RIP Barbara Bush

So long u monster

lol

welcome back, Shakey

See ya

Snarky obits were his art, this was his masterpiece.

I didn't know this:

Every summer, while Mr. Bush was engaged in oil deals and raising investment money, Mrs. Bush and the children drove to the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Me.

On her first trip there, Mrs. Bush discovered that the hotel where she had made reservations along the way would not accommodate two black family employees who were accompanying her and the children. The employees said they would find another place. But Mrs. Bush refused to split up the group and found other accommodations. On becoming first lady, she insisted that her press secretary be black — a first for that position.

she was waiting all these years for the simpsons to finally disgrace itself before she went

Οὖτις!

Hahahaha, great Shakey re-entrance

I'm hearing "Bar" in Dana Carvey's voice right now. Am I supposed to hate her? She was married to one president, gave birth to a second and almost (sort of) a third. However much you may hate them, she didn't make their decisions--obviously she had a lot of influence on the milder of the two presidents. Seems like a remarkable life.

I'm quite sure someone will set me straight in a matter of seconds.

Not really.

The only time she ever enraged me was her remark about the black families housed in the Superdome. Like so many GOP wives (Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, her own daughter in law), she was more liberal than her spouse and might've made a fascinating senator in her own right. She liked a good one-liner and a drink. I would've kicked it with her idk

Yeah, I got no real gripes with her strong enough to trouble her in death.

(xpost) Didn't know about that, won't ask you to repeat it--I'll look it up.

come on people, you know she was insufferable

I wouldn't have married her, no.

bloody necrophilia thread is this!

i like it when people i don't like die, and i'm not ashamed

it IS fun! I can't wait for both Bushes and Trump to die!

Agree, the Superdome quote--Astrodome, to get technical--isn't great.

BB was no scourge like Nancy Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, who deserved more bile upon death than they even received.

Agree, the Superdome quote--Astrodome, to get technical--isn't great.

― clemenza

I never get my sports stuff right!

The Astrodome quote sounds like some shit any white grandma would say, including my own and many of yours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG5LBAdHGz0

I don't want to get pounced upon, but I was going to say that in an exceedingly ill-timed and clueless way, it sort of seemed well-intentioned...If you instead see the comment as politely racist, though, I can appreciate that. Anyway, I'll be happy if a few stupid and insensitive words are the worst anyone can point to when I check out.

it IS fun! I can't wait for both Bushes and Trump to die!

Gtf in alf!

the sentimentality that will congeal around the memory of Poppy Bush when he exhales his last breath will be as awful as Reagan's death

^^^^^

And then there's her famous quote on Geraldine Ferraro...that one probably won't endear her to, I don't know, 47.3% of the country when it makes the rounds today. (I remembered the quote, but I thought she was talking about Hillary!)

Bush attempted to persuade her son George W. to not run for Governor of Texas in the 1994 gubernatorial election, convinced he could not defeat Ann Richards.

she should've run against Ann Richards imo

come on, her beautiful mind quote was her masterpiece.

OMG, Shakey, I always thought the your RIP reactions were a little ghoulish, but this thread is a masterclass in comic timing.

map otm, these are all horrible people

they are the death cult personified

I have no strong reason to dislike her, as far as I know, thought I was a bit too young to care about her one way or the other at the time (most of my memories of her are actually Simpsons and Naked Gun parodies). The MSNBC pundits using her death to pine nostalgically for the Republican party of her husband's era earlier this evening is straight up nauseating, but that's not her fault.

So sad to hear the news, she was so young. I couldn't stand her father, but she and her twin always seemed all right.

The MSNBC pundits using her death to pine nostalgically for the Republican party of her husband's era earlier this evening is straight up nauseating

get ready -- it's only a taste

xp
lol

Was the astrodome thing legitimately racist or just a faux pas though

I listened to NPR’s obituary for her and she seemed like a nice enough woman

This bit, which I also remember at the time, is mitigated somewhat by context:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/barbara-bush-beautiful-mind/

shakey!!!!!

Shakey: some action.

what a delightful first post

“If human beings are perceived as potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses, as unlimited rather that dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to their capabilities” - Barbara Bush

in seventeen years on this msg board i have never seen anyone type anything so eloquent or edifying

enjoy piling on the dead lady u monsters

I'm grateful the GOP embraced Barbara Bush's humanist spirit in the last thirty years.

I never knew about Robin Bush until this evening. :(

Xp

So you’re blaming the GOP on Mrs Bush

No, I'm blaming the death of irony on you.

Happily married to evil and raised evil, can't say that a good quote means much.

“evil”

you people ever get tired of name calling and moralizing on the internet? go out and do some community service or something?

You got me with those scare quotes, damn.

yeah well i bet you’ve done some wicked awesome good deeds and i bet you would’ve done a totally better job as head of the cia

whatever makes you feel better about talking shit about the dead lady

whatever makes you feel better about talking shit about the dead lady

I would have definitely done a better job as the head of the CIA. "Feel better" implies that I find any reason to feel bad about shit-talking Babs. Fuck her. Fuck Nancy, fuck Laura, fuck Melania, fuck all the Republican enablers.

phew wow well that was helpful

I know what’ll make the world a better place! the bile of a thousand shit talking ilxors!!

As opposed to whining about that bile.

hm makes u think

There's probably like 28 ilxors in total anymore.

yet everyone founded an I-hate-Babs punk band.

I wish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W07LABM57Fs

milo how dare u besmirch HW's 357-day stewardship of the CIA and the sterling reputation it had accumulated by 1976.

hmmm that’s not really what it’s about but ok

Calling first ladies enablers is a bit much.

dudes

save it for the RIP George H.W. Bush thread.

Bile is a renewable resource.

Her work for literacy seems to have been helpful.

I have to say I don't have particularly bad feelings about her. She at least acknowledged the devastation of AIDS, which the Reagans were unwilling to do

Houstonians with good memories might remember chortling a little at Bar when, a few weeks after the Astrodome quote, she was complaining at the inconvenience she endured when Poppy called short a Kennebunkport getaway to watch the Astros in the World Series from behind home plate.

Calling first ladies enablers is a bit much.

i usu go for p*mps

No, I'm blaming the death of irony on you.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, April 17, 2018 7:08 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh i understood your irony

you think too highly of yourself if you think your basic comments can go over people's heads

my comment on the other hand you misinterpreted for whatever reason

Who is Barbara Bush

your mom

Between George HW, Jeb and George W, the Bush family has been responsible for a vast number of actions that have killed or harmed untold numbers of people, so if the wife of one and mother of the other two is seen as somewhat complicit in those actions, it is not strange.

She was a tireless defender of all three of them. That fact will be the larger part of her legacy to the world than making an inspiring statement that may have been ghostwritten for her by staff, or her work for literacy, which was chosen mainly to be non-controversial and to reflect well on her husband's career. Most of what we know about Mrs. Bush was filtered through a carefully constructed media image. I imagine she was generally loved by those whom she loved, but I don't trust her public image one bit.

otm

Reminder that saying nothing is often the best option. https://t.co/c5obBy1xio

— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) April 18, 2018

"The MSNBC pundits using her death to pine nostalgically for the Republican party of her husband's era earlier this evening is straight up nauseating"

maybe but I'd probably give the fucking republican party of that era a bouquet of roses if they came to prominence again over whatever the republican party is now.

see? they won!

oh ffs

this thread is shakey's sistine chapel

Missed you in the Star Wars 8 thread, Οὖτις.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdBaAGyeKvE

The Republican Party of Jesse Helms doesn't seem meaningfully different to the Republican Party of Steve King to me.

"The MSNBC pundits using her death to pine nostalgically for the Republican party of her husband's era earlier this evening is straight up nauseating"

maybe but I'd probably give the fucking republican party of that era a bouquet of roses if they came to prominence again over whatever the republican party is now.

― akm, Wednesday, April 18, 2018 9:12 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Saw a tweet that said 'Barbara Bush was the last first lady presiding over a truly bipartisan Washington' and I wanted to kill myself

a Washington united by ignoring AIDS and bombing Baghdad

First comment hall of fame after one of my friends posted on FB.

https://i.imgur.com/a9lwicH.jpg

Professor who called Barbara Bush an "amazing racist" on Twitter shortly after the former first lady's death now faces university investigation. https://t.co/r4fMvx6CVQ

— AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) April 18, 2018

Many Fox stations appear set to preempt the Man United-Spurs FA Cup semifinal to cover Barbara Bush’s funeral https://t.co/bF6t5zs2kX pic.twitter.com/J1op7MDok6

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2018

well i never

couldn't they just have a a minute's applause before the game?

I noticed today that USA flags were flying at half-staff. I assume this was for Barbara Bush, the spouse of a past president, who died at age 92, wealthy and well-cared for. This is not some national tragedy. This was normal and expected.

I greatly doubt Eleanor Roosevelt's death was similarly marked, despite her being a far more significant national figure. I've watched for over half a century as this tradition for representing days of nationwide mourning has been further and further cheapened to the point that almost anything that combines death with continuous cable news coverage now merits flags put at half-staff. It sucks.

I assumed it was for '60s kiddie show host Chuck McCann

"Government buildings and installations throughout the world flew the flag at half-staff by order of President Kennedy. Similar action was taken by Gov. Rockefeller and Mayor Wagner in state and city."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/world-leaders-responded-news-eleanor-roosevelt-death-article-1.2003123

I imagine she was generally loved by those whom she loved, but I don't trust her public image one bit.

― A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, April 17, 2018 10:13 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/18/603475998/former-first-lady-barbara-bush-dies-at-92

KING: Cokie, you knew Barbara Bush. You spent some time interviewing her over the years. What was she like?

ROBERTS: Well, she was exactly as she comes across to the public.

Thank you. Now we should go back and investigate whether Florence Harding, Grace Coolidge, Lou Hoover, or Bess Truman were equally honored by flags at half-staff at their deaths.

Right...

Cokie's mind is certainly that of a Beltway tool

I love cokes

KING: Cokie, you knew Barbara Bush. You spent some time interviewing her over the years. What was she like?

COKIE: Well, perhaps this may sound a bit misplaced, saying it to an audience of several million people about a recently deceased public figure who's being buried today with much pomp,ceremony and inflated eulogies, a moment when I am expected by convention to say something admiring or reverent, or at the very least non-committal, but really, the woman was something of a bitch. No, really, it's true, so why hide it? {her mic goes dead}

that's the worst cokie impression i've ever read

you're right. she did a pitch perfect impression of herself being a media commentator in your link.

https://i.imgur.com/VcG1tZ2.png

when Michael Jackson released the "Black and White" video, my friends and I imagined Barbara Bush as part of the closing morphing montage, going IT'S BLACK IT'S WHITE YEAH YEAH YEAH

Invited to Barbara Bush’s funeral was the owner of her favorite pizza restaurant...he and his wife sat next to me.She wanted to include people who were a part of her life and she loved their restaurant. It was not all big names but all very important people to her.

— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) April 21, 2018

Aw that's nice I'm sure the Comet Pizza owners were touched

Wishing bad thoughts to a dead person is the epitome of bad shit. Do you want to add to the shiftiness of the world ? Keep being negative then.

Shitiness **

Barbara Bush was a person. Now she is dead. But while alive she was very close to the pinnacle of public power, where decisions made by her husband and her children affected many millions, if not billions of people. If it was OK to point out her shortcomings during her life, her dying does not excuse or dismiss those shortcomings. I don't think her flaws or wrongs were so massive as to justify glee upon her death, but painting her in false colors does no one any good.

Joking aside, that pizza story remind me of something I did like about Bar & HW, which is that were always pretty supportive of local Houston businesses (albeit ones of a certain stripe, natch--no taco stands for them) and many arts organizations (albeit ones of...).

powerful: they have chosen to be buried alive with the coffin and guard her unto eternity https://t.co/2H12rjhvYG

— BAKOON (@BAKKOOONN) April 21, 2018

you’re just jealous

A storied tradition which humankind has allowed to lapse for too many thousands of years.

Still dead imo

Even her memory is pretty much moribund. When she was First Lady there was a PR effort to make her seem warm, grandmotherly and approachable. It didn't take. There was never a hint of detectable warmth to lend it a shred of credence.

feels like she's utterly forgotten / ignored, which is for the best

She gave birth to a monster, so you got to give her that.

A murder of monsters, actuall.

It was nice that she lived long enough to see her favorite child (JEB!) humiliated by Trump