RIP George Bush

[Thomkal]

Probably comes as little surprise to most of us here, but George Bush dead at 94. I may not ever be a Bush president fan, but given what we have now, I will surely miss their "normalcy" as Presidents.



George H.W. Bush, 41st president of the United States, dies at 94

[Edward64]

RIP.

[PilotMan]

The only president whose hand I've shook. I was in a different place politically back then, but even now, it registers as significant event. I was reminded today, that he felt strong enough about the leadership role, separate from party politics, that he basically sank his political future, by taking steps that were needed as the bottom started falling out from Reaganomics. I don't think we'd see that today. Not in any way, and that is a problem. Sometimes you have to find the middle ground to fix the problems.

[Kodos]

R.i.P. to a decent man who served his country for his whole life.

[JPhillips]

Condolences to his family. It's hard for me to see this as anything other than a culmination of a rich and long life. I didn't always like his policies, but he was one of the last Republicans of a more responsible breed.

[EagleFan]

RIP

[Toddzilla]

The last of the greatest generation to serve as President, he was genuinely a humble servant, dedicating his life to public service.

But lets not forget he pardoned Caspar Weinberger which completed the cover-up of Iran-Contra, allowing many in the Reagan White House who conspired to lie to congress to go unpunished, including GHWB himself.

[thesloppy]

Seems worth mentioning that he also apparently spent his twilight years groping any woman who would get in range of his wheelchair.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Seems worth mentioning that he also apparently spent his twilight years groping any woman who would get in range of his wheelchair.

This seems to be a thought process that is lacking in nuance.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

This seems to be a thought process that is lacking in nuance.

Yeah, I mean I go back and forth on the issue, to be honest. That said, he was accused of groping 4 different women, so it kinda depends on your perspective where that nuance belongs...do you think women think groping should be immediately forgotten when a famous man dies? None of us were personal friends with the dude, it's not like I'm disrespecting his memory in front of his loved ones, by reminding them of shitty things he actually did. I'm not particularly hateful towards GHB, but the hagiograpy surrounding celebrity passings does upset me a bit, apologies if I offended anybody.

[PilotMan]

It's not that.

He's in his 90s, with a debilitating disorder, and he's exhibiting behavior he didn't for his entire life. Now you can say that he changed and turned into a molester, or you can take it with a grain of salt and put it in the context it really deserves. It really doesn't have to do with the lionizing of a celebrity after they die, as much as understanding their situation and showing a little empathy. He wasn't exactly with it every day for those last years.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

It's not that.

He's in his 90s, with a debilitating disorder, and he's exhibiting behavior he didn't for his entire life. Now you can say that he changed and turned into a molester, or you can take it with a grain of salt and put it in the context it really deserves. It really doesn't have to do with the lionizing of a celebrity after they die, as much as understanding their situation and showing a little empathy. He wasn't exactly with it every day for those last years.

I dunno, I think we're both operating on a little bias here.....personally, my empathy would go a LOT further if all of those gropings didn't follow an exact pattern, complete with the same, consistent joke/remark for cover, and the same minimization & dismissal from Barbara. That bias (which may be entirely wrong) is actually based on both of my maternal grandparents suffering from severe dementia, and while it definitely resulted in bizarre behavior, and issues with impulse control, it never resulted in behavior that followed such a definite pattern....and if it did they certainly would have stopped taking them to public functions where they were explicitly expected to be photographed with others, and situating them next to strange women. That part may not be GHB's fault, but it still fuels my offense at the fame factory....even more if he truly was entirely inferm and demented, and his people were rolling him out there anyway, and not informing others of his condition, essentially facilitating the gropings, which seems worthy of criticism and discussion.

I also have an entirely different bias that prevents me from judging a former director of the CIA (or an oil tycoon, for that matter) at face value, but that's probably a WHOLE 'nother discussion.

BUT, as you say, dude was 90 and demented, there's really not much to gain from nailing him to a cross either, and despite feeling that those instances were worth a mention, it wasn't my intent to overshadow all of his other plentiful work, so apologies for derailing the thread and making it a bigger issue through my ham-handed 'analysis'.

[digamma]

Four great eulogies, capped by a genuinely emotional ending from GWB. RIP 41.