Signals from Jenna

By Jennifer J. Foster

Published: May 27, 2008

This just in: Jenna Bush has her own brain. And it’s functioning quite fine, thank you very much. 

First, she appeared on Larry King Live with her mother to promote the pair’s children’s book about reading. Sounds safe enough, right? And it was—until King posed a rhetorical question to Jenna about her presumed support for GOP nominee-to-be John McCain, and Jenna said she was “open to learning about the candidates.“

Next came The Wedding. You heard all about the gown, the ring, the shroud of secrecy, the way the guests were bussed to the ranch, even the limestone cross that was commissioned for the ceremony. But did you hear about the minister (slide 5)?

He was the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a noted “spiritual adviser” to President Bush and—surprisingly?—a supporter of Barack Obama.

You can read an interesting interview with Pastor Caldwell here.

The latest instance, and No. 3 in the series for those of you who are counting, came on Thursday when the new Mrs. Henry Hager appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show. DeGeneres had announced the day before that she intends to marry her longtime partner, Portia de Rossi, in the wake of the California Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the state’s ban on gay marriage.

(Incidentally, I bet that decision is available online. For free. But I digress.)

Anyway, DeGeneres got to chatting with the Jenna

Bush

Hager as she showed off her wedding photos, and—again, with her mother at her side—Jenna reportedly engaged (sorry, couldn’t help it) in this exchange with Ellen: 

Ellen: “So, the ranch was a great place to get married – it looked like nobody could fly over and get pictures or bother you, really.“

Jenna: “Yeah, that was really nice.“

Ellen: “So, can we borrow it for our wedding,“ DeGeneres asked. “Can we get the ranch?“

Jenna: “Sure.“

Ellen: “Okay, great.“

It’s likely that this was just Ellen being Ellen, much as she did when she asked John McCain to walk her down the aisle when he appeared on her show last week. But this recent exchange was notable, nonetheless, because it was the third in a series of such signals Jenna is sending that she’s ready to think on her own.