"The most effective leaders are actually better at guarding against danger when they acknowledge it, that it actually exists. Cowards, in contrast, cling to the hope that failure will never happen and may be sloppy in the face of danger -- not because they don't acknowledge that it exists, but because they are just too afraid to look it in the eye." Simon Sinek, Motivational Speaker
July 13, 2016
By: Linda Case Gibbons
It's time someone tells the Bushes there is no "I" in "Team."
The family, from Bush the Elder on down to Laura, are a disappointment, as they hunker down and refuse to support their Party's candidate.
It isn't as if we aren't used to "Childish" and "Disappointing." We are.
Disappointing is the description of doing business with Obama. Childish describes all the rest of the things he does.
We've gotten used to watching the president turn every terrorist attack into a commercial for gun control and racism.
We've watched him ignore the "Consent of the Governed," even though it is right there in the Declaration of Independence. Yes, we wince, we're embarrassed, we're angry, but we're used to it.
But the Bushes. They are a different story.
The Bushes, or so we are told, represent what the Republican Party is all about. They represent the Republican standards, which Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tells us Donald Trump will destroy.
So what are those standards?
The answer seems simple enough: Regard for the Rule of Law, regard for our military, respect for women, equal treatment for all races and religions, adherence to our Constitution. Everything Obama isn't.
It seems that a breach of any of these would elicit a strong "Shock and Awe" comment from a principled Republican.
But the Bushes never have.
Not when FBI Director Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch threw the fight in the Hillary Clinton case, or when Obama and Hillary Clinton left four Americans to die in Benghazi, then lied about it to the country.
Not when Obama urged Christians to get "off their high horse," reminding us of the evil deeds done in the name of Christ, or when Obama waxed poetic about Islam, but never addressed what evil deeds have been done in the name of Sharia law, particularly to women..
Not when Obama insulted the American people and the U.S. Constitution by circumventing it, or when Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl and his parents were welcomed to the White House, or Black Lives Matter, or members of the Muslim Brotherhood, or Clock Boy, or when Obama snubbed President Putin, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Dali Lama.
Never a disparaging word was heard from the Bushes, not for eight, long years.
When the Bushes attended the memorial service in Dallas for five murdered police officers with Obama, the Bushes never said anything about the role the president played in fostering racism and hatred for the police.
When Bill Clinton and George W. Bush worked together for relief in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, the Bushes never commented about the millions of dollars which disappeared from the relief fund, nor the fact that Haiti was left in the same shape it was in before Clinton and Bush "helped" them.
The Bushes have never taken on Obama, but they never hesitated to viciously attack Donald Trump, making it clear: If Trump was the Republican presidential nominee, the Bushes were taking their ball and going home.
Just like Obama. If Obama's not interested, he doesn't play. He comes late to Paris after the attack there, comes late to the Gulf oil spill, and doesn't come at all to Supreme Court Justice Scalia's funeral.
The Bushes are more comfortable with Democrats. They embrace Obama unconditionally and welcome Bill Clinton into their home as one of "Barbara's other sons."
It appears they find nothing wrong with either guy. And in the end it appears they are willing to lose the election to Hillary, rather than stand by their Party's candidate.
Is that possible?
Sure looks that way. The Bushes won't endorse Trump and won't attend their own Party's Convention, even though Jeb swore an oath to support the ultimate nominee.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich won't come and neither will Romney and McCain.
Imagine if Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson did that at the Continental Congress. What would have become of our country?
But when you come right down to it, if they're not at the Convention, do we really need them?
And if they're not at the Convention, I bet they will be surprised how little they are missed.
Hold the line, America.