Passing of Bush Senior

So many thoughts running through my mind. George Bush Senior at one time was an idol of mine. In time that wore off, but still, George H. W. Bush was a uniquely qualified person for the presidency at his time, the right time.

It was his role to make sense of the changing of the guard from cold war to soft war. The USSR crumbled into bits, overwhelmed by its own size, weight of weaponry, and complex obligations it made for itself in a hugely bureaucratic sprawling empire. To make the most of this historic happening, a gentle hand that welcomed a former ‘enemy’ into the fold of global collaboration and power sharing was needed.

George Bush was there to do that. All of his previous government jobs taught him well what was needed. He surrounded himself with talented advisors but made up his own mind. He was a leader of leaders at the time.

I remember him for a different reason. It was the political morass of his final campaign that saw him make a misstep. Faced with competition for the presidency, Ross Perot and Bill Clinton were garnering the votes Bush needed to remain in his job. To help him do that, he agreed to welcome the evangelical Christians into his support group. At the time I thought this a mistake because the evangelicals were too hot on topics such as gun control, abortion and gender orientation discussions to help Bush broaden his tent of supporters. Instead I felt he was narrowing his appeal.

I was right. He lost his plurality in the election and he was kept to one term only. Bill Clinton took the reins of the White House along with the enmity of republican evangelicals that turned American politics into a cesspool of nastiness that continues to this day. The religionists of the era have retained their unforgiving and unforgivable behavior in American politics. They have poisoned the well of compromise so that none is available to us today.

It was this fatal move on Bush’s part that separated me from the republican party. Plain and simple. And I have had no reason to change my mind since.

As decent a man as was George H. W. Bush, the failings of the republican party since his time are laid squarely at his feet.

So many people through history have warned against mixing religion and politics. We did at the time with Mr. Bush in 1988. Thirty years ago. A long time; but the nasty beat goes on and on.

As we celebrate the life of Bush in this week of farewell, I hope good people everywhere will stir their values enough to take on the return to decency and compromise so our governing class returns to leading the nation and making key decisions.

One can still hope!

December 4, 2018