Reply #69: I don't know her personally, if that's what you're getting at.

[July]

I do take an interest in the Bush and Cheney families, so I know what's been reported about them. So far, not impressed.

I'm not sure how long exactly she worked in a school (NOT as a teacher, as the article about her book claimed), but I think it fell short of "a few years." Possibly two. I haven't read that she "went to work with the less fortunate," so why don't you tell me about that? Where, when, for how long?

I do think she's done worse than "90% of college students," in part because she seemed to fail to recognize, after living as a member of a prominent family all of her life and as the daughter of someone who had already been a governor before he squatted in the White House, that she was highly visible and could embarrass her parents. I had some fun in college, but if I knew that photographers might follow me and embarrass my family, I'm quite sure I'd have made different choices than those J. Bush has made. What's been reported about her suggests that, like her father, she thinks rules and good manners are for the little people. A sense of decorum doesn't escape all children of presidents, but perhaps there is a different rule for children of (p)residents. The fact that Jenna and Barb spoke in support of their father during the 2004 campaign also suggests to me that Jenna is on board with Dad's nasty agenda -- for me, that's another strike against her. She could have sat that out, but she made her choice, and it was a bad one.

I've already said that if Bush's book has a positive effect, I'll be glad. AIDS is very, very personal to me. Just don't expect me to be impressed with someone who's acted like a privileged brat so far. Her hope that her book will have an influence like The Diary of Anne Frank is arrogant and deluded. That book has been taught in high schools for years because it is so powerful and well-written (by someone younger than JB). She must have tons of faith in her writing skills.

If you care about helping people with AIDS, we're on the same team. But I don't have to give Jenna Bush credibility she hasn't earned until her puffy statements about her book are supported by someone (actually, by many someones) other than her.