Reagan administration.”
George Bush and principle. There is one single issue on which George Bush has been resolute through the years, despite its unpopularity and defeat—a capital gains tax cut that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
George Bush and integrity. You may recall when he said on national television that Walter Mondale had said our marines in Lebanon “died in shame.” Mondale had said they died “in vain.” Bush tried to prove with a dictionary that Mondale
meant
“in shame.”
You may recall his 1988 campaign—a vapid, racist exercise featuring the flag and Willie Horton, conducted while he carefully concealed the extent of the savings and loan fiasco and lied about his involvement in the Iran-contra scandal. In this campaign, he has descended into rank McCarthyism with his unfounded charge that there was some impropriety about Clinton’s having visited Moscow during a tour of European capitals and with his demagoguery implying that it was unpatriotic to oppose the war in Vietnam.
One reason Bush won in 1988 was his famous interview with Dan Rather about Iran-contra—Bush blustered, he fulminated, he attacked Rather—but he never answered the questions. And the reason becomes more apparent every day. He was not “out of the loop.” From the George Shultz memo to Tuesday’s revelation of the John Poindexter cable that lists Bush among those supporting secrecy and concealment of the entire operation. A month after that cable was written, Bush made a speech saying, “Let the chips fall where they may. We want the truth. The president wants it. I want it. And the American people have a right to it. If the truth hurts, so be it. We’ve got to take our lumps and move ahead.” But he went right on with the cover-up and is still lying about it today.
His entire administration is embroiled in a massive cover-up of Iraq-gate, the illegal use of American grain credits by Saddam Hussein to buy weapons. To cover up this piece of folly, the administration had to interfere in and then botch the prosecution for the largest bank fraud in the history of this country. The CIA, the FBI, and the Justice Department are now engaged in investigating one another in the farcical fallout. It would be more farcical if Americans hadn’t died fighting Iraq.
In every campaign speech he gives, George Bush is guilty of massive hypocrisy. In every campaign speech he gives, he twists his opponent’s words (as he does on Clinton’s stand on the Persian Gulf War), he twists his opponent’s stands, and he twists his opponent’s record. He is guilty of hypocrisy about the Clean Air Act, the civil rights legislation he was finally forced to sign, the tax bill he agreed to (“Congress twisted my arm,” he whines).
Sure George Bush is a decent individual—he’s polite, he’s loyal, he’s kind to his children, and he has that endearingly goofy streak (did you catch his reference to “90/90 hindsight” the other night?), but in his public life, George Bush has been anything but an exemplar of principle and integrity. When has George Bush stood for anything in his public life except the protection and advance of George Bush? To suggest otherwise is a sick, sad joke.
October 1992
The 1992 Vote
L ITTLE ROCK — I can think of one and a half reasons to vote for George Bush. The first is entirely selfish. But then, they tell us this is the year of the “What’s in it for me?” voter.
What’s in it for me as a political humorist is that George Bush is just fabulous material. Bush-speak, the thing thing, that gloriously daffy streak he has—“Read my lips,” 90/90 hindsight, “the manhood thing.”
Lord, but I would miss that goofy, preppy, golden retriever–like part of his personality, those moments of transcendent dorkiness when we all stand there trying to believe he’s just said what he did.
If you have any mercy in your hearts for those who make a living being funny about
George Bush and principle. There is one single issue on which George Bush has been resolute through the years, despite its unpopularity and defeat—a capital gains tax cut that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
George Bush and integrity. You may recall when he said on national television that Walter Mondale had said our marines in Lebanon “died in shame.” Mondale had said they died “in vain.” Bush tried to prove with a dictionary that Mondale
meant
“in shame.”
You may recall his 1988 campaign—a vapid, racist exercise featuring the flag and Willie Horton, conducted while he carefully concealed the extent of the savings and loan fiasco and lied about his involvement in the Iran-contra scandal. In this campaign, he has descended into rank McCarthyism with his unfounded charge that there was some impropriety about Clinton’s having visited Moscow during a tour of European capitals and with his demagoguery implying that it was unpatriotic to oppose the war in Vietnam.
One reason Bush won in 1988 was his famous interview with Dan Rather about Iran-contra—Bush blustered, he fulminated, he attacked Rather—but he never answered the questions. And the reason becomes more apparent every day. He was not “out of the loop.” From the George Shultz memo to Tuesday’s revelation of the John Poindexter cable that lists Bush among those supporting secrecy and concealment of the entire operation. A month after that cable was written, Bush made a speech saying, “Let the chips fall where they may. We want the truth. The president wants it. I want it. And the American people have a right to it. If the truth hurts, so be it. We’ve got to take our lumps and move ahead.” But he went right on with the cover-up and is still lying about it today.
His entire administration is embroiled in a massive cover-up of Iraq-gate, the illegal use of American grain credits by Saddam Hussein to buy weapons. To cover up this piece of folly, the administration had to interfere in and then botch the prosecution for the largest bank fraud in the history of this country. The CIA, the FBI, and the Justice Department are now engaged in investigating one another in the farcical fallout. It would be more farcical if Americans hadn’t died fighting Iraq.
In every campaign speech he gives, George Bush is guilty of massive hypocrisy. In every campaign speech he gives, he twists his opponent’s words (as he does on Clinton’s stand on the Persian Gulf War), he twists his opponent’s stands, and he twists his opponent’s record. He is guilty of hypocrisy about the Clean Air Act, the civil rights legislation he was finally forced to sign, the tax bill he agreed to (“Congress twisted my arm,” he whines).
Sure George Bush is a decent individual—he’s polite, he’s loyal, he’s kind to his children, and he has that endearingly goofy streak (did you catch his reference to “90/90 hindsight” the other night?), but in his public life, George Bush has been anything but an exemplar of principle and integrity. When has George Bush stood for anything in his public life except the protection and advance of George Bush? To suggest otherwise is a sick, sad joke.
October 1992
The 1992 Vote
L ITTLE ROCK — I can think of one and a half reasons to vote for George Bush. The first is entirely selfish. But then, they tell us this is the year of the “What’s in it for me?” voter.
What’s in it for me as a political humorist is that George Bush is just fabulous material. Bush-speak, the thing thing, that gloriously daffy streak he has—“Read my lips,” 90/90 hindsight, “the manhood thing.”
Lord, but I would miss that goofy, preppy, golden retriever–like part of his personality, those moments of transcendent dorkiness when we all stand there trying to believe he’s just said what he did.
If you have any mercy in your hearts for those who make a living being funny about
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