After reading this, I feel really sorry for Jenna and Barbara

[CatWoman]

As the family began to discuss whether George should run for president, the girls were adamant in their opposition. Both would be in college before the election. They would never have to live in the White House or attend school in Washington, as Chelsea Clinton had done from age 12. But that calculus didn't move them. To Jenna and Barbara, it was clear that their emancipation from the strictures of living at home would coincide exactly with the arrival of a Secret Service detail to their college dormitories.

The Bushes were heartened by the way the media had been protective of Bill and Hillary Clinton's only child. "We felt like the press had given Chelsea Clinton the opportunity to have privacy, to have a private life," Laura said. And they determined that they would not burden their girls with heavy expectations about their role as Bushes. The only lesson they wanted to impart to their children, Bush said during the presidential campaign, was "that I love you. I love you more than anything. And therefore, you should feel free to fail or succeed, and you can be anything you want in America."

When inauguration day arrived, Jenna and Barbara dressed to be noticed in trendy expensive outfits by Texas-born designer Lela Rose and sexy stiletto-heeled knee-high Jimmy Choo boots. When the moment came for the actual swearing-in, the 19-year-old girls fidgeted toward the edge of their chairs, then stood up, unsure how to behave. It fell to President Clinton, who gave each of them a gentle nudge toward their parents, and still they stood there, shoulders slumped, looking at their toes. Finally, their grandmother Barbara Bush, seated behind them, had seen enough. In one swift, practiced gesture, she reached forward to her granddaughters, first one, then the other. She put her thumbs between their shoulder blades and used her fingers to pull their shoulders up and back. The message was clear: Stand up straight! Remember who you are! We are Bushes, and Bushes stand up straight.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60732-2004Jan6.html

[Catherine Vincent]

1. I think they are just embarassed that their father holds the

highest office in the US. They know deep down he's not worthy.

[jonnyblitz]

2. Barbara Bush

I keep thinking about Al Franken discussing his encounter with her on a plane and what he subsequently found out about her from Washington insiders when he asked. She isn't the sweet matronly woman everyone is lead to believe she is.

[BiggJawn]

5. Who's "everyone"?

I think everyone here knows what kind of mean-spirited delussions-of-royalty-infested old bitch she is.

Reminds me of my ex mother-in-law. she drove her second husband to drink, I'm sure of it.

[Timefortruth]

28. What did Al say about his encounter?nt

[CatWoman]

31. It's a chapter in his book

he met her on an airplane, was seated next to her.

Came away with the impression that she is a nasty, venomous, ill-tempered woman.

[0007]

41. Didn't Nixon refer to Barbara Bush as a nasty bitch?

:hi:

[CatWoman]

44. Jerry!!!

I believe he did!!!

:hi:

Funny how even right wingers don't like this bruised blood clan :D

[calimary]

38. They were in the First Class section together. And First Class does NOT

describe her behavior.

It struck me while reading it that if it had been Hillary Clinton or maybe Betty Ford or somebody, hell, even Nancy Reagan, she would have been up to the joke, and probably would have played along and had some fun with it. Queen Bitch Bar apparently doesn't have a sense of humor, especially for those she considers beneath her (probably most of us on the planet).

Franken introduced himself and made a lame political joke or two, and she turned her czarina imperious nose up at him and pushed him off with a dismissive wave of her hand and said "I'm through with you." Really, a snappy one-liner would have been MUCH more appropriate, and she's certainly big enough (!) to take it as she dishes it out.

Franken tried several times later to apologize and joke her out of it, and EVERY time, her colder-than-the-Arctic response was "I told you. I'm through with you."

The story made me conclude: "Yeah, Bar, we're through with YOU, too!" Examining her behavior tells me whole libraries of information on her spawn.

[PaDUer]

40. Does the wicked witch of the west

think everyone's going to take her BS and lie for her also?!

[LiberalFighter]

29. That's right!! She is the "Queen Bitch"

[PaDUer]

39. Franken's right...

she's the worse of the gang and is transparent. The media would have a field day with the goings-on of the twins. To put it lightly, they're "party girls". I read somewhere that one of the twins attended one of the protests against him, does anyone have the info on this??

[Demobrat]

3. I have always felt sorry for the twins.

I was a bit of a wild child myself, and think their antics are nothing unusual. They're beautiful young college women who want to party. Big deal.

[Faygo Kid]

4. They come across as spoiled brats

Read the article in today's Post in its entirety. They come off as vapid and unintelligent, but very spoiled. Like their parents, most uncurious about the world around them. What else would we expect? Hopefully they will remain anonymous, as they have little to contribute. More interested here in people that age making a difference, standing up for what they believe or serving overseas as fodder for the greater glory of Bush.

[Gin]

12. god...I hope they remain anonymous.....one empty headed puppet

in the body of politics let alone the white house is enough for me.

this family gives plant life a bad name.

[xultar]

6. I don't feel bad, they are BRATS. We've all had to behave for

our parents. Dress nice because someone from mom or dads work is coming over for dinner.

If I behaved like that when I went to Paris with my parents they woulda sent my ass back home. Why fight with your child to have them look nice when they arrive in Paris. Think of all the kids who don't get to go to Paris who would behave better than they do. At least she coulda fixed up a little bit.

And what were they talking about...The media treated Chelsea well. Remember that SNL skit and how reporters talked about how she was ugly and her hair.

Puhleez. If the twins had a 1/4th of the class that Chelsea had they'd only be good enough to take a trip to Mississippi.

[Afraid of My Shadow]

7. I feel sorry for them too.

Also I think this article - book isn't great for Democrats, if the author is a Democrat. I dont' care who's in the WH, you don't bash the children. I don't care.

reread: I guess the article is more about the parents than the kids, but still. And even this: "Their gratitude was so deep and persistent that over time, it seems to have turned into indulgence." Who is this person to say?

The whole thing just feels like judging and I hate that, again I don't care who is being judged.

[CatWoman]

8. *body snaps erect*

I'm sorry, you have thrown me for a serious loop.

What is your point??? Also I think this article - book isn't great for Democrats, if the author is a Democrat.

What does the author's political persuasion have to do with anything?

Perhaps you are more in tune with the Mellon Scaife School of Journalism?

Are you saying that what the author has written is untrue because she may be a Democrat?

Help me out here.

[Afraid of My Shadow]

16. no

All I'm saying is: Bash anything the Bushies and the GOP hold sacrosanct, and liberals will pay for it.

And, all I'm saying is: I wish people leave the daughters alone. Don't tell me "turnabout is fair play;" that doesn't work for me.

[CatWoman]

21. Holy Mother of God

no one is "bashing" anyone here.

It's a book -- fer Christs sake.

Read about the review and the author here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743243838//qid=1073499667/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-8583702-4056769?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews

Seems to be getting great reviews. You can't have fluffy clouds and marshmellows surrounding EVERY facet of your life.

Oh wait -- that's all this administration is about -- the ILLUSION of marshmellows and fluffy clouds.

And you know what -- fuck the right wing -- they made a cottage industry out of bashing the left. I don't know what the author's political persuasion is. But answer this: How many people were gainfully employed during the Clinton years just by bashing the Clintons??

[Afraid of My Shadow]

26. to try to be more clear.

The article, and the book if the article reflects its content accurately, can be taken by the right wing, super-twisters, as "bush bashing." For example this snippet can be taken as the author trying to portray Bush as a weak father/home leader, a cardinal sin among fundies:

When, at 16, the twins demanded separate cars, their mother assented, and their father disagreed. "You can share one car," he said, "and learn to work together." It was one of his rare victories in an attempt to impose some limitations.

But as you said, f**k the right wing. I disagree on why to let them go spit, but I don't believe they represent what most U.S. citizens want their gov't to be like.

[CatWoman]

27. Again -- look at the reviews

and who are we to know that Laura Bush didn't fully coooperate with the author?

When you have to second guess each and every one of your actions and words, the terrorists have surely won.

[Afraid of My Shadow]

34. I agree

"When you have to second guess each and every one of your actions and words, the terrorists have surely won." By that standard, they're winning. I am terrified. But I'm going to speak out anyway.

I am no one to say whether L.B. cooperated or didn't cooperate. Maybe having been a right-wing fundy bastard I read from a different angle.

[MoonAndSun]

9. yesterday I posted an article about Laura Bush's biography and

was told that "we" shouldn't judge her, and what was my purpose in posting the article, and now we're being told not to "judge" the twins. So now we should not discuss anything concerning the wife and kids? Sorry, but I will discuss and post anything I consider interesting to myself and my fellow DUers.

[donsu]

15. right on

nt

[Afraid of My Shadow]

17. post away

"So now we should not discuss anything concerning the wife and kids?"

Go for it. I should've been clearer. In my opinion they ought to be off limits.

[PaDUer]

20. Absolutely...

Guess that person who doesn't like it being discussed forgot how the Clinton's were bashed and the lies being made about them..Each and every bushie and the current administration is fair game--as the saying goes, "if the shoe fits, wear it!"

[LiberalFighter]

33. Support you 250%

We have to judge because it differentiates us from what we feel is right and what is wrong.

If we remain silent about the actions of others then we condone it. And we tell others that their action(s) is acceptable. We tell others that whatever Bush's wife does, whatever Bush's kids do, whatever Bush's parents do is appropriate and is how everyone else should behave.

[Malva Zebrina]

45. Bravo

:toast:

Do not pay much attention to what anyone else tells you to do. Question everything. You know the right thing to do.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. Sorry, but Chelsea and Hillary were treated brutally by the right-wingers

for eight years. The Bushes are fair game, though I do kind of feel bad for the girls.

[CatWoman]

14. I still remember Rush Limbaugh calling Chelsea a dog

real class, that one............. :eyes:

[Afraid of My Shadow]

19. yes, they were

I still don't think "turnabout is fair play" is the right way to go. But I sure don't demand that no one else have at it. Not my place to do that.

[noonwitch]

32. They still are treated badly by the right wing.

The freepers are always alleging that Chelsea is the bio daughter of Web Hubbell, which is really cruel. The stuff they say about Hillary is just beyond belief-she's gay, but she was Vince Foster's and Web Hubbell's lover, she's a marxist, etc. Also, she's fat, which is what they say about every female liberal except Sheryl Crow.

That said, I'm a far better person than they are. I have sympathy for the Bush twins. I wouldn't have wanted my mom or dad to be president when I was that age. My dad was embarrassing enough, he can massacre the language as well as W can. So, I'm not going to trash two girls for doing the same stupid crap that I did in college and got away with, because I wasn't the child of famous people. We used to alter our driver's licenses all the time. They used to make them differently in Michigan, and all it took was some zit coverup and a good typewriter to change the 4 in 1964 to a 0.

[0007]

53. I was just going to bring up the Web Hubbell fathering of Chelsea

For Christ sake, for two solid months at the freeper site that was all these insane lunatics talked about. Even had photos showing how they resembled each other. And went on for years how Hillary was a lesbian, and was Vince Foster's lover and also the murderer Foster.

[LiberalFighter]

36. At least they haven't been in the news for awhile.

But that also means that they aren't doing anything worthwhile either. That is probably the best for them.

[Kanary]

58. Hi, Afraid of My Shadow!

Welcome to D.U.!

:hi: :hi: :hi:

:toast:


For what it's worth to you, I can really see your point. Yes, everything that was said about Hillary, and especially Chelsea, was in very bad taste, and just plain mean. But, I'd like to think that we're above returning evil for evil.

I guess it's the influence that Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Joan Baez and others have had on me..... I truly believe in non-violence, and that has to include verbal non-violence.

Kanary

[leftchick]

11. ma barker bush...

She creeps me out bigtime. I can't imagine having that nasty old bag as a relative...

:scared:

[King Coal]

35. Yeah, the First Lump must have it pretty bad

Al Franken says Barbara is the real bitch cum laude.

[Generic Other]

43. Her new official title!

That's funny. And captures her essence!

[Tactical Progressive]

13. Chelsea Clinton's treatment by the press

I seem to recall the most popular radio personality in the country calling an innocent, well-behaved adolescent Chelsea a "dog" to the whole country, which I think is probably the ugliest thing you could do to a teen-age girl.

And what was the name of that writer from William F. Buckley's 'National Review' - the most prestigious Conservative journal in America, not some shitty weblog - who said in an article that if America had any decency Chelsea Clinton should be murdered just because she has Bill and Hillary's genes?

This is the level of venality that America's right wing, protected fully by the mainstream media, inject into American politics.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

23. Disgusting, isn't it?

Poor Chelsea. And now look at her compared to the Bush girls. Chelsea started out with two intelligent parents, so maybe it's unfair to compare them.

[kskiska]

48. John Derbyshire

.

[kskiska]

18. Well, well, well

Finally the truth comes out about these girls. They'll be graduating from college this year, I believe. They're not exactly children anymore. How will the media cover them then? They're certainly not up to the Johnson girls, the Nixon girls, or Chelsea Clinton, regarding maturity.

Sounds like these parents are getting just what they deserve for not taking their kids into account before entering public life, especially since the girls clearly expressed their views about it.

[bmbmd]

22. You know why Clinton tried to help the girls at the inauguration?

Because the Clintons have class, and the Bush's dont.

[Malva Zebrina]

46. probably also because

Clinton understood their bewilderment and tried to help

[nini]

24. The way they treat the Secret Service Agents tells volumes ..

of their character.

They're spoiled little brats. But then that runs in the Bush family. I can't feel sorry for young women afforded every opportunity in life that cannot act like decent human beings.

[sendero]

25. Say WHAT?

>> "We felt like the press had given Chelsea Clinton the opportunity to have privacy, to have a private life," Laura said.

What a total deludinoid Laura Bush is.

[LiberalFighter]

37. She has got to be on Qualudes or Valium!

[skippysmom]

30. all i can say is...

..like father, like daughters. Vapid, uncurious, uncouth...

[nannygoat]

42. What's up with these paragraphs about Chelsea?

The author gets away with making claims that Chelsea got into jams without ever mentioning what those jams were...

<snip>
"The mainstream press honored the administration's request to not pry into the girls' lives. Their respective campus newspapers primly refused to cover them. But the tabloids had become intrigued. Jenna and Barbara, people quickly surmised, were not like the preceding first daughter.

During her years in the White House, rather than fleeing political life, Chelsea had seized it. She called her father's secretary and asked for a ticket to his State of the Union address. When her mother embarked on a tour of the most disadvantaged spots in India and Africa, she wanted to go along. Chelsea went to parties and drank and had boyfriends just like many other teenagers -- which is what Jenna and Barbara craved -- but Chelsea had a gift for keeping her mishaps out of the public eye. She cultivated the protection and support of other adults in the White House, and she treated her Secret Service agents with respect. Accordingly, they were more inclined to protect her when she got herself in jams."

[kskiska]

47. Kick! for the night crowd – Good read!

:kick:

[Bunny]

49. Who is this Ann Gerhart? And why is she writing such unfavorable

things about the Bush girls? Doesn't she remember what happened to the photographer who took that infamous picture of li'l Jenna falling down drunk? You know, the National Enquirer photog who was the first victim of the anthrax scare? This Gerhart woman should avoid small planes, hotel rooms, etc.

[CatWoman]

51. She's supposed to be Pickles' number one fan

Gerhart, who has been on the beat since Laura Bush assumed her unofficial office in 2001, is an unabashed fan. She describes the first lady in this first full-scale biography by a major-media journalist as an unpretentious woman who reluctantly got drawn into public life when she married. Mrs. Bush did not cooperate with the writing of the book but Gerhart says she had "excellent access" to Mrs. Bush in the course of her newspaper reporting. (Related item:Read an excerpt from The Perfect Wife)


http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2004-01-06-pefect-wife_x.htm

[Bunny]

52. With friends like that,

who needs enemies? I thought the article was altogether unflattering to all of that dreadful clan, but especially so to Laura, who seems to have been reluctant to impose any sort of discipline or common decency onto her demon spawn.

[Logansquare]

55. Robert Stevens, the first known victim of anthrax

was an editor for the Sun, and had nothing to do with the Jenna photo. I think the real fear the Bushes hold over others is the loss of careers and money.

[DrBB]

50. I got a lump in my throat reading that tender portrayal!

But then I hawked it out, so that was okay. I hate those.

Anyway, the point about Chelsea is she wasn't using fake IDs to get into bars, which does kinda get you noticed when you're the *pResident's kid.

And I guess Rush doesn't count as a member of "the media," as in "the media had been protective," etc. Oh, that's right, that picture of the dog was "a mistake."

[cally]

54. That article is scathing about Laura Bush

I can ignore the twins antics but Laura's behavior is horrible.

I can still remember when Chelsea Clinton went to college. It was on live and all of a sudden Chelsea left the roped area and hugged a man. Wow. It was one of her old Secret Service Agents who she had not seen in a long time. The Clintons have respect for all and make friends.

[hellhathnofury]

56. As a 17 year old high school senior, their behavior is atrocious.

I can understand wanting your own life and all that stuff. But I don't think they realize that the Secret Service agents would take a bullet for them. I know people like them though so it isn't that rare. I blame the parents.

[Corgigal]

57. Seems like the twins

don't believe they have to live by societies rules. Which may or may not be true but Laura needs to fight for these girls. It so much easier to be a parent and say lame statements like, "they are so fun to be with", instead of doing the harder tasks of being a parent. All parents have to rein in the kids now and then, if we love them we will.

Whatever males they get involved with already has my pity.