Editor’s note: See our update:
Bristol Palin: My Son Tripp Said The ‘F’ Word — But Not That ‘F’ Word
On a recent episode of the Lifetime reality series “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp,” Tripp Palin, all of four-years old, says, “Go away you faggot” to his mom, Bristol Palin, and her sister, Willow Palin.
Who cares, right?
And that’s the problem.
A great many Americans — millions upon millions — actually do care, and see Sarah Palin and the Palin family as American royalty. If America didn’t care, would there even be a Palin reality series? No.
But watch the video.
Tripp Palin says “I hate you guys” and various versions of that several times. Bristol immediately lets Tripp know that’s not acceptable. She even attempts — albeit through laughter — a “God’s watching,” which is the ultimate in poor parenting; making children “behave” because “God’s watching.”
But when Tripp utters a horrific, “Go away you faggot,” Bristol and Willow laugh. Granted, it’s a somewhat embarrassed laugh, but they’re laughing.
(Note, as the slur was bleeped, we are taking the video recorder’s word for it, but Huffington Post had the same take. And, if not “faggot,” then, “fags.” Either way.)
And they don’t chastise or correct Tripp for using an anti-gay slur.
Because everyone thinks it’s funny. Everyone, including the people at Lifetime — who easily could have edited that out.
Calling people “faggot” isn’t funny. It’s not funny when four-year olds do it. it’s not funny when gay people do it. It’s not funny when gay-bashers do it. It’s plainly not funny — and it leads to anti-gay hatred, discrimination, and hate crimes, like yesterday’s where a Nebraska woman had the word “dyke” carved into her skin after three men broke into her home, bound her with zip ties, and set her house on fire.
Bristol Palin is a divorced, unmarried mother of a little boy, who claims to be a role model for her generation — so much so that she thinks she has the right to correct President Obama on his parenting skills. Yet she readily admits, in this video excerpt, that she’s “doing a terrible job disciplining Tripp…I know he’s going to continue to push the boundaries.”
The Huffington Post reminds us:
In 2010, Willow sparked controversy when she fired off at a classmate on Facebook, referring to him “so gay” and “such a faggot.”
Bristol’s chastising of Barack Obama — which, of course, the right wingers supported to the hilt — in the weeks after the President announced his support for same-sex marriage, was unconscionable, flawed, and downright idiotic.
Yet America rallied to her side, called her a victim — as she did herself, calling herself bullied to boot — and embraced her comment that “generally kids do better with mother/father families,” sans any proof, and sans the fact that she is an unmarried mother herself.
What the Palins say matter only because millions of Americans are listening, and accepting, without thought, what they say.
American Royalty is trashy. The Palins are trashy. As John Aravosis notes, “if Sarah Palin, or her unwed mother daughter, are going to lecture gay people about the needs of children, maybe they should start actually parenting their own children. Laughing when your kid utters a bigoted slur is not parenting.”
And laughing when your kid utters a bigoted slur while on national television is paving the way for more anti-gay hatred, bigotry, and violence.
When the slur comes out of the mouth of a four-year old, you can pretty much assume who put it in there in the first place.
UPDATE: Even if Tripp said “fuck” instead of “faggot,” as Bristol Palin now claims, she is still doing a poor job of parenting, and still has zero room to attack the President.