[Oceans]

So while I was cleaning the kitchen tonight after a delicious dinner my BF cooked for me (he’s the chef in our family), I hear him yelling at his computer, “ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?” – After a few more seconds of ranting he marches in and asks me to come read an article. Now because the headline contains a word that I wouldn’t type (and it will autolink), I will give you the highlights so you can google if you want (in the Rocky Mountain News). These quotes were not all together in the article.

And on Wednesday, Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, called unmarried teen parents "sl**s" at a Republican caucus.

Liston used the derogatory term during a Republican caucus lunch on health care to express his view that unmarried teen parents are sexually promiscuous and to complain that society condones premarital sex. "In my parents' day and age, (unmarried teen parents) were sent away, they were shunned, they were called what they are," Liston said at the lunch. "There was at least a sense of shame. "There's no sense of shame today. Society condones it ... I think it's wrong. They're sl**s."

Liston apologized for his word choice Thursday afternoon.

So now for my rant… What the heck is going on out there!!!!!!!! Seriously!! Do we need to join arms and march on Washington??? Is this stereotype really alive & well??? I am stunned….. just stunned…

Never mind that I am not only offended as a human being AND a first mother since the age of 17 but I am also (normally) a proud member of the Republican Party. AND while anti-abortion is never a policy that I have been on board with, how on earth can you condemn abortion AND teenage parents…. Isn’t this a little hypocritical??? Be a good republic and don’t get an abortion – Congrats you are now a ****. Yea, I get the "don't get pregnant" message - In fact I support it - but this goes too far...

On a brighter note, my BF raged far more than I – I was more saddened. He momentarily considered moving to CO so he could “do everything in his power to ensure his political career is over”… I was so proud!!!

I emailed Sen. Liston just to give him an update on this ****, tax-payer and card carrying member of the Republican party..

[bromanchik]

My grandfather called me a sl## after I placed my son. I was proud of the way my Dad stood up for me. This guy is only a reflection of the way some think out there. (Not the majority anymore, but still, enough.) I have had people say that and way more to my face. Can you imagine what they say behind our backs?

[Oceans]

I think I am on "ignorant comment" overload this week. Not from this forum btw. And while I have never had something this vile said to me, I do wonder what is said or thought behind my back - Not aimed at me but aimed at someone I once was (an unmarried and pregnant person).

After sleeping on it, I think I am most bothered that he didn't even THINK about the possibility of adoptees, single parents, birthmothers, ect being in the audience. It just shows that he has no clue about the problems, outcomes or solutions of those that is condemning...

What worries me is that he thought most would agree...(OK that's an assumption but it was a political speech)

[thanksgivingmom]

I blogged recently about someone that bothers me in the same way...While not a politcal figure, we have a local radio talk show that frequently refers to women (of all ages) in a derogatory manner, especially in regards to thier "plotting" to get pregnant to trap a man.

He REALLY went crazy during the time when Jaime Lynn Spears' pregnancy was announced. He's vile and disgusting. And yes, there are a LOT of people that sprew ignorance like they are a fountain of it! Disgusting AND disheartening.

[loveajax]

See, that's why you need to switch parties...hahahah!

What a jerk. Seriously. What a jerk.

[BrandyHagz]

I don't live in SoCal.

I don't listen to Rock.

I didn't read your blog post before posting this.

But by Partridge - I think I know who you're talking about...

[Oceans]

Loveajax: Hahahaha Nice try!! Tho, the older I get the more Libertarian I am becoming... That's movement I suppose....

TGMom: I read, I shouldn't have, but I did... I bet his mother is proud....

Brandy: "But by Partridge" I have NO clue what that means but I am DYING laughing about it.... ROFL!!!!!!

[thanksgivingmom]

Yep Brandy, he's in the wonderful state of Arizona too so I wouldn't be surprised if you knew who I was talking about... He makes me

[sstuart]

I wasn't called a S*** I was called a WH*&^ by my mom's fiance. So maybe that is different. Politics in general and society's views are not any different now than they were 21 years ago. It is really just sad.

[Oceans]

Sstuart...IMO, not so different!! Sadly, you might be right about society in general tho...

[RavenSong]

I posted in another thread the other night that I believe that societal attitudes are going backwards on this subject. When I wrote that, I had just read about Rep. Larry Liston's slur on teenage girls who become pregnant. Personally, I think a lot of attitudes are reverting back to judgmental, intolerant stances due to the rise of conservative evangelicals within the Republican party. This is just my own opinion, of course.

When I became pregnant at 16 y/o in 1971, my mom told me that I would have to be the one to tell my grandmother, who was 70 years old at the time. My grandmother first became angry and called me "loose", then she cried, and then she became really quiet. After about an hour or so, she called me back into the room. And then she told me that I hadn't done anything that many, many other young people hadn't done throughout time eternal. That I had just been unlucky enough to have been "caught". When I didn't say anything, she tried to make it more personal. She told me that the same thing could have easily happened to her and my grandfather. She then told me that she had known many friends and acquaintances who had married after becoming pregnant. And this was in the first half of the 20th century.

The second half of the 20th century witnessed sending off the unwed, pregnant daughters of the middle class to maternity homes instead of attending "shotgun weddings". I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is nothing new under the sun. And many of those individuals who judge other people and call them names are often guilty of the same offenses. They just weren't "caught", as my grandmother would say....