RE-THINKING THE LEGACY OF GEORGE H.W. BUSH

After reading over the first draft of my essay on remembering George H.W. Bush, I paused to reflect on what I’d written. Was I painting too rosy a picture of Bush’s the man? Was I guilty of romanticizing his life like much of the media has done? After all, what kind of a “highest character” would have done the bad deeds I mentioned—like running a racist campaign against Michael Dukakis, opposing landmark civil rights legislation, and unleashing nearly 100,000 bombs on innocent Iraqi civilians and fleeing Iraqi soldiers. Don’t these actions, which I mentioned but didn’t elaborate on, speak volumes more about Bush’s character than his geniality, corny jokes and folksy ways?

REMEMBERING GEORGE H.W. BUSH IN THE TRUMP ERA

By Ronald T. Fox

I have fond memories of George H.W. Bush. This may sound surprising coming from a die-hard progressive who has had few good things to say about Republicans. I say “fond” not because I approved of the decisions he made and policies he advanced in his long career in public service, many of which were anathema to progressives, but because of features of his character and personality, features that I’ve grown to appreciate more in the era of Donald Trump. Our Cretan in the White House has set the character bar so low that all our former presidents look good in comparison. My fondness for 41 has grown in direct proportion to the rise of Trump.

Nearly everyone is singing praise of Bush 41 as a man of honor, integrity, decency and humanity. Canonization of a deceased major public figure is a familiar theme in America. This can be nauseating, especially when you know better, but in the case of George Bush his virtues that are being voiced ring true, endorsed even by many of his rivals and critics. From a personal encounter I had with Bush two decades ago, I can attest to his personality virtues now being extolled.

NOVEMBER 2018 IGNOMINIOUS ABUSRDITY OF THE MONTH: THE “TRIGGY”

I know I’ve said I would refrain from nominating President Trump for any future IGGY awards. He is a certified ignominious person, worthy of a lifetime, not just a monthly, award. With the midterm election focusing so much attention on the Trumpster, the mass media seems to have lost interest in reporting on the usual array of absurdities from others. Trump lies and absurdities on anything from tariffs, to wildfires, to international events, to alleged election fraud, and, of course, on Russia, have dominated November news cycles.  Such a record, horrific to most of us, is fuel for Trump; it plays right into his hands. He thrives on adversaries, loves the fight, and welcomes news that’s about him. In devouring everything Trump, the media has been complicit in boosting his popularity among his base, if not beyond. I’ve tried to avoid this Trump trap but have not been very successful.

I’ve decided to devote the November IGGY exclusively to Trump absurdities. This will mark the last time I will include any of his false, deceitful, racist, xenophobic, insulting pronouncements for IGGY recognition—at least I will strive to make it the last time. I wish journalists with wide followings would do the same. Why continue to make him the story? (I’d love to see CNN and other media outlets boycott the White House in protest of Jim Acosta’s banning.) Nothing would piss off Trump more than losing his megaphone.

November was a big month for Trumpian lies, misrepresentations, insults, recriminations and hair-brainers. But, really, it was no different from other months. I’m including six below, but I could have listed several more, like his comment on climate change that he trusts his non-believing gut more than the brains of scientists, his declaration of a political victory in using force against asylum seekers on the Mexican border, his assertion that he wouldn’t take a pardon for the lying, deceitful Paul Manafort “off the table,” and his insistence that the Saudi crown prince cannot, with certainty, be blamed for the death of the journalist Jamai Khashoggi, despite the contrary conclusion from his own intelligence community. With this acknowledgment, I offer the following November Trumpian ignominious absurdities. For this month, I'm calling it the TRIGGY.

1. President Donald Trump.  The outright lies continue. I’ll pass over all the false statements he made about the midterm election, and claims that he did not know Mathew Whitaker before appointing him as Attorney general, and focus here on his latest whopper on China. At a news conference, the president answered a question about healing national divides by saying that he had forced China to back down from a plan to strengthen its manufacturing industry.

After declaring that because of his tariffs China had suspended its so called “China-25” plan to bestow greater privileges on its own companies over foreign competitors in the Chinese market, and would now not “supersede the U.S. economy in two years as he falsely claimed Beijing boasted, he went on to say:

“But I have to say this: Billions of dollars will soon be pouring into our Treasury from taxes that China is paying for us.”

Of course, this is a blatant falsehood. When the U.S. places tariffs on Chinese imports, China doesn’t pay them. American importers do, and this usually means passing along the extra costs to American consumers. Things will worsen when/if the spiraling trade war leads to even higher tariffs. The only thing that appears to be "pouring" is the exodus of American jobs.  So long GM.