Mena, who works at Kardashian's retail store, insists that Kardashian should be showered with praise for keeping the baby. Rather than getting an abortion, Kardashian's letting the world ogle at her obstetrical adventure. And this deserves our praise!

The fact that Kourtney puts everything out there about her pregnancy for the world to know makes her more of a role model. It's realistic and it's the truth, and for a young girl going through the same thing — forgetting to the take the pill, considering abortion — it's nice to know Kourtney is someone a person can look up to in the public eye.

Hmm. Well, okay. Yes, Kardashian, we suppose, should get a thumbs up for her bravery — being pregnant's scary! — but we'd hardly call her a "role model." She's just a girl who got knocked up and decided to keep it. Did anyone, other than social conservatives, call Bristol Palin a role model? No. The tabloids dumped on her and turned her into a political side show. Or, at the very least, a distraction.

As for this business of young women looking up to Kardashian: the last thing we need is an army of Jonas Brother loving ladies running around with tiny people growing inside of them. But, that said, Kourtney's an adult, makes her own money and definitely has a support system in place to help her care for this child. We won't call her a role model, but we won't castigate her for getting all bred and shit.

In each case, the real and fictional teens come from supportive, financially stable families, and seemed to be on track to have an array of future opportunities that a more typical teen mom might lack.

"It's been glorified all over the place," said Evelyn Rodriguez, 34, a New Yorker from a low-income background who gave birth to a son at 15 and now, after more than a decade of juggling jobs and classes, is on the verge of earning a college degree.

"People who don't have the money and great support, they say, 'Oh, wow, they're doing it — it's cool,'" said Rodriguez, referring to Spears and Palin. "But it's not cool. I've been through it. It's a job. I don't appreciate what's going on out there making it seem so beautiful, when it's not."

The panelists went on to agree that the Spears/Palin stories remain missed opportunities for a "serious national discussion of teen motherhood" — and that's not even counting the steep cultural cost of Diablo Cody winning an Oscar and maintaining a blog. We have seen the Third World, and it is us.

• Teen motherhood: Celebrity buzz belies its cost [AP]

You and Jamie Lynn got some negative press when she got pregnant so young. But more recently, 17-year-old Bristol Palin, and her mother, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, found themselves in a similar situation. And the public reaction has been different.
It's a totally different reaction. It's as if [Sarah Palin] became celebrated. I mean, the mother, Palin, was celebrated for this. Every woman in the world has applauded her strength and her convictions and poor little old Jamie Lynn — you saw how she was crucified. Everybody did, firsthand ... I just feel like it's been a very hypocritical situation.

Indeed it has! Why, Lynne merely pushed her daughter into a soul-sucking life of show business, not a hastily arranged, RNC-preserving engagement to her child's father! Yes, Jamie Lynn has proved a bit more profitable than that lazy Alaskan Bristol, but does that mean that poor Lynne should have to suffer for it? Won't anybody think of the stage mothers?

• Grandmother Spears Speaks Out [Newsweek]

"I had John McCain gags pulled. And they asked me to tone down the gags about Sarah Palin. I wanted to say she was forcing her teenage daughter to have a baby because she is so anti-abortion.

"But also, as a Republican she is pro-execution so she is going to give her the electric chair for being a little slut.

"They weren't keen on that one."

Finally, something Jordin Sparks and her archenemy Brand can agree on: if Bristol Palin had simply eschewed "slutdom" and worn a promise ring like good girls do, she would never have gotten pregnant at age 17, forcing Sarah Palin to consider executing her own daughter while firing all the dinosaurs in Alaska. At last, some change we can all believe in!

• Russell Brand pulled Sarah Palin electric chair jokes at VMA [Telegraph]

A source close to the Beverly Hills baby store Petit Tresor tells CelebTV.com exclusively that a gift from Plain Mary was sent to Bristol Palin on behalf of Jamie Lynn Spears.

An insider says it was actually Lynne Spears, Jamie Lynn’s mom, who called about the gift, and requested the gift come from her daughter.

“It was ordered by phone, and they asked what could be done for under $100. They spent $60 on pink burpcloths,” said the source.

Clever move, Lynn — especially since the LAT recently tagged Sarah Palin "the Lynne Spears of politics." Does this mean that the Palins may tote their very own Britney Spears into the White House... and if so, will she have to switch parties?

[Photo Credit: AP]

• Exclusive: Jamie Lynn Spears Sends Gift to Bristol Palin [CelebTV]

I've been watching the news all morning, like everyone else - and i keep hearing about the issues related to 'teen pregnancy'- It's all related to Sarah Palin and her 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter. Well, I think the real problem comes from the fact that we are taking the focus off of getting to know Sarah Palin and her political views, and what she can do to make our country a less destructive place. Its distracting from the real issues, the real everyday problems that this country experiences.

I am concerned with the fact that Sarah Palin brought the attention to her daughter's pregnancy, rather than all world issues and what she believes she could possibly do to change them-if elected. I get Sarah Palin's views against abortion, but i would much prefer to hear more about what she can do for our country rather than how her daughter is going to have a child no matter what.

Maybe focus on delivering some words and policy with stronger impact like Joe Biden.

...On another note-the last note- i heard a woman say on TODAY on NBC that teens are feeling as if they have to grow up faster. Really? Because, i think that girls that are CHOOSING to be sexually active and are making a conscious decision to grow up faster..... I think that parents need to recognize how important it is to talk to their children about the things that can result from being sexually active if they aren't protecting themselves (birth control, condoms, etc.)

In the wake of her well-written rebuttal to her father, has Linday Lohan finally found a steady calling as a blogger? Her intermittent acting gigs may pay the bills, but we think that it's as an internet diarist (albeit one measured by the short stick of Myspace celebrity blogs) that Lohan reveals herself to be more than adequite.

[Photo Credit: AP]

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