George H. W. Bush dead at 94

Larry M

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He was the only Republican presidential candidate that I have ever voted for.

I’ve been voting since 1976, mostly Democrats for president.

I voted for HW in 1988 because I could not bring myself to vote for Mike Dukakis (I don’t even remember why.)

Then, in 1992, I voted for Ross Perot, against Bush and Clinton.

(Edit: I recall pausing before casting my vote for HW in '88, thinking, 'What if he dies in office? Then we get Dan Quayle.)
 
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yesandno

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My strongest memory of him was watching the news at work when he declared war on Iraq in 1991. It was the most politically shocking event that I had seen yet. It was also, at the time, so hard to imagine that we would be at war so continuously after. I was pretty young then, and thought with the events of my childhood (Vietnam, Watergate) we had put a lot of stuff behind us. HA! I associate him with the loss of my political naivete.
 

Brightdreamer

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Did not agree with many of his stances, but I preferred him to his son, and I never doubted that what he did, he did with the country in mind, not just his party or himself.
 

Chris P

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Actually, Bush Sr is a big part of the reason I leaned Republican for the first part of my adult life. He understood diplomacy and partnerships, and I think heightened our image on the world stage. I was just a few months too young to vote for him in 1988, and I didn't understand how absentee voting worked being in college out of state in 1992 and didn't vote. I still liked him as a person even after my politics grew to the left and I lost faith in conservatism. The sexual harassment revelations were a bitter pill.
 

Roxxsmom

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George HW Bush evolved in a way that paralleled that of his party. Once an advocate for contraception, which earned him the moniker "Rubbers," he eventually aligned himself with the GOP's increasing disdain for the bodily autonomy of women. I have no idea if this represented a true change in stance on his part, or a more cynical attempt to gain the support of the party's social conservatives. Maybe he could have nudged his party back towards the center, at least on social issues, but he didn't.

I also remember the moment that may have lost him his re-election bid: when the moderator asked him during the debates how the national debt had affected him personally. Bill Clinton gave a much more relatable answer.

I remember the Dana Carvy SNL sketches.

It always feels weird when a former POTUS dies, even one of whom I wasn't a fan. It's a portion of our lives and history that are now firmly behind us.
 
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Roxxsmom

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One thing he should get some credit for is the passage of the ADA on his watch. This law has made things much better for many Americans, and it has been a template for other such laws around the world. Ironically, the GOP is now trying to undermine a bill one of their own originally championed and signed.
 

Brightdreamer

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One thing he should get some credit for is the passage of the ADA on his watch. This law has made things much better for many Americans, and it has been a template for other such laws around the world. Ironically, the GOP is now trying to undermine a bill one of their own originally championed and signed.

Further proof (as if we needed it) that the GOP of Bush Sr.'s era is of minimal (if any) relation to the TeaOP squatting in power today. The seeds were there, true, but the weeds had yet to completely choke the garden.
 

Roxxsmom

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Further proof (as if we needed it) that the GOP of Bush Sr.'s era is of minimal (if any) relation to the TeaOP squatting in power today. The seeds were there, true, but the weeds had yet to completely choke the garden.
A good way of putting it.

He also signed off on the Clean Air Act--something most Republicans appear to oppose today (if not the actual people who are still registered Republicans, the politicians they keep electing are).

A friend of mine who is an ex Republican, whom I have been debating politics since the Reagan and Bush Sr. years told me I was right during all those arguments we had in the 80s and 90s. He used to insist that the crazy rhetoric--pro creationist, anti choice, anti feminist, anti civil rights, anti environment etc.--that was cropping up in GOP discourse, even back then, was simply lip service, meant to get votes from a marginal segment of voters. I told him the GOP leadership have no choice but to give those people more and more as they came to depend on these peoples' votes (plus, many would start to believe their own extreme rhetoric, and that extreme rhetoric would become more and more normalized), and eventually the tail would be wagging the dog and the GOP could elect a real demagogue.

It sucks to be right sometimes. This former GOP friend says he thinks the party needs to go out behind the proverbial barn and shoot itself.

This sounds rather like what the CA GOP is discussing right now.

I will admit that the image of GHW Bush's service dog lying by the coffin made me feel sad. In the end, Animals don't care about your politics, just how you treat them. That was one thing I had in common with George and Barbara--they loved their dogs.
 
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nighttimer

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Not the worst prez ever and far from the best. George H.W. Bush was a middling mediocrity who looks better in retrospective when compared to Dubya and the current occupier of the Oval Office.

That said, Bush did inflict Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court and as the anti-Thurgood Marshall, I cannot forgive #43 for that one.

It was nice of Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama to join George, Jeb and the rest of the Bush family at his memorial service today. Oh, and #45 showed up because #43 was determined not to freeze him out from his funeral. Nice of George H.W. to be the bigger and far more gracious man than I would ever be.

Which is not to say there were zero awkward moments of stunningly obvious bad mojo floating around the proceedings like a particularly stank air biscuit. :Wha:
 
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MaeZe

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Not the worst prez ever and far from the best. George H.W. Bush was a middling mediocrity who looks better in retrospective when compared to Dubya and the current occupier of the Oval Office.

That said, Bush did inflict Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court and as the anti-Thurgood Marshall, I cannot forgive #43 for that one.

It was nice of Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama to join George, Jeb and the rest of the Bush family at his memorial service today. Oh, and #45 showed up because #43 was determined not to freeze him out from his funeral. Nice of George H.W. to be the bigger and far more gracious man than I would ever be.

Which is not to say there were zero awkward moments of stunningly obvious bad mojo floating around the proceedings like a particularly stank air biscuit. :Wha:
I like the way the Clintons felt they were seated far enough away (two seats :tongue) that no acknowledgement was required.

All the shots I saw of PoutyMcPoutface showed him on the edge of his seat looking like either he didn't fit in the chair or he was very uncomfortable. He looked especially awkward when the Clintons and the Bushes were palling about with each other.

I can imagine just after coming back from the G20 where he was similarly left out of the in-crowd made this day especially difficult. In private life he had the option of only being around the flies attracted to him. It's not the case with world leaders he has obligations to meet and greet. Those bridges of his burned up fast.
 

BenPanced

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I wonder how they got the Screamin' Cheeto's phone away from him so he couldn't live-tweet during the funeral...
 

ElaineA

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At 7:30 pm my time (10:30, his) he tweeted a photo of himself with a big bold caption: 50% APPROVAL RATING. The tweet itself said, Working hard, thank you!

He simply could not stand to let the day pass with GHWB the center of the country's attention.

Now, about that approval number...
 

frimble3

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Not the worst prez ever and far from the best. George H.W. Bush was a middling mediocrity who looks better in retrospective when compared to Dubya and the current occupier of the Oval Office.
Yeah, but what president doesn't look better compared to the current occupier? If the Founding Fathers had known about Trump, you'd still be British subjects.



Oh, and #45 showed up because #43 was determined not to freeze him out from his funeral. Nice of George H.W. to be the bigger and far more gracious man than I would ever be.
Or, not so gracious? What better way to torture a man determined to be the center of attention than to invite him to sit right up front, with people of equivalent status, and leave him to seethe that the event wasn't about him?
George (43) Bush was a frat boy and president of his fraternity. Bet he understood how to slight a man while smiling and shaking his hand.
"Why, here, you just sit down with this collection of has-beens and enemies. And, we've got you right up here in the prestige seats, so you can't complain that you've been shunned."
Well played, sir. He can't claim that he was ignored, or that it was a plot by his enemies.
Bet it gave Barbara Bush a laugh, as she waited for her husband to join her.
 

Snitchcat

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"Why, here, you just sit down with this collection of has-beens and enemies. And, we've got you right up here in the prestige seats, so you can't complain that you've been shunned."
Well played, sir. He can't claim that he was ignored, or that it was a plot by his enemies.
Bet it gave Barbara Bush a laugh, as she waited for her husband to join her.

I think it gave most of a smirk at least. (I grinned.)