Every mother knows you don't throw stones at glass houses -- certainly not at Sarah Palin's extended-family igloo.
Republican John McCain's perky vice presidential pick, a mother of five, will soon be a grandmother. At 44, the Alaska governor wowed conservatives with her walk-the-talk family values when she delivered a baby boy with Down syndrome and reportedly was back at work in three days.
On Monday she shocked the nation with her announcement that daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. Bristol is 17.
Now cynics are scoffing that this teen pregnancy is a sign that Palin reneged on her family's own values.
They quip: Was she too busy, perhaps, leading her state's National Guard to protect Alaska against potential Russian border attacks to pay attention when the oldest of her three daughters was straying?
Conservatives have turned this tortilla upside down, saying Palin has set responsibility squarely on her daughter's shoulders, as she should, and promised ''our unconditional love and support.'' (Would they have been so kind if this had happened to Chelsea Clinton?)
They have a point when they note that Bristol did learn family values taught by her parents: She's keeping her baby and preparing to marry the boy (at 18, that's what the dude is, a barely grown-up kid who can vote and make babies, but can't legally drink).
And me?
This independent-minded, non-affiliated mother of two college sons won't spit in a hurricane force wind heading toward me.
I've been there, done the Mommy Wars. And I've learned along the way that good mothers work at home or work away from home. Bad mothers stay home or leave home. There's no magic formula, only a lot of hard work in parenthood.
Read the full story at MiamiHerald.com.
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