Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A Case In Civility - George H.W. Bush

There is nothing new under the sun. Every president in modern history has been accused by his opponents of being the worst president ever. Barack Obama is a socialist bent on destroying the Constitution. George W. Bush was a idiot fascist who destroyed Iraq and the economy. Bill Clinton was an extreme leftist who wrecked the moral fiber of America. Ronald Reagan? A buffoon who resided over a recession and corruption within his administration. If Republicans take back the White House, it will be the same story, no matter who is elected.

Ironically, the one president who escaped much of the partisan name calling was George H.W. Bush, who, despite his insularity to the ad hominem bomb, was still not popular enough to get re-elected. That is why it caught my eye when Politico published Bush's letter to Clinton when the latter defeated the former in the 1992 presidential elections.
January 20, 1993

Dear Bill, 

When I walked into this office just now I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago. I know you will feel that too. 

I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some Presidents have described.
There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. I’m not a very good one to give advice; but just don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course.
You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. 

Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. 

Good luck –
George
Can you just imagine Rush Limbaugh saying this?  Of course not. If the conservative movement ever decided to collectively drop the vicious cycle of partisan name calling, it would torpedo into power and remain there for years to come.

As Mike Huckabee (a case in civility himself) is fond of saying -- We are conservatives, but we aren't mad about it.

--UPDATE

Speak of the devil. Here is Rush Limbaugh opening his mouth again.
"What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He's sitting there in jail. He knows what's going on, he knows that...the Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame. He knows if he plays his cards right, he's just a victim. He's the latest in a never-ending parade of victims brought about by the unfairness of America...That smiling mug shot -- this guy clearly understands he's getting all the attention and he understands he's got a political party doing everything it can, plus a local sheriff doing everything that they can to make sure he's not convicted of murder - but something lesser."
The completely insensitive ignorance that infuses that man. 

14 comments:

Pablo said...

Sorry, this is my last post on civility for a while, but it is a necessary topic. And again, I do not blame Palin for any of the violence that occurred in Arizona. But the entire conservative movement needs to reform its rhetoric. Let's take the higher ground.

CraigRandall1 said...

Good post, Paul : )

John said...

Great post, Paul/Pablo :)

Bill589 said...

I hope Obama fails at socializing as much of our economy as possible. And in telling us what to eat and what to drive. Etc. etc. And growing our government’s reach into our lives. And spending money now that my grandchildren will be paying back.

I could go on. . .

We politely asked the left to listen to us, follow the rules (constitution), let us read bills before their power is used over us, etc., but they didn’t listen. Instead they lie, and ridicule us. We’re the public. They’re the public servants. They forgot that. Now, I’m not going to be polite anymore.

OhioJOE said...

Well, at the end of the day, you make some good points. The Bush family is in deed a civil decent family. Further, being civil is a good goal, it is something that we all should strive for and work on.

On the other hand. Being civil cost both Mr. Bush and the party. We lost 2006 and 2008 in part because we lied down and took it and did not fight back. Finally in 2010, we woke up, fought back and actually won a few seats. Yes, there were other factors, but being civil does not necessarily produce Congressional seats. It is not right, but it is life.

It is difficult to get your camp trashed and then be told 'oh you must be civil.' Frankly, it is like showing up at a hockey game with no hockey sticks.

Further, I will first admit that I am often at fault for failing to see that somebody is simply making a joke and not being uncivil. So, to be sure, Mr. Limbaugh is not the most civil, kind, sympathetic merciful man in the world. However, if you actually listened to him and understood him, you'd understand that he (and many other Conservatives) is not the dishonest monster you paint him out to be. You need to take things into context and not cry "uncivil" all the time. For example, I accused one of your camp members of being caught with her pants down. If you were to take that literally, you could accuse me of pornography.

Sometimes, a misunderstanding can be mistaken for incivility. One of your camp members and coreligionists, like to use humor, metaphors and stories to make his points. At first I could not read this guy and even members of his own camp did not think he was for real. I had the fortunate of reading enough of his posts to figure out (I trust) that he meant no harm or insults per se. Some of my fellow camp member (as well as other camps including his own) got into minor fight with him in part because they mistook him as arrogant or something. Hey, he and I are not on as good terms as we were and I guess it is clear we do not totally understand each other, but I at least I think that he himself is anything, but uncivil. So I guess there might not be quite the incivility as it appears.

To be sure, incivility does exist and their is some on the Conservative side, but it is old to suggest that Conservatives are most guilty especially when that is not the case in relative terms.

Anonymous said...

You simply can't judge Rush unless you have spent about 2-3 weeks listening to him. At least then you can understand something about his personality. It is wrong to condemn him and his millions of listeners out of hand. Millions of people listen to him; that does not make them hate-filled, uncivil, or anything else. You don't know whether they agree with him entirely or not. They may not express themselves like he does.

Rush is an important conservative voice, and we ARE better off having him. I remember growing up in an era where the Democrats controlled the media almost entirely. In the mid-80's I became aware that something like 87% of journalists were registered democrats, and they controlled the news. Everything I read was seen through their filter. As I came of age, I realized that I did not agree with their view of the world. I did not believe Ronald Reagan was stupid, nor that George W. Bush was, nor that Sarah Palin is, for that matter. Rush emerged as a voice for those who disagree with the "let's-be-civil-as-long-as-you-agree-with-me" crowd. Thank God for Rush and other like him! I quite often disagree with him and would not express myself the way he does, but he is absolutely astute politically. He predicted that the unions would end up owning GM long before it happened. It seemed a little funny at the time he said it, but he was absolutely right. Don't discount his instincts; he knows politics!

AZ

kelly said...

I always like Bush 1. I thought he was a good follow-up to Reagan. We needed someone to continue in that job with a soft spoken, kind, fatherly, and noble demeanor. I thought Babara Bush was one of the best first ladies ever. For some reason, I never felt that way about Nancy Reagan.

Right Wingnut said...

Speak of the devil. Here is Rush Limbaugh opening his mouth again - Pablo

So...you think Rush is "the devil?" Oh, that's right...it's just a metaphor.

Pablo said...

RW,

Yes, it is just a metaphor.

AZ,

I will not spend five minutes listening to Rush Limbaugh. I did in the past. He is offensive, ignorant, and divisive. You also falsely present two extremes of which I choose neither: Democrats controlling the media or Rush Limbaugh. How about responsible Republicans on TV and radio?

Bill,

I don't know what to say to you other than go back and read the works of real socialists. I suggest Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Antonio Gramsci, Andre Gunder Frank, Immanuel Wallerstein, Robert Cox, Andrew Linklater, and Jurgen Habermas. I would also spend some time reading the works of some of the New Marxists, like Bill Warren and Justin Rosenberg. When you have done that and you can convince me that bailing out the bank and car industries, Obamacare, militarizing the border, increasing troops in Afghanistan, and calling for the assassination of an American citizen all fall in line with the ideas of socialists, then I will start to take your comments a little more seriously.

Anonymous said...

Pablo,

You are so concerned with your own worldview that you have no room for mine. Every single time you respond to me, you portray yourself as the superior in intellect and civility. I have been nothing if not civil in every single comment that I have made. I think you would have a hard time proving that you are more intelligent, as well. In the mid-80's conservatives had some friends in the Wall Street Journal. Many read The Economist, which I believe is a British magazine. You should have read the International Time magazine we subscribed to when we lived overseas. Even my husband believed it was partisan, and I assure you, he is not anywhere near as interested in politics as I am.

My advice is that you should stop patronizing people who disagree with you.

AZ

Pablo said...

AZ,

I apologize if I came across as patronizing. I reread my comment to you and I didn't think that I did. I simply stated that I refuse to listen to Rush Limbaugh anymore. Just because we have a different opinion about Rush, does not mean that I think that I am smarter than you. Again, I really apologize if I came across that way. I have been told that before, and I am trying to do a better job of not doing it.

And yes, you have been very civil to me.

Revolution 2012 said...

I have always considered Bush 1 a class act.

OhioJoe said...

I did my civil act last night, when Mr. Gingrich's PAC called last night, I at least listened to the man instead of hanging up and giving him a piece of my mind

Anonymous said...

Pablo, AZ didn't ask you to listen to five minutes of Rush Limbaugh...she asked you to listen to 2-3 weeks of the Rush Limbaugh show.

jerseyrepublican