Jenna and Barbara Bush
Two of the most recognized 19-year-olds in America, one with a fake ID, walk into a bar and try to buy booze, and a family intimate gets "the feeling people are out to get these young people." "What is wrong with this picture? Barbara and jenna Bush should be held responsible for their actions.
Diane J. Brown, Tucson
Do you think Jenna Bush hasn't done what a lot of students at the UT do? Give her a break! Yes, she made a stupid choice, but so do a lot of kids her age. My daughter attends UT, and if a manager of a restaurant or club called 911 every time someone presented a fake ID, the city of Austin would need an entirely separate set of 911 operators to take those calls.
Maureen Hurst, San Antonio
Shame! Shame on you! Where was your cover story when Al Gore's daughter was caught underage with an open beer? Where was your story when his son was arrested for driving 97 miles an hour? Do you and the rest of the media realize what fools you make of yourselves when you claim not to discriminate against the Republicans?
Pamela M. Hinton, Oxford, Conn.
Barbara and Jenna Bush are the daughters of a powerful world leader. Like it or not, the girls are living in a fishbowl. As a taxpayer who pays for their fishbowl and all its perks, I expect Barbara and Jenna to accept their role-model responsibilities with grace and honor.
Elaine Maylen, Novi, Mich.
Thank you for exposing the Bush girls and their attempts to make us believe that underage drinking is common among college students. It's comforting to know the media will be there when they continue with steps 2 and 3 of their crime wave: attempting to purchase cigarettes and making out in the backseat of a car.
Bill Hart, Canton, Ohio
If the Bush twins—and their family—want the media to treat them like Chelsea Clinton, maybe they should try behaving like Chelsea.
Deborah Gilbert, New York City
As a 19-year-old college student, I'm well aware that people my age party and drink at bars. However, I have never heard of anything so stupid as expecting to pass for someone else when you're the daughter of the President of the United States and have Secret Service agents surrounding you! I really feel sorry for President Bush, not just for all this negative publicity, but for his daughters' blatant disregard for his position.
Mariah Johnson, Albuquerque
I have one word for the Bush daughters: CANADA! Hey, girls, if you want to drink without any legal problems, come up to the Great White North. Nineteen is the legal drinking age up here. You're both adults. Come to Canada and be treated that way!
Grant Pollard, Waterloo, Ont.
The Bush girls haven't done anything that any other college-age young adults haven't done.
Anne Blount, via e-mail
Rogelio and Yolanda Garcia
To read about parents who would resort to combing trash to send their children to college is inspiring enough, but to see that the one son, Rogelio Jr., is attending MIT is absolutely amazing. I hope this family serves as a model to all those parents who think they can't give their kids a decent chance, those who moan and groan about the costs of college yet make salaries in the six digits, and especially anyone coming into this country thinking they haven't got a chance. This family is truly about the American spirit. God love them.
Beverly Young, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Adam Pertman
As a full-time searcher for adoptees and birth relatives seeking one another, I totally agree with Adam Pertman's desire to end the secrecy in adoption. I applaud his open relationship with his daughter's biological mother. It is the greatest gift a loving father can give to his daughter.
Sharon Levin, Owings Mills, Md.
Adam Pertman calls for open adoptions, in which the children and both sets of parents forge relationships, thereby causing the children to grow up with a richer sense of identity. As a 29-year-old adoptee, I can assure Mr. Pertman that I am not suffering from an identity crisis. My parents have always been honest with me about my being adopted, but that is simply all adoption is: the process by which my parents came to be mine. The last time I checked, the people who are there for you your entire life are your parents, not someone who simply got pregnant.
Anna Brimfield, Raleigh, N.C.
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