George H. W. Bush
WASHINGTON -- Now that America has had its holiday from politics, we can get back to poking one another in the eye, and otherwise breaking the rules of decorum for the ladies and gentlemen of public life. Our holiday from politics was occasioned by the death of George Herbert Walker Bush, as fine a gent as has entered public life in decades. Every testimonial delivered to him last week was deserved, save one.
During Sunday’s Global Public Square, CNN host Fareed Zakaria’s tribute to former President George H.W. Bush involved him touting the President’s famous leadership and demeanor. But it was a backhanded compliment seeing as how Zakaria attributed those aspects of Bush 41 to his pervasive white privilege.
In a column she wrote over the weekend, Maureen Dowd of The New York Times joined a long list of media personalities who have used the death of President George H.W. Bush to trash President Trump. Dowd contrasted the “narcissistic, amoral, vulgar reality-TV president” with the “modest, principled, classy, old-world president.” She made similar comments Wednesday’s edition of MTP Daily: “in this era of covering white-collar crimes and porn stars and vulgarity...it was nice to look back to someone who was trying to represent decency and civility...that modesty is such contrast to Trump’s endless odyssey of narcissistic self-discovery.” One could just as easily say that Dowd’s descriptions of Bush in 2018 are in such contrast to her comments about him in 1990.
While invoking the passing of former President George H. W. Bush, CNN International and PBS host Christiane Amanpour fretted on Thursday’s show that “[a]s President Bush One is laid to rest, one of the Senate’s true moderates heads home in defeat,” blaming it on “conservative dark money,” “negative ads,” and a refusal by voters to accept McCaskill’s manufactured image as someone right down the middle.
Thursday, the media continued bringing President Trump into their live coverage of former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral proceedings. Instead of comparing their presidencies, ABC took it a step further late Thursday, with two of its journalists crudely mocking how President Trump’s own funeral would be different.
With the nation still in mourning from the passing of former President George H.W. Bush, NBC spent six minutes, 19 seconds during their Thursday evening broadcast on stories that amounted to bad news for President Trump and/or the Republican Party before they finally got around to mentioning the final day of the funeral services.
On Wednesday's Late Night with Seth Meyers, aired early Thursday, NBC host Meyers provided far-left British journalist Mehdi Hasan an unchallenged forum to excoriate former President George H.W. Bush for the deaths of Iraqis and Panamanians, as well as the Willie Horton campaign issue and Bush's reaction to the AIDS epidemic.
Appearing as a guest on Wednesday's Amanpour and Company on PBS to discuss former President George H.W. Bush's legacy, The New Yorker editor David Remnick condemned Bush's use of convicted murderer Willie Horton in the 1988 presidential campaign as "racist." Host Christiane Amanpour also suggested that Bush had run a "racist" campaign ad.
New York Times reporter Peter Baker marked the ceremony for former President George H. W. Bush on the front of Thursday’s edition, but his main focus was on attacking one of the attendants: President Trump, through biased interpretation of body language and some light mind-reading. At a moment that promised bipartisan respect, the Times wants to deepen the very divisions it pretends to deplore. Baker condescended: "[Historian John Meacham] also essentially explained Mr. Bush’s thousand-lights phrase to Mr. Trump."
Dan Rather, the longtime CBS anchor keeps showing he has no self-awareness, whatsoever. The veteran, disgraced journalist took to Twitter during George H.W. Bush’s funeral Wednesday to offer his thoughts, dripping with condescension for our current president, and completely obtuse in light of his own behavior towards both Bushes when they were in office.
On CNN's New Day, after former Bush 43 aide Scott Jennings praises President Trump's handling of the passing of George H.W. Bush, CNN's John Avlon says: "I don't think you want to give out too many medals for not screwing up a presidential funeral. The President was on best behavior this week, but that's a fairly low bar."
In a “Let Me Finish” commentary that came from way out in left field, MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews ended Thursday’s show with a plea for failed Texas Democratic senatorial candidate Beto O’Rouke to join the 2020 Democratic presidential field, citing his “magic” and comparing him to the late former President, George H. W. Bush.