Monday, February 18, 2008

George H. W. Bush Is A Decent Patriot, But Not Exactly A Conservative

Today, former President George H. W. Bush formally endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John "F--- You" McCain. And, that is not a bad thing to get more people to rally around the presumptive nominee. After all, Sen. "F--- You" McCain will need to get these endorsements out of the way so that he can do two things. Fundraise like a crazy man and reach out to the conservative base of the Republican party.
But, Mr. Bush said a curious thing that adds to the "bash Reagan to make McCain look good" narrative of this part of the campaign.
Mr. Bush said that former President Ronald Reagan faced attacks from some to the right of him. Mr. Bush cited a magazine Conservative Digest and it publisher, Richard Vigurie http://reuters.com/.
For the record, Conservative Digest has not been around for many years and Mr. Vigurie is a very outlier figure of the conservative movement.
But, it is another attempt to marginalize the Great Man by saying that people on the fringe right, which Mr. Vigurie represented, were going after the Great Man the same way that reasonable, mainstream conservatives are trying to point out some uncomfortable truths about Sen. "F--- You" McCain.
It should be noted that in 1982, a very right wing candidate for congress tried to take on the Great Man during a meeting of Republican candidates in the White House. An exasperated Mr. Reagan tried to reason with the candidate, but he would not listen. Mr. Reagan ended up having to tell this fringe Republican to shut up. In those words. As it turned out, the candidate was a card-carrying member of the John Birch Society. Not exactly Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham or Rush Limbaugh.
And also, Mr. Bush would not be considered a great heir to the Great Man's legacy.
As we all know, many conservatives had even more doubt about Mr. Bush. Eventually, at the Republican convention, Mr. Bush said the fateful words that would haunt his presidency, "Read my lips. No new taxes." And in 1990, those words went right out the window as he did raise taxes and thereby ensured his defeat at the hands of Ross Perot and the Great Whoremonger, Democrat William Jefferson Blythe Clinton.
So, Mr. Bush would have been well enough to not comment about the rightful and mainstream criticizms of Sen. "F--- You" McCain.
Both of Mr. Bush's son's, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and the current President George W. Bush have proven more conservative records than the old man.
And, I will just end by writing that Mr. Bush is a decent man, always wanting to do the right thing and a great American patriot and a true war hero as a fighter pilot in World War II.
But, a conservative in the order of the Great Man, Ronald Reagan, Mr. Bush is not.

1 comment:

Pat Jenkins said...

great post 64. and as you mention conservative uneasiness of bush 1 proved to be legit. so for him to question that same uneasiness over the maverick seems a bit resentful on his part of the movement.... there is another idea for a post. why "republicans" are willing to marginalize conservatives so easily!!!