TJ Walker responds to Jenna Bush's comment about potential "hanky panky" on the White House roof. He argues that while her personal life doesn't matter to him, many Americans see the White House as sacred and prefer discretion. Walker criticizes her use of the phrase as an attention grab that overshadowed her actual work.
Chapters
Jenna Bush, anchor in the news, for saying there might have been hanky panky in the White House when she lived there with her parents. I certainly don't want to pick on Janna Bush. She seems like she's made a very fine life of herself, has not let fame destroy or derail her own life. She's married, has a child, has a job at NBC News. I don't know. Her by all accounts seems to be well adjusted. But she did get her into a little bit of hot water last week, saying that there might have been some hanky panky on the roof of the White House when she lived there. And everyone was all aflutter about this. Now, frankly, I don't care what she did when she was in the White House, but it is considered sacred ground to a lot of people in America and it is the closest thing we have to a cathedral or an official palace in the United States government. So it is something that a lot of people like respected. Now, not suggesting people say nothing amorous should ever happen in the White House. After all, presidents have spouses. But I do think a lot of people just want it to not be talked about. Now, Janet Bush, I'll give her credit. Other than her first few years in the White House when she was a teenager, she's done a good job of avoiding embarrassment and frankly, staying out of the spotlight for the most part. There were a few rough years when she was a young party girl in college, but how did she get herself into trouble? The biggest rule is you just can't talk about anything sexual or even romantic dealing with the White House and when you live there. That's rule number one. Rule number two, she used the phrase hanky panky. Now that is a classic soundbite word if I've ever heard one, because reporters can't use the word hanky panky. It sounds ridiculous. It sounds lascivious. It evokes all sorts of images. And if you use a word like that, you're going to be quoted, it's going to be talked about. What she could have simply said is a lady never tells when asked, did you have anything amorous happen when you're in the White House? Or she could have said, I kissed my then boyfriend who's now my husband, and I don't think anyone would have thought twice about it. But by using the word hanky panky, it was too cute by half and she had to put forth retractions and go in the media again. And it really sort of took her spotlight off of her current career so minor marks, but nothing that I think anyone will remember or be talking about even a month from now.
