Former President George Herbert Walker Bush has died at the age of 94. We didn't necessarily agree with every policy decision he ever made, but in general we liked the man and are deeply appreciative of his lifelong service (including military service) to this country.
But showing appropriate respect for the man is apparently too much to ask for from what passes for journalistic outlets these days. Particularly galling was the Washington Post's initial posting about the President's passing, about which they said, and we quote: "Mr. Bush died of SPECIFIC MEDICAL CAUSE OF DEATH, said/according to xxx."
Note to the Washington Post: we can understand why you prepare generic obituaries for important people ahead of time, but you really shouldn't go to press with them until you've filled in the freaking blanks (not that your paper demonstrates any great skill for doing that in any other stories).
We now imagine that the Washington Post has many such templates on hand, including stories like "Donald Trump offended NAME OF COUNTRY/LEADER/GROUP today with his radically offensive COMMENTS/TWEETS about SUBJECT, leading to fresh accusations that he is, in fact, a Nazi." And perhaps, "Scientists agree that RECENT NATURAL DISASTER can be attributed to global warming and Trump's decision to turn down the Paris Accord. Climate expert xxx suggests that this is proof that Trump is, in fact, a Nazi."
While a later edition of the Washington Post actually filled in a few details of President Bush's death, there was still criticism of their poor journalistic standards coming from their contemporaries. For instance, Slate's big headline was "New York Times and Washington Post Obituaries for George H.W. Bush Leave Out Groping Allegations."
Heavens! Was Bush, like Justice Kavanaugh, yet another conservative conducting gang rapes on girls rendered helpless by drugged punch?! Well, no. The article states that there were a couple of instances in the last two years when the wheelchair-bound nonagenarian, surrounded by other people and photographers, may have playfully reached out to pat a female fanny while joking that he was magician "David Cop-a-feel." (That last part is true and, putting political correctness aside, it's not a bad joke for a flirty - and harmless - 92 year old.)
But happily, we may not have to put up with their nonsense much longer. Because we've heard "Slate will cease publication owing to SEX/DRUG/FINANCIAL SCANDAL according to xxx." And we know we can trust "xxx," because the Washington Post said so.
37 comments:
This one made my day. Thanks Stilton
Salute President Bush !!! RIP Sir !!!
I think there are some good journalists to be found, but like picking out kernels of corn in horse manure, it's an unpleasant task to find them, and too much crap is involved.
H W Bush now has the distinction of having been the longest living President in U.S. history, however the peanut farmer from Georgia is only 4 months younger.
I think it's instructive that, when I opened today's blog, I read it as "Watergate Post"... :D
In a completely unrelated note, I would like to publicly thank all the Stilton's Place readers and, of course, Stilton himself, for helping when I was in desperate need. SSDI has, after two years of fighting, has finally approved my claim.
I am happy to announce that I have closed my GoFundMe and should be, while not wealthy, at least solvent for the foreseeable future. Frankly, your generosity caused me to break down and bawl last summer when I was at my lowest. You guys are the greatest! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
You mean that we can look forward in four months to Jimmy-the-Peanut having an obituary in his name? Now, if only ... Oh oh, I better be careful, the black SUVs are going to be coming up my driveway.....
After what the Bushes said about President Trump, Trump showed himself to be the bigger man by sending Air Force One to pick GHWB up and deliver him to DC.... 'Nuff said.
No doubt, there are vile trolls on both the left and right venting their twisted bile online on the passing of Bush I. And to such I say, hell has a special place for those whose passing you take joy in.
Don't subscribe to or read our local version of Pravda ( why spend money that will simply raise your blood pressure?), so can't really comment save that rather than disrespect, it's seems yet another manifestation of the sloppy, slovenly, 'meh' attitude of the younger workforce.
Would not be surprised to see the second worst postwar electoral disaster, aka the peanut farmer from plains, Ga, also being called soon to meet his maker either.
Was out of the country during his disaster of a Presidency, but my thoughts on him are he's is someone too rigid, too hidebound, someone who as President never understood no one likes a scold. Advice Fauxahonas would do well to keep in mind.
I'm rather impressed by this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_4141
"After the passing of George H. W. Bush on November 30, 2018, UP 4141 was brought out of storage and was sent to Houston, Texas on December 1, 2018. The locomotive is scheduled to participate in the funeral train for George H. W. Bush, running from Spring, Texas to College Station, Texas."
https://www.up.com/media/media_kit/bush41/index.htm
I would ask y'all to remember things were very different 30 years ago.......the net was basically non existent. Home computers were still off in the future for the majority and our news came totally unfiltered from our fair unbiased "big 3" MSM (COUGH COUGH COUGH) Listening to this made us think we were "well informed" .........
"Looking something up" involved a trip to the library if it wasn't listed in those damned expensive encyclopedia that door to door salesman sold us ........
To mention a globalist conspiracy or deep state would get you branded a Loon........... by right wing conservatives !!!
We carried around a ton of scrap pieces in our wallets with cryptic notations of phone numbers and phones were attached to the wall in most cases ........ If ya weren't in a building or a phone booth you were unreachable....
A lot of us were still dialing 0 to get the operator in an emergency......
Things were very different .......
Try and remember this when you look back at the life and times of President Bush.......
GHW Bush was a very good, decent person. If he had not trusted the Demorats, he would have been re elected and we would have never heard from the Clintons again. But, history will speak for itself on the quality of his administration. Yes, there were some things that did irritate me but more that I was in tune with. RIP old warrior.
If that loon H Ross Perot didnt run, Bush would have had a 2nd term. We wouldnt have had Clinton, certainly wouldnt have had Hildabeast as SoS & those men might still be alive in Bengazi. Thanks Ross for nothing.
I agree with a fair number of people here in that I didn't like all that President Bush did but I do believe he was a fairly honorable man and if nothing else celebrate his military service in which he served with honor. If we can lets not berate President Carter at this time. He also served with honor in the military and I believe he was also an honorable man even though he was way out of his depth as a president he still tried to do his best. What has been is in the pasted and can't be changed no matter how much we wish it.
His family is grieving at this time and lets try and be adults no matter how we feel about him just in case anything we write might get back to them and hurt them. You wouldn't want your family to hear/read about something you may have done in your life earlier.
Like all presidents, 41 was both likeable and also damnable. Policy is politics and not the man. As a citizen, naval aviator, politician, and family man, GHW Bush was at all times faithful, responsible and a gentleman.
I find the media's tone towards 41 to be representative of their general disdain for anyone who is not on 'their team'; a.k.a. Democrat. This attitude towards members of the other team as being typical and not to be unexpected.
41 deserves the level of respect due to any former president and should not be judged by party affiliation. To abandon the traditions is to lose one's identity as a nation. This is the part of America that the left is desperately trying to destroy as it remains the last barrier to absolute power over the people.
GHW Bush also represents the last of a generation that gave more than any of us will ever understand all in their efforts to suppress tyranny. The new age we find ourselves has few real heroes such as Bush. We take for granted the nation we find ourselves in and have no notion of the cost in blood that it took to keep it alive.
Politics is not a chessboard type of playing field. It is loosely defined and prone to relating to current events as a focus and therefore reflects trends and passing fashions. The passing of a former president is a time to suspend the acrimony and honor the dead. To do less is to disgrace one's self and the nation.
I agree with Glenda and all of the above.
A good man deserving of honor and respect for his service to his country.
Amy H., I don't think it's fair to hang that on Perot. If Bush hadn't lied, no one would have taken Perot all that seriously.
Bush 41 was not a Conservative. I don't think he trusted Conservatives. And I do believe he was surprised that those who elected him expected that he would keep his word.
So the whole Perot thing, IMO, belongs right on Bush's doorstep.
I was at the Mass celebrating my aunt & uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. Afterwards, there was a sort of informal greeting at the back of the church. Someone whom my uncle Jack (also a stroke victim) hadn't seen in a while came up to say 'Hi".
At the top of his voice, Jack hollered, "Bob! How the hell are you?!"
Some cringed, some chuckled. That was Jack.
The media just furthering their level of beclownment. I can't wait to see what they have to say about harassment when Bill Clinton goes.
The last President from "the greatest generation". May he rest in peace.
I was never a Bush fan. He solidified his squishy credentials when running against Reagan for the GOP nomination he attacking Reagan's small government and low tax agenda as "voodoo economics". After that voodoo economics had awaken America's economy after decades of previous squishy and Democrat interference, when assuming Reagan's legacy Bush saw fit to retract the success of the Reagan era with higher taxes, repudiating his previous "Read my lips: No new taxes!" pledge. The economy tanked, the Reagan coalition got pissed off, Perot became viable as an alternate candidate, and Clinton won.
Over a quarter century later, Republicans as a whole still haven't digested that lesson: Going squishy and big government = Americans losing and Democrats winning.
Slate, Vox, HuffPo, et al, are run and staffed with vile pieces of shit masquerading as "journalists."
And its readers continue to masquerade as "human beings." Nothing newsworthy in either of those
statements, but they bear repeating regardless.
I agree with both Glenda's and John the Econ's postings above. GHW Bush was someone who I respected and with whom I ofter disagreed vehemently.
@ TrickyRicky: The disagreements you and others had with Bush I paved the way for an unabashed, denying sexual predator and his venal, vile pathological spouse to occupy the WH for 8 years and wreak still not fully understood damage on our political system, our civil discourse and our society.
True politics is the ability to make compromises and the ability to accept compromise.
Ideological straitjackets either left or right, serve no useful purpose
Mitch: excellent news, and congratulations on your battle!
Bush, Bush, and MaCain brought us the Clintons and the Obongos...
This Jew will not vote Democrat...ever.
Anyway...1st day of Hannukah and Occasional-Cortex sent out a message of love and respect to all the Jewish people and ended her tweet with a line from a far-left Sonnderkommando-like Rabbi who compared Trump to the Tyrant who oppressed the Jews so much that they had to rebel...hence the celebration of the Hannukah miracle...Princess Moonbeam seriously put her protrudent teeth WAY up inside her nether regions once again!
Simply unbelievable, that God would repeat his creation (Yogi Berra) not once (Uncle Joe Biden) but twice (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)!
Proof that God has a sense of humor!
I think I remember reading that Vice President Bush called Ross Perot into his office and told him President Reagan had fired him from the Foreign Intelligence Committee. Ross Perot said he would like to meet with President Reagan and have him tell him he was fired since he was the one that ask him to be on that committee. VP Bush said "No" and that is what his running for President was about, to stymie VP Bush when he ran for President. Perot was P.Oed big time and made it his mission to do everything he could to take votes from Bush. If you remember, there was a Poll where Perot was leading both Bush and Clinton and it scared him so bad that he pulled out of the race for a couple of months then re entered. Perot never wanted to be President. It worked and Perot was then through with Presidential Politics. I believe that Bush, not Reagan fired Perot because Ross was uncovering CIA stuff in that Viet Nam prisoner mess and he needed to be gone.
@Anonymous- And thank you for the nice comment!
@REM1875- Indeed.
@PaBlum- Not sure if I'd say that about Poppa Bush, but in general I can't argue with your truism!
@Jess- There are definitely some good journalists out there! The Wall Street Journal certainly has some, and I'm pretty sure there are others to be found. But as you say, the search can be unpleasant...
@Geoff King- Sounds like we need to get our bets on the table soon, then.
@M. Mitchell Marmel- That's fantastic news! I didn't do much personally other than give a heads up to this great community of folks, who came through in a big way. We're all in this together, and I'm absolutely delighted that you (and Fortescue, of course) have gotten through this bumpy patch!
For those of you that have commented on Bush: None of you knew him. You knew the media creation of a Republican President. Comments like "decent", '"honorable", or any other platitudes are wasted on someone that is a media creation. He was a President because he had no problem selling out the posterity of this nation. And he had the gullibility of a nation that still pretended to respect those in authority that gave him the benefit of the doubt while he betrayed them. Plus, the media was actually trusted during his administration. Everyone of you knows that Obongo was a traitor. Do you think it started with him?
@Fred Ciampi- In fairness to Jimmy Carter (who, sadly, I voted for), I think he was a decent man who was overwhelmed by the job. Still, despite the demonstrable failures of his administration, he successfully passed the mantle of "worst president" to Barack Obama.
@Fish Out of Water- Good points throughout!
@M. Mitchell Marmel- Where did they get those dates from?!
@REM1875- Excellent observation. Things were very, very different back then.
@James Daily- Unquestionably, one of GHW Bush's biggest mistake was compromising with the Dems and expecting them to keep their promises. It cost him the presidency and ushered in Bill (and, God help us, Hillary) Clinton.
@AmyH- Transparency demands that I confess I voted for Perot. I have been doing penance on these pages for 10 years now...
@John Fernau- Very well said. It costs us nothing to be respectful (and does cost us to be scolds).
@Glenda T Goode- Beautifully said, and I thank you for the post.
@Judi King- Same here.
@Unknown- At the time Bush said "no new taxes," he meant it. But circumstances change, and he thought by compromising with the Dems he was going to accomplish good things for America...until the bastards predictably screwed him over. But yes, it was a big contributing factor to his eventual loss.
@leelu- I'd be in the group that chuckled. And I hope Bob was feeling good as hell!
@John the Econ- Well put, and you've got the bottom line exactly right: going squishy and playing ball with the Dems doesn't work and never will.
@Section147- Quite right. And who knows what the readership of these "news" sources really is, in this crazy world of algorithms and fraudulent "user" banks.
@TrickyRicky- I just wish more people these days could accept that you CAN respect someone and disagree with them. It used to be common in the days before Us against Them.
@Fish Out of Water- I agree with you about ideological straitjackets, but real straitjackets still have an important part in politics.
@MAX Redline- Mitch's news is sort of the feel good story of the day!
@Gee M (and all other Jewish readers)- Happy Hannukah! And may the holiday be free from any more idiotic messages from Occasional-Cortex.
@James Daily- Interesting theory!
@James- You're right that the vast majority of us can only judge someone based on what we're told or shown. I'm quite possibly taking the easy way out by having good thoughts about Bush without digging deeper, but frankly I get tired of looking for additional reasons to be dispirited by politics. I think it's a factor of age...
I held my nose and voted for George I in '92. I agreed with those who, after that election, said Slick Willie didn't get elected so much as George I got fired. He and H. Ross both made that happen.
Rem - Back in the Day, when phones hung on the walls, and TVs didn't.
You had to pay for phone calls, but TV was free..
I'm not of the "don't speak ill of the dead" crowd otherwise we couldn't talk about Hitler, Stalin. Pol Pot etc. Instead in situations like these I'm with the 'if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything" crowd. Get my drift?
Off topic, I saw an interesting bumper sticker today.
Heaven has a Gate
and an Immigration Policy
Hell has Open Borders
Says it really well, don't it?
Well, there's a Stairway to Heaven...
but a Highway to Hell.
Says a lot about expected traffic, huh?
Gee M, you make an excellent point!
Huh! Arabic termite control spam. That's different.
Recently Farrakhan , in his speech in Iran, referred to Jews as "termites"...you posted 'Arabic termite control spam'...could you be more specific?
What spam are you referencing?
@Gee M: The spam message in question was nuked. :D
I was thinkin' I missed something...pretty quick spam vaporizer.
Sheesh.... I figure a man deserves to play a little grabass if he makes it to his 90's!
90's?!?!?
uh-oh...so much for running in 2020. I kinda jumped the gun!
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