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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEight women say George HW Bush groped them. Their claims deserve to be remembered as we assess
his legacy"
https://www.vox.com/2018/12/1/17274466/eight-women-george-hw-bush-touching-inappropriately-metoo-legacy
George H.W. Bush died at his home in Houston on Friday night, launching a blizzard of long-held obituaries praising his legacy and successful stewardship of the country as a one-term president. But it is not too soon to talk about the accusations by eight women that Bush Sr. touched them inappropriately.
Sexual harassment or assault cant be bracketed off as part of a politicians private life. Its an important part of the story of their leadership, their use of power, and their policy. The same is true for Bush.
Relatively little has been made of the accusations against Bush since they emerged last year. A woman initially accused Bush of groping her and telling her a dirty joke as she stood beside Bush, seated in a wheelchair, in a photo opp. The family responded suggesting the aging former president might be slipping a bit. President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures, a spokesman, Jim McGrath, said on Bushs behalf.
But then the story changed. More women came forward describing incidents that took place before Bush was in a wheelchair and even while he was in office. One woman described a credible story dating back to 1992, when she says that Bush, then the president, put his hand on her rear-end while taking a photograph at a re-election fundraiser. Another woman described an incident from 2003, when she was 16 years old and Bush was still spry, zipping around Kennebunkport on a Segway.
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A dirty man to the end.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)Coventina
(27,114 posts)Mike Nelson
(9,953 posts)
nice play on words. And, Al Franken touched a woman's.... WAIST when she asked him to take a picture with her!
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)He was a very toxic man, and we should remember the truth of him, not the Official Version that the media prefers to promote.
The Bush clan has almost always been given a pass by the corporate media.
lilactime
(657 posts)just because he's dead.
UTUSN
(70,684 posts)I can only think of one thing (the Americans/Disability Act) to support, but dying doesn't wipe out whatever crap somebody does.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(22,328 posts)cynatnite
(31,011 posts)From his spokesman at the time:
Coventina
(27,114 posts)cynatnite
(31,011 posts)Coventina
(27,114 posts)If he had said that he RECOGNIZED that groping women while telling them dirty jokes (My favorite book is David Cop-a-feel) and called upon other men to learn by his example, it would have meant something.
cynatnite
(31,011 posts)and had vascular Parkinsons which affects movements. He couldn't lift his arms very high at all. Not to mention that his memory even then was faulty.
I don't buy that he was a dirty old man otherwise there would have been reports going back decades coming out. That and his physical disabilities is why I think the women took it as something else when they were next to him. He was confined to a wheelchair.
There are things that one doesn't have to like about him. His record is pretty clear. I had issues with how he conducted Somalia and the reasons for it. That needlessly cost the lives of service members. It wasn't for humanitarian efforts, IMO. It was to salvage his poll numbers and he was trying to win re-election.
I think there are other things that he righteously deserved criticism for and this isn't one of them.
Coventina
(27,114 posts)Saying "cop a feel" while grabbing a woman's buttocks is not Parkinson's disease.
cynatnite
(31,011 posts)I don't view it the same as you. That's all.
We should be taking issue with his standing by Clarence Thomas, Iran-Contra, Somalia and the host of other issues that we don't like if we're going to do this.
I'm not reading serial sexual harrasser in the article. Even the article gives due where it's deserved in the good things he did accomplish.
I'm just not willing to excoriate a dead man for anyone's benefit.
Coventina
(27,114 posts)Just wondering.
And yes, I do blame him for all those other things as well.
I'll add Willie Horton to your list.
I'm just making sure that his full legacy is remembered here, because there's been a lot of whitewashing today.
cynatnite
(31,011 posts)People are discussing what they like and didn't like about him. He's the reason college campuses have to report campus crimes, including sexual assault.
He did a few good things despite the rest of it.
Coventina
(27,114 posts)But that in no way makes up for his multitude of crimes and his lousy personal behavior.
Scolding people for bringing these things up is whitewashing, and there's a lot of it here today.
StevieM
(10,500 posts)You condemn Al Franken but are excusing George HW Bush?
Grasswire2
(13,569 posts)Jennifer something.
Grasswire2
(13,569 posts)Last edited Sat Dec 1, 2018, 10:16 PM - Edit history (1)
[link:http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Jennifer-Fitzgerald|