Since leaving office, former President George W. Bush has made a point of not being critical of Obama—a fact he confirmed in an interview on FOX News’ “Hannity” program—because he felt to do so would undermine the office of the presidency.
“I don’t think it’s good for the country to have a former president undermine a current president; I think it’s bad for the presidency for that matter.”
“Secondly, I really have had all the fame I want. I really don’t long for publicity, and the truth of the matter is in order for me to generate publicity … I’d have to either attack the Republican Party, which I don’t want to do, or attack the president, which I don’t want to do. And so I’m perfectly content to be out of the limelight.”
Well, I guess contentment isn’t what it used to be for the 43rd president.
In a recent appearance to a group of donors to his little brother’s campaign, “W” decided that he can attack the Republican Party—or to be more specific, Conservatives—while still giving Obama a pass on his transformation of America.
One donor summed up Bush’s attack on Cruz like this:
“He sort of looks at this like Cruz is doing it all for his own personal gain, and that’s juxtaposed against a family that’s been all about public service and doing it for the right reasons. He’s frustrated to have watched Cruz basically hijack the Republican Party of Texas and the Republican Party of Washington.”
Showing more humility and class than the former president, Cruz didn’t reciprocate:
“I have great respect for George W. Bush, and was proud to work on his 2000 campaign and in his administration … I have no intention of reciprocating. I met my wife Heidi (while) working on his campaign, and so I will always be grateful to him.”
While he did a decent job in the aftermath of 9/11 in his war on terror, GWB was a big-government progressive who acted more like Obama than he did a Conservative. For example, he:
1) joined with open-borders progressives McCain and Kennedy to try to force shamnesty down our throats;
2) massively expanded the federal role in education;
3) championed the Medicare prescription drug entitlement using phony math;
4) kowtowed to the jihadi-enabling Saudis;
5) stocked the Department of Homeland Security with incompetents and cronies;
6) pushed a form of Hillarycare for housing;
7) enabled turncoat Arlen Specter;
8. nominated crony Harriet Myers to the Supreme Court;
9) pre-socialized the economy for Obama by embracing TARP, the auto bailouts, the AIG bailout, and in his own words:
“I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.”
While his support of Jeb Bush is to be expected, GWB’s attack on a fellow Republican is the same behavior we have come to expect from members of the establishment. And while Georgie Boy might have intended for his comments to be a boost to his brother’s campaign, it could actually do more to help Cruz.
David Leach is the owner and publisher of The Strident Conservative where he is proudly politically-incorrect and always “right,” and he is also a frequent contributor at RedState.com.
His political commentaries can be heard daily on KLZ560 AM at 3pm MST and on other Crawford Broadcasting stations throughout the day.
