame for Bonnie, who thinks there's some wisdom in using words like "spunk" to describe other people's children. Bonnie hasn't said it in interviews, but she still isn't ready to be in front of either a print or television audience, and it's not a pretty sight.
It's a shame for the Internet and television users, to be subjected to hateful, immature, gender-centric individuals who are ill-equipped to either write or host, even at that not-so-young age. It's a shame all around, as is the evidence that whatever education she may have gotten at places like Columbia apparently didn't take. The woman, literally and figuratively, has her nose in the air.
--Mike
www.thebrattonreport.com
Why doesn't Erbe be open about it?
March 13, 2009 - 14:23 ET by KC MulvilleShe doesn't believe in abstinence, but she believes in contraception. The logical conclusion is that Erbe believes teens should be having sex. Not if they happen to have it, she wants them to have it. Why would you put a girl on the pill unless you expected her to have sex. Outside of marriage. Lovely.
Well, look, if we're going to expect girls to have sex, why not tax it?
Not all uses of birth control
March 13, 2009 - 16:49 ET by bre1227are for the purpose of having sex outside of marriage. My 16 year old is on oral contraceptives for medical reasons so she doesn't miss school 3 days per month. I KNOW FOR A FACT she is not having sex. Would have to have a boyfriend first.
It seems Bristol learned her
March 13, 2009 - 14:30 ET by EugeniaIt seems Bristol learned her lesson the hard way. Rather than continuing to sleep around and maybe hiding an abortion from her mom (which would probably send a tingle up Erbe's leg) she did the grown-up thing and faced the consequences of her actions. This is what girls/women used to do all day long before given the "right" to kill their babies. This makes her stronger. Both Sarah and Bristol are stronger for their positions while Erbe and the Left hurt and weaken women revealing their shallow thinking and lives.
"Both Sarah and Bristol are
March 13, 2009 - 16:00 ET by needle"Both Sarah and Bristol are stronger for their positions while Erbe and the Left hurt and weaken women revealing their shallow thinking and lives."
You Betcha! It is no wonder Sarah (and Bristol) drive the Left crazy. I just love this stuff.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
Bonnie sits behind a
March 13, 2009 - 14:42 ET by winston smithBonnie sits behind a computer and writes political hit pieces for a dying magazine, is an executive producer and host for a largely unheard of political talk program on PBS and she will sit in judgement of Sarah Palin who was a successful Governer and Vice-Presidential candidate. Palin is the utter envy of women like Bonnie Erbe because she really did make it in a "man's world" without rich parents, without a rich, famous or powerful husband, and without the obligatory Barnard, Columbia, Georgetown credentials like most feminists of the left. Sarah Palin succeeded in a way that most feminists can only dream of -- but she did it without pointing fingers or crying victim --- an unfortunate requisite for today's modern, successful political woman. She did it without espousing all the sanctimonious liberal tripe and they can't stand her because of it. They're rightly afraid some other young, impressionable women may try to follow suit and then -- Gaia help us! --- a modern, full-fleged conservative women's movement in the People's Repubic of America!
She appears to me to be the
March 13, 2009 - 14:50 ET by ricklailShe appears to me to be the type of person my mom talked about having their nose stuck up so far in the air that they'd drown in a good rain storm.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. RWR
i sit here and laugh
March 13, 2009 - 16:14 ET by tonemeisterat all the convoluted reasons this skag might harbor resentment against sarah palin and fam....sarah palin and daughter are attractive women. i know it's really catty .but, sarah looked good in those clothes .i don't care how much they cost or who paid for them. women resent women who look better than them. i was told this by my lib wife (god love her) something about better looking women compete for better looking men .in the theory that better looking people are smarter. the current potus kinda shoots that theory in the ass....
Go Palin in 2012!!!
March 13, 2009 - 17:24 ET by goldbarGo Palin in 2012!!!
What a creep
March 13, 2009 - 17:50 ET by Joe BlogsErbe looks like a constipated bag lady pretending to be Coco Chanel.
JB - sounds about right to me!!!!
March 13, 2009 - 19:05 ET by Cape ConservativeI agree that today's women who DON'T like themselves are the ones most resentful of us women who enjoy our femininity.
You don't have to be beautiful to project a self-assured feminine image - it comes out naturally - just as no amount of makeup or fancy clothes can hide the self-hate that oozes from the progressive liberals.
I really feel for the young men who are seeking a loving mate in today's social climate. God created us for each other - to love and complement one other - not to decimate or denigrate the other! Vive la difference!!!
It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue. ~ Sam Adams
wow you said it
March 13, 2009 - 19:36 ET by katainkentI work with a bunch of 18 to late 20-something girls and they are constantly going on about their dating hassles. I don't offer advice - I am just kinda forced to listen since its close quarters. I have to say I feel sorry for the guys. I really do.
The only way this could
March 13, 2009 - 21:21 ET by ConservativeRexThe only way this could have worked out better for Erbe is if Bristol had an abortion instead of keeping the child.
And now, when it's all said and done, Erbe is in a snit against Gov Palin. We can not take these idiots seriously. Laugh at them, and let them know they are getting laughed at.