The ceremony yesterday for President Bush was a moving and honorable one. His presidency truly marked the end of our nation’s leadership from the generation who grew up in the great recession, fought WW2 and then won the cold war. That generation now is mostly gone, their accomplishments left for history. We turned the country over to the next generation with Bill Clinton in 1992. We went from a war hero who volunteered, saw death and came home to make a difference, to one who avoided the draft (Clinton), to a national guardsman (Bush 43), to no service at all with the next two. Truly a different time. You decide how we’ve done .
One last thought. George Bush was called the greatest living American upon his death. Who is that now? My vote would be the man who asked to be raised from his wheel chair in the rotunda on Tuesday night so he could salute his comrade. Bob Dole. The man who like George Bush in 92, lost to Bill Clinton in 1996.
Also Caught Our Attention:
An ironic moment in this is the new USMCA agreement that President Trump has signed and asked Congress to approve. NAFTA, which he cancelled and is replacing, was begun with President Bush. Those of you old enough may remember Ross Perot running in large part because of that. You may recall his words “that sucking sound you hear …” are our jobs leaving the country because of the agreement.
Did you notice how many times Ronald Reagan’s name came up yesterday? Now Bush was his Vice President, but those twelve years of their terms changed the world. Reagan will go down in history as the giant of our time.
Politics Today:
Looks like Beto O’Rourke is serious about running for President. Check this story in the Washington Post:
Beto O’Rourke, weighing whether to mount a 2020 presidential bid, met recently with Barack Obama at his post-presidency offices in Washington. The meeting, which was held Nov. 16 at the former president’s offices in Foggy Bottom, came as former Obama aides have encouraged the Democratic House member to run, seeing him as capable of the same kind of inspirational campaign that caught fire in the 2008 presidential election.
“The meeting was the first sign of Obama getting personally involved in conversations with O’Rourke, who, despite his November loss in a U.S. Senate race in Texas, has triggered more recent discussion and speculation than any other candidate in the burgeoning 2020 field.”
One person not running is Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts. He was thought to be one of the thirty likely candiates. So one down.
Did you see or hear what John Dingell, a former Michigan Democratic congressman who served nearly 60 years in office (he resigned in 2015 and his wife took the seat) said? He called for the complete abolishment of the Senate. He thinks the senate must go away. Why? Small states should not have the same number of members of large states, he said.
“Abolish the Senate. I’m having blue caps printed up with that slogan right now. They will be made in America,” he quipped.
I wonder if Democrats had won the senate this year if he would say that. Maybe we should have a law you can’t serve 60 years and be replaced by your wife.
In other words they are too smart for the rest of us.
Maybe the senator should heed her own advice and “just shut up”.
Meanwhile fresh that frosty church setting with other past Presidents, Trump is going to the Army/Navy game on Saturday. Watch that greeting.
These Should Be Eye Openers:
Here’s something that should disturb us all and make others open their eyes. Across the U.S. job applications to become a police officer have dropped dramatically. The constant negative stories in the media, the sensationalism of any misdeeds by some, and the videos have made doing that job a negative. Stories have damaged public perception. What a shame.
Did you see the 9th circuit struck again? They ruled that a federal law making it a felony to encourage illegal immigration is wrong. Read that again. A law that says you can’t encourage people to break the law is illegal. The law made it a felony for someone to encourage an immigrant to enter or live in the U.S. if the person knew either act is illegal.
See why the Supreme Court is so important?
Meanwhile a New York Court ruled that withholding money from cities that declare them sanctuary cities is illegal.
The judges decision frees sanctuary jurisdictions in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Washington, Massachusetts and Virginia to continue their policies without fear of losing federal money. He said the Trump administration was out of line to try and withhold money.
So again a city can break the law and not worry about it. They can choose which laws to follow.
Think about these last two stories and the police one in light of where this blog started. Would this have happened under that past generation? Or is it just the next one having grown up in a safer world they secured for us?