The U.S. President's eldest daughter Malia Obama is 18, and as far as tabloids are concerned, she's now "fair game."
Malia was the subject of media scrutiny after a gossip site spied her dancing and smoking what appeared to be cannabis at Chicago's famous music festival, Lollapalooza.
Imagine that. An 18 year-old experimenting with marijuana - decriminalized in Illinois, we might add - at a gig. You'd think she was a teenager or something.
It's bad enough Malia and her sister Sasha, 15, had to grow up under the public eye, they had to do so during the most tumultuous years of any childhood - puberty and adolescence.
Having a dad who's head of state can't be easy. And frankly, Malia and other presidential kids deserve a bit of slack and a whole lot of privacy. I suppose the Obama girls are considered role models for many young Americans. But is it fair to hold them to some impeccable moral standard because of their dad's job?
And anyway, it's not like Malia exactly went off the rails, is it? She's not pictured off her rocker in some crack house. She's taking a toke at a festival. Hardly what you'd call a hell-raiser. Some perspective is required of all the ready stone throwers out there.
Malia Obama is just a teenager let her live!! stop putting so much pressure on her just because she's the president's daughter !
— emily (@haIseyhoran) August 11, 2016
And if you really want to talk rebellion, I once dated a minister's son!
Even Sasha's summer job (serving seafood, purportedly) generated media interest. Why is beyond me.
Remember the furor over the Bush (W) girls? They liked to party, too. Show me an 18 year-old - yes, even one of Republican descent - who doesn't.
As my editor puts it, being a teenager "is a bipartisan deal."
RELATED: Great Example of Why Your Teens Should Know They Can Call You Anytime
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