Good riddance to the patriarch who sold the GOP to the globalists. Cheap.
Get him buried already.
I have lived in the DC area for 42 years. I did all the “tourist stuff” while a full time student my first year here, 1976-77, such as attending a Supreme Court oral argument, sitting in the galleries in both the House and the Senate, and attending the Jimmy Carter inauguration (the last one on the east side of the Capitol, when there were quite a few trees there and there was something like 3” of snow on the ground). When I got a job in the fall of 1977, I largely became oblivious to the national landmarks.
Therefore, I wanted to pay my respects to President Bush 41, and observe the goings on in the Capitol rotunda. Figuring that the crowds would be substantial during the day today, I went in the middle of the night. I was able to get legal on-street free parking on 2nd Street NE immediately across the street from the rear of the Supreme Court building, and only about a 2-1/2 block walk to the Capitol, which is now an armed camp, with all the checkpoints set back a block from the building. This was about 2:00 a.m.
The US Capitol Police, DC Metropolitan Police and the Capitol civilian staff were all great last night. Even the security checkpoint in the new Visitors Center at the east side of the dome and rotunda was professional and friendly.
There was no wait to go up to the rotunda and see the closed, flag-draped casket placed on the black catafalque. Photography was prohibited, so I tried to memorize as many details as I could. When I walked through the east portal into the rotunda, the statue of Ronald Reagan was on my right and that of Dwight David Eisenhower was on my left. Between the east and north portals was the statue of Gerald R. Ford. Andrew Jackson and James Garfield flanked the north portal (leading to the Senate side). Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant flanked the west portal (which was used to exit the rotunda). George Washington and Thomas Jefferson flanked the south portal (leading to the House chamber).
Five enlisted men served as the honor guard. The casket was aligned east to west; at the east side stood a Marine and a Seaman; at the west side stood a Coastie, an Airman and a Soldier. All were rooted to the floor, unbelievably still, all with rifles in one hand, butt end touching the floor, and with the other arm bent severely at the elbow, with gloved hands open and behind the back. Each of the honor guard members had a blue shoulder cord on the left shoulder.
When I arrived, there were maybe 80 civilians in the rotunda. At the time I left (around 2:40 am), the number dwindled to about 30. Yet there was a steady stream of people coming into the Capitol when I left.
I was really impressed with the whole thing, and glad I went. I got to bed around 4:30 a.m.
I saw the “[live feed]” in the title, and my first thought was, “Why? Is he going to get up and walk away?”
George H.W. Bush died of natural causes.
Too bad Bush would not extend the same courtesy to Reagan and JFK.
Obamas, Clintons and Carters yucking it up at Bush’s funeral.. Typical. Next up.. using a funeral to bash political opponents.