Maggie Was A Bad Girl

Commenting on Eschaton yesterday, reader Kathy G let Maggie’s cat out of the bag:

Gallagher just looooves to rant about “family values” and how important it is that “elites” set an example (presumably so the lower orders remain properly deferential).

By any definition, Gallagher herself must be considered a member of the elite class – she went to Yale, after all. And her explanation about why she never went public about taking taxpayer money to ho for Bush – that she “forgot” about the $20,000 – kind of speaks for itself. Man, I sure as hell wish *I* could “forget” about $20,000.

Which brings us to this: Gallagher is yet another member of the wingnut “do as I say, not as I do” family values crowd. It turns out that, once upon a time, Ms. Gallagher was – gasp! horrors! – an UNWED MOTHER.

Apparently, as a young and lusty college-age lass, Maggie enjoyed her fun a little too much, and got knocked up. (Undoubtedly, the dastardly perpetrator of this deed was one of them Ivy League libruls, who did it solely with the plan of crediting our virtuous heroine).

How do I know this? Gallagher has written about it – though only in the context of a pious wingnut column about the horrors of abortion.

Anyway, she had the kid but, to my knowledge, did NOT marry the father. She didn’t meet and marry the present Mr. Gallagher (or whoever) until later.

I wish I had access to Lexis-Nexis right now, because I’m sure I could pin this story down if her old columns for the NY Post are up there. Hopefully Atrios or one of you other Eschatons can find it and broadcast it throughout the land. Maggie, you shameless hussy, you!

Of course, NOW Gallagher is unctuously, properly remorseful about her “sin.” But that didn’t prevent her from having her fun when she wanted it. It never does with these guys and gals. They want to be able to do anything they damn please, but then they turn around and with hell’s own fury castigate anyone else who wants to do the same.

Especially if, you know, they’re “not the right class, dear.” Or are the wrong color.

Frankly, I’m shocked. How unlike a wingnut to be so hypocritical.

Now, I know all of you Maggie defenders out there will probably say this is just some kind of Desperate Housewives catfight. Mags would never mislead her readers this way. But, you would be wrong. Maggie herself has written about it, rarely to be sure, and mostly a long time ago, but it’s not a complete secret. Just a little something she doesn’t advertise.

Maggie has been telling everyone who will listen, ad nauseum, that she has been a “marriage expert” for twenty years. But for ten of those years, fully half of her career, she was an unwed mother. That’s quite a CV.

Kathy Grier was kind enough to send along some links to a few of the rare Maggie writings in which she admits to her little moral boo-boo.

Here’s the evidence. (I know it’s early in the day, but you should pour yourself a stiff drink before you read it. You’re going to need it. Wow.)

And here’s an interview with the hedonistic San Francisco liberal mag, Salon, in which she says “I was an unwed mother for ten years.”

Let’s just say that there isn’t a paper trail showing that quote amongst her voluminous writings for right wing publications. She certainly doesn’t mention it when she’s hectoring girls about sex out of wedlock or decrying the husbandless home.

One can understand how difficult it is to find a mate and all, but if you believe so strongly that children should not be raised without both parents, ten years seems like quite a long time to wait to find a father for your child. There are matchmaking services on the Right that could have found Maggie a nice Christian man from Ardmore,Oklahoma who needed a mother for his five children. Maggie believes that any father is better than no father (unless he’s gay, of course) so the proper thing to have done would be for her to sacrifice her “career” as a “marriage expert” and you know, actually get married to any man who would have her in order to provide a proper home for her son. Otherwise she’s just another liberal feminazi putting her own need to live where she wanted and put her education to work and find a man she loved before the needs of her child. What will we tell the children?

This is an epidemic on the right. Gallagher reminds me of Susan Carpenter McMillan anti-abortion zealot (and Paula Jones stylist) who was revealed to have had two abortions to which she had never admitted.

I’m beginning to feel sorry for the poor sincere red state schmucks who believe in all this traditional values stuff. A bunch of slick, elitist, wingnut hucksters are taking them to the cleaners.

Calling Hollywood. Time for a remake of “Elmer Gantry.”