Jenna Bush: "It's Not Even A Practical Question" To Ask Why I'm Not In Iraq

Time:

The following Q&A With Jenna Bush is from Time Magazine's weekly 10 Questions feature where readers submit questions online.

Below is a question from Donald Pence, San Francisco about Jenna Bush service in Iraq.

If the war in Iraq is so noble, why aren't you and your sister serving our country there?

Jenna Bush: I understand that point, but there are many ways to serve our country, and I think my skills are better suited for teaching and representing the U.S. in Latin America through unicef. I respect the men and women of our country who are over there fighting. It is an unbelievably selfless thing to do. But if people really thought about it, they would know it's not even a practical question.

Read the whole story: Time

Comments

[historian1900]

I know the post emphasized the question of whether Ms. Bush the younger should go to Iraq, but I wondered if anyone noticed her emphasis on sex education to prevent aids. I have to wonder how that p.o.v. goes over in the bosom of her family? Doesn't Daddy insist on "abstinence only" programs. She says she's uninterested in all that old "policy" stuff, but doesn't she realize that she's advocating programs that her father's own administration strives to stop? Good thing she has no interest in politics. She'd have a hell of a time knowing the difference between her friends and her enemies.

[Captain EdwardGraham]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luLGWaEVJhs&mode=related&search= Heil Bu$h

[lennilenape]

Captain:

I've been pretty rough on you over the months and I still hold you in suspect, but this is a good one. I give you credit for keeping your eyes open.

[TimN]

Jenna Bush is absolutely correct on many different levels. It is not a practical question.

If you look at the military careers of John McCain or Prince Harry it is obvious that children of politicians and high ranking officers serving in the military are often treated with caution by their superiors, envy by their peers and suspicion by the press. Though it is not impossible to serve as a child of an important politician it does take someone with a hard charging and resilient personality, and even this doesn't entirely mitigate the detrimental effect their presence has on the morale of a unit.

This bashing of Jenna Bush is all part of the false argument that in order to support the war you must either serve or have served. Often I hear the progressive commenters at HuffPo hypocritically target neoconservatives with the meaningless term 'chickenhawk'. President Bush (who did serve) is referred to as a 'chickenhawk' and yet John Edwards and Hillary Clinton (who didn't serve and also voted for the authorization to use force) are not. By this logic, for a citizen to support the war he must not only have served, but must also have been in battle, preferably wounded - oddly this rule does not apply to progressives whether or not they have renounced their support for the war or not. Of course, all of this is nonsense.

The reality is that all American citizens have the right to vote and currently we have an all-volunteer military (please don't give me any crap about Stop Loss - it's in the f--ing contract). Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt (spare me - he didn't get polio until the age of 39) and Bill Clinton did not serve and yet they sent Americans to their deaths. Still, nobody calls them 'chickenhawks'. Of course not - they were all Democrats.

But I digress.

The Iraq War is noble and Jenna Bush's service is not required for her support.

[ManipulatedByMedia]

Noble?

[BWonka]

"The Iraq War is noble"

Oh, grow up. You sound like a 5th grader. War is NOT noble - neither is cowardice, a trait shown by all of the G.W. Bu$h family.

Bet YOU never had the courage to serve!

[TimN]

You just lost your bet.

[BobK]

Noble??? Tim - the truth here. How many folks are you urging to go and sign up for military service?
If you're not currently serving, just WHAT ARE YOU DOING in the intrest of this "Noble" boondoggle?

[TimN]

How many folks am I urging to sign up for military service?

One. My son.

What am I doing in the interest of this Noble effort?

I completed my 22 year enlisted military career three years ago. Currently, I am working as a computer security and intelligence analyst for the government.

[boomer1949]

Tim, Tim, Tim, Tim, Tim...

What planet are you on?

Occupying a country for it's oil and to be closer to Iran is not the least bit noble. There was nothing noble about the lies, deceit, and manipulation we were force-fed to put us there in the first place.

Get real!

[TimN]

I take it you don't own a car and you live in a teepee.

[artisagitation]

hey Timn- do you really believe that line of crap you are feeding??
it aint a war - it's an illegal occupation, you know, those wacky geneva conventions that Americans conceived of, and all...
you are so keen on making sure that we all know how republican you are, what about where you stand on legality, tim? or should we just assume that you agree with our 'dear leader'- see verbatim comic at-
http://www.redstateupdate.net/verbatim/v6-4.html
Question-are there any other Americans out there who are sick of jingoistic jarheaded jackasses pretending that their blood thirst and warmongering has something to do with patriotism as opposed to being a sign of a dangerous psychosis?
grow up timmy! or get some help...
"There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy." Lao Tzu

[TimN]

It was a lawful invasion made legal by Saddam's violation of 17 UN resolutions each of which specified an armed response if violated.

[fourex]

Jenna is right it's not a practical question or a realistic question. People of privilege have others do this for them, fight their wars, cook their meals, tie their shoes and wipe their asses. It's a very silly question.

[Thalia]

I think she meant that it is not practical for children of US Presidents to go fight, esp. in a war like this.

Just as Prince Harry was not allowed to go because he would have been a particularly special target and put others in his units in extra harm's way, so would it be with the child of the US president, even moreso in fact.

[hjo4]

think she meant that it is not practical for children of US Presidents to go fight, esp. in a war like this.

Just as Prince Harry was not allowed to go because he would have been a particularly special target and put others in his units in extra harm's way, so would it be with the child of the US president, even moreso in fact.

Are you fuckin nuts or just plain stupid.

[TheHandyman]

BS! Ask Prince Henry about how he felt about that decision! He was very unhappy about it and did not like the fact that his unit was going without him. That decision was made without his families input. England, unlike the US, expects it's Royal Family to serve in any military endeavor. Jenna, on the other hand, hides behind the notion and uses it to excuse herself! That's the difference between believing and supporting what your countries goals are and using excuses to hide from your duty. The all volunteer Army was created to suck the poor into doing what the middle and upper class did not want to do...die for their countries stupid foreign policy and wars of exploitation!

[lennilenape]

I usually agree with you T:

We all, who think, try to give the benefit of the doubt, but there is no doubt here. At least in the perspective of "I think she meant..." She meant no such thing as you describe - others have said that. If you want to give her an excuse, just say that. You can be honest with most of us.

[rfa3232]

I AM SURE MANY OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN IRAQ WOULD RATHER BE USING THEIR GIFTS INSTEAD OF SERVING, IN TEACHING PERHAPS

[Dejack]

Not practical?

Jenna, tell Pops he started a very impractical war!

[pleeezzze]

LITTLE BUSHBOT looks PREGNANT, unless she's just gaining, from all the BOOZE she likes to drown in !!!!

[Crozier]

Well, as you know, I, Jenna Bush, am part of an elite Yankee Brahmin social register, since all the ancestors in my family tree were Revolutionary War participants. I was born in TX because my great-great grandfather, Herbert Walker, and great-grandfather, Prescott Bush sent grandpa and grandma to start Zapata Oil.

You see, unlike those poor underclass women and those Academy officer career women, I was born to a privileged womb. Our duty and responsibility is to rule over the working folk of our land, and to live a celebrity life that all will envy while they read all they can about us. Just think of us as the royalty and nobility that you lost after George III.

George II is my father, and as they say, the King is dead, Long live the King..

[noamjunior]

Jenna wouldn't make a good soldier at all
she exposes her flank too much
http://www.thenewsvault.com/cgi/news.pl?t=185

[barrycourage]

Wrong.

She could be a professional flank exposer for the U.S.O. Tour the bases and camps--anywhere soldiers are deployed--and give shows.

If she can sing, great. Malfunctioning costumes and Broadway show tunes could pull it together.

If she can't sing, even better--moaning and panting would make for a better act.

If she can act, she could recreate scenes from The Exorcist, Carrie, and Basic Instinct.

She would be providing a vital service for our Men and Women (especially the lesbians and bisexuals) on duty.

[MI6troll]

She first needs to find out which Tits-R-Us store Thompson's wife uses.

[Maxx61]

Many of my liberal friends are misguided. If you want Americans to leave Iraq and come home, it would seem inconsistent in thought to demand the presence of one in particular.

Don't let your justified anger towards Bush affect common sense. The President's daughter is no more a soldier than Chelsea Clinton. Until there is a draft, young people exercise their freedom to serve their country by choosing other avenues which in Jenna's case (UNICEF) is commendable. It does NOT make her any less of an American because military service is not in her career path and this is coming from a retired military man.

[TheHandyman]

Do you think that people are born soldiers. Do these babies have little guns and uniforms on when they are born. No one in the military knew how to be a soldier until they enlisted. Jenna can learn as well as anyone else. And the on the job training will determine whether you get a pass or As a retired military man, would you think that the war you were fighting was really that critical to your country if all the wealthy and especially the President and his family didn't give their all too? I'm a Viet Nam Vet and I notice that almost to a man, everyone in this administration manage to keep their sorry asses from serving there.

[lennilenape]

Hey Handyman:

I think if it were possible, someone (anyone) could pull all the republicans in congress and the senate together, along with their extended families, and they could make up a good size regiment (old "retired military man" knows what that is) a regiment, and show us all how it is done.

Oops, I guess they did that and we are seeing the results. So much for that idea. (No, I wasn't thinking of putting old codgers into combat, but they must have brothers, sisters with sons, nephews, nieces and so on -- I know this is a stupid post, but the righties will get it)

[Thalia]

If Jenna or Barbara were to enlist and go to Iraq, they'd be no less victims of their father's and his veep's lies than anyone else.

This is a ridiculous story.

[GrouchoMarxist]

Agreed. It's much ado about nothing.

[JohnKemp]

What?

"Jenna's talents are much better used by serving her country on her knees."

Did that comment come from you, or is their another GrouchoMarxist?

[RedRover]

I can think of nothing more fascinating than a rich 20 year old pontificating on the meaning of life, gleaned from all their years of "experience".

[ang4ever]

Victims ? - their looting will be much bigger of the people's money, as their father, Cheney and his company, Blackwater and the rest of the profiteers of the war.
.
No question about that.

[wmbear]

IF JENNA OR BARBARA WENT TO IRAQ...

They'd get more close air support than John McCain....

[nutty4tahoe]

When Jenna Bush declares that the ole man should be impeached, that's when she'll get me to pay attention to her. The real question here is: why would anyone give a care what Jenna Bush says about absolutely anything (or what any Bush says for that matter)????? Please deliver me from any Bush or Bush demon spawn..... an argument for abortion if there ever was one.

[nancytheragingliberal]

Ha, who is she kidding? She sounds like old, "five deferments Cheney", when asked about service during the horror Vietnam years, he said, "I had other priorities­." Sure, Dick and Jenna, it is called keeping your asses alive, but you can send all of the other poor kids out to die or be maimed. (Sorry...R­un-on sentence). Would you get this spawn of the dictator off of HuffPO? It is getting old..Tired of looking at her and any other Bush. Haven't they screwed up the world enough?

[noamjunior]

Jenna certainly does have "other Priorities"
http://www.thenewsvault.com/cgi/news.pl?t=185

[freespeach]

So this mindless story still gets top billing on page 1 at fluffington post. Nice.

Two hit pieces in the last few days hammering Che Guevara.

Rachel Sklar babbling on like a school girl about mass media idiots backstabbing each other, doing her best to make it sound important.

Now we have some greedy little stock broker piece of shit rationalizing his support for Chevron in Burma.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-neubert/a-protest-against-chevron_b_68120.html

Unfuckingbelievable how corporate this site has become.

Of course all stories on the crucial FISA bill topic are buried or gone now because they may hurt the almighty Democratic party.

If anyone cares enough about Burma to read the dogshit piece from this corporate shill Neubert, you may want to check this one out from a real progressive site.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101107A.shtml

I sent back my Chevron card and told them to GFY. fluffpost shill Nuebert advises you to keep making those profits. Disgusting.

[drblack]

At the top of these comments someone thought that attacking Iraq for Oil was justified.
Iraq would sell their oil to the US no matter what. OPEC has total control over oil and will make money off anyone.
If Reagan had not dismantled the search for alternative energy we may not have needed much oil. he was so against alternatives to fossil fuels he had the solar panels ripped from the White House.
Even though American's have gone backward as far as scientific expertise goes(bloody superstitious Xtians) we can still develop alternative energy which would be good economically, Environmentally and Strategically.
This idiot move by Reagan will be what defines him in the future: the president who stalled alternative energy and almost wrecked America.