Bush Loses Fear of the Dead

It Really IS All About Image

Published on June 8, 2004 By kingbee In Current Events

as the nation readies itself for the pomp of former president reagan's state funeral, you'll see lots of pictures of president bush paying his respects. regardless of his sincerity (and i don't for a minute question his grief or sympathy for the reagan family), bush will, of course, benefit by association with the event--especially through poignant images that show bush in close proximity to the casket.

the image that's not visible above the text is bush paying the same respect to those killed in action in iraq. their caskets are deliberately kept out of the media and bush has made a concerted effort not to be photographed or videotaped with or near their caskets or at their memorial services.

Comments (Page 2)

Gene Nash

on Jun 11, 2004

you seem to want to believe(and ive read your basis for that opinion) that i feel the reagan funeral is being orchestrated as a campaign photo-op. i may be stupid but im not yet that crazy.

No, but (apparently) you went out of your way to imply Bush would purposefully use it for political gain. I gave you ample opportunity to say that wasn't what you meant. I even purposefully gave you an out to say that the wording didn't say what you meant. You never refuted it. You're response, instead was

i wasnt in a hurry. i was and am angry

Which can hardly be taken as anything other than saying "I did mean it."

No, I don't think you are either crazy or stupid. I really hoped you would say "That wasn't what I meant" and was deeply disappointed you didn't.

it would be very expensive and self-destructive grandstanding at best, and to what effect?

I could make the case, but won't because I've only been playing devil's advocate to make a point. (As I've said before, I don't particularly like Bush and didn't vote for him. In fact I was opposed to the current Iraq war. I didn't feel we could wait 10 years and make up for his father's cowardice at not having taken out Saddam to begin with.) What I don't like is baseless attacks born of nothing more than dislike. Which is why I've repeatedly separated what I see as the two separate points -- one I still think was unintentional -- that I saw in that article. One, I feel, was valid; one not. (Playing "devil's" advocate for Bush. Make of that what you will.

)

If I wanted to play devil's advocate for why Bush hasn't allowed the caskets to be photographed, etc., actions which seem to be contrary to all presidents prior to him, I'd say that we live in a media age unlike any before, where such images would be analyzed ad nauseum practically 24/7, used and abused by political enemies, ultimately bringing disrespect to the dead.

But I think the real reason is fear that such graphic evidence before a wary public's eyes would more quickly erode support. They saw what looking at all the returning dead did to America during Vietnam and decided they were going to make sure that didn't happen with this war. I can't prove that, but that's my opinion of what's behind this policy.

So can we finally agree that you didn't mean to imply Bush would purposefully use Reagan's death for political gain or not?

(I hope you are not taking this negatively. I consider this a conversation between friendly equals and hope you do too.)

Gene Nash

on Jun 11, 2004

By the way...

(and ive read your basis for that opinion)

... are you referring to something other than my comments in this thread?

kingbee

on Jun 11, 2004

first of all, a conversation between friendly equals is a very good description of the way i feel about it. if ive seemed to be abrupt, i apologize. like i said, its been a pretty hectic week and i havent had as much time to spend here as id hoped.

until i reread all of this one more time (hey i can be pretty obtuse), i wasn't understanding the issue that was causing you such concern because, as jaded as i may be, i never considered the possibility that bush--or anyone else--would deliberately use reagans death or his funeral for political gain.

it does seem fairly obvious it will work to bush's benefit (in a way that, say, jimmy carter's death would not).

thats all i meant to convey by saying "bush will, of course, benefit by association".

the reason i didnt think to address this earlier was...confusion. if youll read back through the thread, perhaps youll see why. you seemed to be saying that kerry was somehow attempting to convert the event to HIS advantage. it wasnt till you said ' you went out of your way to imply Bush would purposefully use it for political gain' that the light went on.

i appreciate your efforts to clarify the situation. hopefully we're both on the same page now in this regard.

as to reason why this administration is so phobic about the returning caskets,im not sure it has anything to do with media or vietnam (at least 2 of the five previous presidents were considerably more media savvy than bush and they saw no reason to avoid honoring the casualties of their wars). i really cant imagine why its being handled so badly

kingbee

on Jun 11, 2004

... are you referring to something other than my comments in this thread?

not at all. i meant id read and reread your comments in this thread

noragchick

on Jun 11, 2004

Steady

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!