[passionfruit]

I think that being ex-president makes you a member of a very small club. I have hears that Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford became close friends after leaving office. Someone on Fox said it is not uncommon for ex-presidents to become close friends even of they were bitter rivals during an election. I have read that Bill Clinton has spent a great deal of time with Bush 41 because they were both raising funds for the Tsunami victims.

This is probably the first time in Bill Clinton's life when he has gotten to be around a sane family and a solid marriage. I don't blame him for wanting more of that, do you?

[mtbopfuyn]

Yes, seeing them both so chummy on commercials for the tsunami victims caused me to barf every time.

[nathanbedford]

The problem with George Bush is that he is not primarily a conservative, he is primarily a Christian, and he does not have a calculus that is congruent with yours or mine, even though both of us might be Christians.

George Bush sees partisan politics as petty and ultimately meaningless. We see partisanship as the indispensable stuff of freedom. At election time the Bushes will hold their nose and dip into partisanship. But it is not in their essential nature to wage war for tactical political advantage.

George Bush wants what Bill Clinton wanted: To fashion a legacy. He does not want to be remembered as the man who cut a few percentage points from an appropriation bill but as the man who reshaped Social Security. I've come to the conclusion that the Bushes see politics as smarmy, fetid. It must be indulged in if one is to practice statesmanship but it is statesmanship alone that that is worthy as a calling.

They are honest, they are loyal, they are patrician. They would have been admired and respected if had lived among the founding fathers. But it is Laura Bush and Momma Bush who really and truly speak for the family and who tell us what they are thinking and who they are. There's not a Bush woman who does not believe in abortion. They believe in family, they live in loyalty, they believe in the tribe, but they do not believe in partisan politics.

I believe it is time for us to decide no longer to be used by the Bush family as useful idiots and instead to begin to use the Bushes as our useful idiots . I say this with the utmost admiration and respect for everything the Bushes stand for. Who would not be proud beyond description to have a father or an uncle who was among the first and youngest of naval aviators to fight in the Pacific and to be twice shot down. Not a stain or blemish of corruption or personal peccadillo has touched the family (except for the brother whom I believe was cleared of bank charges). They are the living embodiment of all that is good and noble in the American tradition.

But they are not conservative.

[beckysueb]

This is probably the first time in Bill Clinton's life when he has gotten to be around a sane family and a solid marriage. I don't blame him for wanting more of that, do you?

I agree. I have at times even understood him a little. You know it has to be the hardest thing in the world being married to the Hildabeast. No wonder he cheats.

[Reily]

Bill Clinton is a con man ! Period!
The Elder Bush is a extremely decent 'gentleman of the old school', this means he is a 'mark' He has been snookered before by Democrats (Remember his 'good friend George Mitchel' !) and is being snookered again. Bill may think that by hanging around with the 'decent' some of it will wear off and upgrade his legacy !

[LisaMalia]

This is probably the first time in Bill Clinton's life when he has gotten to be around a sane family and a solid marriage. I don't blame him for wanting more of that, do you?

Gotta agree, Pres. Bush 41 is the father that Clinton never had. I honestly think that BJ Clinton is so extremely jealous of Pres. Bush 43 (his character and integrity, the gracious and loving wife that he has) that he thinks he can glom onto that somehow with his relationship with Dad. I'd just watch my back if I were Bush 41, wouldn't want them to have a fallingout, he might end up like poor Vince Foster.