I guess I'm not the badass I thought I was

[lunatica]

When Dubya choked up giving the eulogy to his father I did too. For one instant I knew I was looking at a genuine person who almost caved in his grief. He was a human being in that moment. If that is true then there is some humanity there that I can recognize.

I’m back to normal now, but I know I’ll never forget that second of time. This is a bit of a surprise to me.

[Siwsan]

1. I've been in that same place and could completely empathize with him

Watching someone go through the same experience brings that grief pounding right back into your heart.

All I did was readings at my sister's, mom's and aunt's funerals, and barely got through those. Had to take a Valium before my sister's service. I can't imagine delivering a eulogy while in the throws of such pain.

[lunatica]

2. Like you it brought back my own grief which is the ultimate empathetic response.

I lost my brother and my son. It instantly stabs your heart.

[JNelson6563]

3. Same.

Reminded me of my own dad's funeral. I was only 27.

[trueblue2007]

4. i lost it when GWBush did too. My mom died when I was only 13 and my dad was murdered

when i was in my 30'd ..... death brings on the heartache and tears.

[lunatica]

6. Both deaths must truly haunt you!

Both are truly traumatic. I’m sorry you’ve had that happen to you.

[trueblue2007]

13. thank you for your heartfelt condolence. taking over the household tasks

and taking care of my little sister when i was only in the 8th grade was horrible.
I relieve some bad memories still to this day.
Thank you, God bless you.

[lunatica]

14. I hope you and your sister are stronger for it.

[Control-Z]

73. My losses were similar.

My mother died when I was 7. (From an abortion. My sigline links to the story of her death.) My father died when I was 17. I became a basket case, crybaby, afraid of everything after I lost my mom. But my older sister, she was 8, 15 months older than I, fell into the same role as you. She did all the cooking and cleaning and being mom to me. I had only 1 job - cleaning the bathrooms every Saturday. That was it.

My poor sister. I don't know how she did it. She had to grow up over night. But she also grew to be a better adult, in most ways than I. She joined the Marines. I wandered aimlessly for most of my life.

I'm so sorry to hear about your losses. I know how hard it had to have been for you. And it's a sadness that never really goes away.

[Siwsan]

57. I think that yesterday was a true test of empathy

At least I know it was for mine. I had the same reaction with Meghan McCain. From watching her behavior on 'The View', I pretty much loath her but my heart still went out to her, at her father's funeral.

[Blue_playwright]

70. I'm so sorry

I’m nearly 50 and just lost my mom. I cannot fathom what you’ve been through. So sorry you had to go through so much loss so early.

[lark]

56. You are correct, a lot of us have already gone through this personally and we empathize.

I almost broke down giving dad's eulogy, had to lower my head, wipe away my tears, gulp and pull myself together.

As I said yesterday, I have total disdain & anger for GW in the way 9/11 was handled and for needlessly getting us involved in Iraq for revenge for his dad and how he wrecked that country out of ignorance and greed. He was weak, ignorant 1%er and wrong in so many ways and is the 2nd or 3rd worst president ever. However, he always had a heart, and even back then the only credit I'd ever give him is that he truly loved his family. Well, ok, that and his wonderful AIDS initiative are the only good things from his time in office. I do give him props, however, for genuinely caring about his dad and for the excellent eulogy. This may be the last good thing I say about him, especially after his craven defense of Kavarape. I will never forgive that either.

[summer_in_TX]

72. Tragic when someone with potential to be halfway decent...

…doesn't get there. Other than Karl Rove, his biggest mistake was picking Cheney. He was certainly predisposed to believe the case against Iraq, but Cheney made sure the administration was stuffed with neocons, cherry-picking the intelligence and manipulating W as well as the American people.

He's a classic case of how important it is to surround yourself with good-hearted thoughtful people. He didn't.

W had some good instincts in a few cases. He made sure to insist that not all Muslims were terrorists. He wanted to resolve the immigration issue and would have, I am pretty sure, been relatively reasonable. The hard right was pushing against that and ultimately scuttled any chance of a deal. The AIDS initiative was the other.

Like his daddy, they had some good traits. Pretty nice, overall (but not as nice as either thought they were). Nice to those who were nice to them, anyway. Capable of responding to affection and admiration at least. Honorable according to their own code and among their kind. But their conservative R ideology tainted their character. They didn't believe in the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats and the importance of making sure that society works for everyone.

[demtenjeep]

5. My 3 sisters and I sung at our Mom's funeral 4 years ago this week. We choked through it. Our Dad

we had to pre-record it because we just could not do it live and we knew it

People still comment on how we were able to do something like that.



It is what Children do when they love their parents

[lunatica]

8. It truly is the most difficult thing to do

At least in private you can allow the grief to tear your heart out and leave you raw. Not so in public.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. It was a tough moment

and I wept, too.

W deeply loved his dad, and it was mutual.

[Blue_true]

9. You're human and you have empathy. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. Well he will forever be a truly awful president...

...but he is still a human being. It doesn’t excuse the things he did, but you can at least see him as a person.

Which is more than I can ever say for whatever the hell that thing that’s in the Oval Office right now.

[Shaddox]

11. I did too- instantly and viscerally- that's what humans do when they see pain-good for you

[pnwmom]

12. He is a flawed but very real human being, and most of us could relate to his grief.

DT, on the other hand . . .

[LakeArenal]

15. It made me miss my daddy!

RIP Lou. ❣️😌❣️

[Shaddox]

16. Sorry, Lake.

[LakeArenal]

17. Thanks. His was pretty cool. 93.

[fierywoman]

18. What did Michelle O say on tour last week -- maybe on Colbert?

... that when you see people face to face you can't hate them.

[Mr.Bill]

21. I bet Trump can.

Normal folks, not so much.

[BigmanPigman]

19. Whenever someone is so sad that they cry it

usually makes me cry too. I guess I am a "bleeding heart" liberal.

[LudwigPastorius]

20. Just think of the thousands and thousands of...

Iraqi funerals.

That’ll snap you right back to reality.

[lunatica]

25. That's exactly what brought me back to normal

I’ve cried bucketfuls for them, without knowing their names or seeing their faces. There are photos I saw of dead children that are seared into my brain, even after all these years.

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. +1000000!

[Martin Eden]

35. And Americans who volunteered to serve their country

... only to be sacrificed for a pack of lies and neocon ambition in a catastrophic war of choice that spread terrorism rather than defeat it.

I'm sickened when I see this war criminal praised instead of imprisoned.

[uponit7771]

62. +1, I can't get this out of my skull ... Red Don is an ahole while Bush and Cheney really hurt

... America and others around the world pretty bad

[Martin Eden]

68. Hair Twitler is an utter disgrace, but GW is responsible for horrendous death and destruction

If I intrude on the feel good moment others are having by pointing that out, too bad.

I will keep doing it as long as this war criminal walks as a free man. I will never let this go, and I will re-post my poem for what I would say to his face if I could:

I'd tell you to go fuck yourself
But that is much too kind
Because if you could perform that feat
You'd take pleasure in your behind

I'd like to say eat shit and die
But you deserve much more
You should suffer all the grief and pain
Of your misbegotten war

Though I can never make you think
Or feel, or understand
I'll take solace when you hear your name
Cursed throughout the land

From inside a lonely prison cell
Dark and bare and cold
Where every day you pay for your crimes
Until you're sick, heartbroken, and old

And when you finally leave the earth
You fucked over oh so well
If there is a God and afterlife
You're going straight to hell.

[Devil Child]

54. +1!!!

So many unheard tearful eulogies by the victims of the Bush Family.

[UTUSN]

22. badass-you - YIP!1 Thank Zeus you're back to normal!1

[lunatica]

43. Me too!

That one moment can’t compete with the hundreds of other moments that made me believe there was no humanity in him.

[George II]

23. We were fine at our father's funeral...

It didn't hit me until a few weeks later.

When I was a kid he took me to a few baseball games at old Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field. A few weeks after his funeral I went to Fenway Park for the first time, an old stadium reminiscent of the other two. My first thought when I looked looked around was, "I can't wait to tell.................", and I choked up.

Then several years later my father in law had a military funeral. Again we were fine throughout the church service. Then were good at the cemetery for most of it. Then the lone bugler on a hill began to play taps, we all lost it.

[Honeycombe8]

24. Doesn't seem to be a doubt that GHWB was a good father.

His family adored him.

[rwsanders]

26. Shows you are a better person than he, he'll watch that same scene played out in someone else's life

and never flinch or have a moment of empathy.

[green917]

27. I didn't agree with a single policy that he or his father espoused

but I never doubted that they were basically decent people that love(d) this country. I don't feel the same about the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania avenue.

[Sir Toast]

28. He's human for a moment? Seriously?

You said, "He was a human being in that moment." I hate to think of what you really think of him.

[lunatica]

30. The Bush era was an aberration in US history

Only surpassed by the Trump era.

I could go into a diatribe about it but this will suffice for now.

[DRoseDARs]

45. Hoo boy are you new here. First, welcome to DU, and a little primer...

DU was founded on an explicitly anti-GWB position, that the 2000 Presidential Election was stolen, and has for years stood against Republicans and their vicious policies.

You're right there's no love for George W. Bush here. His entire administration was horrific. His crimes and abuses seem quaint now, looking back at recent history through the lens of the Trump administration. But recent horrors do not erase older ones. GWB was a terrible president whose incompetence and policies caused untold suffering and death. Katrina, Iraq, Afghanistan, 9/11. Those are just the big ticket items. His misdeeds are legion.

[Hotler]

31. Heart ache makes us all equal. I think heart ache is....

the worst pain. An open pelvic fracture and two broken femurs wasn't as painful as the hurt I felt when my mom passed.

[lunatica]

32. Yeah, the pain of broken bones always passes

The pain of losing someone you love is always ready to surface as fresh as the first time.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

33. You are afflicted with what the rest of us have

Born as a liberal with compassion. We care about human suffering and for those less fortunate...the underdogs.

[dflprincess]

34. I had a moment when I felt bad for him

then I remembered all the kids who will grow up without one or both of their parents because of the war he lied us into and I got over it.

[lunatica]

37. Me too.

I have another moment seered into my frontal lobe till I die. It is the photo of a dead Iraqi child who couldn’t have been more than two or three years old. His/her face was angelic, beautiful, peaceful as if sleeping, but then I saw the entire back of his head was missing. It was among the first photos of the Iraq war, which I was already opposed to. It’s still crystal clear in my mind’s eye.

[argyl]

36. Took me back fifty years to Ted's eulogy of Bobby.

And to what could have been if Bobby had been elected President in 1968.

And now I'm tearing up.

[lunatica]

55. I think of that dreadful year and know the present would be

diametrically different! It was the same year MLK Jr was killed.

So instead of getting Bobby Kennedy for President and MLK Jr fighting for equal rights everything progressive and right came to a screeching halt and we got Nixon as President.

Things went sideways and what would have been the most progressive decades in our history turned into shit. The worst part is we know this without a shadow of a doubt.

[PatrickforO]

38. It makes you human, is all.

No matter how mad we get at these people, they are people. What separates us from animals is that we are capable of empathy, of compassion for another's loss and pain.

[catbyte]

39. It's called empathy, and decent people have it. Tragically, Republicans are empathy-free.

They couldn't care less about other people's tragedies and suffering until it happens to them or a close loved one. I've seen it so often recently with these mass shootings, health care crises, and immigration struggles. All of a sudden, their eyes are opened and they finally "get it."

Lack of empathy is such a foreign concept to me. How could a person be so cold? You are a decent person, lunatica, and you could feel a measure of what GWB was feeling even though you're not a close friend or relative. I choked up, too. It's what separates us from the Republicans of the world.

[pangaia]

40. Being confronted with death can be eye-opening.

[dflprincess]

41. He used to get all giggly about it

when he was talking about the dead Iraqis he was responsible for.

[lunatica]

42. That and waterboarding.

He felt perfectly justified to torture people.

He smirked about it. He strutted over it.

I remember that too.

[pangaia]

44. You are so right.

But, this is closer.

It is said, one can imagine the death of another, but never the death of one's self.
perhaps family comes the closest, for some.


I still have no respect for the man for all the death, pain and horror he has caused in the world.

[dalton99a]

48. As reported by Tucker Carlson in 1999:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/chatterbox/2005/12/bushs_tookie.html

In pondering the relationship between governors and the prisoners over whom they have power of life and death, I find myself remembering the single worst thing I ever heard about President Bush. It was something Bush, then governor of Texas, said to a reporter during his first presidential campaign. The reporter in question was Tucker Carlson—hardly a hostile figure—and Carlson reported it in Talk magazine in 1999. It was about Karla Faye Tucker, a convicted murderer whose execution Bush, as governor, had refused to stay. Here is what Carlson wrote (as quoted in National Review, another source hardly known to be hostile toward Republicans):

In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask.

Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "

"What was her answer?" I wonder.

"Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."

The ugliness of a sitting governor mocking a prisoner's plea to spare her life horrified Carlson, especially after he looked up the transcript of Karla Faye Tucker's appearance on Larry King Live and discovered that nowhere did it show the prisoner asking Bush to stay the execution. It horrified a lot of other conservative journalists, too, including George Will, Richard Brookhiser, and the editorial page of the Manchester Union Leader in New Hampshire.

[pangaia]

49. I remember that.

[lunatica]

50. I do too

It was Dubya at his most smirking, giggly self. It was a very ugly moment.

[orangecrush]

46. You are completely badass.

Being a compassionate human is as badass
as you can get.

[DarthDem]

52. Well Said

I fully agree. OP's credentials are solid in my book.

[orangecrush]

58. ...

[luvallpeeps]

47. crushed me too

And many of you may disagree, but I sometimes feel sorry for trump. I truly believe he's sick. I mean really, really sick. He's hurt a lot of people, and still is. But once in awhile I pity him. I only hope he gets what he deserves. No more, no less. That's revenge enough.

[lunatica]

51. I agree

People only need the karmic adjustment that is earned. In his case it’s more than enough to expect.

[DarthDem]

53. Great Post

I read the NYT summary of the funeral and had exactly the same feeling. I don't think it lessens your badassery.

[PatSeg]

59. You obviously are not alone

I can relate to George W. Bush as a person at times, especially when it comes to family. I won't ever change my mind about him as a president, but as a human being, he has some redeemable qualities. I look in vain to find such qualities in the current resident of the White House.

[maxrandb]

60. Only true "Badasses" are moved to tears n/t

[Perseus]

61. Dubya has always been human, the problem with him is that he is still immature and

uninformed...His thing of becoming president was to hear the sound of "Mr. President", he even admitted once that he loved being called "Mr. President".

He has always been a failure in government, he always had people to do the work for him, in Texas it was Karen Hughes, and as president it was Darth Cheney.

Yes, he is human, but he is idiotic and immature. He still wants to be the "class-clown". He can't have a conversation without saying something he thinks is funny.

[lunatica]

63. That's actually quite perceptive

He thought it was all something to joke and kid about. Maybe he’s a sociopath, unable to make that vital connection to the suffering of others. Perhaps his sadness for his father’s death is just basic self pity. With his mother’s death and his father’s he’s lost his greatest enablers.

[ROB-ROX]

64. HE IS AN IDIOT

This Clown was elected twice by MORONS. This turd never was honorably discharged. He owes the air force at least a YEAR in his contract. He is a stupid criminal that the "R" used.......

[lunatica]

66. I think he was never elected at all

In 2000 he was selected by the Supreme Court after there was massive vote tampering in Florida. Maybe in other states too, but we may never know. There was a lot of facts that surfaced in various states of vote tampering but no follow up. Then four years later people believe they put the Presidential fate into the hands of the people? Really?! Talk about naïve!

I believe George W Bush was never elected by the American People. And neither was Donald Trump.

We have to overhaul our voting laws nationwide!

[Act_of_Reparation]

65. I guess not.

How many Iraqi sons had to bury their fathers because of him? Too bad CNN didn't show up for their funerals.

[lunatica]

67. Yes! Like I said

I’m back to normal. How many innocent children were buried by their parents?

[liberaltrucker]

69. I felt the same when Nixon broke down at Pat's funeral

nt

[Raine]

71. Same with me too and

I cried when they were helping Dole stand up, reminded me of when my father was weak like that and just passage of time for everyone.