Bush Sr. honors Ted Kennedy in a pointed message to Jr.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/18/bush_srs_message_to_bush_jr/

snip


But the news from College Station, Texas, this week -- that the First Father, former President George H.W. Bush, has given his own most treasured award to Senator Edward Kennedy -- is nearly as astonishing.

When it was announced (with amazingly little fanfare) that the pugnaciously anti-Iraq war Democrat Kennedy had been awarded the 2003 George Bush Award for Excellence in Public Service, so many jaws dropped all over Washington that usually voluble politicians were only heard swallowing their real thoughts.

Since the current President Bush veered away from the real war against terrorism in Afghanistan and went a'venturing in Iraq, much to his father's dismay, just about everybody close to Washington politics has known of the policy schism between father and son.

It was politically and philosophically obvious. But people around Father Bush, a coterie of traditional internationalist conservatives who protect him like a wolf mother does her cubs, would heatedly deny any family rift -- and nobody spoke publicly about it.

Now it's all out. Father Bush has done it in his own preferred nuanced way -- the way Establishment gentlemen operate -- but he has revealed the depth of his disagreement with his impetuously uninformed son.

And won't it be interesting to analyze the speeches citing Teddy, who is surely one of W's primary political nemeses, for his public service and principles at the Bush Library Center on the Texas A&M campus on Nov. 7? One can bet they will be subtle -- but also very clear.

What's the catch?? :shrug:

I guess the Kennedys are in the Republican family now. In some obscene way, Bush and Ted Kennedy probably view the CA win the way they would see it in medieval times when royal families crossed over lines of division to bring warring factions together.

No offense, but there are few Kennedys left that I don't consider Limosine Liberals.

The Kennedys have always been rich. What has changed?

Candace Bergen portrayed the image to perfection.

... you stupid little twerp!

B-)

Gave a very critical speech about his son's foreign policy (or lack thereof) last spring. I wrote a couple of papers about it, but there was very little coverage. I guess he's still mad...if he were mine, I'd be beyond embarassed...

W's going into Iraq. Do you know where he gave that speech ? I have only heard him say he does not give W advice, but he knows that the president has to do what he has to do, or something on that order.

I think this is a great article. Georgie Ann Geyer is not a liberal columnist. But she did not favor going into Iraq.

nonpartisans willing to hold their hand out even the most rabid of Bush haters. I’ve noticed a lot of rhetoric lately about the Dems irrational hatred of Bush.

on TV and thought he looked like hell. As much as she dislikes him, she thought he had been holding up pretty well "for a man his age" (he's just a few years older than Mom). Her conclusion is that guilt over unleashing his idiot son on the world is killing him.

I told her she gave him too much credit if she though he could feel any guilt. It's more likely embarrassment.

Just who the hell's fault is it if Shrub is "impetuously uninformed?" Who the hell raised the spoiled dumbass little SOB anyway? Whose responsibility was it to "inform" him?

Anyone who believes there is a schism between Poppy and Jr is crazy. Jr is doing the work of his Poppy and the cabal. Poppy leads. Jr follows. Because, as we know, Jr is a puppet. No one will convince me that Poppy disapproves of anything Jr does - maybe he would like him to be more normal appearing in the public eye. Maybe he's a touch embarassed.

This is a tight little ship. Poppy Bush knows what he's doing - we just can't see it.

The only thing that stands out as of today - is that Jr, Hughes, and Rove promised that they would extend a hand.

Watch out. This calls for a 'watch out'.

Maria and her parents are a disappointing mystery.

But the close-to-each other Kennedy's of Teddy's age, plus John and Caroline, found some kind of stalemate peace after JFK's assassination. It is interesting that an article about where in the world Poppy was on Nov 22, 1963 and why is he incapable of remembering where he was when John Kennedy was assassinated just ran on DU a few days ago.

He travelled to Russia not long ago to meet Putin.
He meets Saudi Princes of various ilks all the time in Texas.
Now he meets with Teddy in Texas.

He is either smoothing things over, or delivering bad news, or accepting bad news that Junior can't deal with for whatever reason.
Just which one is it?

I hope Teddy took some mice to Texas to taste his food at the banquet before he chowed down.

Things might have turned out much different if Clinton had
waited until 1996 to run for office instead of 1992. Bush Sr.
would have won reelection, the conservative voices would have
been blunted (since they didn't support him), and we would
now have a democratic president with a balanced budget.
Also, bush* jr. would not have run for Governor of Texas since
he would have been working for poppy doing sewer detail.
Or then again, things might be much worse...