Exactly how far does the fruit ever fall from the tree?

Bush's nephew arrested for drunken antics in Texas

John Ellis Bush, the youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was arrested early Friday and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest, law enforcement officials in Texas said.

The 21-year-old nephew of President Bush was arrested by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission at 2:30 a.m. Friday on a corner of Austin's Sixth Street bar district, said spokesman Roger Wade.

John Ellis Bush was released on $2,500 bond for resisting arrest, and on a personal recognizance bond for the public intoxication charge, officials said.

Before anything else, allow me to take a moment and try to be fair and unbiased about this. (Likely a refreshing change for many of you from my normal, bombastic hyperbole.) The kid is 21 years old. For all we know, this may have been his first birthday party where he was legally old enough to drink and things just got a little out of hand because he didn't know his own limits when drinking. How many of us are completely innocent of any youthful indiscretion? It's also possible (not that there are any details to support it, mind you) that the incident was blown up a bit because a law enforcement official who is unsympathetic to the current administration knew he was a Bush relative and saw a chance to score some points.

Of course, it's equally possible that this is only the first known incident in a long string and the guy has a history of boozing it up and getting into trouble. Look at the family he comes from. They are a very rich, privileged bunch with a history of partying hard and acting as if they are above the law. In fact, I believe that this young man has a certain uncle in a very high profile job who has a DWI on his record and is well known for binge drinking and cocaine use in his younger days, as well as a couple of female cousins who used to make the news regularly for their underage drinking. I suppose it wouldn't be that shocking if John was heading down the same road.

The fact is, we simply don't have enough details at this time to make the call. Perhaps more will emerge in the days to come, but given how the news cycle is currently on fire with the hurricane disaster, John Roberts' confirmation hearings and a possible meltdown at the U.N., it may also turn into a 24 hour story and fade from the headlines completely.