Since she passed away this week at 92, I have been thinking about her. I never really was a BIG fan, to tell you the truth. The Bush clan left me cold and still do. I don't actively hate them and never wished them to the cornfield, as I can say I have with SOME people in politics, but yeah, not tripping over myself to meet any of them and not shedding tears. I am not turning handsprings. I am reflecting on her as a public figure.
The thought that "They sell us the President the same way they sell us our clothes and our cars" ( a line from Jackson Browne's brilliant "Lives in the Balance" which rings as true today as it did in the 80's) reminds me that they ALSO sell the First Lady as .. whatever. Barbara Bush was marketed as a kindly Grandmotherly woman who always wore pearls. I was looking to see if there were a reason, apparently not. ( side note to my friend Tom ; Barbara Billingsly apparently wore them to cover a scar on her neck. No word on Donna Reed)
But her "grandmotherly" image was somewhat tarnished when she was overheard by reporters calling Geraldine Ferraro, who was Walter Mondale's running mate in the 1984 election a "rhymes with rich" I was disappointed in her. Ferraro probably hadn't done anything but campaign. Looking back on it, I suppose she was just caught being who she was, a wise cracking woman with a sharp sense of humor, but we were supposed to see her as a cookie baking, apron bedecked Grandma- and Grandma's don't swear.
Well MINE did, but that's a subject for a future blog.
Barbara Bush advanced literacy, was an advocate for books and reading for children and adults. Her commitment to literacy for all Americans carried on after her time as First Lady. Her Foundation and the work it does is a testament to who she really was.
Odd factoid, Barbara Pierce Bush was a distant cousin many times removed, from Franklin Pierce who was apparently one of the worst president ever. His actions set the stage for the Civil War. We don't really learn much about him in US History. but thank goodness for Wikipedia. Seeing things like that makes me wonder about the nature of politics and whether certain families just gravitate toward politics; think the Kennedy's, the Bush Family ( Daddy Bush's daddy was a senator, after all). The news talked about Barbara Bush and a "life of public service". I wonder why anyone would choose such a life. It seems that half the public loves you and the other half loathe you. Maybe the money is good, if you look at the wealth of the current crop of Congressional leaders. But I digress.
Rest in Peace, Mrs. Bush. Thank you for your service. I hope you had a wonderful life.
but - were those pearls real?
ReplyDeleteYes, she misspoke, as they now call it, when she called Ferraro a bitch, and again after the New Orleans flooding disaster, when she made a really callous remark about the evacuees saying how they were poor anyway, and were now better off...............also earlier on, playing the old lady grandma card when she refused to answer tough questions about her son and some entanglement.
So, no, certainly not the perfect image they want us to believe.