You know what your mother said: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." So we cats have tried to be restrained about the death of George H.W. Bush, because we wanted to see how it would all play out. And it's still playing out. But we can't resist chiming in with a few observations:
It is pathetic that a middling President like Bush would, according to pundits, attain an aura of greatness merely because he was nowhere near as bad as Donald Trump.
It is difficult to favorably eulogize the man who is responsible for Clarence Thomas's presence on the Supreme Court.
Unlike some, we're not moved to declare that Bush Sr. had "class." We well remember how he said he'd "kicked a little ass" after his VP debate with Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. That's about as far from classy as you can get.
Similarly, Barbara Bush called Ferraro a bitch and was never forced to admit it. Gee, what was it about Geraldine that made the Bushes' well-masked awfulness come out?
It is also similarly difficult to favorably eulogize the man who fathered George W. Bush, a war criminal who cannot travel to countries where he would be arrested for invading Iraq on a lie.
And it's tough to admire the guy who ran in 1988 on Willie Horton — the racist ad that paved the way for all other Republican racist ads. We assume that Bush Senior will have lots of notes to compare with Lee Atwater when he meets Atwater in hell.
So the best thing about the Bush news? That Trump will have to endure hours and days in which he will not be the center of attention. Our hopes that a eulogizer — like, say, Bill Clinton — would throw shade have been dashed, since Bill is not among the odd selection of speakers. But Trump will have to sit there knowing that the predecessor being honored cast the last Presidential vote of his life for Hillary Rodham Clinton. That makes us cats PURR.
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