Michael Kinsley of the Washington Post Joins Operation Yellow Elephant!

OK, so he focused on Presidential twin daughters Jenna and not-Jenna, rather than all of those healthy heterosexual military-age Presidential nephews in the extended Bush clan, but the point is the same. Money quotes:

Sins of the Father

by Michael Kinsley

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Living your life according to your own values is a challenge for everyone, and it must be a special challenge if you happen to be the president. No one thinks that the president should have to give up a child to prove that his family is as serious about freedom as these other families he praises. But it would be reassuring to see a little struggle here -- some sign that the Bush family truly believes that American soldiers are dying for our freedom, and that it's worth it.

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But no amount of eloquence can overcome the bald contrast between [President Bush's] rhetoric and how his own family lives. His daughters are over 21, and he can't control them, but that doesn't let them off the hook. They are now independent moral actors, and their situation requires that they either publicly oppose their father's war or do something to support it. Is it unfair to expect Jenna and Barbara to shape their lives around their father's folly? Of course it's unfair. If this is war, then unfairness comes with the territory.

Let's welcome Michael Kinsley of the Washington Post to Operation Yellow Elephant!

Here's how one reader responded:

Sibling Rivalries

After reading the side-by-side op-eds on Dec. 5 -- Michael Kinsley's "Sins of the Father" and Richard Cohen's "How's Your War?" -- I decided there was a better possible retort from Sen.-elect James Webb (D-Va.) to President Bush's question. When Bush asked "How's your boy?" Webb should have replied: "It is tough serving in Iraq. And how are your girls?"

-- Priscilla K. Kirby
Oakton, VA, whom we also welcome to Operation Yellow Elephant.