Barbara’s Younger Son, Jeb

Marquel, TPVs NYTimes Like Father Like Son Section correspondent, was engaged in a thoughtful moment when he read that Jeb Bush talks about foreign policy issues.

 Jeb Bush pointedly sought to distance himself from his brother’s presidency on Wednesday, declaring himself “my own man” and acknowledging that “there were mistakes made in Iraq” even as he used his first major foreign affairs speech to call for an assertive American presence that recalled President George W. Bush’s approach to international relations.

Marquel was more than just a little interested in what those Iraqi mistakes might have been. Bush didn’t say “it was a mistake to be in Iraq,” and any other mistakes didn’t really seem to matter as Marquel mulled over recent history.

So Marquel went to Florida. It was buggy there. Marquel hates bugs. But he got to meet Jeb. Jeb seemed like any other Bush. Just a whole lot fatter. Marquel couldn’t tell if Jeb were smarter or dumber than the others. At that level it’s almost impossible to discern a difference. Dumb is dumb. You really can’t be dumber, despite the movie.

I asked Jeb why his presidency would be any better than any previous Bush administration.

“I read that in the Times. Do you have a dog?” I asked.

“Is he your own dog?”

“Got a horse?” I asked.

“Is that your own horse?” I asked.

“So the dog is your own dog, the horse is your own horse, and you are your own man.”

“I can’t figure out what that means. You have a dog, a horse, yourself. Except for the horse and the dog, isn’t that true of everybody?” I asked.

I guess it means you’re like everyone else.” I suggested.

“I thought you meant by it that your daddy and brother don’t matter. Now you’re telling me they are what make you different from everybody else.”

“Well, ya see, I’m my own man.” He said.

“But with a daddy and brother who were president ” I said.

“Tell me about Iraq  You said you’d do it differently ” I said.

“Yes I know. What would you have done?” I asked.

“How would that have made a difference?” I asked.

“But we did win. We hung Saddam. It was over.” He said.

“So how would you have ended it differently?” I asked.

“I see. What about immigration?” I asked.

“We need it.”

“But all of Mexico could end up north of the border.” I said.

“What about the ones that sneak in?” I asked.

“So you’re going to exclude them. The conservatives will love you. The rest, including Mexicans, will hate you.” I said.

“But also keep them out.” I said. “That’s hard to do.”

“What about taxes?” I asked.

“Your father said that. Word for word.” I said. His face was twisted, as if it were a lemon and he were trying to squeeze something, anything, out if it.

I realized Jeb really was his own man and, as he said, his distinguishing trait were his father and brother. That made it really hard to be his own man. But he was trying. His hardest, obviously.

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