Private e-mails made public, as Sony Pictures executives and now surely attest, can sink a career. They can also, with a certain amount of bravery, bolster it. as Jeb Bush is now wont to demonstrate.
It’s a risk, certainly. Something like this, for example, is more likely to get people mad at him than be considered a satisfactory reply:
To a man who wrote “politicians make me sick, you make me sick,” Bush replied: “I am truly sorry you feel that way. Have a nice day,” adding a smiley face.
As Mr. Bush’s campaign for the 2016 presidential election becomes more seriously, we should expect a few more revelations along these lines: missives that show him being unnecessarily flippant, or at least unsympathetic on topics which the media can make mischief with.
Still, though, Mr. Bush should be applauded for making these e-mails public. Certainly it’s a bolder step than what we’ve seen from the Ontario Liberals.
Such a step would also be a good thing to see from the Prime Minister’s Office, or the offices of the opposition party leaders. It’s also a bit surprising, given Justin Trudeau’s so-called commitment to a more open process for candidate nomination, that he hasn’t offered to make public the e-mails between his office and the riding associations for which he wants to recruit potential “star” candidates.
Then again, given the complaints we’re seeing in public already, probably not.
The Phantom Observer 
i don’t know if Jeb Bush is any braver than the Ontario Liberals, he just doesn’t have as much to lose. The Liberals are in power for at least the next four years and probably beyond, given the Opposition’s propensity for selecting leader candidates who appeal to 10% of the voters, so one can understand their reluctance to reveal, well, anything untoward about themselves, and there IS a lot to reveal.
If the Republican Party is so insane as to run another Bush, we will see another 8 years of democratic suppression of the Constitution as whoever the Democrats elect to run for President will surely win, big. In my worst nightmares, I see 2016 with a Bush/Christie ticket for the Republicans, losing to a Clinton/Michelle Obama ticket. Then I awake and realise that Hillary probably hates Michelle as much as she does Barack, so the ticket will be Hillary/ Pelosi and they’ll still win.
Victor, I *LOVE* that Jeb Bush reply you quoted! But I would tend to think that that’s exactly the kind of humorous snark that would endear him to people, and I think that it is indeed quite satisfactory. The personal and generic attack of the question does not deserve a serious reply; it deserves the sort of playfully mocking retort that Bush gave.
As for the issue of private emails (sent by politicians) becoming public, I tend to think that they should remain private, but I don’t have very strong opinions on it.