"sarah palin hot photos" and the American Presidential Election

With the American presidential election just over two months away, politics will rear its head from time to time, like a drowned muskrat breaking the surface of a pond.

While catching up on what terrorists, wanna-be terrorists, American politicians, and Middle Eastern governments have been up to, I ran into this search term:

sara palin hot photos

That gem made number 13 on Google's Zeitgeist page about an hour ago. That means it's towards the top of the current "100 most searched-for topics" on Google.

With: Iran confirming that it's got operational uranium-enrichment centrifuges (for peaceful purposes, we're told); Iraq signing a $3,000,000,000 oil deal with China (why not? it's their oil); Pakistan trying, and failing, to catch Al Qaeda's number-two man; what's the attention English-speaking world focused on?

sara palin hot photos

To be fair, there are other hot topics, including:

• 90210 cast (#10)
• confessions of a shopaholic (#6)
• amantadine (#1)

A few of them important.

But: sara palin hot photos?!!

Sure, I know what this is about: vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's daughter, 17, is pregnant.

I could be wrong, but many people posting on discussion threads seemed to greet this news with unbridled glee. Maybe the idea was that the Republican party, in the manner of the Stern Father in a Victorian melodrama, would cast Sarah Palin and her erring daughter into the swirling snow with a loud "never darken this doorstep again!"

Barack Obama, probably responding to this paroxysm of delight, said: "Let me be as clear as possible," today. "I think people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president." Hats off to Obama. That was a classy thing to say.

Turns out the McCain campaign knew about the Palin baby situation. And, apparently, decided that it wasn't a major problem.

A member of my family, hearing about Sarah Palin's daughter and the baby, said, "so what?!"

I agree. I've been described as "a conservative guy," but here's how I see the situation:

• It's 2008
• A 17-year-old woman is pregnant
• She decides to keep the baby
• She knows who the father is
• And plans to marry him

I think it's a good idea to get married first, and then start a family, but considering the culture that the younger Palin grew up in, I'd say she's doing pretty well. And, I wish the young couple and their child the best.

And, I agree with Barack Obama. Sarah Palin is running for Vice President of the United States: her daughter's domestic life has little or no bearing on national issues.

Americans make up a hefty chunk of people whose primary language is English, so I'm guessing that quite a few of the people Googling for sara palin hot photos are Americans. With matters of life and death - and the right to look for hot photos online - at stake, this is not the sort of behavior I'd like to see in the American electorate.

But, Americans are human beings, just like people all over the world. When the poles open this November, I hope that people who care about the issues, and have studied the candidates, vote.

And I hope that people whose interest in politics ends with sara palin hot photos stay home.

In the news:

• "Obama says Palin's family off limits"
  CNN (September 2, 2008)
• "After revelations, McCain gives assurances on Palin vetting"
  CNN (September 2, 2008)

My view on the getting out to vote:

• "Vote, or Stay Home"
  (February 4, 2008)