A Reality Check

The triumphal and counter-factual celebrating of President George H.W. Bush as an “honorable” leader who evoked kindness and “civility” raises a potently crucial question: What does it mean to be civil and kind in person and in word, yet brutal in policy and deed? Despite the gentlemanly veneer, even a cursory recalling of Bush 41’s record shows a legacy of war, violence and venality that belies the media’s amnesiac heroizing.

. . . With his passing, Bush Sr. offers a national reminder of how low the bar has sunk in the Trump presidency. But Bush 41’s death also provides an important teaching moment on the absurdity of separating politician’s personal and public behavior. In politics, and in life, deeds and policies are what count, and those of Bush Sr. were not remotely kind, gentle, or civil.

– Christopher D. Cook
Excerpted from “There Is Nothing Kind or Gentle
About George H.W. Bush’s Legacy”
In These Times
December 7, 2018

Related Off-site Links:
George H.W. Bush, Icon of the WASP Establishment – and of Brutal US Repression in the Third World – Greg Grandin (The Nation, December 4, 2018).
How George H.W. Bush Rode a Fake National Security Scandal to the Top of the CIA – James Risen (The Intercept, December 8, 2018).
George H. W. Bush’s Presidency Erased People with AIDS. So Did the Tributes to Him – Masha Gessen (The New Yorker, December 7, 2018).
The Media Is Erasing George H.W. Bush’s Catastrophic Harm to LGBTQ People – Michelangelo Signorile (Common Dreams, December 2, 2018).
Poppy Strikes Gold: Bush Sr. Made a Killing – 50 Miners Buried Alive – Greg Palast (GregPalast.com, December 10, 2018).
To the White People Who Penned Sweeping Love Letters to George H.W. Bush – Elie Mystal (The Nation, December 10, 2018).
I Will Not Speak Kindly of the Dead. Bush Was Detestable – Michael I. Niman (TruthOut, December 4, 2018).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Reality Check – June 7, 2008
• Quote (and Reality Check) of the Day – September 1, 2015
• Quote (and Reality Check) of the Day – October 2, 2015