You have to wonder if the state funeral of former President George HW Bush will be turned into a massive festival of Trump-bashing, like the recent funerals of John McCain and Aretha Franklin. The tone will probably depend on two things: Who gets to use the microphone and the Bush family wishes.
Judging by the last wishes of ‘41,’ it sounds like the family will probably tone it down and make the funeral about the actual president in question, and not the president who seems to live inside the heads of all globalists 24/7. We’ll see.
As our mothers always told us, if you can’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all. We will probably sit there quietly when Bill Clinton and Obama make their final exits. But in the case of George HW Bush, thankfully, there are some nice things we can say. Here are a few thoughts on the passing of 41.
The first thing that jumps out about former President Bush is what a remarkable life he led. Reading his biography is enough to make you feel fat, lazy and unaccomplished. He was commissioned as the youngest naval aviator in World War II, in 1943, at the age of 18. Bush flew a big fat target known as the Avenger torpedo bomber, but unlike many naval aviators, he was only shot down one time despite flying 58 combat missions.
While a few certain subsequent presidents smoked dope in their youth, 41 smoked commies for America. After being shot down, he floated in the Pacific for four hours before being picked up by a submarine. Remember all the flak that Trump caught for his remarks about John McCain? When George HW Bush was told he was a hero, he remarked that he didn’t think of getting shot down as being heroic. Make what you will of that.
His World War II heroism was just the beginning for the elder Bush, however. After the war was over, he got married at age 20. He breezed through Yale in just two and a half years and became a father at 22. While he crammed a Yale education into that short period, he also managed to make it to the College World Series twice – as captain of Yale’s baseball team – and once met Babe Ruth on the pitcher’s mound in a ceremonial event.
Bush founded Zapata Petroleum in 1953, at the age of 31. Zapata operated illegally in Mexico’s waters for a time and may or may not have assisted with the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. He went to Congress in the 1960s, to the UN and the CIA in the 1970s, and then on to become Ronald Reagan’s vice president and ultimately, 41.
That is a remarkable life by any measure. Whether you agree or disagree with his politics, you have to admit that we just don’t see many Americans of that caliber any longer. Most of us will never accomplish as much in a lifetime as he did by the time he was 25.
After 41 left the White House, it took 24 years before another high-caliber, accomplished individual would become president. Bill Clinton? Please. George W? He inherited a lot of name recognition and many of his accomplishments were simply building on his father’s dynastic work. Obama? Talk about an “affirmative action hire.”
The next thing that comes to mind when pondering the passing of 41 is how presidential Donald Trump has been at this moment in history, especially compared to his petty detractors and Russian conspiracy theorizers. Trump immediately declared a National Day of Mourning, and the stock markets will close for a day for Bush’s funeral. Air Force One is flying to Texas, where all the seats will be stripped out to transport the elder Bush on his final flight. A custom-made train is being built to transport Bush’s remains back to Texas after the funeral. There’s a ceremony, purpose and gravity to the moment and it is being led by President Trump.
As the little girls running the New York Times, CNN and the AP rush to reprint the fake news story about Bush’s encounter with a grocery store cash register, President Trump is reminding us that certain things are supposed to transcend politics. The death of a former leader is a time to reflect on that person’s life and remember what unites us as Americans. Trump’s opponents are using Bush’s death to try to score more cheap points against Trump.
President Trump has laid waste to the “Bush doctrines” of globalism, spreading democracy to the Middle East, open borders with Mexico and the NAFTA torpedo bombing of American jobs. Yet he has still treated the death of former President Bush with the proper amount of respect.
Trump is exhibiting the kind of good sportsmanship and leadership that we used to have in America. The Obamas couldn’t even be bothered to attend Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral (in fairness, they went to Walter Cronkite’s and also former KKK grand wizard and Senator Robert Byrd’s).
Which brings us to one last observation about the passing of 41: His passing is symbolic for what has happened to globalism. Americans tried the Bush Doctrine for 28 years. Is there anything, really, that separates the broad political beliefs of George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama at the end of the day? (Besides Barack and Michelle’s seething hatred for America, that is.) All were in favor of open borders, “free” trade, bombing foreign countries that represent no threat to America, gutting the middle class as a “necessary evil” to one world government and not building a wall on our southern border.
The last president we had in office, prior to Trump, who realized that his main stewardship duty was to the people of this country was Ronald Reagan. When Reagan left office, the Cato Institute and other free trade think tanks celebrated because the “long, dark night of trade restriction” was finally over and the elites could get back to globalizing all of us, good and hard.
George HW Bush was a great man whose policies, unfortunately, were tried and didn’t work. As he is laid to rest this week, his policies are being buried with him. Here’s hoping that his funeral ends up being as classy and respectful as President Trump has been during this time.
