Are politicians' kids fair game?
Maybe the Bush twins were your first run-in with the ruthlessness of the media when it comes to politicians' kids. Maybe you remember further back, to when Rush Limbaugh called Chelsea Clinton "the White House dog", or when Amy Carter was ridiculed for everything from her shyness to her cat.
With a long history of the media bashing the kids of politicians, some Americans might have been surprised with the recent actions of the Prime Minister of Spain, Juan Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. When being photographed with President Obama during a dinner for visiting dignitaries led to his teenaged daughter's becoming the target of media scrutiny for their "Goth" garb, the Prime Minister told the media to stop publishing the picture and knock it off. And they (mostly) did. It seems that Spain, unlike America, has a law prohibiting the publication of photos of politicians' families.
Surprised? So is Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator and once-presidential-hopeful John, who writes in the Daily Beast:
"I can't believe there is a country that exists where the media protects children of public figures, let alone the prime minister's daughters. It is literally hard for me to fathom that there is a place that respects the privacy of underage children of politicians and diplomats."
Isn't it obvious that the children of politicians did not choose their parents careers any more than they chose their parents? Doesn't it make sense that they should be protected from the scrutiny of people going after their parents? Meghan McCain's statement is both sad and telling and it makes me wonder: Should we consider adopting the same law for American children? Or is it necessary to keep politicians' children as valid targets to maintain a free press?
