A pro-life Congressman in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood has six children, one of whom tweeted that she was picking up contraception at Planned Parenthood.
Now the media, which is currently, obsessed with lecturing conservatives on civility in the discussion of contraception and religious liberty, is descending and dragging the Congressman’s daughter into the spotlight.
Roll Call’s “Heard on the Hill” column reports:
Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R) has six kids, and HOH has a favorite! Her name is Maggie Fitzpatrick, and she’s a young co-ed and a prolific tweeter without a filter.
Her tweets chronicle the life of an average upper-middle-class college girl, which is only made fascinating because she is a Congressman’s daughter. Her feed includes your standard tweets: underage drinking in the Capitol, being annoyed by activists while trying to pick up her birth control at Planned Parenthood — just a few among hundreds.
On Jan. 5, 2011, Maggie’s dad and the rest of the 112th Congress was sworn in to office. Fitzpatrick and his buddy Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) decided to take the oath via television, rather than trek from the Capitol Visitor Center to the House floor.
It was an embarrassing incident for Fitzpatrick and Sessions, but another embarrassing incident was happening at the same time!
Maggie, not yet 21, twittered at 4:08 p.m, “if ya havent noticed im drunk. and in the capital. this might end terrible.”
If we hadn’t noticed in 2011, we certainly took note in 2012, when an older and wiser Maggie tweeted at her friend: “haha that awkward moment when your drunk in the capital building at a swearing in + your being judged #congressmansdaughterproblems.”
Maggie ran into more problems last October.
“[P]rotest outside of planned parenthood right now,” she tweeted. “[C]razy people yelling at me about abortion, I just want my birth control #backthef—off.”
Fitzpatrick, by the way, voted last year to curtail federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
This is pretty unconscionable by the media.
And, you see, the media will say that they’re not just tearing a family apart because they disagree with the Dad’s politics. They say they’re pointing out the hypocrisy. Another columnist seems to argue the incident is relevant because Fitzpatrick tells people all the time about how proud he is of his kids. The columnist wrote today:
It’s not exactly a case of a congressman’s daughter gone wild, but Margaret Rose Fitzpatrick hasn’t been toeing the line of her conservative Catholic upbringing at college, according to her rather salty Twitter feed…
Maggie, for reasons only Maggie knows, went public with the nose-thumbing, creating fodder for her father’s critics and political gossip hounds. This can’t be easy for a man who fosters the notion the Fitzpatricks are a picture-perfect family, trotting his very bright, very attractive kids out for campaigns and public events.
Within 20 minutes of most any conversation I’ve ever had with the congressman on any subject, he reminds me he has six children to whom he and their mother are devoted.
He has very proudly parented in public when the parenting was easy. “Meet my daughter Maggie,” he would say as she stood dutifully by his side at the polls.
Parenting her in public now is a whole other thing.
Mike Fitzpatrick has asked the media to allow his daughter to have a private life.
“Every parent faces the same challenges of raising children in a complicated world,” Fitzpatrick told Roll Call. “Parenting is made more difficult in the age of Facebook and Twitter. Sometimes children say or do things that you disagree with, but you love them unconditionally. My daughter Maggie is a young college student. This is a matter that my wife Kathy and I will handle privately.”
Privately? No. You’re a Republican. You and your family don’t get privacy.
March 5, 2012 at 6:05 pm
I liked how Pres Bush and Laura dealt with their girls if they did something in the public eye and the media went nuts about "Bush promotes one thing while his girls do another(insert hyperventilating here)" He'd grin and say something to the effects of "Yep, they have the right to make choices, both smart and stupid. Now they know they have to deal with the fall out."
They never left their girls out to dry but they certainly let them know "I don't like the choice you made, and now you see the fall out from it, but you'll live. Don't get hung up on it."
March 5, 2012 at 6:15 pm
…..but you love them unconditionally. Been there done that.
I thought it was an unwritten law that the exploits of politicians' children are off limits.
Far left liberals have no scruples.
March 5, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Didn't BO say his family was off limits? Why not everyone else's?
March 5, 2012 at 8:03 pm
If you have an R, I or if you don't agree with the LEFT you will be chastized.
March 5, 2012 at 8:55 pm
I agree that his daughter's decisions don't mean he is a hypocrite. I'm conflicted about the privacy issue, though. It's one thing for the media to look through the girl's trash, find evidence that she is using contraceptives and then publish that info. It's another to tweet all your personal info and then claim a right to privacy. It's like going outside,screaming out your social security number and then being offended when someone notices. I don't buy it.
March 5, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Ed, I think you are right on. When an adult child (20 or 21) puts out public information, it is no longer a press invasion but, I do wonder the benefit of making the family matter public.
Gosh GOP office holders have kid/family troubles like EVERYONE else. Not exactly news.
Newts gay sister, Cheneys gay daughter, Jimmy's drunk brother, news? not exactly.
March 5, 2012 at 11:38 pm
I also agree with Ed. If you tweet or facebook something, it's assumed you don't mind the public knowing your business. The daughter is plenty old enough to know what she's doing. She's thumbing her nose at her upbringing like many young people. Unfortunately her parents have to suffer publicly too.
March 6, 2012 at 1:41 am
What a rotten thing to do to your parents. It's one thing to defy them — another thing to tell the whole world. I hope they don't pay for her school!
March 6, 2012 at 9:15 pm
What? Drink at college and tweet about it? Guess the whole worlds guilty. And she pays for her own college. I go to school with her she takes out loans, is on deans list, is a full time student and also works. I also haven't seen her go out and drink in weeks. She's a good person who made the mistake of tweeting her thoughts and you people are coming at her. I saw her yesterday hysterically cryingg in her apartment Because of rude people like you. I hope u feel good about yourself.
March 6, 2012 at 2:19 am
The daughter has behaved disgracefully. I hope she is ashamed.
March 6, 2012 at 9:09 pm
Isint there a cardinal law or something that says don't judge? She did nothing disgraceful. She cursed OMG and drinks on occasion, how will she ever be able to live with herself. Smh. Your all goons.
March 6, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Well, I guess the people who say he hates women who contracept will have to change their tune…
March 6, 2012 at 9:02 pm
Maggie's lucky. If her parents had contracepted, she probably wouldn't exist.
Many children revolt, many live to regret it. Just think on the prodigal son.
March 6, 2012 at 9:07 pm
You people are a disgrace she posted it to her twitter, someone would have to go looking for it to find it and now all these "reporters" are postin it all over the Internet for everyone to see. I understand twitter is public but seriously, theres a bunch of articles making an example of the poor girl she's in college, drinking and being on birth control is not anything unusual whatsoever . An btw she's on birth control for medical reasons she has been for years and since her parents insurance refuses to cover contraceptives she has to go to pp to get it or she would be in pain every month for a full week. Leave the girl alone.
March 7, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Anonymous at 4:07, 4:09, and 4:15:
Hi Maggie! I'm sorry, honey, that you're learning the hard way what discretion means. This is no doubt embarrassing and uncomfortable for you, and it is filling up your whole world right now, but I promise that it will below over and before you know it this little kerfluffle will just be a memory. If you'll read the above comments, they are mostly in support of you and your family and critical of the media making a fuss over your youthful mistakes. Try to see this as a learning opportunity and remember that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks other than your family and God.