George W Bush "Strange New Respect"

Not exactly a flattering article but whatever, I've noticed this "strange new respect" bubbling up in MSM outlets lately. I semi-love it, because I'm a Bushie, but they're giving him "respect" for all the wrong reasons. They "respect" him now because they fear Rick Perry is George W Bush on steroids, and that there's a good chance he might win the presidency. So now they're getting nostalgic about President Bush because, oh, he was less evil. It's sad, because in their heart of hearts they still believe Bush is a warmonger who sent young kids to die in Iraq and Afghanistan for oil and heroin. Read the article by Mark Whittington below.


From Yahoo News: Rick Perry Causes George W. Bush to Get Strange, New Respect

Ed Driscoll, over at Pajamas Media, points out how once reviled conservatives get strange new respect for two reasons: Because they are dead or because they can be used to attack a current conservative, especially a U.S. president.

The latest righty to suddenly get respect from the media, at least according to CNN, is none other than George W. Bush. The gentle reader will remember President Bush as the evil man who gifted President Barack Obama with a horrible economy, who lied to get us into Iraq, that obnoxious, swaggering cowboy from Texas.

Now, of course, President Bush is much more reasonable than the new Hitler, who happens to be another man from Texas named Rick Perry. Bush, in fact, was a statesman who talked to the opposition, reaching across the aisle seeking compromise and common ground. Perry, of course, is not like that, since it looks like if he were to become president he would just ride roughshod over everyone.

Your humble correspondent has noted this phenomenon previously, when it concerned President Gerald Ford and President Ronald Reagan. Ford and Reagan got strange new respect when they were safely dead and buried.

Ford used to be that stumble bum whom Chevy Chase parodied on "Saturday Night Live." He was the man who created the Whip Inflation Now (WIN) button. He pardoned Richard Nixon, depriving the left of its revenge. But once he was put into the ground, he was a statesman whose decision to pardon Nixon, in retrospect, saved the nation more Watergate trauma.

Reagan's strange new respect is well known and predated his death. Reagan won the Cold War and broke the back of 1970s stagflation. Accused of being an "amiable dunce" and a mad bomber when he was in office, Reagan has become a world historic figure, a great statesman. And he is so unlike those horrible Republicans of our time, such as Sarah Palin and Rick Perry.

In the same piece I speculated President Bush would get his strange new respect likely around the year of his death, maybe 2037. CNN seems to have fulfilled my prediction, though jumping the gun by 26 years.

Fast forward to 2032. The story of the campaign is how Sen. George P. Bush, running for president, is so radical right and unreasonable, unlike his uncle and grandfather by the same name, or even President Palin. It is so sad.

Other links
Pajamas Media: Strange New Respect
AP: George H.W. Bush to ride out storm in Maine
A New Bush Baby! Congrats to Heb Bush Jr!
George W. Bush recalls 9/11 in significant National Geographic Channel documentary
From Fox News: Emails: Florida Gov. Scott's Firing of Dead Soldier's Mother Upset Jeb Bush