I wanted to add my thoughts to Barack Obama’s comments yesterday about the Bristol Palin pregnancy, in which he said:

I’ve heard some of the news on this, and so let me be as clear as possible. I have said before and I will repeat again: I think people’s families are off limits. And people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off of these kinds of stories.

This was an impressive and graceful statement by Obama, and it certainly appeared to be heartfelt. It is Obama at his best – and at his best, he is very, very good.

It is a sentiment that the New York Times – which by my count devoted four news stories to this topic just today – and CNN, which has been obsessing on the Bristol Palin pregnancy, should heed. The story might merit some coverage, even though the children of candidates and office holders have traditionally been off limits (I believe there was little coverage of Al Gore’s teenage son and some problems he encountered during Gore’s tenure as Vice President). But the kind of saturation coverage and sensationalism we’re seeing is really quite extraordinary. The good news, I suppose, is that it will deepen the distrust and disdain that Americans have for various media organizations and journalists who are worthy of our disdain. And of course Obama’s class stands in stunning contrast to many of his supporters, including bloggers whose conduct since the Palin nomination has been well-documented, disgraceful, and must surely be an embarrassment to their more serious-minded and mature colleagues.

Some of Obama’s supporters took to the pages of The Atlantic months ago to explain why Obama matters, explaining that he could overcome “the bitter, brutal tone of American politics.” It is ironic indeed. In their rabid effort to support Barack Obama, many of his supporters are acting in ways that are completely contrary to Obama’s promise. They don’t want to argue issues; they want to mock and destroy people. They are, in short, the antithesis of what they say Obama is, and what they say they want American politics to be.