George H.W. Bush dies at 94.

[herding cats]

Source: Washington Post

George H.W. Bush dies at 94. The 41st president of the United States helped guide the world out of a four-decade Cold War.

Bush was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president and his one term as commander in chief from 1989 to 1993.

The last veteran of World War II to serve as president, Bush came to be seen as a consummate public servant and a statesman who helped guide the nation and the world out of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War that had carried the threat of nuclear annihilation.

He was also the father to George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/politics/wp/2018/11/30/george-h-w-bush-dies-at-94-the-41st-president-of-the-united-states-helped-guide-the-world-out-of-a-four-decade-cold-war/?__twitter_impression=true

[uppityperson]

1. Oh. Thanks for the notice.eom

[herding cats]

8. Pretty much how I felt.

On a bright note, Trump's presser tomorrow will fade in significance.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Oh no! That's very sad...

[TDale313]

3. Is it bad that I literally feel nothing?

No sadness, no “good riddance” (despite the fact he did a lot of damage) just... oh. Now, when Cheney goes, that’ll be a different story.

[laserhaas]

5. Out of respect for the office, I'll restrain my glee

This guy was a blight upon humanity.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

29. He sure was... no glee, but, no sadness here either.

[gopiscrap]

38. thank you I am gleeful

he was the fucker that had me beat up b y his private security force when he came to Tacoma to campaign in 1988

[laserhaas]

63. WOW

[gopiscrap]

71. Don't judge

in 1988 he made a campaign appearance in Tacoma in his run for president. I was part of a protest group that started yelling questions at him. Because of my singing abilities I had a booming voice. In response he had the Republican security team beat the crap out of myself and the rest of the protesters including a nun in habit and a Roman Catholic priest. OCT 27 1988. It was highlighted in the Tacoma News Tribune and also an article in the Baltimore Sun. It was also the lead on the nightly news on CBS ABC and NBC that evening.

[laserhaas]

80. You make an issue that isn't there

I did not judge you (I hate the Bush family)

Thanks for the details

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Dancing in the street?

[demsocialist]

10. Spawn of Satan nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. That's being kind, but, perhaps, we should give it at least 24 hrs before saying how we really feel.

[gopiscrap]

40. bullshit we need to be hardcore

[Recursion]

14. A more complex figure than the hordes that came after him

I'm holding my tongue right now; GHWB at least deserves a little reflection.

[sakabatou]

24. No, I also feel nothing

[sueh]

91. I don't feel bad, either.

I have not forgotten the pardons he gave to Casper Weinberger and the others in the Iran-Contra Affair. He never should have done that.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

4. I so love the mythologizing over at WaPo.

[Liberty Belle]

7. He was the last Republican president with any common sense.

I did not agree with most of his policies.

But when Saddam's Iraqi army was massed on the border to invade Kuwait, Bush pushed them back with a war that lasted about 3 days, and resisted hotheads who urged him to march to Baghdad, knowing that would mean a prolonged and probably unwinnable war.

His hot-headed son, George W., didn't heed that advice and got us into a prolonged war in Iraq.

Bush, as former head of the CIA, was an intelligent man not prone to rash actions, conservative on issues but not crazy. His family was currupt. At least in retirement he teamed up with Clinton to do a few decent things for charity and showed some humanity.

I never thought I'd see the day when I'd say the Bushes were not our worst presidents, particularly W, but Trump has combined evil with corruption, stupidity, bigotry and rash actions that have resulted in by far the worst president we've ever seen.

[dalton99a]

13. He voted for Hillary.

Yeah, his son is a POS war criminal

[C Moon]

15. A kind, intelligent response to his passing.

[Mrs. Overall]

20. Good post, Liberty Belle.

RIP GHW Bush.

[progree]

21. I agree. But one correction - Saddam invaded Kuwait and took over the entire country

in 2 days (it's a very small country) and people feared he would invade Saudi Arabia. That was before Bush did anything.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Kuwait

The Invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 was a two-day operation conducted by Iraq against the neighboring state of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month-long Iraqi occupation of the country. This invasion and Iraq's subsequent refusal to withdraw from Kuwait by a deadline mandated by the United Nations[8] led to military intervention by a United Nations-authorized coalition of forces led by the United States.

One of the agreements Bush made with the allies was to push Saddam out of Kuwait, but not to topple him.

[rwsanders]

48. I really need to start saving sources for important events, but let's not whitewash...

the fact that his ambassador to Iraq said just days before that the U.S. would not resist action.
And the "crying nurse" who spoke of Iraqi soldiers taking incubators from Kuwaiti babies was NOT a nurse, but the daughter of an Iraqi ambassador.
The whole thing was a sham.

[progree]

55. The "nurse" was the daughter of the Kuwaiti (not Iraqi) ambassador to the U.S.

No real surprise that she would be making up stories and doing whatever else she could to get Iraqi invaders out of her country.

As for what was running through April Glaspie's mind, I don't know, but I'm not sure she was anticipating an invasion, but rather commenting on diplomatic and economic measures by Iraq to pressure Kuwait on the slant drilling and relief on debt payments. Nevertheless, at best she made some really dumb statements, at best. But I'm just not buying a conspiracy theory about luring Iraq into invading Kuwait so that Bush could play war hero president and push them back out. Though without a doubt it did raise his poll numbers to like 90% approval.

[BlueMTexpat]

79. Glaspie was actually a very good

ambassador and foreign service officer generally. I later worked with her at the Department on some issues and respected her judgment.

While we never discussed this - and she likely would never have commented to me about it anyway - I sincerely believe that your comments on her not anticipating an invasion are spot on.

She did, however, make a convenient scapegoat for the Bush Administration to say whatever they wanted to justify their acts. The fact that she was a woman made this even easier. Foreign service officers, like other human beings, are not immune from jealousy and petty grievances. But those in the foreign service whom I learned to admire and trust the most, such as Ambassador George Moose, valued her highly - even after this debacle.

[JonLP24]

90. They made a mistake then

They should have let Saddam take out Saudi Arabia though not with chemical weapons.

[Renew Deal]

50. Also the last one to win the popular vote in their first term

[onetexan]

58. Agree, Bush sr. Was a decent conservative

His son, not.

[blue-wave]

60. Yup

He was the last Republican president with any common sense.

Him not his son. RIP Mr. President.

[democratisphere]

65. Agreed.

I feel sorry for their family members.

[BlueMTexpat]

77. While Bush I resisted the push to Baghdad,

that war never should have happened. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was based on long-standing disputes between the two countries for the Rumaila oil field. Instead of launching a war, Bush should have led negotiations to resolve that most recent dispute and he knew that. This would have been much less costly to the ME overall and would likely not have had the kinds of consequences that we later saw with Al-Qaeda and are seeing ultimately with Daesh. It also resulted in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians being expelled from Kuwait after the war, most without any justification whatsoever except that Arafat had supported Saddam. Awful as he undeniably was, Saddam Hussein was not entirely in the wrong.

But even then, those who later were initiators of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) and relied primarily on Kuwaiti misinformation won that call.

See., e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/03/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-the-oilfield-lying-below-the-iraq-kuwait-dispute.html

From the link:

Oil formations frequently run beneath political boundaries, whether they involve unfriendly leaseholders in West Texas or neighboring Arab states, and procedures have existed for years to settle disputes that arise. Typically, participants in the same field share both production costs and revenues, using a formula that sets percentages of ownership.

But Iraq refused to negotiate with Kuwait on such an agreement. So Kuwait produced oil from Rumaila with out any agreement, and then adopted a policy of producing far more oil than it was allowed under the quota system of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. That policy became an other sticking point in relations with Iraq, which contended that the over production depressed oil prices and revenues for all OPEC members.

Iraq had produced oil from the field before it went to war with Iran. Of a total of 615 wells in Iraq, 225 were in the Rumaila field, according to 1986 figures, the latest available, from John S. Herold Inc., an oil industry consulting firm in Greenwich, Conn.
...
Iraq's dispute with Kuwait, has its roots in Britain's decision in 1899 to establish Kuwait as a British protectorate. The Kuwait royal family had ruled the area since 1756, but Iraq still considered it part of its southern province, The dispute flared again more than 30 years ago, shortly after oil was discovered in 1953 in Iraqi territory in the huge Rumaila reservoir. After the Arab League of States established the Kuwait-Iraq border two miles north of the southern tip of the oilfield, Kuwait erected oil rigs on its own territory and drilled into the rich pool below. Kuwait has never disclosed how much Rumaila oil it has pumped. $2.4 Billion Claim by Iraq But President Saddam Hussein says Kuwait owes Iraq $2.4 billion for oil taken from the field. In addition to asserting that Kuwait owed Iraq for the oil it had produced, Mr. Hussein told an emergency meeting of the Arab League in May that excessive supplies of Kuwaiti oil in the world market in the last two years had undermined OPEC production quotas and depressed world oil prices. He said that action cost Iraq $14 billion a year, or far more than Kuwait had lent Iraq during Iraq's confrontation with Iran.

Personally, I have never forgiven Bush I for doing this because he should never have heeded buddies like Cheney, Bolton and Saudi Arabia, etc. when he knew better. Of course, everyone hated Saddam Hussein, so he was an easy scapegoat.

Unlike his son, however, Bush I was at least successful in forming an international coalition and consensus and fortunately had enough sense to stop when he did. But this war NEVER should have happened.

[LakeArenal]

97. Ummm... Two words come to mind that overshadow ANY good things about GHW...

Dick Cheney.... Sorry it wasn’t you.

[Honeycombe8]

9. A Republican from the old party that no longer exists.

Just 7 months after Barbara passed away. Married 73 years...I can't imagine. R.I.P.

[cstanleytech]

35. Its actually the same party it's just that the nutjob voting base they courted

finally gained majority control over it.

[nitpicker]

84. +1

[Solly Mack]

11. I'm sure Lee Atwater will be glad to see him.

That was the nicest thing I could think to say.

I know how some folks get all tetchy about not showing respect to bad people who die because - apparently - death erases all wrongs - or how it's somehow a sign of being better than the dead person who was bad in life if they don't speak ill of a dead person who was bad in life - and they wear it like a badge of proof of their own goodness.

I'm better than bad people, period - whether they be dead or alive. I don't suffer from a need to trip over myself being gracious to a piece of shit.

[woundedkarma]

12. How long before trump screws this up?

A previous pres has died. Requires a state funeral etc.

Trump will screw it up.

He'll probably say something about how he's greater than bush.

And we'll all cringe.

And thugs will still protect him.

[BigmanPigman]

18. I hope he isn't invited to the services,

like with McCain.

[BumRushDaShow]

75. THIS - and underscoring to others in the thread - there will be a STATE FUNERAL

With the procession to and lying in state at the Capitol. The flags gotta go down to half staff NOW, etc. There will be a federal holiday as well. Since the elder Bushes were Episcopal, the funeral will probably be at the National Cathedral.

The last state funeral that we had for a former President was for Gerald Ford (2006) so it has been awhile.

However for some reason, given there was zero relationship, although he would be expected to give remarks, it feels like Drumpf might not (but would have to attend).

What will freak him out is the pomp and circumstance of a state funeral and him not getting the attention.

[iluvtennis]

16. RIP George HW Bush.

[Mr.Bill]

17. Only good thing I can think of to say

is he was the only president in my lifetime that knew when to get out of a war.

I wonder if Trump will be welcome at the funeral.

[rpannier]

46. Hope Not

The funeral should be about the deceased
Trump will make it about trump

[liberaltrucker]

19. Condolences to his family

RIP Mr President.

[RockRaven]

22. If Trump had any decency, he would know nobody wants him at the funeral. But he doesn't.

Or if he knows he doesn't care. You can't count on him to quietly stay away with a polite fiction of an excuse (note, just going golfing is not serious enough of a matter of national importance to merit the moniker 'polite fiction').

So I hope the family choose for themselves, not anyone else's considerations/priorities, whether or not to invite Trump. Lord knows I wouldn't want him anywhere near my father or grandfather's funerals.

[AZ8theist]

49. IT SICKENS ME...

That at the fucking TRAITOROUS IMBECILES Funeral (Dotard) there will be a flag draped casket.

I will throw a block party because there is a casket, but the American flag on top?? FUCK HIM.

At least Bush served and risked his life fighting for our freedom. Dotard only cares about Dotard.

He should have a Russian flag on his pine box......fucking asshole.

[jmowreader]

61. Trump doesn't deserve even that

You realize they're going to have to cremate Trump and dump his ashes off the roof of one of his monstrosities to keep his grave from becoming a Nazi shrine, correct?

[Sgent]

87. Do presidents (and congress people I guess)

who didn't serve in the military rate a flag draped coffin? I thin FDR was the last president ot die who didn't serve in the military, but he died in office.

[not fooled]

70. And the con should be appreciative

because this passing will take some of the media heat off dirty donnie, at least for a few days.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

23. Yeah they pre-empted the post PAC12 championship program to gush all over him. (FOX13) Seattle.

Okay I'll say he wasn't as bad as Trump but he's the one who gave us Clarence Thomas.

Outside of the announcement of his passing the tongue bath they gave him could have waited a half hour till the scheduled news.

[edbermac]

25. Well, the nicest thing I can say about 41...

He’s not 45.

[Kaleva]

26. R.I.P. and condolences to the family.

[Jersey in OKC]

27. There goes the news cycle

Adieu, not sorry.

[herding cats]

41. Take heart!

Trump planned a press conference tomorrow to steal the cycle. That's no longer a thing now.

[SergeStorms]

28. Oh well, shit happens.

For as many lives as he ruined around the world that's as much as he deserves.

[OAITW r.2.0]

30. Whatever, hope there is a heaven and a hell.

And I hope JFK gets to greet him at the door.

[wishstar]

31. Pres. Obama just visited him in Houston this past Tuesday

and made favorable comments about his foreign policy. I expect he and Pres. Clinton will speak at the funeral and hopefully not the monster.

[herding cats]

36. I expect both will speak.

The Orange One won't be asked to blather about themself. My prediction.

[John Fante]

64. Obama is a class act.

DU, not so much.

[DesertRat]

33. RIP, President Bush

[tavernier]

34. Thank you for your service.

[Devil Child]

37. No point on trying to spin a positive for this man

So, good bye and thank you for the single term.

[Eliot Rosewater]

39. Veteran. RIP

Last edited Sat Dec 1, 2018, 02:30 PM - Edit history (2)

I am going to add that he did bring Willie Horton politics to America, that must be a part of the conversation when discussing his legacy , very bad part of Legacy

In fairness to those who responded to my post I did the above edit many hours after the first post. A friend reminded me about Horton. I think it must be said.

[herding cats]

43. Peace.

I can agree with this.

[EllieBC]

47. I'm with you.

Condolences to his family. RIP and thank you for your service.

[kimbutgar]

42. Rip GWB

The last Republican President i respected that was a decent man. You’re with your Barb tonight. Rest your soul.

[ZZenith]

74. He was in no way, shape nor form a decent man.

History will not record him as such once it is completely written.

[Coventina]

44. Buh-bye

You will not be missed.

[AZ8theist]

45. Mixed feelings.

At least he served his country.

He wasn't a coward with "bone spurs"

He was involved in many nefarious actions during his time in government.

But he was at least somewhat honorable. He at least was part of the last generation of ACTUAL Republicans, not the Fascist Nazi party of Dotard.

However, I will never forgive him for Clarence Thomas. The unmitigated hypocrisy of "I didn't select Clarence Thomas because he was black, I selected him because he was the best available"...

Utter BULLSHIT.

Rest in peace, George. May your legacy expose the truth.

[joet67]

51. Rest In Piss

[AntiFascist]

52. One of the supporters behind 9-11...

and since he was a private citizen at the time, this is not a so called "conspiracy theory".

[LovingA2andMI]

53. At A Time When Our Politics Was Not A Blood Sport....

There Was Former President George H.W. Bush. The LAST POTUS to Volunteer for Service Twice, During World War II and the Last POTUS to service his countries U.S. Military, during war. Equally, he was the last GOP Presidential Candidate to win the Presidency by winning the Popular Vote.

For That, He Will Have Our Respect. RIP President George H.W. Bush.

[denbot]

54. I was in the Persian Gulf when he negotiated to hold the US hostages

Nuff said.

[NBachers]

56. I always wished that, as he contemplated his great reward, he'd confess all the terrible secrets

he held.

[forgotmylogin]

57. Rest in Peace H.W.

You were not the worst President.

[BumRushDaShow]

59. I usually have the radio on while in bed and heard this

R.i.P.

There will be a federal holiday for this and I expect Drumpf will be clueless regarding the protocol for how to handle the loss of a former President.

[PatrickforO]

62. Well, it is a nice eulogy, but here is a better one:

https://stonecoldtruth.com/roger-stone-exposes-the-bush-crime-family-in-stunning-new-book/

[olddad56]

72. "helped guide the world out of a four-decade Cold War."....give me a fucking break.

I think it is safe to say that the cold war is not over, and we are currently not winning. Last time I checked, Putin has his butt-boy in the Oval office, Great Britain's Br-exit was influenced by the Russian's, NATO and the EU are being destabilized by Putin's influence on Trump, and the Ukraine is coming under attack by Putin.

The Cold War is alive and well. Bush was a terrible president, overshadowed only by is idiot son and Putin's butt boy.

[ZZenith]

73. Thank you!

There will never be a hagiography written about G.H.W. Bush.

So many of our current afflictions can be traced in a straight line back to that miserable sociopath. Evil man who learned from his evil father, just like his evil son.

[treestar]

86. that struck me as overly kind, too

even upon his death.

He and his cronies promptly substituted the Middle East/Iraq and permanent enemy to keep us always paying the military industrial complex.

[KG]

76. world is a better place today

[democrank]

78. Rest in peace President Bush.

[EarthFirst]

81. I hope he got himself right in the universe beforehand... nt

[MarcA]

95. +1,000 n/t

[meow2u3]

82. RIP, President Bush I

[Hugin]

83. So goes the last Republican I could probably share a table with...

Sayonara, George.

My only regret is you didn't get to vote against Trump again.

[sinkingfeeling]

85. Not surprised, but let him rest in peace.

[FailureToCommunicate]

88. RIP to a veteran. His record as Pres is mixed, but millions of Americans can be glad for

at least ONE thing he did right: the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July,1990.

[Gothmog]

89. from my twitter feed

Link to tweet

[BeckyDem]

92. Fuck him and his sick twisted son. HW Bush led the way for Trump to be a birther w/ Willie Horton ad

[jhasp]

93. He called "trickle down economics" for what it really was and....

raised taxes even though he knew it would cost him reelection.

Hate him if you want, but he had some decency and common sense.

[MarcA]

94. Not someone with whom I would want to share the same community n/t

[jb5150]

96. He did a few good things ...

and some really bad things, but I never thought he was "evil" in any way. I will acknowledge that he served his country in WW2. I did not hate him, but I'm not shedding any tears for his passing, my dancing shoes are still in the box waiting for those more deserving.