I didn’t start this thread because of them being underage and drinking - I started this thread because I can’t really believe that someone could be so completely, utterly, and without reservation as stupid as Jenna Bush. Let’s recap:
You are the daughter of the President of the United States. You know (or should suspect) that anything you say or do is going to be srutinized within an inch of its life. One month ago you were caught with alcohol, which, like it or not, is against the law in the Great State of Texas (of which, conicidentally, your father, the President, used to be governor). Your father, during his run for office, had to endure questions about his use of alcohol and narcotics. Put this all together and I’d say you have a very good reason for being particularly careful if you’re going to do anything with alcohol. Does this Yellow Rose of Texas, this little desert flower (to quote H. I. in “Raising Arizona”)do this?
HELL NO!
And to say it isn’t newsworthy is a load of horseshit of the hightest order.
This is newsworthy? How so? I’d really like to hear your rationale.
The national budget is newsworthy. Reports on crime trends are newsworthy. Reports on natural disasters are newsworthy.
Teenagers sneaking drinks? I don’t buy it. It’s nothing but gossip. It’s just as newsworthy as what color J-Lo’s underwear is.
This isn’t a leave Poor George alone plea, either. I voted for the other guy. It seems to me though that for eight years I spent a lot of time saying “judge our president by his job performance not on gossip.” I’m practicing what I preached.
Well, in case you’ve haven’t noticed, this is still in MPSIMS. Bullshit all ya want, I don’t care. I don’t think anyone’s posts are enough to justify moving it anywhere. However, the flavor of the OP, to me, tastes more like a mild rant, but since we have a thread touching on this subject already in the Pit (as well as two other forums, GQ and GD), I’ve left it here for. And we now have a kind of corroboration from the topic starter that this indeed is, a mild rant. I apologize if you feel I’m trying to squelch the general bullshitting; that was not my intention.
Indeed, plnnr, let’s recap.
You are the President of the United States. You know (or should suspect) that anything you say or do is going to be srutinized within an inch of its life. One month ago you were caught straying from the bounds of marital fidelity, which, like it or not, is against the general morals of the public in the Great State of Arkansas (of which, conicidentally, you, yourself, used to be governor). You, during your run for office, (as well as after your election) had to endure questions about this pattern of behavior. Put this all together and I’d say you have a very good reason for being particularly careful if you’re going to do anything with infidelity again.
newsworthy -,w<insert schwa here>r-the\adj (1932): sufficiently interesting to the general public to warrant reporting (as in a newspaper) - Webster’s Ninth New Collegiat Dictionary (1983)
I think that’s a pretty good description of this story given all of the circumstances. Does it have the same impact as the Federal budget? No, of course not. But to say that it shouldn’t be reported (which, I think, unnewsworthy, means) is, again, horseshit.
And this isn’t just a teenager. This is a public figure who had a similar instance occur JUST LAST MONTH.
Gossip? No, the color of J-Los underwear is gossip. The President’s daughter breaking the law, twice in a month, for related offenses, is news.
Just bring back Jack and Susan Ford. At least they smoked pot in the White House. Now that’s an interesting idea.
“Hey, Susan, like, let’s go goof on the Secret Service.” “Sure, cough, cough, let me finish this bowl first.”
(Aside to Tío Cerveza: Hi! The Beefyhubby is wonderful - it was one year on Monday, if you can believe that. And that little trick, sir, was Sneaky McSneakersons of you. Of course, it’s difficult to categorize a 19-year-old who is, legally, an adult but is still emotionally and financially dependent on his/her parents.)
No apologies necessary at all. I don’t think you’re trying to squelch a darned thing. And you’re right, the OP certainly seems at least a little bit like a rant (and that was borne out with the OP’s follow-up post). I was referring to people who were taking some other posts more seriously than I believe they were intended to be taken; since this is, after all, MPSIMS, it seems to me that it would be perfectly okay not to take things seriously here. (And I agree with you in that the thread probably belongs here, since there’s so many other threads covering the same general ground, if not the exact same specific ground.)
Far be it from me to defend Bill’s behavior, Uncle Beer. That move was certainly stupid in its own right.
A bit of a rant? Sure, guilty as charged. At the time I didn’t realize related threads had been started in other forums, and I’m actually more interested in the “laughableness” (to coin a phrase) of the entire episode.
Not to get all Great Debatesey or anything (yuck!), but what’s the value of mentioning Slick Willie’s blowjob in a thread which exists to snicker at President DWI’s Dumb Dora of a daughter? Geez, did I bring up Nixon over and over during the Oval Office Oral Sex slugfests?
Well, all right then. Nixon. Nixon. Nixonnixonnixon.
What about all this B.S. about Dubya bringing back respect and morals to the Whitehouse? That was one of his promises, how well is he performing in that area? If you can’t control your kids, how are you going to control a nation?
And as for Chelsea…
Most people on this board would seem to take a girl with brains anyday. Let’s see, UT vs. Stanford(?) Public vs. Private… I’ll take Chelsea thank you very much.
Take them where? If you mean as a girlfriend, I’d have to think both brains and beauty would have to factor into it somehow. People who say that looks don’t matter at all - and I’m not saying you’re one of them! - usually turn around and date the ugly-but-smart one.
wrong. as a parent, one has some ability to help nurture a responsable adult from the wee one. By the age of 19, you have no more control over your child than you have control over the tides. And trust me, I’m not a Bush supporter.
Ms. Bush at this point should have known that hers is the most recognizably under 21 face in greater Texas. But, as young people often do, she tried to pull one anyhow.
As far as press reports - I think it crosses the line if the press should report something like an argument w/her boyfriend or her mid term grades. But frankly, convictions are public records. Noting before they’re made the objection ‘but she hasn’t even been charged…’ yes, however, in many, many, many cases both public figures and private, have had the spotlight put on them before criminal charges officially are charged. (do we remember that Richard Jewell if that was his name, the Olympic guard? Robert Downey Jr.? one public, one not, one eventually charged, the other not)
On the other hand, if you can’t control your kids, that pretty much makes you like every other parent on the planet.
Teenaged girls acting like teenaged girls isn’t news. Unless of course those teenaged girls’ father is really famous. And then you get to cast aspersions on said famous person. It just sounds awfully petty to me.
Like I said before, I thought right-wingers’ pettiness toward Bill Clinton was rediculous. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Left-wingers’ pettiness toward George W. is equally rediculous.
Well, yeah, but “suspicion of attempted misdemeanor alcohol possession by a minor in a restaurant?” That ain’t exactly the Less Than Zero stuff that Robert Downey was doing. And even at his worst, he didn’t get the full front covers of both New York Tabloids.
Cripes, I don’t even think Monica ever made the covers of both in the same day!
I don’t even see this as mostly a dem/rep thing – after all, the NY Post didn’t exactly endorse Nader! There’s something that’s making the press go after this girl a lot harder than she deserves, and I’m not sure what it is.
Back in the olden days I too drank when I was not of age. BUT I did it in secluded places. Not in a bar.
Hey Jenna , Let the secret service swat mosquito’s all night.
As far as comparing Bills indiscretions He didn’t do it in public.
Newsflash: [Banner Headline; 40pt type] 19-year-old does something stupid!
I agree that the daughter of the president being arrested or otherwise tangling with the law is news. I just don’t think that it is very important news, particularly based on the ubiquity of the infraction.
And I have to think it is stupider when adult politicians do equally stupid things without realizing that someone might be paying attention.
I guess my point is ‘authorities called in, expect news reports’. And it stands, IMHO. Same for example as Tom Greene and Drew Barrymore ended up in the news just 'cause their house burned down. No suspicion of any wrong doing.
Hell, if they’re at a frat party that gets busted for noise violations, I’ll expect to hear about it as well. Is it ‘major news’? no, but we’ll hear about it.
I agree that Ms. Bush did not ask to be in the public eye. I felt that stuff about how homely Chelsea was was uncalled for. The only thing that I think makes it newsworthy here is cops being called.
I think you guys are missing the irony here. In one of the other threads, someone pointed out that Jenna is being prosecuted under stiff laws against underage drinking, promoted and enacted by Texas Gov. George W. Bush:
Why? I could see if Bush were trying to get the law not to apply to her or something.
But the way I read it, she broke a law her dad signed and paid the assigned price. And now she stands accused of doing it again and once again will pay the assigned price if she is tried and convicted.
Modest irony, I guess. And it might make for some uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinners at the Bush ranch. But a political issue? I really don’t see it.
Let’s see…Caught drinking, garners national attention, does the same thing again within a matter of weeks. Stupid? Yes. But I think there’s more to this: defiance, rebellion, all the attention-getting devices that teens use, but perhaps she’s also trying to give Dad a message? Couldn’t have been too easy being raised by the moral compass of the free world.