A Bush moment you won’t see in the MSM
posted at 12:11 pm on April 3, 2007 by Ian
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President Bush helping the elder Sen. Robert Byrd take a seat at a ceremony honoring the Tuskegee airmen for their courageous service during WWII.
The only news outlet I can find publishing this photo and/or writing about what happened is the Charleston Daily Mail.
Dave Hinz at The HinzSight Report writes:
So why then did this President take the time and trouble to take the hand of his political enemy, a man who has said, “We have heard a lot about revisionist history from the White House of late in answer to those who question whether there was a real threat from Iraq. But, it is the President who appears to me to be intent on revising history.”
Why would this President show such deference and respect to a man who has suggested that he, the President, has been guilty of impeachable offenses?
The answer is as simple as the humility of this President. He took the hand of Robert Byrd, to help him into his seat, because Byrd is approaching 90 years of age, and this President is respectful of his elders. He took his hand because he needed help, and this President is not the type of person to turn his back on a fellow human being in need. He took his hand as an act of friendship, because this President does not take his politics personally. He understands that his political enemies are not his personal enemies.
Indeed.
(photo via Lucianne)
(Don Surber blogged about this last Friday, sorry I missed it.)
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They say this as if it’s a positive thing… until the Republicans get over this, they (huh… first time I’ve never said “We” in regards to the Republican party in my life… that says a lot) will always come up second in the fights with the Democratic party whose smear and hate machine knows no political and personal boundaries.
hindmost on April 3, 2007 at 12:17 PM
Exit question: Why was Byrd allowed to attend this ceremony?
James on April 3, 2007 at 12:17 PM
To follow your logic to the end this would mean that there would be no difference whatsoever in the two parties.. thus it wouldn’t matter what candidate was voted in for any office.
“..political enemies are not his personal enemies.” is a quote or paraphrase from what Ronald Reagan believed. Are you saying Reagan was not successful because of it?
Bradky on April 3, 2007 at 12:26 PM
Yoda is real!
I digress, but I agree with you hindmost, it is one thing to act honorably, but that does not mean you excuse your enemies from the consequences of their own actions.
Bush should have covered his bases from the start, especially knowing how the Democrats are. A good example is that the prosecutors should have been fired upon him entering office and then he should have gone after every Clinton holdover in every branch of the government.
That’s what Democrats do, and that is exactly why we are overwhelmed by liberals from the courts to the education system.
jeffersonschild on April 3, 2007 at 12:26 PM
There are two reasons why the MSM won’t show this.
1) It shows Bush as a compassionate, respectful human being.
2) It shows that Byrd is a doddering ancient old man who probably shouldn’t even have a drivers license, much less be a leader in making policy that can impact Americans and the world for generations to come.
aero on April 3, 2007 at 12:29 PM
There are two reasons why the MSM won’t show this.
No kidding! Think West Virginians are getting their money’s worth from that man’s paycheck? Seems all Byrd has done for the state is fund Soviet State-quality projects that he can stick his name on, whether W.VA needs them or not.
naliaka on April 3, 2007 at 12:38 PM
On the education issue I’d say it is much more complicated than that.
(a) Unions and Dept of Education don’t teach, they protect
(b) Like it or not there are more liberals in academia to some degree because they go into it believing they can make a difference and willingly accept the low pay and prestige of the job. Nothing at all wrong with the motives of a freshly graduated 22 year old. Those who have an eye on making more money or having more prestigious jobs lean a little more conservative - this is not a criticism, just a logical opinion. As time goes on, the teachers may become more jaded and narrow minded as do those who chose the better paid occupations. Neither is willing to change or god forbid, change careers to make a change.
(c) Boomers and X’ers and Y’ers have ceded responsibility of teaching their children to the schools and spend a woefully limited amount of time working with the kids on their schoolwork at home. The one parent working, one staying at home for the kids model is ridiculed and material concerns take precedence.
As to the courts I’d submit that abortion, gay marriage, flag burning and women’s rights issues have been the major bones of contention. Both sides of the issue want the courts to define it their way — both are afraid that if they insist on letting the citizens decide at the state level their “side” may lose. The Equal Rights Amendment didn’t pass because the majority of the states wouldn’t ratify it.
My point? Not as bad as it sounds and the process to change or maintain law works when we allow citizens to have a say.
Bradky on April 3, 2007 at 12:42 PM
Bush’s problem is that he’s got this quite backwards. Dems may act like political enemies are personal enemies, but Bush is at the other extreme: acting like personal graces translate into political graces. Playing the Dem game may lose them some respect, but playing the Bush game gets you blindsided by the most obvious frontal attacks.
Lehosh on April 3, 2007 at 12:45 PM
Spot on, Misha!
thebookkeeper on April 3, 2007 at 12:50 PM
dkos:
“CHIMPLER HOLDS HANDS WITH KKK GRAND KLEAGLE”
jus’ kiddin’
jummy on April 3, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Can you imagine the press if Bush turned his back on Byrd?
Gene Splicer on April 3, 2007 at 12:52 PM
President Bush has class.
januarius on April 3, 2007 at 12:53 PM
How wonderful of our Good Christian President to help that mean old lady get to her seat. Remarkable kindness indeed.
John on April 3, 2007 at 12:54 PM
The MSM refuses to show the human side of President Bush for if they did, Americans would see that he’s not anything like Hitler.
Using that logic, I should shoot everyone with a gang banger tattoo or colors as that is what they would do to me if given a chance, right? Wrong.
Why should anyone vote Republican if they are no different than the Democrats? You can’t change the political direction of America by acting the same as your opponent. You change direction by acting different. We didn’t defeat the USSR by becoming Communists, for example, and you can’t stop prostitution by by becoming a prostitute or stop theft by becoming a thief.
RedinBlueCounty on April 3, 2007 at 12:58 PM
wishing this were just a joke:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003647761_webwto02m.html
jummy on April 3, 2007 at 1:02 PM
“Ugly buildings, politicians and whores all get respectable with age.” — Robert Towne
Labamigo on April 3, 2007 at 1:05 PM
Scary article, jummy. My favorite line from the article (because liberals really believe it):
Who do they think will pay for the premiums that will surely go up?
januarius on April 3, 2007 at 1:08 PM
Almost spilled my drink to see someone with a similar opinion on this thread!
Bradky on April 3, 2007 at 1:09 PM
This just proves what we’ve always known, that W is a good, decent man. Unfortunately his enemies aren’t. And while being kind does him credit, he also has to be strong for us, and fight for what’s right, so that more people will see his example and emulate it.
Iblis on April 3, 2007 at 1:13 PM
It’s also “Be Nice To A Klan Member” week.
You have to wonder what Sheets was doing at this ceremony since his idea of Black Americans taking flight during WWII would have been at the end of a rope.
Nice example of Democratic Party irony.
President Bush is a class act, Byrd is a disgrace.
Hening on April 3, 2007 at 1:17 PM
Byrd was told it was a Klan meeting
Capitalist Infidel on April 3, 2007 at 1:17 PM
I posted it last Friday via Surber. It shows what a gentleman Bush is, which is why it wasn’t shown in more places.
JammieWearingFool on April 3, 2007 at 1:20 PM
hindmost and jeffersonschild, the two of you could not be more wrong. This is more than just a partisan issue… Pres. Bush was helping an older gentleman to his seat, he was showing manners and class.
But it also doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t act like a gentleman. What should Pres. Bush have done… given him a push? tripped him?
No, Pres. Bush did exactly the right thing, the honorable thing. He showed respect to someone with whom he disagrees.
hindmost, if this is how you feel then, well, I wouldn’t *want* you in my Republican party.
dalewalt on April 3, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Sweet.
Rightwingsparkle on April 3, 2007 at 1:46 PM
Bush had to help the senile old fool in because Byrd forgot what year it was and got fatigued trying to bring in a bundle of rope…
Bad Candy on April 3, 2007 at 1:57 PM
It isn’t politics to the Men and Women serviing, to the parents of the children who died in our wars, it is real life, not a game. They don’t go back to the barracks after 8PM and watch American Idol with the enemy and fight again at 9AM. Hell with the Politics biz, it is PERSONAL. The enemy is the enemy and the Liberals are the Enemy, just like terrorists are the enemy, people died or will be dieing because of their actions. I hold what they do PERSONALLY, the war doesn’t stop when Nancy Pellosi or Harry Reid goes home. I dislike them at home too when they are watching tv or drinking a martini with a Repulican buddy.
StuLongIsland on April 3, 2007 at 1:58 PM
Stu, whether you dislike them or not, isn’t showing good manners still desirable?
dalewalt on April 3, 2007 at 2:01 PM
a fun search:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22dissolve+congress%22+bush
jummy on April 3, 2007 at 2:01 PM
Good People take responsibility for their mistakes. They step forward and take their licks.
Bad People try to avoid responsibility for their mistakes (and deliberate bad actions). If they get caught just half the time (optimistic) they’re still ahead of the Good People.
That’s why there seem to be so many bad people - it works.
Civilization is the process of trying to compensate for that “inherent unfairness of the system” (the system in this case being Just Plain Old Life).
It’s a little tangential to the topic, but it helps explain why Bush gets such a bad rap and people like Cold Cash Jeffersion and Dirty DiFi barely get a sideways glance - though it doesn’t hurt that the latter share cultural similarity with the majority of the press corps.
Merovign on April 3, 2007 at 2:02 PM
Good point!
Bradky on April 3, 2007 at 2:07 PM
hindmost
You’re more than welcome in MY Republican party.
Capitalist Infidel on April 3, 2007 at 2:20 PM
Pfft, whatever. Bush knows that he’s always in the public eye - was he going to just walk by Byrd and not acknowledge him? He helped Byrd because he knew he was being watched. Don’t confuse that with honor.
Enrique on April 3, 2007 at 2:35 PM
Seriously…
The Ugly American on April 3, 2007 at 2:40 PM
That’s why I voted for the man. I think he’s the opposite of how the media/critics portray him.
budorob on April 3, 2007 at 2:46 PM
That was a kind and gracious thing to do. Class is how you act when no one is looking. I think the President would do this as a matter of fact - camera or no camera.
Contrast this with Clinton’s yukking it up at Ron Brown’s funeral and then getting all solemn when he realized he was on camera.
Ellen on April 3, 2007 at 3:03 PM
There is class and classless
Actions speak louder than words.
Kini on April 3, 2007 at 3:07 PM
Come on kids, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Byrd is an old and feeble man. Offering him assistance is most basic sort of plain old fashioned good manners.
honora on April 3, 2007 at 3:24 PM
For once, Honora is right. More importantly, if Bush is holding Byrd, who’s holding the sheets?
Kid from Brooklyn on April 3, 2007 at 3:43 PM
You’re right, honora. But the point of this whole post is that the MSM is unlikely to show this sort of basic kindness, good manners, and humanity displayed by President Bush because it interferes with the “Bush is an evil, callous, selfish warmongerer” meme they’ve been promoting for the past few years. Fact is, President Bush is a kind and thoughtful man. You’d never know it from the coverage he gets from the mainstream media.
aero on April 3, 2007 at 3:47 PM
There fixed it for ya!
Bradky on April 3, 2007 at 3:48 PM
Countdown to Kos calling Byrd a traitor and war monger in 5….4….3…2…
(Think that wouldn’t happen? Kos threw Obama under the bus yesterday http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/4/1/135422/4038)
RightWinged on April 3, 2007 at 3:53 PM
Savor the image, folks. It may be the last time you’ll see a Democrat willingly being led by President Bush.
DuffBeer on April 3, 2007 at 3:57 PM
By the way, I just found this documentary on Byrd (language waring)
http://www.vidilife.com/video_play_719542_Clayton_Bigsby.htm
RightWinged on April 3, 2007 at 3:59 PM
Misha, that comment was as stupid as it was rude. Way to jump the shark!
CliffHanger on April 3, 2007 at 4:01 PM
dianne feinstein -> richard c. blum -> iap world services -> building 18
jummy on April 3, 2007 at 4:15 PM
Leave poor Misha alone. He’s got a one-note schtick that works and he’s staying with it. The fact that it takes no intelligence and less class makes it efficient.
Professor Blather on April 3, 2007 at 4:24 PM
And for a look at the absolute opposite sort of person … there’s Dubya. Say what you want him about him. Those on the right can now happily smear him as not being conservative enough, and those on the left can claim he’s Hitler. It’s not as if I don’t have my own problems with some of his leadership decisions.
But President Bush is a fundamentally decent human being. He is a good man, who does his best to remain a good man.
In this day and age, that is a remarkable testament for anyone. Among politicians, its beyond rare.
He is a good man. And I like that. I’m proud of that. Ironically, while the nutroots may loathe him, I suspect that his actual political opponents would agree with me.
He’s a good man.
Professor Blather on April 3, 2007 at 4:28 PM
Not quite as rude as this, at least not by my standards:
“[I shall] never submit to fight beneath that banner [the American flag] with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”
– Robert Byrd, on the subject of integrating the military.
I ask again, what exactly was Robert “Sheets” Byrd (D-KKK) doing at a ceremony honoring the Tuskegee Airmen (who were, in case you’re not aware of it, made up of “race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds”, according to your beloved “poor, feeble old man”)?
Now why don’t you, Ol’ Sheets and Professor Blather (who chose his nickname exceedingly well, I must say) go get a room? Or maybe open a history book?
Hey, it couldn’t hurt.
Misha I on April 3, 2007 at 4:55 PM
At least I’m not likely to get all teary-eyed and sobby at the thought of somebody holding Rudolf Hess’ hand on his deathbed.
But hey, to each his own. I’m sure those “race mongrels” and “throwbacks to the blackest specimen from the wilds” of the Tuskegee Airmen would be positively thrilled by your nuance.
Misha I on April 3, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Does it make me a bad person if I say I’d have told Robert Byrd to “Get one of your white-robed friends to help you sit down”?
fusionaddict on April 3, 2007 at 5:14 PM
Honestly Misha, must you write one-liners that sound so juvenile just to prove your point? I’m sure there’s a lowest common denominator out there somewhere that you appeal to. Perhaps they even read your blog, but when you preach to the choir on this site, it’s totally unneccesary.
As a followup, it would be interesting to know what the Tuskegee Airmen thought about Byrd attending this event.
In the meantime, we get the picture - Byrd’s a rascist.
CliffHanger on April 3, 2007 at 5:23 PM
Stick with the schtick, kid. It suits you. It requires absolutely no thought. Best of all its marketable; it appeals to the lowest common denominator. You and Rosie O’Donnell. Exactly the same.
If you were smart enough to understand what I’m saying, you’d be embarrassed.
Professor Blather on April 3, 2007 at 5:32 PM
I can just see the MSM headline now:
“PRESIDENT BUSH LEADS FORMER KLANSMAN TO CEREMONY HONORING BLACK PILOTS”
TexasRainmaker on April 3, 2007 at 5:44 PM
Honestly, CliffHanger, I don’t recall asking for your literary advice, nor do I much care for the snotty condescending tone, particularly not when it’s coming from, how may I put it diplomatically?, you, even if you’ve decided, somehow, that you’re the last word on what is and isn’t appropriate to be said around your anointed self. Or did I get “anointed” and “self” the wrong way around?
Yes, people actually do read my blog, quite a few actually, but I fail to see the relevance to this discussion, so perhaps you’d venture to elaborate a smidgen?
I’m truly devastated and utterly chastened by your disapproval, but I really do have a problem with fetid racist scum like Robert Byrd, and I’d sooner kiss the flaming derriere of Shaitan his own Evil self than ever show any sort of respect towards utter wastes of protoplasm such as The Doddering Old Fart Who Named Every Shithouse in West Virginia After Himself.
That may be frightfully base of me, one might even say that it shows poor manners, but I feel confident that I can live with that.
And to see one of the worst, most disgusting racists in modern memory slithering in to, with his foul presence, dishonor and disgrace a ceremony dedicated to some of the finest airmen in history, outstanding patriots that he used to refer to as “mongrels” and “throwbacks”…
Yes, it DOES rather offend me, and I offer no apologies for not being sufficiently meek and mild in expressing my disgust to meet with your approval.
Now, I trust we’re done here, unless you have something else to add?
Misha I on April 3, 2007 at 5:46 PM
In the extremely unlikely case that you were, in any shape, form or fashion, capable of expressing your, I’m sure, fantastically enlightened thoughts in a manner even remotely comprehensible to sentient beings, I might be.
For you.
But I most likely wouldn’t care much either way.
Misha I on April 3, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Bush is an enigma wrapped in a tortilla…go figure!
Mellen on April 3, 2007 at 5:59 PM
This is one of the reasons I admire him. It’s what should separate us from the nutroots.
violet on April 3, 2007 at 6:34 PM
That you have a problem with Byrd is quite evident and you’ve expended much energy communicating the level of contempt you have for him.
Of course there’s no need to show respect for Byrd but do you really think he reads this blog? Why not tell him directly exactly how you feel and what you would like those Tuskegee Airmen to do when they see him?
I just ask you to show respect for the community of readers and commenters at Hot Air by keeping your comments above sewer level.
CliffHanger on April 3, 2007 at 6:55 PM
Your toilet humor is also rather offensive and I just thought you should know.
Your Welcome.
CliffHanger on April 3, 2007 at 7:01 PM
Dittos upon dittos!
SouthernGent on April 3, 2007 at 7:46 PM
Great pic, Ian… you’re right; I didn’t see that anywhere else. And no wonder - it shows Bush truly is a compassionate man. This is just beautiful and a true portrayal of the Christain soul of our President.
MsUnderestimated on April 3, 2007 at 8:27 PM
Realistically I don’t think its a picture published in many papers or on T.V. because it is unrelated to the ceremony honoring the Tuskegee Airmen, and the fact that it’s a normal occurrence for someone to help an older person along or out of a chair or whatever.
I found this funny:
http://i9.tinypic.com/358e9nm.jpg
Nonfactor on April 3, 2007 at 11:59 PM
Cue the kooks at DK and DU to call President Bush and Byrd gay lovers because they’re holding hands like President Bush did with that Arab guy.
JinxMcHue on April 4, 2007 at 12:11 AM
Nonfactor, that picture with the two Presidents looks ‘fixed’.
The reason they’re not showing the Bush/Byrd hand-holding on TV is because it w/b heresy to show how well they get along; look how tight Mr. Byrd is holding on. He probably tells/shows all he knows/loves that the President helped him.
It is said that behind closed doors Nancy Pelosi is very “awed” and like all others in the presence of this/any President.
Entelechy on April 4, 2007 at 12:21 AM
I thought it might be, but it’s still funny.
That’s a bit conspiratorial.
Nonfactor on April 4, 2007 at 12:33 AM
GW shows more class in one gesture than the libs have shown
since his first day in office.
Texyank on April 4, 2007 at 1:35 AM
Why on earth would I want to be?
hindmost on April 4, 2007 at 11:49 AM