Jenna Bush tells of her life-changing friendship (Reviewer slips in criticism of Geo Bush )

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ^ | 10/27/2007 | MARY-LIZ SHAW

[driftless2]

"AIDS crisis"

I automatically tune out anything Big Media says about AIDS or birth control. Back in the eighties they (AIDS activists) actually had the nerve to blame Reagan for the spread of AIDS. It was like an arsonist with a can of gasoline pouring it on a raging fire they had lit accusing someone else of starting the blaze.

[EdJay]

“As the privileged daughter of President Bush, jetting routinely between the spread in Texas and the little place up in Maine, Jenna Bush could have done whatever she wanted.
These reporters are disgusting. Bush lives very modestly in an environmentally friendly house. This is known as a “spread”. The Maine house is her grandfather’s.”

Seems to me, if you read the whole article, the reviewer is trying to say favorable things about Jenna. The reviewer is saying, Jenna COULD spend all her time at one or both of two very nice places, she COULD routinely jet back and forth — but she ISN’T. The reviewer goes on to say what she has been doing: working at a charter school, volunteering with UNICEF, etc.
I think we should reserve our indignation for pieces that are attacks on the people we admire — there are plenty of that type of article, but this is really not one of them.
As for the houses in Texas and Maine — I don’t know about your standards, but both of those are very nice real estate indeed. I don’t think it’s a misnomer to characterize Jenna Bush as a privileged young woman. All credit to her to want to transcend that privileged status — I think that is what the piece is saying.

[Popman]

....jetting routinely between the spread in Texas and the little place up in Maine,...

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the "little place up in Maine" which actually belongs to Bush I much larger than the Crawford "Texas spread"

[BigBobber]

Seems to me, if you read the whole article, the reviewer is trying to say favorable things about Jenna.

In no way is the reviewer trying to be favorable or even neutral.

What the reporter wrote:

"As the privileged daughter of President Bush, jetting routinely between the spread in Texas and the little place up in Maine, Jenna Bush could have done whatever she wanted."

What she could have written:

"As the daughter of President Bush, spending time between family homes in Texas and Maine, Jenna Bush could have done whatever she wanted."

See the difference? This kind of backhanded jabbing permeates the MSM. It's not innocent. And it makes me sick.

[irishjuggler]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the "little place up in Maine" which actually belongs to Bush I much larger than the Crawford "Texas spread"

I'm not sure about total acreage, but I just finished reading Clarence Thomas' new book, and he mentions being surprised about how modest the Maine digs were when he went there on the day he was nominated to the Supreme Court. Based on media reports, Thomas was expecting a lavish compound, but he suggests that the reality there was quite ordinary.