"Barbara Bush Should Shut Up," says Dan Riehl. Oh no. Not our Bar. Painful to acknowledge, but after a lifetime of embracing the former first lady's persona of outspoken authenticity, we have to admit she no longer speaks to us. See below for details. Above, GHWB and Barbara in a Larry King interview that will air Monday.
"I think they really hate that she not only is who she is, but she's happy not to be like them," twittered Kurt Schlichter earlier this afternoon as we were reading the entrails of the once proud Barbara Bush's fall from grace in a forthcoming Larry King interview where the wife and mother of two former presidents stoops to give that "force of nature," Sarah Palin, some ill-advised, unsolicited advice:
"I sat next to [Palin] once. Thought she was beautiful," Barbara Bush scoffed said. "And she's very happy in Alaska, and I hope she'll stay there."
And to think we once admired Bar Bush for her classiness. As Dan Riehl put it so eloquently, "Barbara Bush Should Shut Up," while Pat Riccio twittered rhetorically:
"Palin's never said one bad word re GWB, yet every former Bush official attacks her?? Y? Snobbery? Entitlement?"
"Both of those," we responded:
Plus, I'm start'g to think, FEAR of the "force of nature" that is SarahPalin --> back to our Founding Fathers' vision. [See Sarah's latest Facebook entry, "An Exclusive Sneak Peek at 'America By Heart,'" for details]
"I agree! They saw what she accomplished in AK with GOP reform. They fear she'll do it nationally," twittered Daria DiGiovanni with this heartwarming personal testimonial to Sarah Palin's worth:
Sarah is all class. Last year I sent her a copy of my novel with a note inside. She sent me a signed thank you.
It's one of my most treasured things. She didn't have to do that, but she took the time. Appreciated my kind words to her.
It was my own novel. In her note, she referenced the title and thanked me for my kind words. At time she was still Governor.
It isn't that we Palinistas necessarily want Sarah to run for President. As we blogged a couple of weeks back:
We predict that over time, as the authentic Palin "brand" becomes better known amongst our fellow Americans, her "numbers" will rise. Presidential candidate or kingmaker, time will tell.
Meanwhile, Kurt Schlichter captures the conscience of the king/maker :
I think she's a classy, smart lady. I dunno if POTUS 2012 is the right move, but I want her dealing pain to libs and RINOs.
Update: Michelle Malkin Buzzworthy link!
Update II: "Barbara Bush to Palin" top story at Memeorandum.
Crossposted at Riehl World View, Cloven Not Crested and Liberty Pundits.
I think I've figured it out. I think she sees Sarah as a threat to Jeb's step up to the White House. It is his turn, you know.
Am I on to something here? Think that might explain it? There seems to be a concerted effort lately to rehabilitate the Bush legacy.
Posted by: ThePaganTemple | November 20, 2010 at 05:39 PM
ThePaganTemple
You may be on to something, but Jeb Bush was on CNN the other day and said he'd endorse Sarah for POTUS.
I think the Bushies are hoping for their boy Mitch Daniels or possibly that idiot Romney. Two of the biggest losers out there.
Posted by: WillieG | November 20, 2010 at 06:15 PM
I have a great deal of respect for President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush, BUT I do remember when GHWB was running for the Republican nomination against Reagan and was similarly condescending to both of the Reagans. "Voodoo economics" was the descriptor that GHWB used to characterize Reagan's economic policies. There was no love lost between Mrs. Bush and Nancy Reagan at the time, and afterwards during Reagan's presidency.
Sarah Palin was right that the Republican party "establishment," of which the Bushes are a part, viewed Reagan as someone who was not their intellectual/social equal, but who had the charisma to be elected. Bush's presidency was disastrous and one of the signs I saw at the time he ran against Clinton was "I'm rich and you're not."
I think GW Bush did a good job of protecting the country and I appreciate his desire as a former President to maintain the dignity of the office as he has been doing recently. HOWEVER, the Bushes, as a family ARE the Republican establishment in every sense. Neither GHWB nor GWB are fiscally conservative, nor, in actual fact, particularly conservative on many social issues. They are "elites", though dissimilar from the Democrat "elite" in policy and in hubris.
Sarah Palin is "country class" and the Bush family really does NOT understand her or her appeal because she hasn't followed "standard procedure" and is probably too reminiscent of "that actor" Ronald Reagan.
Posted by: Annie Oakley | November 20, 2010 at 08:42 PM
I have to thank the former first Lady for making Palin the anti-bush candidate. thank you thank you thank you.
Posted by: unseen | November 20, 2010 at 09:23 PM
Why am I not surprised? The Bushes are part of the ruling class. They are the aristocracy and Palin is the commoner. The aristocracy is much more aligned with the Progressive movement that the Tea Party. They would be the ones who defend the British and the ones who just know what's best.
I will suggest a line for Sarah. "Read my hips."
Posted by: Wayne | November 20, 2010 at 11:44 PM
How classy -- teling the octogenarian wife of a decorated military hero to "shut up" because she dares to suggest that she thinks someone other than your preferred candidate should be the GOP nominee in 2012. Is that the sort of behavior that would make your mama proud?
Posted by: Rhymes With Right | November 20, 2010 at 11:48 PM
Yes
Posted by: Tim | November 21, 2010 at 12:49 AM
Here is what the collapse of the Country has shown, that there are two sets of people in this Country the Political Class and the Country Class and the Political Class has been shown to be ignorant, classless individuals and oh, can WE put to rest once and for all the LIE of Reagans 11th Commandment? because the only time that is whipped out is when the Country Class is calling out the Political Class!
Posted by: JadedByPolitics | November 21, 2010 at 07:19 AM
Mrs. Bush still hasn't learned how to gracefully 'bow out' of the limelight...like her husband (who failed to carry on with President Regan's legacy), apparently she didn't learn anything from former First Lady Nancy Regan...i'm beginning to see who 'the puppet master' is for all the establishment repubiks who have been degrading the teaparty 'candidates and sarah palin'...bad call, you two...now, like the liberal democrats, the establishment republicans will start to see the end of their reign slowly, but surely come to an end!!! you will not choose for us!!!
Posted by: Dina Dorfus | November 21, 2010 at 10:28 AM
The Bush family are party loyalists and realize that Palin is splitting the party into multiple factions (the Perot factor). They realize the need to put the party back together before 2012 and to bring loyalty back to the party rather than to individuals. Go, Barbara!!!
Posted by: Bobbie Gail Johnson | November 21, 2010 at 11:41 AM
I like Mrs. Bush because she says what she thinks even if the party doesn't like it. Always has. That is what everyone needs to do. She didn't spew hateful words, she just spoke her opinion. I agree with her. Sarah Palin keeps saying she is just like us. Well I want a president who is more intelligent than I am not one is on my intellectual level. I should not run this country and neither should Mrs. Palin.
Posted by: Sharon | November 21, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Since when was Barbara Bush "classy"? She has always talked, acted and looked like GHW Bush's domineering stage mother. In the Larry King interview, she talks as if she is the queen of England. Her condescension couldn't have been worse even if she had said "I love Sarah but she just doesn't come from good stock".
Have we forgotten that the Bush/Prescott/Walker clan is not a Texas power but a New England power in the worst sense of the term? They don't mean to be condescending, but they see us as ingrates if we don't relent to their control.
Posted by: Pasadena Phil | November 21, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Sharon. That is an appalling attitude for an American. These people are not superior to us on any level except that they have more money and have entrenched themselves in the power system. Do you also see black people are inferior to whites? Who decides?
We've had enough of elitist government by Northeast ivy league intellectuals. Let's try government by common sense with the accent on "common".
Posted by: Pasadena Phil | November 21, 2010 at 12:48 PM
WillieG-It's called politics for a reason. Of course GHWB isn't going to say he wouldn't vote for Sarah if she got the nomination, that wouldn't be good form. You can't take everything any politician says at face value, and that is especially true for an establishment type like Bush.
Rhymeswithright-I'm having a hard time here discerning who it was who told Babs to "shut up" before you came alone, but strangely none of us who came before you here seems to have uttered that line.
Let me make up for that little oversight-Babs, shut the hell up.
Sharon-I think I get where you're coming from. After all, the educated elites have certainly done a great job of leading this country and all of us unqualified rubes, haven't they?
Oh, wait a minute, no I'm sorry, come to find out they haven't done worth a crap, so I guess that makes your comment a massive fail.
By the way, just for future reference, our elected leaders are supposed to be public servants. We the people "run" things, and they are supposed to represent us, not lord it over us.
Actually, its even more accurate to say that the constitution is supposed to "run" things, and even we the people are limited by it. But, as they say, baby steps.
Posted by: ThePaganTemple | November 21, 2010 at 06:29 PM
Being a 12 year beneficiary of a political dynasty in Washington, Barbara Bush does not recognize, or appreciate a government of the people, by the people and for the people ... which is exactly what Sarah Palin and the tea party represents.
Posted by: Howard | November 21, 2010 at 11:58 PM
Sharon, sweetie, by the standard you set, just about anyone could be president.
Posted by: Moneyrunner | November 22, 2010 at 08:11 AM
Sarah got that pipeline built that the Republican Governor was dragging out. Why, because the previous governor was milking the thing for the graft, steering contracts, doing favors.
Sarah comes in and pushes the "money changers out of the govt. Of course she has enemies on both sides.
Posted by: moptop | November 22, 2010 at 08:46 AM
Follow the money: Who was it that corrupted the AK GOP, and who was it that most visibly set about cleaning it up, and where does the Bush money come from?
The answers are big oil, Sarah Palin, and big oil, respectively. The country class vs ruling class lens is a good one to understand what's going on in GOP-side Palin Derangement Syndrome, but the fact that Mrs. Palin would break some rice bowls is another dimension that cannot be ignored.
Posted by: Steve Poling | November 22, 2010 at 11:42 AM
Ms. Bush's comments were tacky and they practically screamed "get her out of jeb's way". That is unfortunate because Jeb is not electable, not after Terri Shiavo. She must know that. Her insult to Palin is common and cruder. I expected better from her. My bad. She is tasteless and classless.
Posted by: lara | November 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM
What's that sound, Steve?
The sound of rice bowls breaking.
And Lara, its true that Terri Schiavo is a problem for the Libertarians, but not so much for Jeb. Jeb's problem is that even if he were a hardcore all the True Conservative such that he favored ending Abortion immediately, and selling the HQ of the Dept. of Education to developers, he's still a Bush. I still would be less enthusiastic, or kinda squiggly about him.
Bush Sr. was a moderate, and did poorly. W I liked, if largely for his love of country and his defense of the nation. But two Bushes are enough.
I don't want to see another Bush running for a minimum of fifty years. We're not an aristocracy.
Posted by: Tennwriter | November 22, 2010 at 01:06 PM
The last thing this country needs is another four years of government by a charismatic lightweight with next to no experience.
Posted by: Colin k | November 22, 2010 at 01:56 PM
".....We predict that over time, as the authentic Palin "brand" becomes better known amongst our fellow Americans, her "numbers" will rise. Presidential candidate or kingmaker, time will tell....."
Check out the Sunday NYTimes article, especially the timeline bio on the NYT website. It's an honest resume of her life and accomplishments, including her previous electoral campaigns. Now liberals can learn from their own bible what the rest of us know.
I think the article itself is fair, but the timeline is gold. The only thing better would be Obama's timeline on the same page, for a direct comparison.
Posted by: Yehudit | November 22, 2010 at 02:40 PM
I would want to see Palin as President if for no other reason than to see all the liberal's heads exploding. If she won it would be a sight to behold, and the American people as a whole could see with all certainty just what kind of people make up the American Left. I'm literally afraid though that there might be violence on a massive scale. We could get lucky and there would be mass suicides of leftists.
All you Palin haters should realize, if Sarah were elected it would set the Left back fifty years or more. If Jeb or most other establishment Republicans were elected, it would be better than another four years of Obama, but that's about all you can say about it. Otherwise, same ol', same ol'. All it would accomplish would the Left would quickly regroup and counter-attack. A Palin victory would leave them completely demoralized.
Posted by: ThePaganTemple | November 22, 2010 at 03:40 PM
LOL! The real truth is Mama Bush has spoken for the GOP Machine and many American's who are so sick of Sarah Palins rant and raving-As usual making ZERO sense.
Posted by: Patty Caldwell | November 23, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Sarah Palin Rocks ( Period )
Posted by: Jack | November 25, 2010 at 08:47 PM