Letter to the editor: Bush no role model

To the editor:

It seems to me that, perhaps in reaction to our ugly political climate, we are trying to cling to a “kinder, gentler” version of Mr. Bush that belies many of his actions. Mark Osborn’s Dec. 11 letter splits hairs with Mr. Warrick’s of Dec. 5 regarding President Bush’s record on civil rights (Mr. Warrick only claimed that Bush opposed “almost” every piece of legislation on that topic), which he did, and on the value of the Bush family estate (actually closer to $50 million, not including several multimillion dollar homes). The point is that President Bush, by wealth and birth as a white male, was not affected personally by the results of his political actions.

By any standard, Bush’s civil rights record was generally disastrous. Even as governor of Texas, he strongly opposed efforts to repeal the state statute that criminalized same-sex relations between consenting adults. As president, he vetoed a civil rights act that would have expanded job protections against discriminatory firing based on race, and he argued that Medicare was raw socialism.

Perhaps most disturbing, President Bush also ushered in the “fear and smear” school of political campaigning. His 1988 presidential campaign is considered by some historians as one of the most vicious in American history (Willie Horton). We are paying that price ten-fold today.

Bush was a dignified man who mellowed in his old age, but certainly not an iconic model president.

Deborah Juhnke,

Lawrence

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