Oh, family values....

Today Rudy Giuliani's campaign sent out a press release proudly declaring that Jeb Bush Jr.--son of the former Florida governor, nephew of the current president of the United States--has become chairman of Florida Young Professionals for Rudy. Here's how the announcement describes the younger Jeb Bush:

Bush grew up in South Florida and currently resides in Miami, where he works in the commercial real estate industry with Fairchild Partners. Bush is a 2005 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He is involved in a variety of civic organizations including St. Jude's Hospital and After School All Stars. Bush worked on his father's 2002 gubernatorial reelection campaign.

Here's what I wrote about Jebby Bush two years ago in a piece on the Bush dynasty:

John Ellis Bush, aka Jebby, age 21. This past weekend, he was arrested by Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents on Sixth Street in Austin, Texas. He was stopped when the agents suspected he was drunk. He then, it seems, did not cooperate with these public servants, for he was arrested on two charges: public intoxication and resisting arrest. In the scuffle, Jebby received a chin injury and was treated at a hospital. He was released on a $2,500 bond. (Question: given George W. Bush's DWI charge and Barbara's and Jenna's underage imbibing issues, is getting into legal trouble over alcohol considered a family rite of passage?)

This was not Jebby's first encounter with the police. Five years ago--a month before the 2000 election--he was caught by security guards while in the act with a 17-year-old female in a Jeep Cherokee parked in a Tallahassee mall. Both were naked from the waist down, except Jebby was wearing his socks. The security guards called in the cops. A police officer arrived on the scene and investigated a possible crime of "sexual misconduct." In the subsequent police report, the officer wrote, "I became aware of the political ties" of the suspect. He then "contacted the watch commander...to inform him of the incident." After one of the security guards talked to Jebby's father--who happened to be the governor of the state--this guard told the on-the-scene cop that he believed that his own supervisor would "pull" the preliminary report. The cop replied that he would still have to complete an incident report. And a report was written. Nothing happened after that. The incident did not become public until two days before the presidential election, when this police report was leaked to the local media and a London newspaper. (Only the London paper went with the story.) According to Artie Brown, one of the two security guards who nabbed Jebby that night, the young Bush spoke to his father after being caught and then remarked, "My dad will fix it."

It's reassuring that a young man with such respect for the law is joining the campaign of Giuliani, who as NYC mayor adopted a zero tolerance approach toward such law-and-order matters as public drinking and disorderly conduct. You can see a copy of that police report here. And for a photograph of Jeb Bush Jr. showing his concern for the future of America, click here.

Posted by David Corn at October 18, 2007 10:44 AM