Bristol Palin, 18, went “On the Record” Monday with Greta Van Susteren in her first TV interview since giving birth to her 2-month-old son, Tripp. 

On the one hand, she was touted by some as a new spokesperson against teen pregnancy.  After all, she stated that she would have preferred waiting to give birth until she was much older.  But that was the weaker hand being played, regardless of what Palin intended.  As a pretty, intelligent, poised and smiling teenager on national television with a cute baby, Palin has, perhaps unwittingly, become a spokesperson for teen pregnancy.

Palin told Van Susteren that her baby brings “so much joy,” she doesn’t regret giving birth to him at all.  She just wishes he had entered her life about ten years later.  She, like Jamie Lynn Spears, is helping paint a picture of teen mothers as happy, strong and confident young women, enjoying the limelight and making the best of things with the support of their loving families.

Palin looked as well-kempt and well-rested as she was well-spoken.  There was no desperation in her voice.  She shed no tears of panic or guilt.  She hasn’t sworn off sex.  She hasn’t sworn off unprotected sex.  By all appearances, she genuinely loves her baby and is committed to him.  Just like Spears.

So what’s the problem?  Why would American teenaged girls, who are desperately seeking something genuine to cling to in their lives, something more to believe in than their friends’ Facebook profiles, take Palin’s life story as a cautionary tale?  Why wouldn’t they see it, instead, as an antidote to the meaninglessness of ceaseless instant messaging, the interpersonal black hole of cyberspace, the emptiness of hooking up with one sexual partner after another, often beginning in seventh grade, if not sooner?

In a world where the stock market is crashing, major industries are dissolving, drugs are rampant and the government desperately needs to regain credibility, the gaze of an infant looking back into one’s eyes can be the kind of humanity that teenagers intuit will anchor them to something genuine.

For millions of American girls, Palin and Spears are, whether they like it or not, defining the leading edge of what I believe is a new social, cultural moment in America in which girl-women aged 15 through 17 are actually losing their fear of motherhood and entertaining the concept of having babies as a matter of free choice and free will. 

This is just the beginning of the example Palin and Spears are setting.  There will be countless very cute photographs of their babies.  Magazines will cover these girls as they take their children to their first day of nursery school. There will be coverage of their love affairs, engagements and weddings.  If they hold themselves together and life brings them joy (which I sincerely hope it does), they will be glamorized for their boldness, their commitment to their kids and their inevitable personal achievements.

Teenagers are not going to look at Palin or Spears and think how horrifying it would be to be them.  More than likely, they are going to look at these trailblazers and be envious — whether consciously or unconsciously.  These “girl-women” look like they have it all.

All we need now to seal the deal and create even more of a groundswell in favor of early childbirth is a special bailout plan for young, unwed mothers.  Maybe a free General Motors Hybrid SUV and government-insured mortgage would do the trick?

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com or e-mail him at info@keithablow.com.

Barack Obama’s historic election as president caps an unprecedented campaign that broke through racial and socioeconomic barriers and has changed America forever.  His victory will fuel the self-esteem and hopes of many millions — not only minorities, but all those who yearn for the kind of interconnectedness that can only be achieved when each of us is judged for his or her inherent potential, not prejudged by prejudice of any kind. 
Obama’s victory also comes at a time when truth and reality are under assault on many fronts.  Americans are suffering the fallout of economic fictions that took hold of the mortgage and banking and financial management industries, much as they once distorted the valuations of Internet companies.  The Internet itself and other technologies—like instant messaging—are cleaving us from the human nuances of face-to-face and even voice-to-voice communication.  We are using prescribed medications at ever-increasing rates to quiet our unwieldy anxiety and mood swings and insomnia and distractibility.  Illicit drug use is up, transporting increasing numbers of young people away from the facts of their lives, toward illusion.  We are trading off insight for more and more potent doses of entertainment—obsessively tracking the chaotic (and often staged) lives of celebrities—rather than dealing with the real complications of our own lives.  And we are editing our life stories into made-for-the-Web “profiles” that require that we become editors and broadcasters of who we are. 

Many times over the past two years, I worried that the presidential election, too, had been captured by a desire to escape our pressing realities and entertain ourselves.  The protracted length of the campaign, the vast amounts of money spent on advertising and even the convergence on the world stage of high drama candidates—including (but not limited to) a former president’s wife (and U.S. Senator), a black man born to parents from Kansas and Kenya and a little-known, plainspoken female governor from Alaska—made the election feel like the kind of battle a television producer or screenwriter would contrive. 

Barack Obama’s eloquence moved people—for real.  But his good looks and youth and facility with language also created a kind of dream state of devotion in listeners, the way a movie star can.  He captivated a large percentage of American voters not only with his ideas, but with his delivery of those ideas.  The message and the messenger and the media through which both flowed became one very potent force. 

It is unfortunate that Sarah Palin looks so much like Tina Fey, if only because that contributed to the entertainment value of the election.  It is unfortunate that Barack Obama had nearly unlimited funds to script his message and ended with a closing volley of 30-minute television portraits that some criticized as “infomercials.”  It is unfortunate that Joe the Plumber was anointed a political force, when his moniker sounds more like one that would work for a spokesperson in an ad campaign for something to unclog your pipes.  And, going back further, it is troubling (but only as regards our confusion between fictional drama and our real lives) that Fred Thompson, a former U.S. Senator turned actor (he played a prosecutor on TV), was center stage in the Presidential race for a time.

There is indeed something about this moment in time that feels a little like watching a made-for-TV-movie or feature film of this moment.  And that sort of psychological confusion—if anything but very temporary—could spell trouble.  It does indeed invite (as vice president-elect Joe Biden noted) “tests” of character from those who question to what extent our leaders are genuine and courageous and grounded, and to what extent they are acting the part.

Dealing with Russia’s belligerence and Iran’s destabilizing agenda and the economic crisis are only some of the challenges that will move this American President from leading man, in the eyes of many, to proven international leader.  That journey is about to begin.  Success holds the promise of transporting the country and the world closer to the truth and justice and, ultimately, to greater strength and stability.  Failure could cost all of us dearly.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com or e-mail him at info@keithablow.com.

With the recent announcement that vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, Bristol is five months pregnant, there has been a lot of media attention and speculation about her condition.

Politics aside, I am deeply concerned about the potential effects that this unwarranted publicity will have on this young girl. We must remember that there are many high-risk aspects associated with teen pregnancy. Statistically, we know that pregnant teens have high rates of low-birth weight infants, as well as premature deliveries.

One factor that concerns me particularly is the level of unnecessary stress that this young woman is facing due to her mother’s campaign for vice president. It has been clearly documented that stress has been linked to fatigue in pregnant women, as well as anxiety, loss of appetite and sleeplessness.

Another factor that has been identified as a result of stress during pregnancy is the potential for an increased amount of corticotropin-releasing hormone, or CRH, which has been directly linked with premature labor and increased blood pressure.

It is important for all of us to remember that pregnancy is a special time for a mother-to-be — no matter what her age or circumstances may be — and it involves the lives of two people, one of whom is in the most vulnerable stage of life and deserves our respect and support.