It has been nothing short of miraculous in this new season of Advent to hear all the Hosannas and applause for our recently departed former President George H.W. Bush.
In The New York Times, Mr. Bush was heralded for his “uncommon grace.”
The Washington Post called him a “giant of a man.”
“The most kind and considerate person I’ve ever known.”
“The most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on.”
Not your typical remembrances from jaded politicos about mere mortals. Especially if that mortal happens to be a Republican politician.
Where were all these lofty accolades when Mr. Bush was alive? Where was all this love when he was president? Where was this towering regard for the man when he was losing his re-election campaign in 1992?
Oh, that’s right. The press lies. And there is no time to lie about someone like once they are dead and no longer pose any threat.
When President Bush was alive and still a threat in politics, he was scorned and ridiculed by the press.
He was doddering and out-of-touch. Patrician, they called him. A buffoon who barfed in the lap of the Japanese prime minister during a state dinner.
Even in later years, long after Mr. Bush no longer posed any real threat, the press ran with ridiculous stories accusing Mr. Bush of being an iron sides groper. Yes, this would be the same man that the media sided against in 1992. To help elect Bill Clinton.
That would be the same Bill Clinton credibly accused of rape by numerous respectable and reliable women. Whatever.
All of this fawning praise for George H.W. Bush certainly rings hollow by any standards. Then it all clicks and makes sense again.
Even on the eve of Mr. Bush’s state funeral, this is not about George H.W. Bush. This is all about the current occupant of the White House, President Trump.
We all know how much the press hates Donald Trump, at least now that he is president. They despise him — and those who support him — so deeply that by comparison, George H.W. Bush was a man of “uncommon grace.”
Giant of a man. Most kind and considerate. Most beautiful creature.
Even the ridiculously partisan and myopically political “Saturday Night Live” paid tribute to Mr. Bush. Then, of course, they revealed their true selves by reprising the angry Alec Baldwin in his unfunny role of President Trump with inexplicably puckered lips.
The Washington Post, too, neared the line with an editorial in which they “mourn George H.W. Bush” — “and the presidency’s loss of dignity.”
Get it? Sure, they are sorry to see George H.W. Bush go. But, mainly, they just hate President Trump.
One of the paper’s dimmest writers — the vacuous and principally unburdened Max Boot — was dispatched to put a fine point on the real reason for the season.
George H.W. Bush, he opined, “The anti-Trump.”
Well, there it is. All the sudden praise, all the accolades, this surprise love affair with George H.W. Bush. It is all just another vehicle for demonstrating their hatred for Donald Trump.
It is true that Mr. Trump is certainly cut from a different cloth than was Mr. Bush. He comes from a different family from a different side of the track or river or whatever.
But, read my lips: Whatever family Mr. Trump comes from, if he keeps on keeping his campaign promises, he will get himself re-elected president. And that will be just one more way Mr. Trump was different from Mr. Bush.
• Contact Charles Hurt at churt@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @charleshurt.
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