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Thu 14 Nov, 2013 09:30 pm
When President George Bush left office, he has been painting pictures of puppies and raising money to convert Jews to Christianity.
Today, former President George W. Bush is giving the keynote speech in Irvine, Texas, at a major fundraising convention for a messianic religious group whose goal is to convert Jews to Christianity, so there can be the Rapture.
So much for compassionate conservatism.
Mind you, that went out the window long, long ago, but it's always nice to see consistency. Though it would be preferable if it was directed towards thoughtlessness towards one's fellowman.
In all the controversy leading up to this speech, which has caused outrage and heartbreak among Jewish leaders and people with hearts, most have bent over backwards saying how surprised they are by Mr. Bush's actions, since they'd always had such good relationships with him during his presidency in his actions towards Jews.
Me, I can't bend over that far.
I never once felt that George Bush had especially good, warm, caring feelings towards Jews. I always sensed that he was a born-again religious disciple who started wars in the Middle East that he referred to as a "crusade." That he explained to a Palestinian delegation, "God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did." That he was the first president in U.S. history to kick open the doors to let religion take a larger place in secular life where it had never been allowed before. That his support of Israel was to protect it for the same reason many on the religious right want to protect it, for biblical prophecy reasons of the Rapture. And that his good relations with people of the Jewish faith was political expedient for the same born again goals.
For anyone who doubts any of this, you only need to look at the reality of what we do know for 100 percent certain. We know that George Bush is speaking today at a fundraiser for a group whose sole, publicly-stated goal is to convert Jews to Christianity to prepare the world for the Rapture. He knows who he's speaking to. He can't not, most especially with all the controversy. So, George Bush either had a complete personal change since leaving office. Or it's how he felt when he was in office, after he'd become born-again at the age of 40.
That George Bush today has no need to court anyone's political support and can instead promote what he's long been interested in supporting, the Rapture, it is no shock to me that he is speaking at this massive fundraising effort. That he has been deaf to requests that he cancel is what I would expect. When people express that they can't understand why he is speaking there, I can only ask why they can't understand it?
To me, this is who George Bush is. And who he always has been. And always will be. At least until three ghosts visit him on some Christmas eve.
Why is George Bush speaking at a fundraiser to convert Jews to Christianity? Because, I believe, it is what George Bush wants.
If for some reason George Bush backs out at the last moment -- something I don't remotely expect -- it will be important to recognize that it was at... the last moment. That he was convinced at the highest levels that going through with this would be so damaging to his future and legacy and anything he'll want to accomplish, by not only causing such a major religious rift, but defining in so galling a way who he is so publicly that he felt he had no option but to withdraw. Not out of goodness or sensitivity, but political expediency.
Mind you, I don't expect him to back out. I expect him to swagger and sashay down the aisle and take in the rapturous applause.
Dick Cheney got a new heart.
George Bush is still screwing around with his old, cold one.
Does George Bush have a right to speak to this organization and raise money for them? You bet he does! He also has a right to speak to and raise money for the KKK, Aryan Brotherhood, and Friends of the Taliban. Having the right to do something doesn't mean it's always the wise, decent thing to do.
Does George Bush have a right to his religious beliefs? Thankfully, he does indeed. It's even written into the Constitution, as the cherished, very First Amendment. But having the right to believe something doesn't mean one need try to impose all our personal beliefs on others. Most especially when you are acting as the former President of the United States for all Americans, one of its perceived ambassadors to the world.
We make our choices. It defines who we are.
When President Jimmy Carter left office, he began Habitat for Humanity, and started the Carter Center to "advance human rights and alleviate suffering" throughout the world.
When President Bill Clinton left the White House, he started the Clinton Global Initiative to find creative solutions to the most pressing problems in the world, and has thus far impacted the lives of 430 million people.
When President George Bush left office, he has been painting pictures of puppies and raising money to convert Jews to Christianity.
It's always nice to see consistency.
Heckuva job.
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@edgarblythe,
Anyone can paint by numbers, even our seven year old does that but I think our son is smarter then George bush, in fact I know he is.
Thank God he isent in the White House any longer!
There is absolutely nothing GW could ever possibly do to make some people ever like him. He is living his life as he sees fit. Good for him.
@edgarblythe,
You put your finger on it.
George Bush went out the window shortly after he left office.
Hes one puppy short of a litter
Well, that was pretty much a hatchet piece, and written in appallingly bad English.
@McGentrix,
More then likely this was just Bush booking agent doing, that was not screen well enough ahead of time.
Somehow I question if every group that a former president speak before have the full support of that president as the anti Bush crowd would like to claim..
@Setanta,
So, is it a true piece, hatchet piece and all?
@revelette,
You tell me. Do you know for a fact that he's been painting pictures of puppies? Do you know for a fact that he's been raising money to convert Jews to Christianity? While the second may be true (and we see no evidence for it), the first is a dubious claim. Even if it were true, the one activity has absolutely no relationship to the second. Historically, there have been Jews who have converted to Christianity, but the most remarkable historical characteristic of the Jewish community is their adherence to their belief set despite persistent and often officially sanctioned persecution. So if he is raising money for such a purpose, it will likely be a wasted effort. How is that any skin off your nose? The succeeding remark--"So much for compassionate conservatism"--is not simply an idiotic non-sequitur. it's nothing more than a cheap shot.
As McG already noted, "There is absolutely nothing GW could ever possibly do to make some people ever like him." This drivel is nothing more than preaching to the choir of those who despise him. "Truth" has nothing to do with this piece of crappy writing. If you're so fired up to know what is true, do the research yourself--i'm not your errand boy.
@Setanta,
Well set you set me to wondering about Bush. I will admit I dident ever like him or his policies but grudgingly gave him credit for Afghanistan. I looked up the claims and they seem to be true. Not only does he paint puppies but he also paints nude pictures of himself in the bathtub. And he is giving that speech at the jewish christian thing. If I was more computer literate I would post the sites here but I can just barely type.
Sorry Set but it seems to be true.
@RABEL222,
You didn't get it any more than Revelette did. There is no connection between painting puppies (it must be damned difficult to paint while in the bathtub), fundraising for an organization which wishes to convert Jews and "compassionate conservative." It's just a hack job. What is really true here is that the clown who wrote this will clutch at any straw to smear Bush. Jesus, you people are incredibly dense.
@Setanta,
I didn't say it wasn't a hatchet job, I just asked if it was a true piece to which you snidely responded, " I ain't your errand boy" or words to that effect. Don't know about the nude self portrait in the bathtub, guess, if true, he would have to have a mirror at the top, but he did paint his Scottish terrier and the other about his speech is true after all. I guess your whole objection was using those instances in connection with compassionate conservatism. OK. big whoop. I think in comparison to some of the conservatives today, in hindsight, he was a compassionate conservative with his no child left behind and his prescription drug program.
However, I think there might have been a little religious motivation behind the Iraq deal if one takes the Rice and Bush little message of "let freedom reign" and his talk of crusades in consideration with his decision to make a speech at a Jewish conversion rapture thing.
Quote:
President George W. Bush wrote, "Let Freedom Reign" in response to a note passed to him by Dr. Condoleezza Rice while attending the opening session of a NATO summit June 28, 2004, in Istanbul, Turkey.
source
@revelette,
How suppositious of you to guess that. My objection is not limited to that snide injection of compassionate conservative. Whatever the hell you're trying to say about Iraq, you're babbling as badly as the joker who wrote this screed.
My objection is to the implications of claims about his painting. I he painted a portrait of his dog, that's hardly a big deal, nor does it authorize a claim that since he left office he's been painting pictures of puppies--that's a plural there, you do understand the principle of hyperbole, especially when applied to a smear job like this? So what if he is trying to help people raise money to convert Jews? Is there some hierarchy of who may and who may not be the objects of attempts to proselytize? Let me know how this works, 'K? You can attempt to convert anyone but Jews? Is there a list somewhere?
This remark . . .
Quote:He also has a right to speak to and raise money for the KKK, Aryan Brotherhood, and Friends of the Taliban.
. . . is like Godwin's Law effect raised by an order of magnitude. This is a hack job, pure and simple, and i'm not interested in your snotty remarks on the subject of what you guess about me.
Finally, telling you that i'm not your errand boy isn't snide, it's reality. Learn to live with it. If you want to know if something is true, do the leg work yourself.
@Setanta,
Considering Bushes reputation a hack job is unnecessary. He already destroyed himself while in office and no need to point out I dont have any respect for Bush since I have already admitted to it.
@Setanta,
Listen this issue is just not that important to me, so it was a hack job.
@RABEL222,
I agree that the hack job was unnecessary. Much ado about nothing for you or Revellette to have argued in favor of it.
@Setanta,
All I did was ask if it was, true, hack job or not. Turns out he did paint at least one dog, and raising money for the "coming" rapture and converting Jews to Christianity of which I consider to be completely different than merely talking to someone about the gospel.
The "Rapture Cult" is a crock.
Rapturists think they and all christians are going to disappear off to heaven on judgment day, leaving everybody else looking around bewildered and asking "Where'd they go? Where'd they go?".
I once asked a rapturist woman- "But won't cars, buses, trains and airliners crash if the christian driver or pilot vanishes?"
"Yes, that can't be helped" she said, but then added- "But planes will be okay because airlines always make sure either the pilot or co-pilot is
not a christian, so that he can take over the controls when the other one disappears".
You couldn't make it up (sigh)
For the record, this is one of the verses that Rapture cultists claim backs their wacky "vanishing" belief-
Jesus said-" Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." (Matt 24:40/41)
Needless to say, that doesn't mean people will instantlyvanish as if they were in a David Copperfield magic act!
It just shows how cultists seize on a few verses and weave them into an out-of-context tangled furball that they puke up..
@Romeo Fabulini,
I've been kinda asking myself, why does God need George Bush or anyone else to raise fund raiser to bring about the thousand year
reign in Jerusalem?
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