Lesson from an old Queen for the Bush Twins

The Bush Twins, Jenna and Barbara, with their father the President

PT thought he was done ranting about national politics yesterday, but that was before Entertainment Tonight weighed in with a news item on the continuing investigation by the NY Times into whether the Bush twins attended the notorious 'naked parties' at Yale which are turning into such a buzz. True or not, the rumor is not out of character with what else we know of the carryings-on of the First Twins.

The night before, their father, the President of the United States, had a few words to say about sacrifice -- in particular the sacrifices he is asking the American people to make by putting 21,000 more of their children in harm's way:

"Fellow citizens: The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice and resolve. It can be tempting to think that America can put aside the burdens of freedom. Yet times of testing reveal the character of a nation."

No sense looking to their father to give them a model for sacrifice.

But there IS SOMEONE to hold up as a role model for the First Twins -- and an 80-year old Queen at that.

Who? Queen Elizabeth II of England. Yes, that old Queen.

Queen Elizabeth II of England

Has PT totally lost it? Not really. I'm no particular fan of the Royals, but they do at least as good a job at modeling 'family values' as our First Family does, and in Elizabeth's case even better.

Consider this little bit of history.

As Princess Elizabeth, she was the only female member of the royal family ever to enlist in the military. In 1945, chafing under forced removal from London under pressures from the British Cabinet, the spunky Elizabeth persuaded her father the King to allow her to enlist in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Services), a women's branch of the military which, among other things, provided drivers of munitions lorries and ambulances for the Royal Army.

An ATS squad drills

At the dedication of a plaque in 2005 memorializing the service of women to the war effort, the speaker noted:

"Over seven million women were mobilised. More than 450,000 were conscripted into the forces. Nearly half a million served in civil defence and the emergency services. Women did whatever was needed and wherever it was needed.
...
"The ATS girls, the WAAf’s and Wrens did more than ‘grin and bear it’. They helped us to hit back. The United States War Department said of them in 1942: ‘There is not a single record in this war of any British woman in the uniformed service quitting her post or failing in her duty under fire’."

Princess Elizabeth, a driver in the British military,
changes an ambulance's tire

Elizabeth, at age 19, trained and served with civilians, insisting on receiving no special treatment and taking her assignment alongside others in her group. By the time she returned to civilian life after the end of the war, she had risen to the rank of 2nd Subaltern (equivalent to our 2nd Lieutenant).

Elizabeth (in uniform) on VE day with her sister Margaret,
the King and Queen, and Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill

She was considered something of a 'chip off the old block' of her wildly popular mother the Queen Consort Elizabeth, who famously refused to leave London during the Blitz (the incessant fire bombing by the German Luftwaffe in 1940-41), saying "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."

PT submits that the spirit of sacrifice of the feisty young Princess is an excellent model for our own First Twins.

What are the chances their father, who indulged in sacrifice lite when it was his turn, will encourage this kind of family values in his offspring?

Protesters underscore the hypocrisy of the language of sacrifice

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