Political families

John Dickerson:

The president and Dick Cheney should have a wide zone of privacy when it comes to their families. Their daughters didn't ask to enter the political echo chamber, and so they shouldn't be forced to live in it. (Though, the Bush twins did speak at the 2004 Republican convention, and a Cheney daughter worked at the State Department.)

Allow me to suggest that the Bush twins weren't forced to speak at the Republican convention against their will. And that Liz Cheney probably had some "help" getting the job that she "asked for" at the "State Department". And that, on top of everything, Mary Cheney has worked publicly on behalf of her father, who heads what some might call an atypical family (vice-president and whatnot). Why on earth should these people be given a wide birth of privacy when they know full well that, when they can take that privacy for granted, they will use it however they can to do no good.

Comments

[zimmerman]

The president and Dick Cheney should have a wide zone of privacy when it comes to their families. Their daughters didn't ask to enter the political echo chamber, and so they shouldn't be forced to live in it. (Though, the Bush twins did speak at the 2004 Republican convention, and a Cheney daughter worked at the State Department.) There is bipartisan agreement on this. The Clintons defined the modern standard with their zealous protection of Chelsea Clinton. At the same time, they didn't use the privacy rationale to fend off legitimate policy questions. When they were asked why they'd sent their daughter to a private school, despite their advocacy for public ones, the Clintons explained their thinking.

It's easy to understand the president's impulse during his press conference. Making the private reference to the reporters' children helped make his case in the most human terms possible. But he's got to get, then, why other people make the same move. Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq, asked the president if he'd talked about the war with his daughters and why they weren't serving. It's hard to imagine that the president and Mrs. Sheehan would ever have anything in common, but it seems that now, they do.

[Andrew]

dumb ass. You didn't read the piece. You are a very stupid person. Amazing.

[anon]

John Dickerson is sometimes a tool, but not in this piece. All evidence of toolage is pointing your way.

Try not to read with a preconceived of what you are about to read. That will be the death of us reality based liberals no matter how many lesser bloggers and pundits appear to get away with it successfully.

[JimPortlandOR]

Dickerson: The president and Dick Cheney should have a wide zone of privacy when it comes to their families. Their daughters didn't ask to enter the political echo chamber, and so they shouldn't be forced to live in it. (Though, the Bush twins did speak at the 2004 Republican convention, and a Cheney daughter worked at the State Department.) There is bipartisan agreement on this.

All children are not exempt from public discussion, and their is no bipartisan agreement to exemp them. Dickerson is fudging, as is seen by his parenthetical remark (emphasis added).

If the children want privacy (or their parents want it for minor-age children, and don't exploit them beyond the occasional on-stage presence at rallies), then they should have privacy.

But if the children take a political appointment, or make public remarks on policy issues, then they have pierced the veil of privacy and they are subject to political comment. Or they should be.

There is no privacy priviledge for those who are public actors - for their public acts and words. Wolk Blitzer asked a reasonable question and Cheney was/is a hypocrite, and not just in this instance. His whole family is part of the GOP apparatus to varying degrees, particularly his wife and Liz, but Mary as well. You can't have it both ways.

Consider this: On some level, the parent in everyone recoils when you start talking about the other guy's kid, even though Mary is 35, and is in charge of operations at her father's campaign office.

So, spare us the 'kid' thing, she's almost into middle age, and has functioned in a highly political role.

[JimPortlandOR]

oops, sorry for not closeing the italics tag.

[anon]

Next time Brian and Jim, you should ask Dickerson to pretty please add smileys to his work so that you two can understand sarcasm when you read it.

In the meantime, both of you should refrain from use sarcasm or snark on your blogs. Clearly you don't understand it.