In 2001 and 2004, I voted for George W. Bush for President. He was not my ideal choice but easily preferred over his Democrat opponents. He – and his father – always struck me as philosophically mushy country clubbers – part of a political establishment that was more interested in being collegial than principled.
That seemed to be why the Bush family abandoned conservative PRINCIPLES to join the anti-Trump movement. That is somewhat understandable in view of Trump’s sophomoric attacks on anyone he deemed disloyal. I never liked the Trump personality – and have said so repeatedly over the years.
Still, when it came to voting, I had to put conservative PRINCIPLES above a flawed personality. I could not kick to the side more than 50 years of conservative beliefs to endorse or support those who would impose everything I fought against. I could not desert to the other side – as a number of my high-profile conservative friends did. So, I voted twice for Trump – and for the most part, was pleased with his policies and appointments.
For the better part of four years, W. Bush remained in the background – as former presidents traditionally do. His public exposure was generally limited to his portrait painting – and an occasional bike ride with veterans.
In memorializing the 20th anniversary of the War in Afghanistan – that he launched with high purpose and optimism – Bush decided to express his bitterness at Trump by attacking those the media demonizes as his base.
Bush did not refer to the Capitol Hill riot – or even cite instances of “right-wing violence.” But he was sufficiently – and I believe intentionally vague enough to enable the left-wing media to interpret – spin – his remarks as not only an attack on the rioters but on the entire Republican Party.
Bush condemned both international and domestic violence as the result of a comparable “foul spirit.” Media personalities immediately declared that Bush was supporting the left’s hyperbolic mendacious narrative that there is an equivalency between the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Capitol Hill riot. In an incredible stretch of credulity, some even suggested that Bush implied that what happened on January 6th was WORSE than 9/11.
The Democrats’ crony media has spent more than six months puffing up the Capitol Hill riot into an insurrection organized and led by the Republican Party. The narrative is nothing more than a tactic to avoid a GOP resurgence in 2022. They have exaggerated the number of people killed as a result of the riot. They have launched a congressional investigation of the event even though the FBI is fully engaged in a real investigation. It is something neither the Democrats nor the FBI did with the more serious riots – carried on for longer periods of time with more deaths and destruction that occurred on January 6th. There were no massive FBI arrests. In fact, the rioters, looters, and arsonists were summarily released from custody by the Democrat law enforcement establishment – and Vice President Kamala Harris even organized bail for the perpetrators.
In his speech, Bush lateraled the ball to the folks on the left. Did he do it intentionally – or was this just another example of Bush’s establishmentarian bone-headedness? Either way, it was a gift to the left.
Whether Bush meant to draw an equivalency between 9/11 and the Capitol Hill riot – or whether his intention was misrepresented by those on the left – we may never know. Even if it was the latter, Bush is not likely to have the courage to correct the record.
But what about the comparison, itself?
It is so outrageous that it is almost inconceivable that any sane person would claim ANY equivalency. Our sworn enemies undertook a three-pronged attack on the United States – the worst since the British invaded to take back the colonies in 1812. By official count, some 2,977 innocent people died in that horrendous attack. The two most iconic structures in New York City were crushed to the ground. The very headquarters of the American military was attacked – causing death, injury, and destruction. And only God – and a number of terrorist leaders – know where that third commercial airliner might have struck – the Capitol Building or the White House.
The Capitol Hill riot was bad – very bad. And those who committed crimes should be held accountable. But it was not an insurrection and in no way can it legitimately be compared to what took place on 9/11. Shame … shame … shame on every Democrat and media ally that has advanced that false narrative. Shame on Bush for tossing that innuendo into the toxic political debate as fuel for the deplorables on the left.
Bush offered what he claimed was an appropriate remembrance of 9/11 and a call for national unity. He failed in both. His drift into the acrid contemporary political environment was disrespectful to the memorial and divisive in nature. Bush should stick to painting and bike riding.
So, there ‘tis