George Bush senior

[NotHardUp1]

"You know all of the rhetoric you see. 'Thousands points of light.' What the hell was that, by the way?"

— Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, 2016

Some "leaders" do just want to see the world burn.

In remembering, the points of light phrase, it was a brief embarrassment for Bush, as his speech writer had put it in there, but it was sort of soft and vague. I'm sure he regretted the idiocy of being expected to have buzz phrases for his campaigns and speeches.

I liked him all the more for being honest about the points of light instead of just stonewalling on it.

As the Sanskrit proverb correctly states, it is not goodness to be better than the worst. Thankfully, Bush wasn't close to the worst, and the contrast with our current president could not be more stark.

 

[Zeno Lorea]

In case anyone gets too misty eyed....there also was this black mark that somewhat belies the gracious avuncular generosity of spirit that his hagiography might suggest.

https://www.vox.com/2018/12/1/18121...voraTkIBVeicNEYpk73y1vjkrFS0N1ZUzKFa8a4JBW3eg

Glad you mentioned that.

 

[Zeno Lorea]

In the Arab and muslim world, he will mostly be remembered, as he already was, for odering to shoot down a civilian plane in Iran with 290 innocent civilians on board, including 66 children, and then refusing to apologize for it, saying he "would never apologize for the United States? I'm not an apologizing-for-America kind of guy."

Remember the hagiographic cartoons of George HW Bush (and earlier this year, Barbara Bush) arriving at the pearly gates to be welcomed by the four-year-old daughter they lost to cancer in 1953? I wish those cartoons had shown those 66 children too.

 

[peeonme]

In the Arab and muslim world, he will mostly be remembered, as he already was, for odering to shoot down a civilian plane in Iran with 290 innocent civilians on board, including 66 children, and then refusing to apologize for it, saying he "would never apologize for the United States? I'm not an apologizing-for-America kind of guy."

Remember the hagiographic cartoons of George HW Bush (and earlier this year, Barbara Bush) arriving at the pearly gates to be welcomed by the four-year-old daughter they lost to cancer in 1953? I wish those cartoons had shown those 66 children too.

The event sparked an intense international controversy, with Iran condemning the attack. In mid-July 1988, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati asked the United Nations Security Council to condemn the United States saying the attack "could not have been a mistake" and was a "criminal act", a "massacre", and an "atrocity". George H. W. Bush, at the time vice president of the United States in the Reagan administration,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

Bush did not order the 'shoot down'

 

[Zeno Lorea]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

Bush did not order the 'shoot down'

I guess that's true. But he's the one who always defended it and "refused to apologize" for it. That is the bit that is always played here.

Reagan ordered it, but he is already associated with so many incursions in Libya and Lebanon, and, of course, supporting the fundamentalists in Afghanistan.

 

[belamyi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

Bush did not order the 'shoot down'

He was just the usual wallflower vicepresident, right. And afterwards, he was too "decent" to apologize for something that everybody acknowledges as a crime: I am not saying he should have apologized, what I mean is that you can't judge someone who has been so deep in the mud of politics, worse, big power politics, as if he was just an ordinary decent fellow.

 

[rareboy]

 

[willhunt]

 

[Telstra]

People should remember what this Bush did in Gulf War 1
that destroyed many lives unfairly

 

[Latimer]

In case anyone gets too misty eyed....there also was this black mark that somewhat belies the gracious avuncular generosity of spirit that his hagiography might suggest.

https://www.vox.com/2018/12/1/18121...voraTkIBVeicNEYpk73y1vjkrFS0N1ZUzKFa8a4JBW3eg

And in response:

https://www.takimag.com/article/bushs-finest-30-seconds-the-willie-horton-ad/

 

[belamyi]

And in response:

https://www.takimag.com/article/bushs-finest-30-seconds-the-willie-horton-ad/

So he was not a racist... just a decent, family-loving, war hero, fear-monger, and the "Greek homunculus" was a bigger danger than the criminals themselves because, as far as we know, Dukakis got out of the way of the American people (more or less) but furloughs didn't stop under Bush, Sr.

Ok, so the blackness was not the cake, just the coating in the strategy.

 

[KaraBulut]

And in response:

https://www.takimag.com/article/bushs-finest-30-seconds-the-willie-horton-ad/

To be fair, the Willie Horton ad wasn't run by the Bush campaign. It was run by an independent group that supported Bush.

However, Bush did encourage a rather vicious campaign from his consultants and surrogates in 1988 and 1992. After winning the election in 1988, he gave a speech saying that he wanted a "kinder and gentler America", to which Bob Dole said, "sure, after you lied about my record", to which Dukakis said, "sure, after you looked the other way while those ads were running" and to which Nancy Reagan asked, "Kinder and gentler than whom?".

Bush wasn't the first to look the other way while his surrogates did his dirty work. However, he's not blameless for allowing a "win at all costs" strategy, either.

 

[belamyi]

To be fair, the Willie Horton ad wasn't run by the Bush campaign. It was run by an independent group that supported Bush.

I love that "I didn't pull the trigger" but, to be fair:

[STRIKE]However,[/STRIKE] FIFY Bush did encourage a rather vicious campaign from his consultants and surrogates in 1988 and 1992. After winning the election in 1988, he gave a speech saying that he wanted a "kinder and gentler America", to which Bob Dole said, "sure, after you lied about my record", to which Dukakis said, "sure, after you looked the other way while those ads were running" and to which Nancy Reagan asked, "Kinder and gentler than whom?".

Bush wasn't the first to look the other way while his surrogates did his dirty work. However, he's not blameless for allowing a "win at all costs" strategy, either.

No, of course he didn't invent politics: he just jumped into...

https://media.giphy.com/media/xHBPLwZEJknSw/giphy.gif

But let's honour his political and presidential legacy for what he didn't thirty and forty years before, and for what he did at home with his family... well... better not enter too deeply into family characters and stories.

 

[KaraBulut]

...But let's honour his political and presidential legacy for what he didn't thirty and forty years before, and for what he did at home with his family... well... better not enter too deeply into family characters and stories.

It is possible to do both. He had a very long career in public service and from all accounts, was well-liked and considered competent in the positions that he held.

But it's also important to look back and realize that the dumpster fire in Washington had its beginnings in the 80s. That's also when pro-ERA Poppy Bush, pro-choice Poppy Bush and pro-separation of Church and State Poppy Bush hitched his wagon to the Reagan Revolution. It's also important to remember that Pat Robertson beat Bush in the early primaries and from that point on, Bush always worried about losing the evangelical vote... ergo his slow movement on AIDS and LGBT issues in the 90s. And he also gave us 30 years of Clarence Thomas on the SCOTUS.

 

[belamyi]

It is possible to do both. He had a very long career in public service and from all accounts, was well-liked and considered competent in the positions that he held.

[Linked Image: Removed]

But it's also important to look back and realize that the dumpster fire in Washington had its beginnings in the 80s. That's also when pro-ERA Poppy Bush, pro-choice Poppy Bush and pro-separation of Church and State Poppy Bush hitched his wagon to the Reagan Revolution. It's also important to remember that Pat Robertson beat Bush in the early primaries and from that point on, Bush always worried about losing the evangelical vote... ergo his slow movement on AIDS and LGBT issues in the 90s. And he also gave us 30 years of Clarence Thomas on the SCOTUS.

https://media.giphy.com/media/xHBPLwZEJknSw/giphy.gif

 

[KrisGreen]

The New York Times had a nice couple days remembering him so I’m keeping these papers. (You just never know)


Think he was a really good president and was the truly last Center right conservative. He did what he thought was best for the country and the people. Reagan had lowered taxes to the point where it was causing an economic ripple and not in a good way. He raised taxes because he did what he felt was NECESSARY. He said no new taxes. He never said anything about a tax INCREASE to an already existing tax. (We have federal income tax, state taxes, sales taxes, ect.) He also took climate change somewhat seriously and added new regulations to the clean air and water act enacted by Jimmy Carter I believe. He was a kind man and wasn’t brash like the sad soul we have now. I appreciate what he did for us and our country.

 

[peeonme]

The New York Times had a nice couple days remembering him so I’m keeping these papers. (You just never know)


Think he was a really good president and was the truly last Center right conservative. He did what he thought was best for the country and the people. Reagan had lowered taxes to the point where it was causing an economic ripple and not in a good way. He raised taxes because he did what he felt was NECESSARY. He said no new taxes. He never said anything about a tax INCREASE to an already existing tax. (We have federal income tax, state taxes, sales taxes, ect.) He also took climate change somewhat seriously and added new regulations to the clean air and water act enacted by Jimmy Carter I believe. He was a kind man and wasn’t brash like the sad soul we have now. I appreciate what he did for us and our country.

None of them are perfect, but he was as good as they come.