So, what are we to make of our 41st president, George H.W. Bush, when all is said and done?
I suppose, like a lot of people with a larger-than-life public profile, we remember the contradictions more than anything else (or at least I do anyway, for what that’s worth). He served our country bravely in World War II, and he also worked for years in government service as CIA head, U.N. ambassador and ambassador to China. Of course, he in all likelihood helped further his oil business in the process, but I have no knowledge of any illegality in doing so, and I’m not alleging that here (all this and more is here).
Much has been made of the fact that he was often a gracious man, which I think should be recalled also since that commodity is just about extinct any more in public life in particular (his letter to incoming president Bill Clinton in 1992 has been fondly recalled, even though that used to happen on a regular basis when presidencies, and parties, changed hands). He also had enough of a sense of humor to let comedian Dana Carvey do his riff impersonating him as Bush Sr. was leaving the White House.
And as far as I’m concerned, he was basically president for 12 years – I think he had a lot to do with keeping this country largely stable when it came to foreign and domestic matters during his own presidency as well as that of The Sainted Ronnie Reagan. I can recall a time in the 80s when hostages were seized by Iran/Hezbollah on a pretty regular basis, but that came to an end under Poppy Bush. I don’t know all the whys and wherefores on that and how exactly to apportion all of the blame, but I think credit should be handed out where it’s due. He also waged the first Iraq war efficiently, directed by generals who knew what they were doing. Of course, you could also say that the bungling of our ambassador to Iraq at that time, April Glaspie (in which she reportedly gave a green light to Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait) had a lot to do with the ensuing war (as well as the PR campaign that was basically waged by the Kuwaiti government to spur our involvement, including the utterly false claim that Iraqi soldiers were
And boy, do I remember how conservatives HATED Bush 41 for not going into Baghdad, but instead leaving after the Iraqi troops were removed from Kuwait, which was in accordance with the U.N. mandate. Of course, you hear ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on that now, given the ruinous consequences of his son’s version of the Iraq war years later (and when it comes to the first Iraq war, we should recall this and this from Jeremy Scahill).
Basically, when Bush 41 was in the White House, I didn’t have to worry about the future of the Republic like I (and the rest of us) have to do now (and he was spot-on in the pic above of course).
Well, that was all of the good stuff, more or less. The bad?
As Will Bunch noted here, 41 and his administration basically entrapped a drug dealer in DC named Keith Jackson for a photo-op showing crack cocaine, alleging that it was being sold within blocks of the White House. Bush Sr. also helped propel the careers of Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater, who both brought a whole other dimension to “the politics of personal destruction.” The two were instrumental in the 1988 presidential campaign of Bush vs. Dem Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, including the “Willie” Horton ad, claiming that Horton was furloughed by Dukakis and went on to rape a woman (of course, the furlough policy was instituted by Dukakis’ Republican predecessor and was similar to policies in other states including California where Reagan was once governor, but why quibble over details like that when blowing a racist dog whistle?). Basically, Sr. was losing according to some polls that summer and outsourced the dirty work to Ailes and Atwater, as Charlie Pierce recalled here.
To say that the utterly vile 1988 presidential campaign was a precursor to the everyday political attacks we experience every two years any more (having just concluded the latest round of interminable, hateful insanity) is as big an understatement as you can make. And oh yes, that year, we also saw Sr.’s “tough guy” faceoff with Dan Rather over Iran-Contra, with Sr. responding by criticizing Rather for once walking off the set (you could argue whether or not Rather handled that as he should have – it was cringe worthy on both sides – but the veep was not shy about plummeting to new depths, which kind of belied the patrician image we've held of him over time and will, I'm sure, be ever more etched into our corporate media mythology).
And you could also argue that the 1992 election was a gathering of forces that nobody could control completely, with conservatives blaming businessman Ross Perot for siphoning Republican votes and enabling Bill Clinton to win (and Republicans, true to form, responded with an 8-year hissy fit). I would say in response that the candidacy of “Uber Alles” Pat Buchanan had more to do with that than anything; Sr. saw the direction his party was going…I’m not sure he could have stopped it, but I don’t recall that he did much to slow it down either. There was also that business of Sr. looking at his watch during a presidential debate and not knowing how a supermarket scanner worked…of course, if Fox News had been on the air at the time, they would have alleged that both were cowardly liberal plots to discredit a war hero, and related Reddit posts would have been forwarded a few hundred thousand times, leading to a typical conservative vs. liberal screaming match with nothing much accomplished.
Oh, and speaking of Iran-Contra…on his way out the door, Bush Sr. pardoned all of his pals who might have been able to implicate him, as noted here (no pardon or commutation for Jackson, though, who ended up serving 10 years in prison). Number 41 also nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, who of course was confirmed despite the testimony of Prof. Anita Hill.
So yes, let’s give President George Herbert Walker Bush the accolades he deserves, but let’s not forget the foibles, missteps and other bad stuff either (including the episode noted in the clip below)…
...and I was actually OK with the "thousand points of light" thing, even though I guess, since we're talking about a Repug, it also meant undercutting federal agencies and services doing good work also since, as far as Repugs are concerned, gov't can't be good for anything – and you know of course the Gropenfuhrer made fun of what Bush said anyway...
Update 1: Somehow, there HAS to be good in a man who would inspire this.
Update 2: Quite on the other hand (here...h/t Karoli Kuns)...
Update 12/05/18: More from Jeremy Scahill here...
Update 12/9/18: "Laid bare" indeed (here)...
…and speaking of our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator, Chris Hayes commented on the recent Michael Cohen testimony, saying basically, that “the president was compromised – full stop” – hats off to Hayes for his “no BS” approach to this (speaking with Dem U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal also)…
…and Thom Hartmann talks with Dem U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley on the latter’s attempt to prevent price gouging in this country by the drug makers…
...and all the best to everyone observing the "celebration of lights" which began last night...
...and here is another seasonal item.
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