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As I channel surf today — witnessing the endless and obligatory accolades of the now-dead forty-first and to-date longest-living US President —my mind flashes back, not on his obvious numerous accomplishments, but his record of glaring shortcomings which burn searing holes in the parchment of his apotheosis. To wit:
Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895-1972) — George H.W. — one of five scions — to this industrial, banking, and political mogul — was indeed 'to-the-manor-born' — obviating nearly all of his contemporaries' need to actually prove himself to the world. As the late Texas Governor Ann Richards allowed at the 1988 DNC convention, referring to his patrician lineage and legendary poor communication skills: Poor George, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.
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| Lee Atwater |
Willie Horton — a black man, was a convicted murderer whose sentence was commuted by then-Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis, under a state inmate furlough program. The broad based bill, signed into public law by previous Massachusetts Republican Governor Francis Sergeant was intended to enhance inmate rehabilitation and re-entry into society. Tragically, Horton, upon one weekend furlough, was was convicted of raping a woman and pistol whipping her fiancé. Seizing upon the opportunity to create a racist straw man, Lee Atwater, famously allowed: By the time we're finished, they're going to wonder whether Willie Horton is Dukakis' running mate. Indeed, the Willie Horton legend in Republican race-bating has played-out in spades for the party — right up through Donald Trump's deplorable birtherism and demonization of America's citizens of Latino heritage.
James Danforth (Dan) Quayle — While Republican have long been known for their lackluster vice presidential picks — including Abraham Lincoln's numbskulled and racist Andrew Johnson — in 1988 George H.W. took the veepstakes to then new lows, tapping the famously semiliterate dullard Quayle — who soon became the butt of embarrassing jokes, including his inability to spell potato. Mercifully, Quayle was absolved from ignominious history as the most ignorant veep pick in 2008 by John McCain, who gave the world Sarah Palin.
The Ozone Man (AKA Al Gore) — Years before denial of climate change was adopted as a Republican article of faith — in his 1992 campaign against Clinton-Gore — George H.W. publicly ridiculed Al Gore for his signature environmental educational initiatives — giving him the sobriquet Ozone Man — seeking to make a mockery of environmentalism.
Casper Willard (Cap) Weinberger — Ronald Reagan's disgraced Secretary of Defense — was up to his neck in the Iran Contra affair — the then greatest scandal since Teapot Dome. For that, he was indicted on two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. Just four days before the 1992 presidential election, federal prosecutors brought an additional charge — based on a diary entry which contradicted George H.W.'s contention that he (Bush) had known nothing of the fiasco. Before Weinberger could be tried on any of the charges, on December 24, 1992, George H.W. — under the aegis of infamous (and recently recycled) Attorney General William Barr — issued him a pardon — forever silencing history on his (Bush's) unambiguous involvement in Iran Contra. Famously cited as a presidential deal-breaker: Democrats, pundits, and historians alike — ballyhoo this as a pivotal issue in H.W's 1992 defeat — relegating him to a one term President — an historical factoid that Donald Trump might want to consider.
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| Casper Weinberger |
Clarence Thomas — yet the sine qua non of Poppy Bush's presidential fingerprints was the appointment of SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas — a disgraceful cynical finger-in-the-eye of his Democratic predecessor, the late iconic Thurgood Marshall, who presided over the tempestuous civil rights era with grace, dignity, and equanimity — blowing a hole in the Jim Crow laws, which — to this day — disaffects old-school cracker Republicans — the unambiguous implication that Uncle Tom Clarence would un-do at least some of Marshall's dreaded judicial activism — especially when it came to uppity Negroes who wanted special rights in the face of our slave-owning founding fathers.
That the American Bar Association gave Thomas a tepid "qualified" endorsement — as opposed the typical "well qualified" — spoke volumes of his paper-thin judicial resume — a back-door affirmative-action pass, which most legal scholars attribute to the ABA's calculated avoidance of the political blow-back of failing to endorse a conservative black man.
Thomas' confirmation hearings were a veritable side-show, showcasing his reckless prior history of workplace mediocrity and sexual predation — memorably anointing Anita Hill permanent poster-child status in the pantheon of the "Me Too" movement — and Long Dong Silvers in the Academy Awards of porn stars. But for then-Senate Judicial Committee chairman Joe Biden's suppression of other women queued-up to corroborate Hill's testimony and blow-torch Thomas' workplace behavior, many doubt he could have ever been confirmed.
Accordingly, Clarence Thomas' entire judicial career has been one of embarrassing retrovism, typifying the publicity-seeking contrarian black man who peddles Stepin Fetchit negritude as wish fulfillment for white conservative racists, presumably for self-aggrandizement, coveted majoritarian status, and cold cash career pay-outs. For that, he certainly hit paydirt in a lifetime SCOTUS appointment. Indeed, in the 28 years Thomas has been on the bench, he has shown himself to be a cynical, shiftless, lazy, cypher of the ultra-right wing of the court — with a once-unprecedented four-year hiatus in actually opening his mouth in oral arguments — frequently just rubber-stamping the late right-wing firebrand Antonin Scalia's majority preachments.
Thomas' rare off-the-bench weigh-ins have been stupefyingly retrograde — more recently comparing abortion to eugenics under the Third Reich. Again in 2019, Thomas would opine that Oberfell v Hodges (granting marriage equality) ought to be overturned. That he would relegate gay Americans to second class citizens comes as no surprise.
The take-home message is — making a career of failing to live up to the expectations of your peers is not a crime — that is — unless you are in public service. For that, Clarence Thomas stands alone in the judicial vandalism he has visited upon the American experience, courtesy of George H.W. Bush, under the brand of the Republican party.
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| Famously mute SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas gets it down with spouse Virginia (Ginni) Lamp Thomas, she, known for her right-wing grifting activism, under her one-woman lobby shop, Liberty Central. Thomas failed to report Ginni's half-billion-dollar income on his financial disclosure statements for five-years running — claiming that he "didn't understand the forms" — sending Republicans running for cover, to defend his already-paper-thin legal credentials. |
Calhoun GA 12/01/18
updated 06/19/19
