George P. Bush: The future of a political dynasty?

"Jesuchristo es mi filosofo favorito"

(The Hill) - From Prescott Bush, through George H.W. Bush, to George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, the Bush name has come to be synonymous with public service [translation: entitled political office]. Yet, the responsibility for carrying that legacy through to the next generation now falls largely on the shoulders of George P. Bush., the only of President George H.W. Bush’s 14 grandchildren who has successfully pursued a career in politics.

Read more.

Here's Hoping "Fatuous & Furious" Get the Call as Next Ringmaster for Cirque du Trump

Now that Trump has told Michael Kelly, "Your fired!" who will replace him as the new Ringmaster in Trump's reality show presidency?  If you want the best show possible, you better hope it's Chris Christie.

Christie is, of course, available. Media is buzzing about him being a "strong option." One can hope!

But there are, shall we say, a few bridges closed in his pathway. Can Boy Prince Jared be brought around to the idea of supporting the porcine former US attorney who jailed his father on multiple corruption charges?

Christie's biggest problem, though, might not be Ivanka's metrosexual trophy husband. The Jersey Shore's most famous beached whale might not get the chance to entertain Americans again simply because he is too colorful in his own right, and would upstage Trump himself to some unacceptably considerable degree.

Trump should think of the team act of Trump and Christie, however as, "The Two Stooges." Twice the fun on the
same show card for one price. No one can tell Jim Acosta to, "Sit down and shut up!" like Fat & Furious can. In fact, moving Sarah Huckabee Sanders to chief of staff and appointing Christie to her job probably would be the best casting move for reality show viewers. Christie can be the face (and voice) of the White House, and Trump can remain it's "train wreck" social media presence on Twitter.

Ratings would go through the Big Top.

Will the Hagiographic Orgy Following Poppy's Death Revive the Idea of JEB! 2020?

An honest assessment of George HW. Bush should, out of respect for him and the presidency generally, wait until he is buried.  He now is.

If you had turned on Faux News or PMSNBC, starting around 12 am early on the morning of December 1, 2018, you would have caught the start of All Bush All The Time over an interminably long weekend, and A Lot of Bush A Lot of the Time until this Thursday. Official Bush Court Biographer Jon Meacham showed up arround 2 am on the 1st on PMSNBC to get the wake officially started, and of course delivered a classically revisionist and hagiographic eulogy at the state funeral Wednesday

No other American political family, save the Kennedys, could ever merit such presidential death coverage.

One pundit on PMSNBC went so far as to intone something like, "George H.W. Bush might just have been the only president in US history to have been elected by being nice."

Nice as in:

1. Hiring Lee Atwater and Roger Ailes to run his campaign?
2. Running the Willie Horton ad?
3. Campaigning at flag factories to imply his opponent was unpatriotic?

No, the fawning TV eulogizer (whose name was not Meacham) did not mention any of that. Many of those flag factories would be relocating to China before '41 left office in four years later, just in time for his "adopted" son Bill Clinton to sign '41's signature presidential economic achievement, NAFTA.

Time and distance often make the past grow dim or distorted, but the  posthumous "reinvention" of George HW Bush's presidency will approach that of a Stalinist revision over the next few weeks and months in the hands of a media guilt ridden over the idea they helped elect Donald Trump for ratings, and now drool at any prospect of making penance through fanciful and misguided comparisons between an invented Arcadian mythology about the Bush Republican Party and the nasty reality of Trump's party.  None of those comparisons will correctly analyze how the self-serving wedge politics, culture warring, and coded racism of the Bush era created a dumbed down voting base and morally bankrupt political class in a party ripe for Donald Trump's hostile takeover.

The real comparison metaphor between the Bush and Trump eras is between a highly processed, high carb "fat free" diet and home cooked comfort food. When the voters Lee Atwater and Karl Rove brought into the Republican Party to vote for two Bushes got a taste of the stuff Donald Trump cooked up and served to them himself, they no longer wanted the fat free bigotry the two George Bushes had been feeding them through surrogates and "independent" dark money PACs all those years.

George HW Bush was not a monster, and he was certainly not as bad a president as his son was, but he was not the political saint his anti-Trump rehab apologists, like Meacham, have made him out to be this past week.  He was an awkward politician who governed domestically in the economic interests of those like himself, those who already had it made.  There is no doubt he believed he was both entitled and obligated to "serve" his country because of his patrician status, his birthright. He did serve his country in World War II by risking his life in combat, a practice elites in the United States conspicuously avoid today. In that sense he did belong to a better generation of the ruling class, and should be praised for his willingness to do so in a war that was, if any are, unavoidable.

There have been many books written about HW Bush. Some of them are fairy tales, either hagiographic like Meacham's, or nightmarish and conspiratorial.  Whatever faults HW had, they did not include conspiring to kill JFK as Russ Baker argued in his reputation damaging "Family of Secrets."  If you want an honest account of the first Bush presidency that is neither hagiographic nor polemical, the best work is still one of the earliest, Marching in Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush.

Published in 1992, it accurately depicts George HW Bush as a cautious elitist who preferred foreign policy over domestic. It also correctly depicts him as conflicted about, but nonetheless willing to hire surrogates like Lee Atwater to do almost anything to elect him president.  HW was a man who hated politics, viewed it as unseemly, but who believed it was his destiny to be president, and perhaps because of this he lacked the moral courage to resist allowing others to do unseemly things on his behalf,. He preferred to compartmentalize such proxy behavior as tolerable if it gave him the chance to "serve" as president and fulfill his birthright. The most honest and revealing thing about Meacham's "definitive" and authorized biography of him is its title, Destiny and Power.

The bloated praise heaped on HW this past week would be excusable if it were just about honoring him at his death.  Even absurd language from Meacham about him being a "20th century American Founding Father." What's inexcusable about this type of overblown hagiography is that its real motive in not just to honor a dead man. It is to draw a dishonest contrast between the dead man and the current president, and even more problematic, it's designed to promote an undeserved, and certainly unentitled political future for the Bush dynasty.

It is not a dishonest contrast because it implies that Donald Trump is dishonest.  Trump is a vulgar con man whose "accidental presidency" owes far more to Lee Atwater and Karl Rove's racial dog whistles and culture war baiting, and both Bush presidents' detached economic elitism than any apologist for HW Bush this week would ever loath to admit. It is dishonest because it hides this exact truth they omitted.

Trump has spent a business career in sketchy real estate dealings, and likely will be revealed shortly to have laundered Russian mob money through his real estate partnerships via Deutsche Bank and other vehicles over the years. But let's not forget the unseemly deals that HW, JEB! and W Bush had with middle eastern and Chinese business interests, and personal involvement with international corporations like The Carlyle Group and others that profited from their neoliberal trade and financial deregulation and bailout policies, and the outsourcing of American jobs and production. And let's not forget the Dubai Ports World scandal during George W. Bush's disastrous presidency, a deal that would have sold the management of six major US ports to a Bush friendly UAE company, and was so openly corrupt once exposed that it had to be abandoned after even Republicans could not defend it.

Comparisons are often about spin, and there is more than one way to spin a comparison between the two Bush presidencies and Trump's presidency.  How about:

1. How many new wars have started while Trump as been president?
2. How many economic collapses have occurred under Trump?
3. Is the rich-friendly tax cut passed by the GOP controlled Congress while Trump was president any worse than one that would have been passed if JEB! Bush had been president?

Even if Trump hired hookers to pee on the "Obama suite" bed at the Ritz Carlton in Moscow, and even if the FSB has a video of it, and even if Putin "owns" Trump, does that make a case for a JEB! Bush presidency?

"Jesuchristo es mi filosofo favorito"

The new Bush Crown Prince,

George Prescott Bush?

Will any of the Bush revisionism now spinning, and certain to spin bolder and more detached from historical reality in the months ahead enable JEB! Bush to reemerge from the political wilderness next year and challenge Trump with a campaign slogan like "See, I told you so. Chaos president?"

Probably not. It might get him ten delegates instead of four if he did so with some real energy the second time around, but probably not much else. It's one thing to proclaim Poppy as "decent" when lowering him into the Texas sod, but quite another to gamble on a third Bush president actually being a decent one.

That dog ain't likely to hunt. Not even on a high dollar private game reserve where the game are starved, caged, and then released right into a bait plot in front of the hunters.

More likely is that this is setting the stage for a Maoist "long march" for George Prescott Bush, who gave one of the eulogies for HW at the Texas funeral Thursday.  There seems one thing certain. When it comes to birthright political entitlement, the Bush family likely will never realize their true future destiny is to cease inflicting themselves on the American public, and to go gentle into that good night.

If you think Trump is a disgrace, consider what likely would follow the next Bush president. Let's never find out.

2020 Run All But Certain?

Definitely off his "campaign diet" and looking like his old "clubhouse doughboy" self again, JEB! impersonates a delusional UBER driver whose unsteady ride sports a "Jeb! 2016" bumper sticker with "20" scrawled over the "16."

(thelead.com) - Jeb Bush’s cameo appearance this week in a video with Emmy host Jimmy Kimmel has garnered rave reviews across the political and entertainment spectrum, demonstrating once again the staying power of failed candidacies as good TV fodder for self-mockery (here’s a clip of Mitt Romney on theTonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as one example).

As these post-campaign appearances tend to do, Jeb! shows a far more loose and likeable side of himself than the stuffy, preachy wonk who garnered a mere 4 convention delegates after more than $150 million was spent on his behalf.

Despite the historic lack of return for the money, the Emmy appearance only fuels speculation that the Bush dynasty is still eyeing a return to power in 2020. Jeb! penned an op-ed in The Hill this summer on the future of the GOP that presumed a Donald Trump loss in November, blasting the Republican nominee as “not the future” of the party. Lingering in public while knifing the party’s current nominee are not-so-subtle signals that Jeb! plans to see the White House remain with the Democrats, setting the stage for his triumphant return. Read more.

The real "story" is about Billy, not Donald

HELLO LADIES! My name is BUSH! Billy BUSH!

Since last Friday, there has been nonstop media coverage about the 2005 "hot mike" recording of Donald Trump's thoroughly predictable comments about women. Even some of the reporting has occasionally mentioned the name of the other man's voice on that recording, the voice egging on Trump and laughing along with him. Billy Bush.

How many media pieces, however, have explained exactly who Billy Bush is?  Beyond being the host of the tabloid "Access Hollywood" show, and a recent addition to the cast of the "Today" show?

I bet if you have relied solely on a passive viewing of TV reportage about this event, you have heard nothing about Billy Bush being the first cousin of George W. Bush and JEB! Bush. Nothing at all.

I also doubt that you know that Billy was bragging to NBC co-workers last summer at the Rio Olympics about this recording.  Or that NBC was delaying releasing the recording apparently in an effort to "scrub" Bush's part out, and then release an edited version with only Donald Trump's part.  Before that could happen, someone leaked the whole thing to the Washington Post.  

That premature leak cost Billy his 3.5 million dollar a year gig with NBC, but instead of firing Bush, the network paid him a "settlement," rumored to be around 10 million dollars, though Bush's lawyer denies the amount.

Who is Billy Bush, and what is he like? According to some sources at NBC, Billy was , "more of a frat guy . . . He gets boisterous when he goes out. You can’t just go out with Billy and have tapas and relax.” 

One woman attorney in New York remembers Billy as a prep school bully back in the 1980s. "He would make fun of my clothes, he may have called me ugly or unattractive or nerdy. It was just generally disparaging comments.”

Billy seems like...well, just a typical Bush! He can alway move over to the Curvy Couch at Fox and Friends. He will get a nice soft landing somewhere.

Jeb Bush donors want a rematch in 2020

Not so fast, P. ! I get my turn again in 2020!

New York Daily News - JEB! Bush in 2020, anyone?

Sources close to Jeb Bush’s failed run at the 2016 presidency say the “low-energy” candidate has been back in touch with supporters. They believe he’s popping up to “feel them out” for another run and, according to at least one big contributor, they're in!

“Bush has been quietly making telephone calls to his supporters, bundlers and donors, to talk about the state of the county and the economy, and the energy business, why would he do that?” asks one insider, who concludes “he's running in four years.” Read more.

It's Hard Not To Believe That Trump Is A "Manchurian Candidate" Of Some Sort

Today's article in the New Republic, "Donald Trump Has Blown Up Republican's Racism Defense," revisits a subtext about Trump's candidacy that most of the media and punditocracy want to avoid talking about. Namely that Trump is not a real candidate, and never has been. That he never set out to run for president to be president. That he always intended his candidacy, whether as an independent, or now shockingly as the Republican nominee, to be about something other than the stuff he is talking about.

To say that he is a "Manchurian Candidate" is not simply the realm of fringe conspiracy theory. Salman Rushdie said it last year, implying that his real goal was to elect Hillary Clinton.  It's certainly true that Trump has a long, friendly history with both Clintons, and one that remained quite friendly until very recently.  As much as it would pain most of Hillary's supporters to entertain the idea that she and Trump might be working together in some way, or that the Clinton's are ok with the nasty demagoguery Trump is putting on as a reality show if it makes it easy for Hillary to become president, that's a real possibility.  If there is one thing the Clintons are known for, it's ruthless street fighting in politics, using all weapons and opportunities at their disposal to win.

While such a working relationship between Trump and the Clintons is probably somewhat of a stretch, it's pretty clear nonetheless to anyone of ordinary intelligence who looks at the type of campaign Trump runs, the people he hires to run his campaign, and the choices he makes, that his campaign is, and never has been, a serious one.

If Trump is not working with the Clintons, he still may be working in their interests deliberately on his own as a free agent, or he may be running simply to feather his own nest financially.

The "real" Donald Trump is the one who will make money off of his fake presidential run in several ways. He will find a way to launder the campaign contributions he is now getting (to the tune of 80 million in July alone) in various ways, including paying his own businesses premium allowable rates for air travel, campaign expenses, etc. (read David Cay Johnston's The Making of Donald Trump for a more involved explanation on how Trump will do this). 

Trump will also "own" a huge angry and aggrieved "market" of tens of millions of dumped voters who will buy his conspiracy spin on a stolen election and gobble up any books, media products, freeze dried "Trump" Prepper food, etc. he will offer them in the future to help "take back America." And lastly the Clintons will owe him, literally, the election, so you can bet the Clinton Justice Department will never take a first, let alone, a second look at any dubious business or tax schemes he gets involved in over the next eight years.

The actual political "sin" of Donald Trump is not that he is running as a serious "racist" candidate, but that he is reigniting very real and smoldering racist and xenophobic passions into a flame in the service of his self serving fake candidacy. And the equally self serving Republican leadership, turned sociopathic after decades of Atwater/Ailes/Rove wedge baiting, is politically damned for their failure to condemn him, and cut ties with him.  And if he is doing this with a wink and a nod from Bill and Hillary Clinton, then they also are also to blame for any nasty consequences resulting from it.