Flowers for Jeb

[H2O Man]

“How long is it going to hurt?”
-- Jeb Bush

Last month, at a time when I was desperate for new reading material, I bought an “on sale” copy of Jon Meacham’s book, “The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush: Destiny and Power.” I thought this would, if nothing else, add to the “presidential wing” of my library.

In a literal sense, the book is fiction: the author is so intent upon kissing the Elder’s ass that he avoids most of the unpleasant aspects of Bush’s career. More, Meacham attempts to present Bush’s offspring -- primarily W. and Jeb -- as decent human beings. Kevin Phillips’ book, “American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush” is far superior.

Yet, even a bad book can contain something of value. Meacham tells of how the Elder and his wife, the Babylonian Swine, backed their sons’ political careers. This includes, of course, the night that W. was elected governor in Texas, and Jeb was humiliated in Florida.

While George W. Bush is giddy in celebration of his victory, the Swine shares a moment alone with the son she had expected to be successful in politics. He asks her, “How long is it going to hurt?” I suspect that he is experiencing this same emotional turmoil, as his “inevitable” run for the presidency has become an extended humiliation.

[Scuba]

1. A long, long, time, I hope.

[H2O Man]

5. Yes.

One can hope that it serves to discourage other family members (from the next generation) from pursuing a career in politics.

[lame54]

2. I don't think Jeb! even wants it...

it's more of an obligation to his family

[H2O Man]

6. I believe you are right.

I had thought that he wanted to be president, but to not have to engage in the campaign. Hence, the baloney about how the millions of dollars combined with his record, making him "inevitable." Certainly, he does not enjoy the debates. But he appears uncomfortable, even in the safest of settings.

A couple weeks ago, Jeb had a brat-attack, and whimpered about having "better things to do..." I think that he recognizes the infinite wisdom of his brother's saying that "being president is hard work."

I'm certain that you nailed it, as an obligation to his family. I'm grateful, however, that he has provided the nation to make clear that the Bush family is being rejected, even by their own party.

[lame54]

7. It will be a great day when...

he is officially out of the race

[H2O Man]

12. Yes, indeed.

I'm thinking late January-early February. He'll enjoy spending more time with his family.

[underpants]

36. The fact that 17 people jumped into the race tells me about the market of the Presidency

17 on the Repub side 6 (?) on the Dems

We basically have 8 year Presidencies now. I don't mean this as a swipe but if W could get re-elected getting caught red handed in lieS and horrible mismanagement of everything AND Obama could get real-elected in the face of the withering press and complete disrespect/wild conspiracy theories, anyone could. The window is only open for a POTUS run,usually, once maybe twice. If you have to wait 8 years that means a lot fewer chances. You have to jump in every 8 years if you can.

My 2 cents.

[H2O Man]

38. One of my very

favorite things on DU -- in fact, on all of the internet -- is your posts. I think the world of your common sense contributions, and your uncanny insights. Thank you!

[underpants]

41. :-)

Wow thanks

[ViseGrip]

3. I was glad Trump brought up his brother flew out Saudi families after 911 who had info.

A real WTF moment in history. Still unanswered. They will push JEB! to the top...just you watch. So this tidbit needs to be bookmarked by all!

[brush]

4. To the top of what? Surely not the repug nomination. He's in single digits.

[H2O Man]

14. Single digits

make it nearly impossible for him to recover, at this point.

[marew]

18. Agree!

And his intelligence and charisma are in the negative range!
When he was gov. here in FL his darling wife got busted for attempting to smuggle past customs $20,000 worth of jewelry and clothes from a Paris shopping trip. Jeb was really pissed! She got the idea she didn't have to play by the rules from somewhere! Wonder where that was?

[H2O Man]

20. Thank you!

I appreciate your reminding us of that chapter of Bush-world.

His deep intellect and superstar charisma make it unlikely that he could defeat a lima bean in a presidential election.

[liberalhistorian]

28. And he's been in single digits

for many months, despite the hundreds of millions that have been spent by his campaign so far. He hasn't really budged from his small percentage of support. And I don't think that's going to change.

Now, I do understand and share Poppy's puzzled frustration and anger that the likes of Trump is the one actually taking fire and at the top (according to the family, Poppy throws a shoe at the TV whenever the Trumpster comes on it, which is something I'd like to do, too, if I had the money to replace my TV!). But, as Maureen Dowd says in one of her most recent columns, The Fall of the House of Bush, Jeb is still acting and campaigning like this is the 90's and campaigns, the party and the country has changed a ton since then. But Jeb is clueless about that, like the rest of his family.

[H2O Man]

13. Trump enjoys

saying things that make the republican elders uncomfortable. And, if they could, I think they would anoint Jeb as the republican candidate for president, even though he appears incapable of winning the 2016 election. But I think that his winning the primary contest is almost impossible at this time. It is more likely that he will be picked as the VP candidate at this point, though even that seems unlikely.

[brush]

25. Yeah, Jeb is an after thought about now, but Trump does enjoy ruffling feathers

When he criticized all the money spent on wars and started talking about it could've been used for infrastructure improvements I know all the repug bigwigs were about to gag.

I was just hoping the next words out of his mouth would've been "good paying, middle class jobs from infrastructure projects" which would have most likely produced projectile hurling from the RNC crowd.

Trump has made other Dem-like utterances before which makes him a puzzlement — a dangerous puzzlement at that as he could be testing the waters for a general election, vote-getting move to the center with such sound bites.

[Martin Eden]

8. A bigger hurt for many more people would be another Bush in the White House

... or any of the other GOP hopefuls, for that matter.

[UTUSN]

9. Excellent point. n/t

[H2O Man]

15. Right!

This isn't simply a bunch of clowns -- they are dangerous candidates, and extremely dangerous candidates in the republican primary.

[Mopar151]

10. Were I "Jed"

And I REALLY wanted to lose, I'd keep running the current (Bush) NH commercial. The 'voices of authourity" have accents from the military and/or the south, and muddy the waters by using images of Obama to criticise Trump. The political consultants (i.e. Rove, Atwater) employed by the Bushes have not served them well in NH.

[H2O Man]

17. Right.

He should consider having his last name legally changed, and disappearing into obscurity. Of course, he will accomplish the second part, with his last name intact.

(I am very happy that you aren't Jeb!)

[Atman]

11. I swear, I still they'll find a way to get him in.

It was always supposed to be Jeb v Hillary. It's what the corporate powers want. Remember, Herman "999" Cain was once the GOP frontrunner, too. One by one, they'll find a way to push the rest of the clowns out of the car, so we have the most boring, corporatism election in history. We don't get to write the script. We're just spectators.

[H2O Man]

19. A year ago,

it certainly appeared that it was going to be Bush vs Clinton. It would be very difficult for his campaign to recover now -- though not impossible. Still, I think he is more likely to be on their ticket as the VP .....though few of the current candidates would benefit from that.

[Atman]

22. One by one the corporate media will knock out the other clowns.

Jeb just has to sit idly by and let the rambling extremist lunatics kill each other. Same way Romney got it. In the end, Jeb will be the only sane looking choice. I'd bet money on it. The corporatists want Jeb v Hillary. That way they win either way.

[H2O Man]

24. If they can,

they will. I definitely agree with you on that. And I think that your reasoning is sound.

[Blus4u]

26. Bush would not accept VP slot

Too much ego to play second fiddle.
You are correct up thread, you said his heart wasn't in it. I saw that when he first started appearing as a candidate. Now I am convinced that he is not presidential material. Never has been, never will be.

Peace

[joshcryer]

31. I don't think there's time to turn it around now.

It's going to be a Cruz, Rubio, Trump three way.

Cruz gets Iowa, Rubio gets New Hampshire, Trump gets South Carolina.

[fleur-de-lisa]

16. Where does the phrase 'Babylonian Swine' come from?

I googled it and the only other reference I could find was a post of yours on DU from earlier this year. I get the swine part (I think), but why Babylonian?

[Atman]

21. I don't get it either.

I can think of lots of appropriate inappropriate things to call Babs, but I don't get 'Babylonian Swine.'

[H2O Man]

23. Patent Pending.

So far as I am aware, I coined the phrase, and am the only person who has used it (excepting those who have quoted me).

Rather than implying that if one plays Bob Marley's "Babylon by Bus" LP (the second of the set) backwards, that one can hear John saying, "Babylon Barb Bush," I will instead suggest that the descriptive first word defines the exact type of historical swine she is. I'm not sure how else to accurately explain its meaning. (There are related descriptions of Babylonian Swine that I opt not to use, as they imply gender. Her evilness is not rooted in sexual identity.)

[liberalhistorian]

27. I think it speaks volumes about that family's

dynamics that Poppy and Babs were far more concerned with and interested in Jeb's loss and consoling him than they were in congratulating W. for his TX guv win. According to several accounts, W. was understandably steamed over that, and he already had an ongoing rivalry with the "favored one", Jeb. W. wasn't supposed to be the one to even be interested in politics, let alone make it to the presidency. Such favoritism really fucks kids and siblings up.

[H2O Man]

35. You got it!

The family goes way overboard in attempting to convince Meacham et al that Jeb wasn't the "favorite son." Baloney. As you note, their actions speak loudly ....more loudly than words.

The current events must be "torture" for them .....though not at the level of suffering for the families of soldiers killed in Iraq after W's invasion.

[Zorra]

29. The "Babylonian Swine"?

"But why should we hear about body bags and deaths, and how many, what day it's gonna happen, and how many this or that or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that, and watch him suffer?"

[H2O Man]

37. Thank you, Zorra!

I'm glad that some people understand exactly why I refer to that evil beast that way. She is evil in the biblical sense. God hates her.

[Zorra]

40. She actually spoke those words publicly, without remorse.

I won't beat around the Bush here; after all, who really cares about a million dead serfs/*savages* slaughtered in Iraq, when there's power to be gained, resources to be taken, wars to be spawned, and fortunes to be made? And, as an added bonus - those who were horribly maimed, or dispossesed, stimulate economies, by increasing profits in the health care and housing sectors.

The system works!

[joshcryer]

30. Has there ever been precedent for such a fall from power?

I can't think of any, but I suspect that's because you forget about it when it happens. It's just astonishing how Jeb probably was thinking, 10 months or so ago, how easy it would be to get the nomination and potentially the White House.

[H2O Man]

39. Interesting .....

The closest thing that I can come up with would be Nixon's 1972 re-election margin, followed by his fall from grace. Other than that, I do not believe that there has been anything close to this in my lifetime.

This really is unique.

[JI7]

32. it seems like the entire political and especially presidential runs have to do with Daddy issues

for these BUsh sons. and the competition with each other.

since they say Jeb was the one seen as being the more successful one W probably wanted to prove something. the IRaq thing for W had to do with Saddam's attempt on his dad's life.

Jeb seems to really not be into the run but i feel like it's all to prove something also. to not make it where the stupid brother did is probably worse than anything for him.

some of the bush family can be ok and they are outside of politics. i hope Jeb fails and it marks the end of the BUsh family in politics . at least at the national level.

[TheUnspeakable]

33. Family of Secrets

Is a great book about them. Russ Baker
is just an old school hard core
journalist with no political axe to grind.
also, these interviews are so good if you
have the time
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEAuWNLGNKvl9c9IcZgL9ucG_c5h7kCGG
and of course his website
http://whowhatwhy.org/
I promise I'm not a shill-just a big fan.
And I wouldn't count Jeb! out -the others
will all self implode-they're ridiculous
fools, and he's going to end up being
the "sensible" daddy that all the repub
babies will run to.

[DonCoquixote]

34. Until he is out, no champagne

The bushes have the money to make a small, weak failure to die sound like a victory. Even if he goes, Florida needs to be watched like a hawk, and yes, I live there. Obama, if you need to send the bloody national guard to stop tomfoolery, DO IT!