It's a throw away line in an article about how Palin uses her family as a political prop. Of course that's the impression I got, that the woman uses them as props first and foremost. That wasn't what article apparently aimed for. Heck, the article labels her Maverick. (God, how I hate that word) Here're the lines that made me say WTF:
Palin held her baby in her arms as the warden drove a short distance around the facility, said corrections director Joe Schmidt, who sat next to Palin. A few days later, the governor got a warning from her public safety commissioner that someone had complained that she did not strap Trig into a car seat for the ride.
Palin dismissed the complaint as petty, and the commissioner, whom she appointed, took no formal action.
No "of course I strapped him in. I'm not a idiot. I'm a good mom" Just a dismissal of the accusation as trivial.
It's a reflection of her personality. The dumb rules we have to follow, no matter how important, don't apply to her. She's a risk taker. And yeah, it's the Frontier Woman persona that appeals to a lot of people. Buck the dumb rules that restrict the huge vitality that is Palin. Mavericky!
And if she wants to act reckless, I say sure go on, go for it. But she keeps dragging in her family (the title of the article is A Family Has Always Had A PLace In Palin's Politics) and when she does, she holds herself up as a Mom. And she keeps showing she dismisses their safety, too. Time after time, from even before Trig's birth, she shows herself as careless, skipping inconvenient steps, unforgivable for any caregiver of a helpless being.
When you dismiss laws that are designed to protect your family, even the stupid little rules of common sense, you deserve at least as much scrutiny and disapproval as Britney Spears got. Especially when your role in life is to uphold those laws.
So come on, Mainstream Media. Point out that she's got her career at the front of her mind and everything else comes second, including those precious people she trots out as props every appearance. She's all talk and careless action.
UPDATE: Oh, oops! another more thoughtful diary already addressed this, but it's close to floating off the front page into limbo, so I guess I'll leave mine up--unless you guys push that other one into the rec list. It's not too late! Hurry!
Another UPDATE: It's apparently not an isolated incident. Celtic Diva wrote:
...we went crazy up here when it was pointed out.
That's not the only time it's happened, either, she talked about one occasion in the car where she was driving and Todd was holding Trig in his lap
. See Andrew Halcro's blog.