This story about the 7th grade girl being called a "racist" for wearing a Sarah Palin t-shirt is so predictable that initially I thought it hardly merited a blog post:

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) -- She's only 12 years old but Ashleigh Jones is feeling the heat of this election year.

That's because the seventh grader at New Smyrna Beach Middle School was called a racist by classmates for wearing a pro-Sarah Palin t-shirt.

Jones is volunteering at the Republican Headquarters in New Smyrna Beach. The Palin t-shirt was a gift from her fellow volunteers.

"Some of the students were calling me racist because I was Caucasian," she said. "I wanted the Caucasian man to win. And I told them that's not true. It's my freedom of speech, it's my opinion."

Jones' parents say they aren't mad at the school they just want everyone including their daughter to voice their opinion constructively.

Actually, I think it was in the 7th grade when that book was assigned as reading material; remarkably, I see that it still is. For all I know today's students are probably taught that it's about sex and the evolution of women's "reproductive rights" or something. Or intolerance by religious conservatives, as this reviewer claims:

The one thing in Scarlet Letter's favor is that it is politically correct. It's satisfying that the intolerant religious fanatics are the bad guys.

Such intolerance can even extend to extramarital pregnancy (an ostensible theme of the Scarlet Letter.)

In fact, the way some of the irreligious people treat the pregnancy of Bristol Palin can hardly be called tolerant. True, they're not labeling her an adulteress or fornicator, but I think the pregnancy carries a stigma nonetheless. A new and very ironic stigma, as if there's a new post-shame shame associated with pregnancy -- especially when that pregnancy can somehow be associated with the right wing. (Almost reminds me of the way conservatives are not allowed to be gay, and gays are not allowed to be conservative.)

Even though the "baby bump" is considered totally acceptable in Hollywood circles, Bristol Palin should be ashamed of her "baby bump" -- not so much for being a pregnant teen, but for being a teen who is "pregnant while Republican." Nice girls, "normal" girls (meaning affluent girls, especially affluent Democratic girls, i.e. "civilized" girls) are supposed to do the right thing, and have abortions.

At least, that's the "subtext" as I see it -- especially considering that there's actually a web site named "Saving Bristol" for the express purpose of raising "money and support for Bristol Palin to have an abortion and move out of her abusive household." They're asking for donations to Planned Parenthood and the "Lilith Fund" (whatever that is) in Bristol's name.

Moral lesson? Some teen pregnancies are tolerated. But the teens in the wrong category should be stigmatized for not having abortions, and they might as well be wearing the letter "P."

Hardly what I would call tolerance.

(I admire the 7th grader for her courage.)