Bristol Palin Interview; This is Her Story

Bristol Palin is her own person. She may be known to the world as Governor Palin’s daughter, which is a distinction of which she is quite proud; however, there is much more to Bristol, who is now forging her own way in the world.

In an interview with Ms. Palin, I discovered just how independent and free-thinking she actually is. I took note of her ability to simultaneously handle questions, relate her personal story, and tend to her son–who was pursuing the acquisition of another popsicle. I got the sense that Bristol Palin definitely knows who she is and what she believes. I remember the first time I watched Bristol being interviewed. This was not that girl. This was a woman with her own convictions and the voice to articulate them. This was a mother whose worldview is clearly shaped by her child and concern for his future. One cannot deny that being Sarah Palin’s daughter has helped form who she is, and she talked about that. But make no mistake about it. This is her story.

In surprisingly transparent fashion, Bristol opened up about “Dancing With the Stars,” her abstinence advocacy, her mother’s political career, and her own future. When discussing the 2008 campaign, she shared her greatest highs and even the lowest low.

We began the interview discussing her participation in “Dancing With the Stars.” Admittedly not a seasoned dancer, one would wonder how she found herself in such an unlikely position. This was not something Bristol pursued. The offer came to her, and in the spirit of trying something new that would be positive and a comfort-zone buster, her response was a resounding, “Yeah, let’s go for it!” I wanted to know what everyone wants to know. “What did your family have to say about it?” Bristol was clear in saying that she is independent and made up her own mind to participate. It wasn’t until after she did her research and signed her contract that she informed her parents. They, of course, know that she is an adult who is committed to doing what’s best for herself and her son, Tripp. Concerning her mom, Bristol shared, “My mom is going to be my biggest fan. She’ll be there cheering me on,” which refutes the lies out there that the Governor is not in Bristol’s corner. I think she has a bigger fan than even her mother, however. “Tripp’s loving it!” she said.

“DWTS” seems to be a grueling schedule. Rehearsal starts at 9 a.m. With only a break for lunch, Bristol doesn’t return to her “home” until 5 p.m. each evening. Not only does her day include dancing with her partner, but she works out for about an hour alone before knocking off for the day. When I asked her if she has ever thought, “What in the world have I gotten myself into?” and if she’s wanted to throw in the towel, she responded, “Surprisingly, not yet.” However, she admitted that this is quite the challenge, but definitely one that she is enjoying, and having a good relationship with Mark Ballas, her partner, only enhances the experience.

One challege she’s had to face is feeling uncomfortable being sensual and sexual, both in attire and in dance movements, which is expected from “DWTS” participants. “I don’t have a sexy bone in my body,” Bristol said. So how is she handling it? She says to herself, “I’m playing a character as any actor would do.” This mindset has helped her relax and become more comfortable in the last few days.

The 19 year old does more than dance, and this is perhaps the most impressive thing about Bristol. She also has her own PR and consulting firm, is doing speeches, and, of course, raising a toddler. Not at all prone to lifting up herself, Bristol sees what she’s doing as nothing more than what “other single moms who are working, providing, and juggling everything do.” It is not lost on her, however, that her support base is a strength that provides her with these opportunities. She readily states how blessed she is.

Speaking of blessings, I asked Bristol about the role of faith in her life. Her response was that faith is huge for her. Not preachy at all, but in what is clearly a major tenet of the Gospel, Bristol shared that she made a decision to live a life of faith. She approaches things in life with this question in mind: “Is this moral?” Someone else preferred the phrase, “What would Jesus do?” but the principle is the same. It is quite obvious to me that her upbringing in the Palin household influenced the faith she holds so dear, and yet it’s also quite obvious that it has become her faith, not just Mommy’s or Daddy’s. Bristol’s acknowledgement of being blessed is her own inner awareness. When she discussed faith guiding her decisions, that was, as she said, her own personal decision, and I could hear that in her voice.

Abstinence is so often linked to faith, and Bristol has chosen to be a spokesperson for the cause. She has given her voice to promoting it, yet she is well-aware of being criticized because she, a teenage mom, advocates abstinence. Nonetheless, her stand remains the same. We live in a culture that looks down its nose at abstinence, as people buy into the idea that encouraging it doesn’t work. Why, then, wouldn’t she simply encourage safe and responsible sex? Why abstinence, instead? Bristol’s common sense response was that abstinence is the only way one can be sure to avoid pregnancy. “I know first hand that contraception is not 1,000 percent effective– no matter how safe I thought I was being.” Only abstinence is error-free. Anything else is a risk not worth taking, she said. “Just wait until you’re married.” Her message encourages saving yourself for your spouse, someone who actually loves you enough to give you his heart completely.

Bristol delivered her first speech last week at Lifehouse Maternity Home in Kentucky, a home for pregnant women with no place to go. She moved the crowd, and reportedly “there was not a dry eye in the place.” I asked her why she thought the response to her was so great. “What was it about your message that people latched on to?”

“They saw vulnerability in me. No one knew what I went through. No one knew the emotions I had when I had to tell my parents I was pregnant. People saw that I was being vulnerable. The audience was moved that I was so willing to put myself out there.”

Indeed, my teaching in the public school has always been guided by this thought: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Bristol’s willingness to share her heart, her experiences, and even her fears during a “less than ideal circumstance,” created the response in the room. Attendees saw someone who had been there and done that and cared enough to offer hope. This is why I shake my head at people who say, “How dare she talk to me about abstinence. Look what happened to her.” What they miss is that there is something to be gained from someone else’s experiences, from their hurts and victories, and from their willingness to be a source of encouragement to others. If only the “perfect” were qualified to reach out to pick others up, we’d all be on the floor. So I commend Bristol for handling the criticism, staying motivated in spite of the skepticism, and being undeterred by the vitriol. Someone is depending on it.

Now, I wanted to find out about Bristol Palin. I wanted to hear her story. And I wanted to share it with the world. But I certainly would have been remiss–and a fool–if I did not take the opportunity to ask some questions about her mother. Bristol spoke honestly about growing up being “the mayor’s daughter” and “the governor’s daughter,” which helped prepare her for the attention her mother drew during, and has drawn since, the 2008 campaign. Bristol shared that she is very proud of her mother, and she expressed tangible disgust for the lies about her and the obscene signs protesters carried–a practice which continues to this day. Not holding anything back, Bristol declared, “Those people make me want to puke.”

Looking back to 2008, however, the lowest low for her was the day she sat on her mother’s bed and, while watching television, saw her pregnancy revealed to the world. Governor Palin has talked about this moment and how painful it was for Bristol. The pain became more palpable, however, when Bristol shared the story herself. “I just wanted to hide under a rock. This was the lowest low I’ve ever had.”

There were incredible highs for Bristol, as well. She recalled the long road trips and the huge rallies out in the middle of nowhere, where people gathered to cheer on the vice-presidential nominee. These are times not soon forgotten, no doubt, and my take on things is that Bristol would not have exchanged those experiences for anything. None of the negativity endured along the way could take from the pride of seeing her mother work hard to help her country and witnessing the overwhelming gratitude of multitudes of Americans.

2008 is behind us now, but 2012 is certainly on the minds of many in this country, so I asked the question. I did not ask Bristol if her mom would run for President of the United States, but I did ask her if she would like to see her mother run. Without hesitation, she said that she is definitely in favor of a Palin run for the presidency. Bristol knows that her mother would be good for our country, and discussed the qualities the Governor possesses that would make her an effective leader. Bristol cited intelligence, the ability–as a mom–to multi-task, and common sense. “I know she can lead our country in the right direction.” Governor Palin, of course, is bold and unafraid, refusing to sit down and shut up. In the state of Alaska, she was known as the anti-corruption politician, and isn’t that what we need throughout the entire nation? Bristol said yes. “She has a track record of taking on the big boys. She’s a bull dog!” I like to call her a pit bull with lipstick or Mama Grizzly, as they say.

I was curious what Bristol wanted the Governor’s most ardent critics to know, and again she spoke vehemently against those who have smeared and misrepresented her, questioned her abilities, and hated her for no sound reason. “I wish people would realize how intelligent she really is, how on-point she is.” Those who are paying attention do, in fact, realize the truth about Governor Palin–and that number is increasing. The lies are being exposed, and people are embracing the common sense message Governor Palin brings, despite the agenda of the lamestream media.

I ended the interview by asking Bristol about her own future. Quoting her mother, she agreed, “The world is my oyster.” There are many things she wants Tripp to experience, many things she wants to accomplish. But Bristol Palin is not just focused on the many opportunites that await her and hers. She possesses a unique, mature awareness of the opportunity she has to impact the lives of others. Bristol’s focus, one not often held by a young woman of 19, was summed up in this question she voiced: “What can we do to help others?” And isn’t that what life is really all about? The problem is most of us don’t have this epiphany until we’re much older. The awareness doesn’t come by accident, either. It comes as a result of believing in something larger than self, and recognizing a responsibility to take the blessing you’ve been given and bless others with it. It comes from moms and dads who had the choice to retreat or persevere, who counted the cost, and chose perseverance because they deemed the task worth the risk. And it comes from looking around for someone with a story to tell, the courage to tell it, and a platform to use–and then realizing that person is you.

Bristol Palin has experienced much in her short years of life–good, bad, and much in between. She’s allowed these to propel her forward into a future she’s creating for her son, herself, and others. Yes, she may have stumbled here and there, as her critics like to point out, but she dancing now. Yes, she’s dancing now.

Don’t miss Bristol’s dancing debut when the new “Dancing With the Stars” season airs next Monday, September 20th.

Palin Endorsed Grimm Crushes Allegretti with 73% of Vote

Michael Grimm Victory Speech Video

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Michael Grimm, endorsed by Gov. Palin won today’s primary with 73% of the vote.

The Reagan conservative, also endorsed by Sen. McCain, and former Borough President Guy Molinari runs against Democrat Jim McMahon on November 2.

The American Thinker: Media’s Self-Defeating Attacks on Sarah Palin

The American left and its tame media desire — with an intensity that normal individuals would find impossible to understand — to treat Palin the way a pit bull would treat a rabbit: tear her to pieces and toss her aside broken. But each new encounter ends with the governor stronger, more powerful, and more popular than before. What we’re seeing is the latest example of the left’s habit of creating its own nightmares […]

The technique never varies. The left, most commonly by way of the media, targets a particular group or politician, evoking a mammoth, sinister, but unclear threat to the public good. The attacks begin with an air of reasonableness and good faith — the Cronkite/Moyers method — but soon mount in rabidity to the Olbermann/Schultz level. The goal is not simply to oppose or confront the individuals involved, but to destroy them. Within weeks, the left as a whole is involved not only through traditional media, but also through blogs, comment threads, and sites such as DU and Kos.

But in many cases, the issues and personalities involved resonate with the public. When this is true, the forces arrayed against the targets cause no serious damage, instead serving only to increase their visibility and popularity. It’s as if the energy being expended is working in the victim’s favor. Eventually the effort goes hyperbolic, ending in large-scale hysteria and eventual collapse. A wounded left staggers off, whining about how “dumb” and “ill-informed” Americans are […]

The legacy media views politics through exactly that lens: rid the world of Goldwater, of Nixon, and then we will all walk into paradise together. But it never works out that way. After Nixon comes Reagan, and Gingrich, and Palin, and Jindal, and Brewer, and Haley…so it’s all fantasy. There are no climactic battles in politics any more than there are climactic battles in getting up and going to work in the morning.

Politics is not Armageddon. It is an aspect of life, one requiring daily effort. It comprises a guerilla war, won not by mammoth all-or-nothing collisions, but by continual low-key encounters on the level of the commonplace. This is something that a politician would understand, a media figure not at all.

The media’s scorched-earth strategy is innately self-defeating. In attacking Trig Palin, the legacy media insulted every woman raising a disabled child. In making light of Bristol’s woes as a single mother, they infuriated every family suffering through the same crisis […]

On the other hand, much can be learned from a close study of Palin’s response to such attacks. After a naïve slip confronting the adorable Katie Couric, Palin has established a record of manipulating the media unmatched since Reagan’s heyday. A single tweet from Palin’s phone sends tsunamis roaring across the international media sphere. Palin has developed into one of the most media-savvy figures on the current scene.

But that shouldn’t be surprising. There’s one singular fact that the media, with all its research, all its prying, has failed in root out: she has a journalism degree.

Source:

The American Thinker Media’s Self-Defeating Attacks on Palin By J.R. Dunn

Cross Posted:

Governor Palin 4 President

Obama Pay-for-Play Award of No-Bid Contract to Anti-Palin Enviros

On April 21 of this year, the authors of SPIB and SWB spearheaded a collaborative effort among Sarah Palin supporters to counter the vicious attacks of Defenders of Wildlife and their confederates against Governor Palin’s upcoming Sarah Palin’s Alaska documentary series.  These groups waged a massive ad campaign and presented a petition to the Discovery Channel at their annual stockholders meeting in an attempt to get them to drop Governor Palin’s series. 

Our counter petition and the signatures of Sarah Palin supporters collected during our petition drive were FedExed overnight to the CEO of Discovery Channel with a request that they be presented at the shareholders meeting.  Defenders of Wildlife bragged that their petition had caused Discovery to “revise the description” of the series, a claim that we find doubtful.  Governor Palin’s series has stayed on course as planned and is scheduled to launch on November 14.

However, the news has come this week that these vengeful haters have been given a no-bid government contract by the Obama administration, ostensibly to survey oilspill area seabirds.  It is our opinion that this is just another Obama Pay-for-Play to reward them for their attacks on Governor Palin since during the time she was governor of Alaska.  There are scientists at our universities who were far more qualified to do this type of research and who are suffering from university budget cuts in this strained economy.  But the contract went without competition to a group with a political agenda.

Pay-for-Play deals are nothing new for the Obama administration, especially where Sarah Palin is concerned.  Obama’s first of many Pay-for-Play deals was his appointment of Kim Elton, who ramrodded the “Troopergate” investigation, to a make-work position in the Department of the Interior.  Pete Rouse, a close friend of Kim Elton, was also involved in this politically-motivated investigation and is now a special adviser to Obama and part of the West Wing’s inner circle.  Rouse has coordinated the attacks on Governor Palin by the group of bloggers  that Sarah Palin supporters call the Alaska mafia.

So the award of government money to political activists who have relentlessly attacked Governor Palin should come as no surprise.  It is just typical of the Chicago-style politics that have run rampant throughout the Obama administration’s time in office.  But it should anger the American people to see this type of corruption in the White House.  November mid-term elections are approaching, and it is time for Americans to take a stand against the abuses of the Obama administration and the willing cooperation of the most corrupt Congress in our nation’s history.

As the premier of Governor Palin’s Alaska series approaches, let’s show her our support.  You may go to our petition site and sign the Show Your Support for Governor Palin’s Alaska Series petition and here to join a Facebook group whose goal is to support that series.  A Facebook Cause supporting the series can be found here.  Previous articles about our petition drive can be found here, here, here, and here.

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas – First footage of their practice together!

This is great footage! Short, but gives you a glimpse into what it’s like to practice for Dancing With The Stars! You can tell this is new for Bristol, and the comfort level is not quite there yet, but she also seems to do a really nice job with her footwork when they are practicing dancing together! Check it out!

To see more posts by Tracey Porreca, please follow this link to Finding Myself In Alaska.

Sarah Palin Speaks at Kansas City Pro-Life Event

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Governor Palin spoke to a crowd of 1300 to 1500 people (based on different reports) at a fundraiser for the Vitae Foundation in Kansas City last night.

Steve Kraske at the Kansas City Star writes: 

Sarah Palin told a Kansas City audience Monday night that she knows what it’s like to “lose hope” when confronted with the impending birth of a special-needs child.

In an intensely personal 47-minute testimonial to the Vitae Foundation, an anti-abortion group, the former Alaska governor claimed 85 to 90 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.

Her son Trig was born with Down in 2008 not long before she became John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate.

That statistic tells some women that “these are impossible circumstances,” she said. “Somebody is telling them this is too much for you to handle.”

She said she had “fleeting thoughts” about how to handle the pregnancy, which wound up giving her a clearer understanding of the desperation some women experience.

At a critical moment, Palin recalled hearing a whisper from the Holy Spirit, “just asking me, ‘Are you going to trust me? Are you going to walk the walk, or are you just going to talk the talk?’ ”

Palin, 46, said she thanked God for Trig’s birth because it “reaffirmed and strengthened my unwavering support for life at every stage.”

“Choosing life may not always be the easy path, but it is always the right path,” Palin said. “God does see a way where we would think there is no way. And he does not make mistakes.

“We may say, ‘Oops,’ but he doesn’t.”

Palin, considered a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, spoke to an audience of about 1,300 at Bartle Hall.

Although Palin remains an influential force in 2010 races across the country, she steered clear of partisan politics Monday night, saying nothing about any political plans.

But there was one exception: She acknowledged Jacob Turk, the GOP nominee for the 5th Congressional District seat now held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver.

Palin said Turk had given her a business card that said elected officials must “listen to all, lead with integrity … and champion opportunity. That’s leadership, not politics.”

“I love that motto,” Palin said. She talked briefly about the growing influence of the tea party movement across the country and complained that the mainstream media were seeking to undermine the movement’s momentum.

[…]

Other than that, Palin remained focused on the anti-abortion cause. She challenged audience members to help change American culture to one more focused on the sanctity of life. That means encouraging adoption and foster families.

Sitting on the sidelines, Palin said, no longer is acceptable.

In a line that drew ringing applause, Palin added, “We should be our brother and sister’s keeper — not government. Since when has government ever run a business or charity or anything else better than the private sector can? Let’s not look to government on this.”

Stephanie Hockridge at fox4kc.com reports:

A crowd of 1,500 gathered to raise funds at the annual dinner for the Vitae Foundation, a pro-life organization. She says that the issue of abortion is one that makes the country seem upside-down.

“My daughter can’t get her ears pierced without parental consent, but she can get an abortion,” said Palin, who then said that changing the laws isn’t her prime mission, but to change the hearts and minds of those who are faced with an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.

Palin says that she knows first-hand what these women go through, saying that as a 43-year-old, she learned that her unborn baby had Downs Syndrome.

“I’m not nurturing, I couldn’t wrap my arms around it,” said Palin. “I was scared to death.”

The ex-governor of Alaska then said that she learned that nearly 85 percent of babies diagnosed with Downs Syndrome in the womb are aborted, which is something that the Vitae Foundation says that they are trying to prevent.

Last year, it launched a call-for-help media campaign, reaching out to women facing unplanned pregnancies and connecting them with pregnancy help centers.

“Within the first five days, we had three women who had actually scheduled abortions for a couple of days into the next week, Saturday as I recall, and fortunately they saw the ad,” said Carl Landwehr of the Vitae Foundation, who says that the campaign has stopped 83 abortions so far.

Palin says choosing life isn’t always the easiest, but she says it’s always the right path.

“What seems like life’s greatest misery, turns into life’s greatest beauty,” said Palin.

h/tp C4P

Previewing My Bristol Palin Interview

By Adrienne Ross – http://www.motivationtruth.com

Tonight, I had the honor of interviewing Bristol Palin. She showed herself to be articulate, transparent, and delightful. Our conversation covered a range of topics: “Dancing With the Stars,” abstinence advocacy, the 2008 campaign, and her views on a possible 2012 presidential run by her mother, Governor Palin–to name a few.

Log on to MotivationTruth tomorrow for the full interview article.