The Washington Post headline on the Bush funeral shouts volumes: ‘Bush funeral: Trump sits with fellow presidents but still stands alone’.
WaPo wants a grieving world to believe that “from the moment he crossed the transept of the soaring Washington National Cathedral, tore off his overcoat and took his seat in the front pew, President Trump was an outsider.”
Wrong: Donald Trump “was an outsider” from the day he won the 2016 presidential election, something the mainstream and social media saw to. Being an “outsider” is a big part of how he became president. Nor did President Trump “take” his seat in the front pew, he was “assigned” it.“Wednesday’s state funeral was carefully orchestrated to be about one man and his milestones — Bush the father, the friend, the war hero and the lifelong public servant. But inevitably it became about Trump, too, for it was impossible to pay tribute to the 41st president without drawing implicit contrasts with the 45th. (WaPo) “Impossible to pay tribute to the 41st president without drawing implicit contrasts with the 45th”?Only if you are mainstream media hellbent to rewrite the final eulogy.
“But despite being crafted to honor Bush’s legacy, their words also served to underscore the singular nature of Trump’s presidency.” (WaPo)Talk about taking the words out of the mourners’ mouths and rewriting them in an eulogy of one’s own!
“Trump was in the company of all his living predecessors for the first time Wednesday, and the encounter was plainly uncomfortable. By 10:49 a.m., when Trump and first lady Melania Trump stepped into the cathedral, a cool hush had come over the pews filled by American dignitaries and foreign leaders, past and present. Trump handed his black overcoat to a military aide and took his seat on the aisle next to his wife, with three past presidents and first ladies seated to her side.” (WaPo)Wait a minute! What about his having “TORN” his coat off?! And take a gander at how the Post used the funeral of George H.W. Bush to score political points in describing the seating lineup:
“First was the president Trump said was illegitimate (Barack Obama); then the first lady he called a profligate spender of taxpayer dollars (Michelle Obama); then the president he called the worst abuser of women (Bill Clinton); then the first lady and secretary of state he said should be in jail (Hillary Clinton); and then the president he said was the second-worst behind Obama (Jimmy Carter) and his wife, Rosalynn.” “The Trumps and the Obamas greeted each other brusquely, but only Melania Trump reached over to shake hands with Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton did not acknowledge the Trumps, keeping her gaze straight ahead as if determined not to make eye contact with the man who continues, two years after the 2016 election, to inspire “Lock her up!” chants at his rallies. “The frostiness of Trump’s interactions with his predecessors was all the more apparent when former president George W. Bush entered the cathedral a few minutes later. Bush shook hands cheerfully with each of the other presidents and first ladies. He slipped what appeared to be a candy to a smiling Michelle Obama — a reminder of McCain’s funeral, when video of Bush giving Obama candies went viral on social media.”
“As a military honor guard carried George H.W. Bush’s flag-draped casket to rest in front of the altar, the Trumps joined the Obamas and Clintons in holding their right hands over their hearts.” (WaPo)The Trumps didn’t “join” the Obamas and Clintons in a sort of Follow the Leader-type game, they held their right hands over their hearts out of respect for the late George H.W. Bush. It seems to really bother WaPo that “Trump’s Cabinet members and aides seemed to blend easily into the audience” and that “Vice President Pence and his wife, Karen, wandered over to exchange pleasantries with the Clintons and Obamas.”
“White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and policy director Stephen Miller schmoozed their way through the cathedral’s nave.”(WaPo)“Schmoozed their way through the cathedral’s nave”?
“Just behind the presidents and vice presidents, Ivanka Trump sat next to Chelsea Clinton, suppressing from public view any hostility that might exist between them.”(WaPo)Suppressing from pubic view any hostility between them? Worrisome as it may be, Ivanka and Chelsea are personal friends.
“It was President Trump who seemed most out of place. For about two hours, he sat in silence, the rare event at which the president was not the center of attention but merely an observer.” (WaPo)Was the President of the United States of America expected to break the silence of the funeral with idle chatter?
“Since learning of Bush’s death late Friday, Trump has striven to be magnanimous — to act, as he often boasts he could, “presidential.” Trump opened the doors of Blair House to host the Bushes. He dispatched Air Force One to carry the late president’s body and members of the Bush family to and from Houston. All the while, he has refrained from publicly reacting to the nearly week-long celebration of Bush’s life and its contrasts with Trump’s.” (WaPo)The “nearly week-long celebration of Bush’s life” was not about “its contrasts with Trump’s”, but a final farewell to pay last respects to former President George H.W. Bush and his “thousand points of light”. The five people called upon to eulogize President Bush did not include anyone from the Washington Post, whose eulogy tries to steal the last word. There is no light coming from the Washington Post, but only the kind of darkness that corrosive hatred brings.
Copyright © Canada Free Press
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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.
