Palin and childrearing

A few questions:

Some are asking whether or not it's responsible for Sarah Palin to get involved in public life when she has problems at home to deal with. Funny, they don't seem to ask this question of male politicians or business executives.

Secondly, others (on the left exclusively, at least from what I've seen) are saying, "See, see, this just goes to show something is really wrong inside the Palin family. That matters to us." Sorry, not buying. It may signify that there's something really wrong inside the Palin family. But I've known pretty solid families who have had to deal with teen pregnancy because -- news flash! -- teenagers have minds of their own. I'm thinking of one particular conservative Christian family I know that's a loving, open, prayerful family. One of their daughters rebelled against her folks, and part of her rebellion included promiscuity. She got pregnant. Her family rallied around her. She ended up marrying the father, and they've gone on to have a loving marriage and a happy family.

It doesn't always work out that way, and none of us welcome unwed motherhood. Still, the idea that bad things don't happen to good people is childish. Nobody believes that. Moreover, if you teach your children that stealing is wrong, but your teenage son gets caught shoplifting, that doesn't automatically make you a hypocrite or a bad parent. My parents taught me not to drink and drive, but I did it as a teenager. I failed them and the standards they taught me. My failure was my own, not theirs.

Now, it certainly could be true that the Palins are a screwed-up family, and that Sarah needs to be attending to business. But we don't know that at all, and the willingness of Palin's political enemies to exploit this family crisis for their own ends is just appalling. What we know so far reveals nothing about the character of Sarah Palin, or the childrearing skills of her and her husband. Nothing. Barack Obama is right: people's families should be off limits.

And even if it does, is the left now saying that we have to take into consideration whether or not our political leaders are good mommies and daddies before we judge them fit for higher office? Because if so, very damn few men and women will be left to serve. Winston Churchill was a lousy father.

I ask again: why is it that some liberals saying that Sarah Palin needs to leave public life and take care of business at home? Would they apply the same standard to male politicians whose children get into trouble? If not, why not?