How would you feel if you raised two sons, one who would become President and be called everything from a dumb monkey to a fascist Hitler, and the other son who would become a Governor and who would undoubtedly suffer the same fate as his older brother should he aspire to higher office?
Well… I would feel that I am:
rich
powerful
well-connected
in a political dynasty
a former leader of the free world
a father of the leader of the free world
I’m not crying for any of the Bushes. Sure, they face scrutiny, but that’s part of the territory of public life.
Let’s face it, the Bush clan has more power, prestige, and wealth than 99.999% of the world. I feel no pity, sorry. 🙂
The title of the post is Pride, not pity, Dave.
Fair enough… I took it to mean that George Sr. was going through a tough time. But in the big picture, he’s got it made…
Dave,
Your comment reaks of envy. It doesnt matter how much money, power or influence the Bush family has. It must be a heavy burden on any father to see his children denigrated and debased in such fashion yet seeing them still have the courage of their convictions and the dignity to live through it.
Val,
I totally agree with you. Not only must it be hard for Bush Sr., as a parent to see the constant barrage of hatred directed at his son, President Bush, but he must be astounded at what we are seeing these days. Remember the days … not too long ago, that regardless of our opinion, likes or dislikes or political, religious orientation … we respected our president. He was the president of the United States of America, not the republican or democrat president … moreover, any type of protocol from former presidents has completed vanished … thanks to politics … or “book deals”. How can we expect the rest of the world to respect us when we don’t respect ourselves? I have never seen a Presidency that has been in such a constant state of sabotage and undermined from within, as the present one. It’s sad that there are Americans who eagerly await for bad news at whatever cost because these imply a failure on the part of our administration.
You are correct to highlight Pride vs Pity … it’s all about courage and character!
I wish you well 🙂 Melek
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belong to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~ Roosevelt
I wonder why the Bushes are demonized for the power, money, and for being a “dynasty”, but the Kennedys are lionized?
heavy is the head that wears the crown….
It is that same lack of compassion towards others simply because of their standing in society and the wealth they possess that gives birth to envy. Couple that with ignorance and we have fertile grounds to sow the seeds of communism.
Melek, as usual couldn’t have said it better.
Bush Sr. was also viciously ridiculed during his presidency. Cartoonist Pat Oliphant regularly portrayed him carrying a woman’s purse.
I have been unable to find any severely critical political cartoons regarding John Kennedy’s womanizing, drinking, or ineptitude on policy decisions. There are also no cartoons about Jackie Kennedy trying to crawl away on the trunk of the presidential limousine, after her husband was shot, when a Secret Service agent pushed her back into the car. Comedian Lenny Bruce called it “Hauling ass to save ass.”
One of the previous posts calls Carter a dick, but Bush can’t be called far lesser things?
Hypocrisy.
I cannot get past, WMD (Bush either lied or was not smart enough to vet the intelligence), the oil revenues will pay for the war, we will be greeted as liberators, Sadaam had a direct connection to 9/11, Brownie you’re doing a heck of a job, disregarding the memo saying that Al Quieda was going to slam planes into buildings, Osama is still at large, the insurgency is in its last throws, etc. etc.
God forbid if Clinton did any of those things.
I cannot see where lying about oral sex, disgusting though that is, is worse than sending soldiers to their deaths under false pretenses (and I know Democrats voted for the war too, but Bush had the final say as Commander in chief and went ahead).
If I was Bush’s daddy, I’d be crying too, maybe even throw up on the Japanese Prime Minister.
Sorry guys. Criticism cuts both ways and I cannot see where calling a Democrat a dick is OK and saying Bush is a Chimp or even Hitler is unacceptable. For the record, I disagree on those descriptions of both men.
And remember..we could not say any of this in Cuba…And that is what keeps me believing in everyone here…no matter what.
“God forbid if Clinton did any of those things.”
Get a historically educated life. Clinton got passes from everybody …. the wife, the daughter, the cabinet, the media, and the ball-less congress.
Yep, the fact that Clinton didn’t do anything about a lot of things is partially responsible for this whole mess.
And as far as George Sr. is concerned, he should have nothing but pride and satisfaction that he raised two decent human beings, flawed as they are. And he has shown A HELL OF A LOT MORE CLASS than former presidents by stooping so low as to pair up with the slutty Clinton to raise $$$ for a good cause. All while the Arkansas TRASH BAG himself takes shots at America during overpaid speaking tours in Europe in between gigs with George Sr.
The frigging nerve. What a disgusting bastard.
As Tati (above) said, it is stuff like this class envy crap that fertilizes leftist-communist ideology and movements, with their ensuing debacles. Exhibit 1: Latin America — it hasn’t learned a thing.
I’m so frigging fed up with phony leftist BS parading as “balance” and “fair play” — where is Val’s caja china when you need it?
Its clear that this David Sandoval does not know the meaning of pride. Could it be that he has never felt the wonderful exuberant overflowing feeling of pride for a loved one? Quien Sabe?
One can never explain what vanilla taste like to someone who has never tasted it.
Jack W,
You seem to be neglecting the fact, via a vis the Iraq war, that everyone, including Clinton etal, thought saddam hussein was ammassing WMDs. EVERYONE. And they quite publicily stated so many a time.
Val,
Agreed. But stating so and using that as actionable for a war are two different things. North Korea has WMD, Iran is getting them, we are not attacking them yet. Russia is sending polonium on jets to England, and no troops are massing on thier border.
Heck, an emigre’ friend from Cuba insists that fidel still has a warhead or two left over from 1962. Don’t know if that is any good.
My key point, Bush sent the troops. You have to be damned sure that the reason you’re fighting is the correct one.
Besides, Osama was the target. As bad as Sadaam was and is, the Iraq war forced us to take our eye off the ball.
And remember when Clinton sent a couple of missles Osama’s way the right called it “wag the Dog” to distract from Monicagate.
Glad to see you are back on line Val.
Much respect!
Jack,
So the fact that an evil dictator/terrorist like Sadaam is no longer a threat to the American people is not a good enough excuse for not finding WMDs?
Personally, I feel safer knowing that at least one of the big name players is out of the game because of my president. Now Sadaam won’t be able to orchestrate a 9/11 style attack on the US because of Bush. So he didn’t get the WMDs, but he got the guy threatening to use them.
Jack,
Thanks. Its good to be back online trust me.I was having conniptions.
As for the Iraq thing, personally, I think I would be incredibly naive if I didnt think that saddam had and has ties with all those al queda types.
if I fault president Bush for anything, its for trying to “sell” the invasion on just WMDs. there were plenty of other reasons to believe that Hussein and his cronies had to be removed.
Val,
No argument, a bad guy.
I got trashed up there pretty good by Henry Agureos. Sorry sir didn’t mean to cause you pain. I’m just a tad more moderate than most posters, but trust me, I am a good old capitalist.
I’m just left handed that’s all.
One of the reasons I’m a bit more to the center is that I am a CPA and MBA. Most of my family were/are blue collar.
I am the designated executor/POA etc for many of them. They all worked for years, saved and paid taxes.
They are all or mostly dependant on Social Security, and one aunt I look after has paid $400,000 of her life’s savings on a retirement home and is now on Medicare.
So I’m a little more “social saftey net” conscious” than some of the other posters.
There are other reasons too, none to get into, but suffice to say one of my friends a good old boy from Kentucky once described my politics as “Between the Jessies”, with Jackson too liberal and Helms too conservative for my tastes.
Sorry Henry if I otherwise offended you.
To a free Cuba, on which we can all agree!
Gigi: Clinton not only “got passes” from the media he also made passes at female reporters.
Hey everyone,
I think you’re misunderstanding my point. VAL: sure, I understand that it must be hurtful to see one’s son or daughter insulted in public life.
HENRY AGUEROS: Of course I have felt pride for a loved one. For instance, for my mother, who bravely had to forego leaving Cuba for 10 years, living under tyranny, to take care of her mother, while my grandfather was imprisoned by Castro on false charges. (his real “crime”: speaking out against communism.)
MY POINT: Yes, George W. is attacked in the media. Yes, the media is biased. (duh.) But I’m looking at the big picture. Criticism comes as part of the job of public office (thankfully, we have the 1st Amendment!), and despite the vitriol that is thrown at George W., the Bush clan is extremely powerful and well-off. So for him to shed a few tears of pride, or hurt, or whatever, doesn’t sway me much. I’m sorry, it doesn’t… they are the leaders of the free world and it’s a hard job. I don’t know if I could do it. But they chose that job, and they were born into the prestige.
Who do I cry for? Oscar Biscet. Marta Beatriz Roque. Antunez. The children in Cuba forced to say “seremos como el Che,” and taught to spy on their neighbors for the government. That’s who I cry for. Who am I proud of? Elisabet Brotons, who gave her life, trying to give her son the gift of freedom.
Envy? I don’t see how it’s envy… sure, it must be very nice to be fabulously wealthy, etc., but really, I’m just taking a different perspective. The Bushes have it made compared to your average Cuban.
I will hand it to George W., he does handle all the criticism well, especially when he gets booed — the perfect response is to invoke the fact that “he loves free speech.” Because that’s a reminder of what we CAN do in this country, we are free to disagree with, or dislike, the government.
JackW
If you believe that to lie under oath to a Grand Jury and to perjure yourself while holding the most important office in the free world: the Presidency of the United States, is of no consequence then obviously you don’t take the law very seriously.
There is a big difference when people on a blog call a former president names than when the MSM does it.
Gee Firefly, I don’t believe I said lying under oath was a good thing. I believe I said what Mr. Clinton did was disgusting.
As far as the name calling on a blog, call me old fashioned, but to call any current or former presdient a disrespectful name is well disrespectful to me anyway.
Before you conclude about my disregard for the law you may want to check with the various states and the federal govenrment where I passed criminal background and security checks. Or check with the people I had to turn down for employment because they could not pass a criminal background check.
You could check with the court where I gave expert testimony in a fraud on a Credit Union. So at least one of us was under oath. Or check with my buddy in Military Intelligence who used me as his reference and the bright young Ensign who had to question me.
I wish you well.