Speak truth of the dead and the living

The idea of “Make America Great Again” bothers me. It bothers me for all the obvious reasons, like there is no Again for minorities or women. It also bothers me because I think liberals now have their own version of MAGA and the Again is just prior to 2016.

At the time of this writing, George H.W. Bush has just died and people are eulogizing him like was the most beneficent spirit to ever grace all of God’s holy design, and I get that if you’re a republican. If you’re a republican you’ll eat as much shit as they feed you as long as you think someone else has to eat more, but I’m talking about liberals.

If you are one of those liberals mourning the loss of George H.W. Bush, The Great Man, but you hate our current president, I need you to ask yourself why. Is it because he ran a racist campaign? Is it because he put a justice on the Supreme Court who is an offense to all women? Is it because of the many cover-ups? Maybe it’s the obstruction of justice? Is it the presidential pardons he hands out to his friends? Is it the stupidity he brings into the White House?

I keep hearing this liberal MAGA shit, like Bush was a class act and a reminder that politics used to be more respectable. That worries the fuck out of me. It makes me think that if we ever do get rid of our current president, it won’t be because he’s destroying the country and the world. Instead it will be because we’ve bought into classism (and therefore racism), had our snobbish sensibilities offended by a mannerless scoundrel, so let’s get rid of him, pat ourselves on the back and return to the old ways of destroying the world.

Without even getting into the dynasty problem, George H.W. Bush was objectively awful, but if we write the history books and leave all of that out, I won’t be surprised. We do it all the time.

Here’s an example:

Most of us loathe the fact that the president was born into the elite. We hate his outright, repeated, unapologetic, public racism that he so arrogantly doubles down on. We’re disgusted by his sniveling apologies after he goes too far—even for his own base. We feel helpless as he attempts to make the rich richer, while trying to take the healthcare from millions. We’re horrified by his cozying up to dictators – and confused when he petulantly body-shames them. We’re frustrated that the head of the “family values” party has had such cruel infidelities. We’re furious at his non-stop attempts to take the rights from minorities and gay people and women. But, you know, sometimes he’s on Saturday Night Live, so…

Remember the president’s response to the Pulse nightclub shooting?

“Barack Obama is directly responsible for it, because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, Al Qaida went to Syria, became ISIS. And ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama’s failures, utter failures, by pulling everybody out of Iraq. So the responsibility for it lies with President Barack Obama and his failed policies.”

Yeah. Somehow that was a real response to the Pulse nightclub shooting.

How about that time—in front of reporters—when his wife teased him about his hair and he replied, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.”

How about that republican Supreme Court unity thing before the 2016 election?

“I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up.”

Actually, that last quote was from John McCain. Also, so was the quote about the Pulse nightclub shooting. And the quote involving his wife’s makeup. In fact, plot twist, I was talking about John McCain the whole time! McCain was born into the elite. He has arrogantly doubled down on his outright, repeated, unapologetic, public racism. I say unapologetic, but that’s just until his base thought he went too far (or not far enough). Then he’d snivel with the best of them. He definitely helped the rich get a lot richer while taking the healthcare away from millions. And McCain loved him some dictators! Others, oddly, he petulantly body-shamed. And yup, for a “family values” kinda guy, he sure had some cruel infidelities. And naturally, he spent his career attempting to keep rights away from minorities, gay people and women.

These men were not respectable. They were not heroes. They were everything we say we hate, but like the portraits on our money, they were also rich, white and men, which we love. If we want to be better, we need to be honest about that and stop it. We need to admit that harm is harm, no matter how nice the person harming you seems. We need to change and we cannot change if we don’t admit what we were. Or what we are.


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3 thoughts on “Speak truth of the dead and the living”

  1. Thank you for this. In the early 90’s we marched to Walker’s Point in protest of the horrible plight of those that were dying in the AIDS crisis. It was so awful, and it’s all I can think about these days – I remember how those in power couldn’t be bothered, and everyone was so afraid. Hardly anyone seemed to care. This is what I will remember about Bush 1.

  2. This is so true. And while we’re at it, I’d also like to point out that Obama also fired tear gas at immigrants trying to cross the border. While he was not a powerful white man, he was/is a powerful man and many people revere him while forgetting that fact. At the time Obama was nick-named Deporter-In-Chief. I’m not trying to bash him, just point out that he too did not “make America great”. I can honestly say there isn’t a single president that I would consider a “hero” – they were all powerful men and they all did some things I would consider awful. Yeah, some did good things too (usually after being pressured), but it doesn’t make up for the bad.

  3. AMEN ! Just a bunch of “stupid” white men and their clones who have loads of money and likewise monied friends who are elected by constituents, equally as “stupid”. As my fav Ralph Nadar puts it, “the United States is just a very conservative , one partied nation, with those to left – called “Democrats”, those to the right called “Republicans”. Both behold their elections to the monied interests. If anything, the Democrats are just more sneakier about it !

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