Only in today's permissive culture could Gov. Mike Huckabee's comments about actress Natalie Portman's out-of-wedlock pregnancy cause a stir and elicit hostility toward the Governor.  The former Arkansas governor said that Portman's pregnancy wasn't providing a terribly good role model for girls.  Well, isn't that earth-shattering?   

Pop culture, to the great misfortune of American society, has come to dominate too many young lives.  Celebrities set examples for behavior and lifestyle.  Whether or not Portman or any other celeb likes it, celebrities' lives do have a bearing on young minds awed by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and the music industry.  Ms. Portman lives as she wishes, of course, but she is in the public eye.  Scrutiny and criticism are part of the turf for public figures.

Governor Huckabee also noted that three-quarters of African-American kids are born out-of-wedlock, while sixty-one percent of Hispanics are born to single moms.  Overall, forty-one percent of all children born on American soil are to moms without wedding licenses.

Only the most blinkered among us can't see what the breakdown of traditional marriage and family is doing to society.  Unmarried girls have kids.  Kids are without dads.  Kids live without stable homes and positive, structured upbringings.  Such is and will continue to take a toll on many aspects of American life.

At least the good news is that Ms. Portman isn't seeking an abortion.