Judge the Daughter Not For the Father
The children of presidents should not be blamed for their fathers’ failures, or for that matter praised for their achievements.
Which brings us to Jenna Bush, twin daughter of President George and First Lady Barbara Bush, who at age 25 is shedding her (probably unfair) tabloid image as a party girl and dingbat and is promoting her new book for young adults, Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope.
The book is a true account of the struggles and triumphs of a Latin American teenager born HIV-positive and puts Jenna, a third-grade teacher at a Washington, D.C., charter school, squarely in the spotlight she has sought to avoid.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Jenna addresses living in a media bubble. Not surprisingly, she is circumspect about her father and the issues of the day, although it is obvious she does not necessarily agree with her father on some things — or at least interviewer Bob Thompson wants you to think so.
She says of Iraq:
“Nobody wants war. I definitely, and my father definitely doesn’t want war. But it’s a horribly complicated situation. But I can say it’s devastating. . . . I think everybody can agree on that.”
When asked about the criticism her father has faced over the war, she adds:
“Obviously this breaks my heart.â€
Having noted that neither Jenna nor sister Barbara should be judged for the actions of their father, Jenna has now stepped onto the media stage of her own volition – in this instance to sell a book on a global issue about which she may be more committed than that father – and in doing so has become fair game for scrutiny.
And you’d better believe she’ll get a load of it.
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6 Responses to “Judge the Daughter Not For the Father”
In (un)fairness, her father has made pretty much the same statements over the years. We didn’t ask for war. They attacked us. We only went to Iraq as a last resort. And of course, nobody suffers more than the president and his wife over the situation in Iraq.
I won’t judge the daughter for the father. But I won’t judge her better, either.
Who’s judging her? I’m not. I think its reprehensible to attack a politician’s kids because you disagree with his policies. It was wrong with Chelsea Clinton, wrong with Amy Carter and its wrong now with Jenna and Barbara.
What Kim said.
I won’t use a certain phrase associated with a certain radio host, but, yes, Kim is right. There’s no reason to attack Bush’s daughters just because of the incompetence and venality of their father.
I’m kind of holding my breath about what the trend will be for the press’s restraint in stalking presidential framilies, and especially, children.
There used to be a tacit understanding that the press would not reveal private information about, not only families, but presidents, too. No one wrote about how FDR hid the extent of his paralysis.
So far, the children seem to be spared intrusive coverage at least to some degree. We don’t know the exact number of times Chelsea kissed her boyfiriend.
The wolves are at the gate, however. When I look at how much new ground the press has claimed so far…….
[...] Shaun Mullen wrote a fantastic post today on “Judge the Daughter Not For the Father”Here’s ONLY a quick extract“Obviously this breaks my heart.†Having noted that neither Jenna nor sister Barbara should be judged for the actions of their father, she has stepped onto the media stage of her own volition – in this instance to sell a book on a … [...]