Jennifer Rubin: The Jokes Just Write Themselves

[elfs]

For those who don't love The Game known as Politics, Jennifer Rubin is a "conservative columnist for the Washington Post." She's famous (or infamous, I suppose) for being the most obviously partisan pundit on the American scene right now, blindly praising every Republican speaker as "honest," "exciting," and "direct," while describing every Democratic speaker as "deceptive," "boring," and "ineffective," almost to the point of parody. "Clint Eastwood's speech was more talked about than Obama's," "the Republican bench is deep, the Democrats don't even have one," "Obama put forward no numbers and no plan, unlike Romney," and so forth.

But on the last day of the Democratic convention, there was one tweet that got my attention. It had nothing to do with politics. She has teenagers, and it's back to school week: "I don't think I could pass a third of these classes. When did high school get so hard?"

High school is preparation for life. Everyone should be able to get through it, and every class should be manageable by any adult. I don't expect everyone to be able to able to do French I immediately, but I do expect every adult to be able to follow along, help their child through every topic, and if necessary familiarize him or herself with the child's effort.

Jennifer Rubin's not merely a bad pundit; she's also a bad parent. By proclaiming herself unable and unwilling to navigate the skillset our community agrees is the minimum necessary to survive our technologically advanced civilization, she's telling her children it's acceptable to do the same.

Comments

[edichka2.livejournal.com]

"She's ... the most obviously partisan pundit on the American scene right now"

You think so? More than functionaries like Rich Lowry or Thiessen? Or the simpering Kristol? Or George Will, who's gone off the deep end? Or (the one I hate most) that Krauthammer thug? I suppose maybe she's offensive since she sorta pretends to me nicer than the boys (and Taitz and Coulter)....

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I could pass a third of what my son is taking (7 AP classes!), without taking it right along with him. His schedule is beyond hard, and I am proud of him for doing it.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

High school is preparation for life? I seem to recall you saying something more along the lines that its more about signalling to prospective colleges that you're serious about learning. At least, if you're ambitious enough.

High school for most people is mostly for keeping teenagers out of the job pool, and little else.

[urox.livejournal.com]

When I was a teen, I had a candle that could burn all night and still get me up bright and early at 5:30am for my 6am jazz band practice.

I have no such endurance these years. I sometimes wonder if I could have it again by doing something different. I do agree that high school is preparation for life because as my parents warned me, it just gets harder every year and it never gets easier so build up what endurance you can now.