Controversy continues to swirl around Bristol Palin as a spokesperson for abstinence and rightly so — rightly, if you think she should just stop showing up in the public limelight, that is.

Joy Behar said on her talk show tonight that Bristol’s the poster girl for teenage pregnancy – but she isn’t, by any means. What she is the poster girl for our culture’s hypocrisy.

All the talk shows can set up little panels to discuss the pros and cons of Bristol getting paid $20,000 to speak as an “expert” on teenage pregnancy. But let’s get real — how many teenage mothers show up with a bun in the oven right after their mother is announced as a vice-presidential candidate?

Not to get all old-fashioned on you, but back in the day that event alone would have been the end — not the beginning — of Sarah Palin’s political career. Instead, not only the Palins, but the baby’s father, Levi Johnston, have done nothing but try to capitalize on it ever since.

As for her “expertise,” probably the only thing she has in common with your average pregnant teen is that she broke up with the baby’s father. But Bristol isn’t going to be standing in any government offices waiting for a food stamps card or scanning shelves in Walmart for stuff on the WIC list.

Her mother, Sarah Palin, doesn’t seem to think that matters. It’s more like she thinks it’s some kind of plot against her:

“Bristol was invited to speak with college students as part of a panel. Evidently she has now been disinvited because of apparent concerns by some vocal members of the undergraduate community. Bristol is deeply disappointed that an institution that publicly claims to ‘listen to diverse and sometimes conflicting perspectives, to contribute rigorous academic standards and unbiased scholarship to discussions, and to encourage a civil discourse in which a pluralistic society can respectfully address complex and difficult issues’ would withdraw an invitation to a speaker because of ‘uproar’ over their assumed content of her message or even worse, because of her last name.”

Last name, your arse, Sarah. It’s because people are sick of seeing your daughter get paid a lot of money for being irresponsible.