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President George H.W. Bush has died, age 94.

ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
edited December 2018 in Debate and/or Discourse
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/george-hw-bush-41st-president-of-the-united-states-dies-at-94/2018/11/30/42fa2ea2-61e2-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html?utm_term=.8cf12acb82fb

94's not a bad age to reach, and he got to go skydiving.

WaPo's obit is ... still a bit of a draft.

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Mr. Bush died of SPECIFIC MEDICAL CAUSE OF DEATH, said/according to xxx. In 2012, he announced that he had vascular Parkinsonism, a condition that limited his mobility. His wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, died on April 17.

Elvenshae on
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  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Gotta love the hagiographies.
    Although Mr. Bush served as president three decades ago, his values and ethic seem centuries removed from today’s acrid political culture.
    Reagan’s preoccupation with communism in Central America had been a major factor in the Iran-contra scandal. As Mr. Bush left office, he issued pardons for Caspar W. Weinberger, Reagan’s secretary of defense, and five other officials who had faced charges for their Iran-contra roles.

    If you just separate them enough, people might not notice they are both in the same article.

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    edited December 2018
    I'm not happy about his dying. Or anything else he did.

    Head of the CIA for the Iran-Contra affair, and pardoned those involved after lying about it.

    Responsible for the 1991 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act that would shatter Yugoslavia, supporting fascist parties and the rise of Tudjman in Croatia.

    Responsible for the Highway of Death, where thousands of fleeing civillians in Kuwait were obliterated, to prevent terrorists from hiding among them.

    If he was my own family, I'd understand if people were cheering.

    Absalon on
  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    When's Kissinger going?

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  • GimGim a tall glass of water Registered User regular
    He was the last single-term President, almost 30 years ago.

    I posted this in [chat] but he was the first President I remember in school, when I was in kindergarten. The teacher asked us, " Does anyone know who the President is?" A girl next to me proclaimed "Bush!" In true child fashion, I assumed they were talking about an actual bush.

  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    When's Kissinger going?

    I've got alerts set up

    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    "This will not stand. This will not stand, this, uh, aggression against Kuwait."

    I was five when those words were spoken and it's what I most associate him with. I even had the general understanding that it meant there was a war about to start.

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    edited December 2018
    Gim wrote: »
    He was the last single-term President, almost 30 years ago.

    I posted this in [chat] but he was the first President I remember in school, when I was in kindergarten. The teacher asked us, " Does anyone know who the President is?" A girl next to me proclaimed "Bush!" In true child fashion, I assumed they were talking about an actual bush.

    Very similar to my first hearing about a war in Iraq

    Foreign policy was confusing back then

    Fencingsax on
  • RedTideRedTide Registered User regular
    Child me thought that Operation Desert Shield involved an actual protective barrier.

    And that Desert Storm would be some sort of directed weather.

    Letting a TV raise me and putting GI Joe on it at may have been a poor decision on my parents part.

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  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    George H.W. Bush, a person who had to be forced to pretend to give a shit about HIV positive people.

  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    We all do good things and bad things with our lives and maybe power makes it easier to be bad and harder to be good, but everyone with power in this world asked for it.

    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
  • OremLKOremLK Registered User regular
    edited December 2018
    He was a constant fixture at Minute Maid Park for Houston Astros games. Always got the best seats in the house, right behind home plate. Last time I saw him there was that insane extra innings World Series Game 5 last year. His appreciation for baseball generally and the Astros in particular was pretty near the only thing I agreed with him about; rest in peace, nevertheless.

    OremLK on
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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    RedTide wrote: »
    Child me thought that Operation Desert Shield involved an actual protective barrier.

    And that Desert Storm would be some sort of directed weather.

    Letting a TV raise me and putting GI Joe on it at may have been a poor decision on my parents part.
    I had a little plastic US flag, that had a long stand, that said "Operation Desert Storm" on the side when it was ongoing. It's the only propaganda I ever owned in my life (though I didn't know that was a thing at the time) and I can't remember how I got it. It had to be like a display that was in a cake or something, it's the only thing that makes sense.

  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    When's Kissinger going?
    Holy shit social media is FULL of people commenting on Bush's death with this, oh my god.

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    Henroid wrote: »
    When's Kissinger going?
    Holy shit social media is FULL of people commenting on Bush's death with this, oh my god.

    I mean, if anyone deserves it, he does.

  • FrankiedarlingFrankiedarling Registered User regular
    I always kinda wondered why he stopped where he did with Iraq. A strange war for a US president.

  • RedTideRedTide Registered User regular
    I always kinda wondered why he stopped where he did with Iraq. A strange war for a US president.

    Allegedly Colin Powell and a few others convinced him there was no path to viable nation building once they dismantled Saddams government.

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  • DiplominatorDiplominator Hardcore Porg Registered User regular
    I believe he was the last President to fight in WWII, and he spent most of the rest of his life in public service. His vision of America may not have always matched mine, but he was willing to put in the work and he was able to admit he was wrong. The world doesn't work without people like that.

    Incidentally, the first politics-related memory I have was him leaving office. Like, physically departing the White House on Marine 1. I was about three years old.

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    RedTide wrote: »
    I always kinda wondered why he stopped where he did with Iraq. A strange war for a US president.

    Allegedly Colin Powell and a few others convinced him there was no path to viable nation building once they dismantled Saddams government.

    It would have been a quagmire
    -Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney

  • Harry DresdenHarry Dresden Registered User regular
    I believe he was the last President to fight in WWII, and he spent most of the rest of his life in public service. His vision of America may not have always matched mine, but he was willing to put in the work and he was able to admit he was wrong. The world doesn't work without people like that.

    Incidentally, the first politics-related memory I have was him leaving office. Like, physically departing the White House on Marine 1. I was about three years old.

    Haven't heard anything about this, and that's too little to late for the kind of stuff he's been involved in and his son continued in the White House.

    Public service is an honourable avenue to pursue, but how he did that both as the Director of the CIA and POTUS was abusive to the extreme, and he got away with it clean. Besides Reagan and Nixon he's probably one of the biggest influences on the toxic corruption which has infested the government for decades, which set the path for Trump coming to power.

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    I voted for him twice. Saw the Berlin Wall come down while he was properly the leader of the Free world.

    RIP

  • -Tal-Tal Registered User regular
    George H.W. Bush made America worse

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  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    Harry, good grief.

    There is no line that intersects Bush Sr and Trump.

  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    Harry, good grief.

    There is no line that intersects Bush Sr and Trump.

    Willie Horton

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  • DiplominatorDiplominator Hardcore Porg Registered User regular
    I believe he was the last President to fight in WWII, and he spent most of the rest of his life in public service. His vision of America may not have always matched mine, but he was willing to put in the work and he was able to admit he was wrong. The world doesn't work without people like that.

    Incidentally, the first politics-related memory I have was him leaving office. Like, physically departing the White House on Marine 1. I was about three years old.

    Haven't heard anything about this, and that's too little to late for the kind of stuff he's been involved in and his son continued in the White House.

    Public service is an honourable avenue to pursue, but how he did that both as the Director of the CIA and POTUS was abusive to the extreme, and he got away with it clean. Besides Reagan and Nixon he's probably one of the biggest influences on the toxic corruption which has infested the government for decades, which set the path for Trump coming to power.

    I may have given him too much benefit of the doubt, but he promised not to raise taxes and then did. Yes, it was at the insistence of Democrats who he was obliged to negotiate with, but he managed to put solving a problem over his own political future, in at least one instance.

    If one felt an overwhelming urge to feel vengeful within 24 hours of the death announcement, I would mention that he only lived long enough to see the party he lead and shaped reject one of his sons in favor of Donald Trump, largely because of the colossal ineptitude of another son. He will never know how the story turns out.

  • KetBraKetBra Dressed Ridiculously Registered User regular
    What a coincidence, I was just listening to Rachel Maddow's podcast about how he assisted in Spiro and Nixon's efforts to obstruct justice

    So long and thanks for all the fish

    KGMvDLc.jpg?1
  • LabelLabel Registered User regular
    In death, we all deserve a full accounting.

    http://time.com/5019182/george-hw-bush-groping-allegation/
    Roslyn Corrigan was sixteen years old when she got a chance to meet George H.W. Bush, excited to be introduced to a former president having grown up dreaming of going into politics.

    But Corrigan was crushed by her encounter: Bush, then 79 years old, groped her buttocks at a November 2003 event in The Woodlands, Texas, office of the Central Intelligence Agency where Corrigan’s father gathered with fellow intelligence officers and family members to meet Bush, Corrigan said. Corrigan is the sixth woman since Oct. 24 to accuse Bush publicly of grabbing her buttocks without consent.

  • ScooterScooter Registered User regular
    The sad thing is, for all of his many faults...he may still be the best Republican president since Eisenhower?

  • DiplominatorDiplominator Hardcore Porg Registered User regular
    Scooter wrote: »
    The sad thing is, for all of his many faults...he may still be the best Republican president since Eisenhower?

    ...and it's not even close.

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    Scooter wrote: »
    The sad thing is, for all of his many faults...he may still be the best Republican president since Eisenhower?

    Now that's a bar.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Scooter wrote: »
    The sad thing is, for all of his many faults...he may still be the best Republican president since Eisenhower?

    An award right up there with:
    - World’s tallest pygmy
    - World’s fastest snail
    - World oldest housefly

  • dispatch.odispatch.o Registered User regular
    He was a guy who lived a long time. I'm sure his family will miss him.

    Didn't care much for him, doesn't matter now.

  • [Expletive deleted][Expletive deleted] The mediocre doctor NorwayRegistered User regular
    Only the good die young.

    Sic transit gloria mundi.
  • Alistair HuttonAlistair Hutton Dr EdinburghRegistered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    Harry, good grief.

    There is no line that intersects Bush Sr and Trump.

    Manafort.

    I have a thoughtful and infrequently updated blog about games http://whatithinkaboutwhenithinkaboutgames.wordpress.com/

    I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.

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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    Harry, good grief.

    There is no line that intersects Bush Sr and Trump.

    Manafort.
    It's true, he was an advisor to Bush in 1988.
    Manafort also helped to manage the convention floor for Ronald Reagan in 1980, George H. W. Bush in 1988 and Bob Dole in 1996.

  • Kipling217Kipling217 Registered User regular
    Hmmm. Bush I was really the first president I paid attention to, not the first I was aware of, but the first I actually paid any real attention to. Mostly because I was a teenager with a Tom Clancy Technothriller fetish that he catered to with Desert Storm. (Being a child of the 80s, really did a number on us Gen Xs).

    People keep saying that he got to see his party elect Trump, but really this is the guy that got to see his party elect an Alzheimer ridden actor twice! And then to hagiograph said senile actor into the greatest president evah! Despite Reagans corrupt administration. I mean Iran/Contra was a way bigger scandal than Watergate and Reagan/Bush where neckdeep into it from the start. (Reagan incidentally was the first divorce elected to the presidency, despite running on "family values").

    Then two years after he left Office, he got to see Newt Gingrich lead a Republican Revolution! You know, the same Newt Gingrich who lead the charge to impeach Clinton for lying about an extra-marital affair, while having an extra-marital affair.

    So no, I don't think George H.W. Bush should have been all that surprised when the GOP made Trump President. If anything, he is probably kicking himself for not being more of a sleaze.

    The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
  • AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    Harry, good grief.

    There is no line that intersects Bush Sr and Trump.

    You know how we've been talking about Trump abusing the pardon power to prevent himself from being touched by the investigations surrounding him? What doesn't get talked about nearly enough is how Bush set that precedent on Christmas 1992, when he issued pardons to Cap Weinberger and other senior White House officials for their role in Iran-Contra, preventing us as a nation from having a full reckoning of how far the corruption went.

    And yet, if you were to ask someone about abuse of pardons prior to 2016, the first thing that you would usually hear is "Marc Rich".

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
  • Dongs GaloreDongs Galore Registered User regular
    RedTide wrote: »
    Child me thought that Operation Desert Shield involved an actual protective barrier.

    And that Desert Storm would be some sort of directed weather.

    Letting a TV raise me and putting GI Joe on it at may have been a poor decision on my parents part.

    my family didn't own a TV and I thought the Gulf War was an Iraqi invasion of the Gulf of Mexico

  • Desktop HippieDesktop Hippie Registered User regular
    I'll admit my only memories of Bush Sr are the first gulf war and "Read my lips! No new taxes!"

    I do expect it to be an incredible funeral though.

  • Harry DresdenHarry Dresden Registered User regular
    I'll admit my only memories of Bush Sr are the first gulf war and "Read my lips! No new taxes!"

    I do expect it to be an incredible funeral though.

    He'll get a funeral of a beloved king, like Reagan did.

  • AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    I'll admit my only memories of Bush Sr are the first gulf war and "Read my lips! No new taxes!"

    This is a sentiment that I imagine many people share, and it's part of the problem we're having today - so many people don't know what supposedly "venerated" public figures really did. For me, Bush's Christmas pardons are an utter betrayal of the American people, as they were pretty clearly done to protect Bush (who knew that he would soon no longer have any real control over an investigation he openly attacked and covertly undermined - now doesn't that sound familiar?) Beyond that, he employed Lee Atwater, legendary ratfucker, and put out the racebaiting Willie Horton ad. And let's not forget that he was a serial sexual harasser, to the point that he had a fucking one-liner ready when he did it.

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
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