As many people know, Former President George H. W. Bush died last Friday. The news of his death has been prominent on network news, as well as social media sites, such as Twitter.
Congressman, Ambassador to the UN, Chairman of the RNC, Director of the CIA, VP and US President. This guy lived an amazing life! RIP President G.H.W. Bush & Thank You https://t.co/s1uT9dLewq https://t.co/2GpWoFwYWP. #Bush41 #PresidentGHWBush
— Foxman (@FoxmanMusic) December 1, 2018
Praying for the family of President #GeorgeHWBush. No matter how long and influential the life, the death brings memories and emotions that may be painful to bear. Peace and comfort. #Bush41 https://t.co/mfWWKwDSXJ
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) December 1, 2018
Today I join all Americans in honoring the extraordinary legacy of President George H.W. Bush. Although we are only 25 years removed from his presidency, I believe history’s verdict to be clear: he was one of the finest international statesmen to ever lead our country. #bush41 pic.twitter.com/PTFdTeshZr
— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) December 1, 2018
Many tweets such as these have been honoring his life, presidency and legacy. However, some people have not been honoring him, and instead reminding people about the bad things he did during his presidency.
#Bush41 became president after Willie Horton racist campaign. He invaded Iraq. He lied to dumb Gorbachev and moved NATO to Russian border. He kept Carter from freeing hostages. As CIA director he covered up the murder of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier. I could go on.
— Margaret Kimberley (@freedomrideblog) December 1, 2018
A friendly reminder that, in 1989, #Bush41 invaded #Panama in order to capture a former #CIA informant, raining bombs on the poor barrio of El Chorrillo in a gruesome warm-up for his and his son's invasions of #Iraq.https://t.co/A0ApkWo3SS
— Kurt Hackbarth 🌹 (@KurtHackbarth) December 1, 2018
Thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians are dead. Thousands of black people had their lives ruined by the racist war on drugs. Thousands died as a result of drugs, HIV/AIDS, all because of #Bush41.
Y’all didn’t give a %#*% about them or their families.
Save the outrage. https://t.co/KXuqfq2uGa
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) December 2, 2018
The tweets touch on several things Bush did during his presidency, including preventing Carter from freeing American hostages from Iran, bombing innocent civilians in Panama and Iraq and not providing funding for people with AIDS during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Are these people wrong for not honoring his life, and instead condemning it?
It’s always sad when someone dies, especially someone famous who was a U.S. president. However, should we honor their life when they played a role in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people? I think Americans should acknowledge Bush’s passing, but also acknowledge the role he played in the deaths of countless others.
Ironically, Bush passed away on World AIDS Day. Maybe, instead of honoring Bush, we should honor the people who lost their lives to AIDS instead.