First, to Malacasta: I consider it a near impossibility that abortion will be made illegal in the USA. Even our super right leaning Supreme Court has been repeatedly resistant to even hearing cases related to abortion, much less working to make it illegal on a national basis. The worst possible case would be it being made illegal in a few states, but if so, people simply can choose not to live there. One of the designed benefits of our federalist system is that individual states can provide different sets of laws so everyone is happy.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I am able to actually disagree with someone's politics without immediately jumping to the conclusion that they are evil demon spawn. I set the bar a little higher before I conclude someone's beliefs actually make them evil or even "bad." Everything I know about Palin's politics I disagree with. At least half of what Obama and McCain stand for I disagree with. But I don't think any of them are evil, nor do I think they have bad intentions for the country. I think they all want the USA to succeed, and they all believe they can lead the country in the direction of prosperity. It is really unnecessary to demonize people simply because you disagree with their philosophies.

If you want to demonize people for their beliefs, look for people with truly evil beliefs. Like hardcore Muslims who actually believe women are lower beings, who engage in female "circumcision", and prevent them from getting an education.

Second, to Kestra: How am I supposed to respond? If I disagree, then I am basically calling you a loser. Using yourself as an example is anecdotal at best, and illustrative of the trend at worst. So you really shouldn't go there. Furthermore, I bet your mother would actually agree that having another loving, caring parent to help would have been preferable for everyone involved. The fact that single parents succeed is a testament to their personal awesomeness, not that single parenthood is a good or even preferable thing.

Amputees that succeed are praised and respected for overcoming adversity. That doesn't mean we should all go cut off an arm or a leg, or that we should hail such a condition as superior. But that's pretty much what we are doing in the media when it comes to single parenthood (or two working parent households). And I think that analogy is apt. I share pretty equally in raising our kids, and the idea of doing it alone is terrifying. I'd much rather lose an arm. It would be a lot easier to live with 1 arm than it would be to raise kids by myself.

Look at the data. The media tries squelching it, but go look it up. Try looking beyond left wing sites that try to make people feel good about leaving their kids in the hands of day cares and nannies. I am not going to argue this further, because people will quickly get pissy and trot out examples of people who have to use such things out of necessity. Such people do what they have to do to survive, and to provide for their children the best they can. I applaud them. But there are people who use nannies and day care purely out of choice, and that is a terrible thing.

It is not just a coincidence that our societal problem of leaving child raising to non-family members has resulted in rapidly declining education, social adjustment, ambition, and international competitiveness.

I have probably already said too much, and there are people who will take the above personally. If anyone is going there, please don't. I don't know of a single person reading this forum who falls into any of the above categories. I am constantly impressed by what caring parents we have in our community.