Jeb Bush, Family Ties and a Museum That Never Materialized

By STEVE EDERSEPT. 6, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/us/politics/jeb-bush-family-ties-and-a-museum-that-never-materialized.html?comments#permid=16017222

The "Bush dynasty" is a cautionary tale about the hubris and arrogance of a family, and the devastating effect this can have on a country willing to believe the fairytale. Bush Sr. was a reasonably competent president, who, through his political connections, and only through his political connections, was able to amass a family fortune; not the least of these family connections was the completely corrupt Saudi royal family.

Like many families who aquire wealth - often through only marginal contribution of their own - come to beieve that they have special priviledges and special skills. In the Bush case, whatever qualifications Sr. may have had, it certainly did not get passed on to the next generation. The notion of family entitlement, enforced especially by matriarch Barbara, it seems, together with the family connections, gave us the dumbest, most desasterous president in my lifetime.

And now we have the brother, Jeb, who has been correctly described by Donald Trump and "low-energy" - that, in my view, is a very polite description.

On the Democratic side, the fact that Hillary is running, does not represent the same kind of "dynastic aspirations" as in the Bush case. She has proven to be qualified entirely on her own - although the e-mail issue leaves one wondering about her judgement. She was on the forefront of Universal Health Care, she was a successful Senator and Secretary of State.

Lesson: beware of mothers pushing their sons on the basis of their fathers history.