Every once in a while GHWB reminds me why he only served one term.
Yep. He was too "nice" to take on Clinton's character in 1992, he was too "nice" to withdraw Ted Kennedy's "Bush Award for Public Service" after Fat Ted called his son a liar. Now he is too "nice" to take on Clinton's lies about the President.
A "statesman" doesn't roll over for his enemies. He takes them on in the field of public debate, and calmly defeats them with rhetoric.