Is This Any Better? - UPDATED

Barbara Bush says W. got it wrong. She didn't put a fetus in a jar.  That's preposterous! Ridiculous!

... It was her housekeeper.

"I didn't put it in the jar," Bush said, clarifying that it wasn't as if it was "in the library" on display.

Bush continued:

"Paula [the housekeeper] put it in the jar. And I was shocked when she gave it to him to -- but, you know, memories dim a little bit but, anyway."

When all else fails, blame the help.


UPDATE (11/24/10, 11:25am):

A reader approached me privately about this post and had concerns about the validity of the story. While there may have been some misrepresentation in the media or in repetition of the story about when or how George Bush witnessed the miscarried fetus in a jar, whether is was his mother showing it to him or the housekeeper, or maybe he just came across it, I have no reason to doubt it didn't happen as neither party has denied that it did.

But something struck me more than anything else and I wanted to set the record straight in case anyone else mistook the post. My reader inferred I was "making fun of a woman who miscarried."

I'm not making fun of the miscarriage episode, so much as spotlighting how there's something fundamentally wrong with this family when it comes to paternal and maternal instincts, and where there might possibly be a sociopathic streak that runs in the family.

Remember, these are also the parents that went golfing the day after their four-year old daughter died of leukemia with no real explanation to the rest of their children. They didn't even attend the funeral that was eventually initiated by Bush's grandmother.

And after watching both the Lauer interview with W. and the Barbara Bush interview, something did occur. Bush said it was mom, Barbara said it was the housekeeper. Either way, what the hell is the housekeeper doing with the fetus in a jar? Is that something you would give your housekeeper to take care of?

I have little doubt when watching George Bush that there has always been something that didn't connect in his brain. Who knows? This episode in his life could be part of why he seemed emotionally detached during some chapters of his White House years, while tearing up at some other events that would make most everyone else shrug their shoulders. Or maybe it's just the effect of years of alcohol abuse.

But no, I was in no way making fun of miscarrying. It's an awful thing to go through. I was pointing out how strange this whole matter has become. Someone is telling the truth. Whether it's Babs or W. is not as significant as the incident itself, which neither one denies occurring.