How many times have all the "smart" hollywood types been married?

There are smart Hollywood types? Hmm, I must have missed them.

And, frankly, I find it a bit amusing that you suddenly think we all need to have authority to pass judgments on what we see in the world. I can think of more than a few articles of yours in which you pass pretty harsh judgment, with zero authority to back it up. I suppose authority is only important when it is someone else passing the judgment, huh Baker? Your authority must just be implicit.

Right. I can take that seriously.

Hey, she used to be a Mousketeer!

No, you're just making an assertion that she is a bad parent. Feel free to point out where I am wrong, but I usually offer some reasons why I think someone is what I accuse them of. According to your standards my parents were bad, inexcusable parents, too. One wonders how the world got by before all these rules were made.

You know, people used to allow children to ride BICYCLES, and WITHOUT HELMETS!!! Before that they even allowed them to ride horses, or so I hear. Pardon a guffaw, but if you think anyone who ever drove a car with a child in their lap is a bad parent, well, you've got high standards.

I think the issue is not what used to be OK, but what is considered safe NOW. We have made strides as a society as far as health and medicine and safety go.

Think about car windshields. Way back when if you got in an accident, that glass would rip you to shreds. We have safer glass now that crumbles and doesn't do near as much damage to the human body.

We now understand how valuable carseats and seatbelts are in making an accident survivable. We have the means to keep our children safer during travel in a car. It's reasonable to expect that a good parent would have the baby in a weight and age appropriate backward facing carseat, strapped in properly.

Further, as Jinny pointed out, having a baby's head right there at the steering wheel is a recipe for disaster. Today's vehicles are equipped with air bags. Children and short adults should not be sitting close to the air bags (my boys DO NOT ride in the front seat, period) because they are likely to be decapitated when the air bags deploy in an accident.

Why risk it?

So, I DO think that Britney's choice to drive with a small infant in her lap, unrestrained, reflects either a lack of knowledge about the importance of car safety or apathy about the well-being of her child.

And no, it's not surprising. Britney seems to make plenty of bad life choices. The sad thing is that now those poor choices affect the life of an innocent child.

Pardon a guffaw, but if you think anyone who ever drove a car with a child in their lap is a bad parent, well, you've got high standards.

And I understand that. I think Tex said it best: I feel the difference is knowledge and understanding we have now, along with accepted standards. And this is simply the most recent of lots of ridiculous things she has done as a parent.

Hey, she used to be a Mousketeer!

Wow?  A mouseketeer?  That explains it.  Annette was a better one tho.

Isn't it her prerogative to endanger children, as a celebrity?

you've got high standards.

I was thinking about this, and I suppose I do have high standards.

Now, I don't say that everyone who has driven with a child in their lap is a bad parent. That would be ridiculous.

But did my parents, as wonderful as they were, do some things that we now know aren't perhaps the best things to do for children? Sure they did. And their parents did the same. And I will do (and have done) some things that future generations will look back on a think "what were they thinking?" And so each generation, with better knowledge, should do better. Generations past didn't really know better, but we do now. All it would take is a big enough bump to set off an air bag, and that would have been it for the infant.

And, if this were the only incident of irresponsible parenting the public has seen from Mrs. Federline, it might not make me pause. But it is only the most recent in a pretty significant string, especially considering the poor little guy is only 4 months old.

Shit happens. Welcome to reality.

Publicity whore Gloria Allred has called this outrageous. 'Nuff said.

Throughout this article, and Gideon's and the press and the comments, one point has not been made and it appears to be a glaring one.

How do we know Brittany Spears drove with her child in her lap?

Because someone (paparazzi no doubt) was stalking her!  How many pictures, so clear and close up, do we see of all the other moms who do this?  Answer?  none.  Because they are not being stalked.

Fame is a heady experience.  But it does have its price and at times that price can seem unbearable.  This picture shows more about the cretin who was stalking her, than it does about Brittany herself.

Throughout this article, and Gideon's and the press and the comments, one point has not been made and it appears to be a glaring one. How do we know Brittany Spears drove with her child in her lap? Because someone (paparazzi no doubt) was stalking her! How many pictures, so clear and close up, do we see of all the other moms who do this? Answer? none. Because they are not being stalked. Fame is a heady experience. But it does have its price and at times that price can seem unbearable. This picture shows more about the cretin who was stalking her, than it does about Brittany herself.

I'm amazed, I think this is the first time I've ever agreed with anyothing you've said. Scary

Good points Doc. I do agree that the paparazzi is entirely out of control. Sadly, we as a culture feed it buy having to "know" all the intimate details of celebrities lives.

The government trying to protect people from themselves on the basis of what MIGHT happen is Big Brother in action.

Icon,

Now, there we agree somewhat. I DON'T believe that the government should micromanage the lives of its citizens. But what you seem to be implying is that Brittney should get a pass because of her wealth. Have you even ONCE commented on my CPS threads about the countless VERY REAL intrusions of government into the lives of citizens not as rich or famous as Ms. Spears? What about THEIR rights.

That being said, what Ms. Spears did was highly stupid. Even with the baby unbuckled, to have the baby between her and the steering wheel would have meant an instant fatality had the airbag deployed, even accidentally.

I'm sick of this, frankly, and I think people need to mind their friggin business. I don't for a moment believe "it takes a village" and I would prefer the village butt the hell out. We are barely more than unpaid baby-sitters for the state now as it is.

I agree, Baker...but there are millions of other citizens whose rights are as important as those of Ms. Spears.

I'm not one to say that Ms. Britney would make a teriffic parent, which I would think she wouldn't be great, based upon her choices so far in life. I would say though that the Paperazzi constantly stalking her and just seeing an opportunity to show how "bad" Britney is would definetly say what she says at face value. I personally wouldn't know how many embarassing things could be said about me or show on pictures if I was constantly stalked. Yes she should have her child strapped into the seat and in the backseat rather than the front, but I will say this, who knows the situation. Maybe mobbed by the Paparazzi she just wanted to get away from them, I'm not justifying the unsafe action she did, but I am saying we don't know what its like to be constantly stalked. As far as needing Child Protection Services involved in this is utterly wrong. I will say this much, I am sure she will learn to be capible to take care of her child and she will make mistakes as a parent as well. To need to put the child in protective custody is just plain idiotic and moronic. Today's society has gone way past overprotection into overzealous.