Power, Privelege & The Twins


As I have said, this blog is not only my soapbox but my scrapbook. Below is the text from a Slate peice from this morning. I'm sure I'm breaking some sort of publishing law, so I'm sorry. Rather than have to dig through Slate's archives in a few years I just wanted a copy of the peice for myself.

First a few thoughts: I don't agree with everything Kinsley says in this peice, but I do applaud an effort to engage in a dialogue about the priveleged accountable for how they can be involved in our war effort(which includes myself). I am the granddaughter of a former Southern politician and I can assure you, he had my parents and his grandkids stomping the pavement and truly serving the public more than he posed for glamour shots outside of deb events. He was no saint, I am sure, but we all grew up knowing that we could do more and that it was a real privelege to be able to serve rather than be served. That was the sort of obligation the ruling class was expected to have back in the day. The era of "privacy for the priveleged" has enabled the skirting of the sort of civic obligations my grandfather made us all believe we had inherited. And yes, because of what he chose to do we all were obligated to fall in line, and I couldn't be more thankful.



I also happen to think that daughters, in general, get off light. If Bush had two twin sons you better believe they would have to do SOMETHING if they weren't actually serving. Why are these ladies so cozy being coddled by the press? Apparently, Jenna has the jutzpa of her Dad, so why doesn't she shrug off the smug MSM and start showing up bedside to some of these boys? Heck, if these girls love to party, I throw mini-vet events around town and they are more than welcome to come tip a few back with some amputees (I even one at the bar they held their Halloween party at last year so they'll know the place). These girls (and I include the Donk chicks, cause trust me you don't get more priveleged than the Gore girls), seem to enjoy a very cozy womb of scrutiny security because no one "expects" them to boot up. This chivalrous attitude is not only insulting, its a wee sexist if you ask me. When did it become tacky for the priveleged to perform service? I say, let's go ladies....time to shed the popped Ralph Lauren collar for a oversized, unflattering & untailored USO golf shirt. Enough with the Vanity Fair and runway attendances, time to start wrappin' some care packages! If they don't know where to look, just go to my EXTRA ELVES blog to find all sorts of opps. ;) (Shameless ELF promotion-ha)


HOWEVER, a more daft peice would have included equal scrutiny of the Dem daugheres...and I am sure numerous other sons and daughters of the decision makers in this town. I don't really get how Chelsea is "serving her country" (I believe she works for a bank in NYC), but nonetheless, I'm all for shining a little light on the dance floor demographic that doesn't have to serve, but should do something. Believe me, the bar at Smith Point (an exclusive dive in Georgetown) was once a "Bush hang out" and trust me, it's as purple as ever. These "enemies" mix and mingle and talk about "the war in Iraq" over cosmos like cubical rats discussing Grey's over a watercooler. But I'll write another post about my experiences bringing some soldiers out in Georgetown later....



YET, I am sure that any of these popped collars, should they desire to go shake hands with troop members laid up at any of the hospitals, would be equally criticized for patronizing our troops in some way, so they are pretty damned if you do I gueessssssssssss. But I sure know some boys up at Walter Reed that would get quite a kick if the B-Twins paid them a visit. Right now, they may be the best PR their father has.


Either way, heres the peice.



Sins of the Father
How Bush's family life opposes his rhetoric.
By Michael Kinsley
Posted Monday, Dec. 4, 2006, at 9:05 PM ET

It is not the fault of Jenna or Barbara Bush that their father, the president, has gotten us into a war that he doesn't know how to get us out of. And, although you can blame parents for almost anything, George W. and Laura Bush are no longer responsible for the behavior of their twin daughters, who by now are in their mid-20s. Presidents, like the rest of us, don't get to choose their relatives. Remember Billy Carter?

Anyway, Jenna and Barbara are far from George W. Bush's biggest familial problem. The law of averages has given him at least one ne'er-do-well brother—Neil. The biggest familial thorn in the president's side is probably his father, always ready (or so it seems) to send out a Brent Scowcroft or a James Baker with some patronizing and excruciatingly public advice for the young pup. As for the twins, we actually know next to nothing about them. George and Laura Bush made the wise decision to keep them out of the limelight and—with surprisingly little slippage—they have managed to enforce this policy on the press, on the Republican propaganda machine, and on the girls themselves. Good for them.

From what little has leaked out, it seems that Jenna and Barbara are party girls, who like to drink and dance until the wee hours with aristocrats and frat boys. Jenna is interning for UNICEF in Latin America (not actually teaching kids, as originally reported, but involved somehow in education). The twins recently took a trip to Argentina. Their first night there, partying in Buenos Aires, Barbara lost her purse to a thief.

So, it would appear that George W. Bush's daughters are not Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton or Karenna Gore. So what? Are you surprised?

Nevertheless, there is a war on. It's a war that has killed 3,000 Americans, most of them around Jenna and Barbara's age or younger. It has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis of all ages. And even more Americans and Iraqis have been injured, lost limbs, suffered excrutiating pain. President Bush can be quite eloquent in talking about the sacrifices of American soldiers and—he always adds—their families. In the Reagan style that has become almost mandatory, he uses anecdotes. He talks of Marine 2nd Lt. Frederick Pokorney Jr.: "His wife, Carolyn, received a folded flag. His two-year old daughter, Taylor, knelt beside her mother at the casket to say a final goodbye." And of Staff Sgt. Lincoln Hollin, who "in his last letter home from the Middle East … said how much he appreciated getting mail from his family. He added, 'I wish my truck and boat knew how to write.' "

Bush says truly, about the American dead, "They did not yearn to be heroes. They yearned to see mom and dad again and to hold their sweethearts and to watch their sons and daughters grow. They wanted the daily miracle of freedom in America, yet they gave all that up and gave life itself for the sake of others."

Living your life according to your own values is a challenge for everyone, and must be a special challenge if you happen to be the president. No one thinks that the president should have to give up a child to prove that his family is as serious about freedom as these other families he praises. But it would be reassuring to see a little struggle here—some sign that the Bush family truly believes that American soldiers are dying for our freedom, and it's worth it. Who knows? Maybe they have had huge arguments about this. Maybe George and Laura wanted the girls to join the Red Cross, or the Peace Corps, or do something that would at least take them off the party circuit for a couple of years. And perhaps the girls said no. But I doubt this scenario, don't you?

The opposite approach to this question is taken by Jim Webb, the incoming senator from Virginia. Webb seems to believe that because he served in Vietnam, anyone who could have but didn't should shut up. That includes people who opposed that war—that is, who got it right—as well as those who supported it. Webb's son is serving in Iraq now, and—in a gesture that would throw Dr. Freud for a loop—Webb wears the son's combat boots. At a White House reception for new members of Congress, Webb avoided the receiving line, and then, when Bush came up and asked him how his son was doing, he basically told the president to flake off. Webb's self-righteousness can be obnoxious. But at least he is being morally serious.

At first it seemed like a brilliant strategy—repellent, but brilliant—to isolate most Americans from the cost of the war in Iraq. It's starting to seem a lot less so. As the deaths and injuries mount, more and more people are touched by the war—and become understandably resentful of those who are not. Bush, in his speeches, is eloquent about what no one doubts—the sacrifice—but banal about what most people have come to doubt: the purpose.

But no amount of eloquence can overcome the bald contrast between that rhetoric and how his own family lives. His daughters are over 21, and he can't control them, but that doesn't let them off the hook. They are now independent moral actors, and their situation requires that they either publicly oppose their father's war or do something to support it. Is it unfair to expect Jenna and Barbara to shape their lives around their father's folly? Of course it's unfair. If this is war, then unfairness comes with the territory.