RIP George H.W. Bush, 1924-2018

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You are a long time WP member and understand that threads getting hijacked are a normal occurrence here and autistic people often do not adhere to social norms such as don't trash people when they just died.

That said I will go back to the original intent.

4 pages and I am surprised this has not been brought up. Bush signed the Americans with Disability Act.

You are a long time WP member and understand that threads getting hijacked are a normal occurrence here and autistic people often do not adhere to social norms such as don't trash people when they just died.

That said I will go back to the original intent.

4 pages and I am surprised this has not been brought up. Bush signed the Americans with Disability Act.

Um. I've seen lots of non autistic people and political commentators criticise public figures who have just died. I certainly wasn't going to accept scum like McCain being called a "war hero". I'm just calling it as I see it. Bush Snr was the last half decent President and they have all been awful ever since.

Sometimes I think that autistic people often use that as an excuse to act out.

I consider it unacceptable to speak ill of someone who is passing way or has recently passed away.

I take it further than that in my own case. Years ago, someone made a serious threat to murder me. He said that he was going to walk up behind me when I least expect it, stick a handgun to my head, and blow my brains out. After that, I avoided that guy like the plague.

He died from a heart attack about ten years ago. Since then, I don't speak ill of him at all. Since he is dead and can no longer hurt me, I don't have to worry about him. I see no reason to speak ill of him and upset his friends and relatives, many of whom I've known for years.

I understand of course. But these politicians are responsible for so much death and suffering that I can't be silent. If Brevik got killed after his child killing rampage I doubt anyone would be shedding tears or pretending he was a better person than he was cause he was no longer alive.

Yes his public persona was classy, the complete opposite of Trump, and he did not weasel out of military. So his death does nostalgically remind me of a time gone by and not coming back.

BUT, I highly suspect he knew about and let happen 9/11 and got away with it. While I usually follow the rule of not speaking ill of people even people I think are really bad people in the immediate aftermath of their death this is something I just can’t get over and will be a lingering sore spot until the time of my own death.

Clinton had bin laden at one point and let him go I beleive. That could have stopped 9/11

You may think it's crazy, others might not. It's a difference of opinion. You've called me a "worthless piece of garbage" and a "scumbag" for trashing a deceased president. I have not called you any such names. Would you call someone who trashed Charles Manson or Saddam Hussein on the day of their death "scumbags?" You see the point I'm trying to make here? It's a matter of perspective. Why have you not been banned from WP for ad hominin attacks on other members?


Moderators, come on! Let's give this guy the boot for violating the TOS!

You compare George HW Bush to people like Charles Manson or Saddam Hussein? It's not surprising that you want to ban people who are offended by expressions of indecency.

They had had Bin Laden in their sights, when his guest - a Saudi prince - steps into the frame. The attack was called off at the last second for fear killing one of the Saudi princes would be disastrous for US relations in the Middle East. As I understand it, the order to step down was given not by Clinton, but by one of his underlings. In retrospect, they should have launched the missile - - too many Saudi Princes, anyhow.

I’m talking about time some nation had him in custody and were told to let him go.

Sexual harassment or assault can’t be bracketed off as part of a politician’s private life. It’s an important part of the story of their leadership, their use of power, and their policy. The same is true for Bush.

Relatively little has been made of the accusations against Bush since they emerged last year. A woman initially accused Bush of groping her and telling her a dirty joke as she stood beside him, seated in a wheelchair, for a photo op. The family responded, suggesting the aging former president might be slipping a bit. “President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures,” a spokesperson, Jim McGrath, said on Bush’s behalf.

But then the story changed. More women came forward describing incidents that took place before Bush was in a wheelchair and even while he was in office. One woman described a credible story dating back to 1992, when she says that Bush, then the president, put his hand on her rear end while taking a photograph at a reelection fundraiser. Another woman described an incident from 2003, when she was 16 years old — and Bush was still spry, zipping around Kennebunkport, Maine, on a Segway.

“All the focus has been on ‘He’s old.’ OK, but he wasn’t old when it happened to me,” the woman, now 55 told CNN. “I’ve been debating what to do about it.”

The same spokesperson offered up a new version of the behavior, admitting, yes, Bush has done what he’s accused of, but it was innocent — he “has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner.”

Bush’s record on domestic and foreign policy is laudable in many ways, and it deserves the praise it’s receiving now. Even on women’s rights, he can take credit for the nomination of David Souter to the Supreme Court and for signing the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to track and disclose sexual assaults on campus. But accusations about how he allegedly used or abused his power to diminish women should be as much a part of our assessment of his legacy.

There’s always a debate in moments like this about whether it is appropriate to “speak ill of the dead.” Discussing Bush’s alleged behavior is not speaking ill of him. It’s not a slight or a smear. It’s part of his legacy, whether or not we like it.

“He knows the power he has, and the reverence he deserves, even while sitting perhaps somewhat senile in a wheelchair,” said Jordana Grolnick, who said that Bush told her a dirty joke (that several other women independently said he’d told them too) and put his hand on her rear end while taking a photo a few years ago.

Another woman, whose father was in the CIA, said she was 16 when her parents took her to an intelligence event in Texas and was looking forward to meeting the former president, until he groped her.

“My initial reaction was absolute horror. I was really, really confused,” Roslyn Corrigan told Time about an encounter she said happened when she was 16 and Bush was 79. “The first thing I did was look at my mom and, while he was still standing there, I didn’t say anything. What does a teenager say to the ex-president of the United States? Like, ‘Hey dude, you shouldn’t have touched me like that?’”

Brevik no longer matters. He is in prison and is unlikely to ever be released. While the maximum sentence is only 21 years, the prosecutors will undoubtedly follow Norwegian law and ask the judge to extend the sentence 5 years at a time until he is dead.

In any event, it is crazy to compare Brevik to George HW Bush.