"The former US President George Bush's son George W Bush took oath of offiice as President of the United States at ... on ..." is the news item you never read. It could only have been, if at all the historyof the man had to be stated, "former Texas Governor George W Bush".
Should Geroge W Bush's brother Jeff Bush, Florida Governor, run for US President as the GOP nominee, the headlines will not scream "President Geroge Bush's brother Jeff Bush, Florida Governor ...". It will always be Florida Governor Jeff Bush.
But, let Fidel Castro 'hand over' (never mind the procedure for handing over has been institutionalized in Cuba) to Raul Castro, the Defence Minister and the senior most Vice President, all head lines scream
"FIDEL CASTRO HANDS OVER REINS OF CUBA TO HIS BROTHER RAUL CASTRO" - an implication of unmitigated nepotism.
Raul's position as the Defence Minister is hidden in the depths of the article. This is true of The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor and I am sure, true also of NYTimes and Wall Street Journal, not to mention all the TV networks. It is unfortunate that some Indian newspapers have also fallen for this.
Never mind, if at all Raul has benefitted from nepotism, it would have been about 50 years ago!
What is good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander!
Raghuram Ekambaram
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