Analysis, Commentary, Opinion
12.01.2018
The Last of the Old Order
I
am sad to see George H. W. Bush pass.
He
represents a time when the Republican Party still made sense.
I
did not agree with him on much, but I voted for him in 1988, I never regretted
it.
He
had dignity, and that is something we are sorely missing. He had a sense of
right and wrong, though I am quite positive his moral compass did not always
register as true.
He
committed crimes throughout his life of public service; as President, Vice
President, and as Director of the CIA.
Every
president is called on to do the same, in the case of Presidents like Bush Sr.,
and Obama, I am relatively certain that their motive was not exclusively a
matter of personal gain.
He
was an “Eisenhower Republican,” one who believed in public works, one who was
engaged in service for the public good.
It
seems that for the sake of politics he followed his party into the insanity of
the religious right, but it was clear he never bought their diatribe.
I
served in the Navy during his time in office. He visited my base in North
Carolina, but I never met him. In 1992 I voted against him.
I
am certain that Bill Clinton was not any more just or good, but he and his team
were the ones to bring us into the 21st Century, a task George Sr.
was not up to.
I
admire the friendship he struck with the Clintons after they were all out
office.
It
is an example of how our politics should be, and could be, if we could select
politicians who cared more for America, for the common good, and for truth,
than they do for themselves, their party, and their ideology.
I
am already missing George Bush Sr., the last of the old order; warrior-pilot, diplomat,
President.
America
was stronger when you left office than it was when you began.
You
left it a better place.
