Twitter speaks out against the dangerous media whitewash of George H W Bush’s legacy

George H W Bush
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Former US president George H W Bush died on 30 November. And unsurprisingly, the media and political establishments have sought to whitewash his dark legacy. But fortunately, bold voices on Twitter and in the independent media have been countering this deception with the truth.

Many reasons to challenge the George H W Bush whitewash

As the Intercept‘s Mehdi Hasan explained, Bush’s legacy is one of “war crimes, racism, and obstruction of justice”. Common Dreams, meanwhile, highlighted in particular “his role in the Gulf War, Central America, and the Iran-Contra affair”. And Left Voice summarised seven reasons why it wouldn’t be mourning the former president, including:

He is also the man who said “I will never apologize for the United States — I don’t care what the facts are” when the US downed an Iranian commercial flight in 1988, killing 290 civilians (including 66 children) in the process. And as Rutgers professor David Greenberg insists, he was a politician who “put self-interest over principle time and time again”, surrendering frequently to “instincts of political self-promotion and self-preservation”.

No – just no

The mainstream media’s coverage, meanwhile, was woeful. But Twitter wasn’t having it.

Award-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald led the way:

He also stressed that:

it’s a really bad idea to treat political leaders with reverence & turn them into deities upon death. It’s a creepy ritual that does great damage

Others, meanwhile, didn’t hold back in calling Bush a war criminal:

But it wasn’t just the Republican establishment that praised Bush. It was the Democratic establishment too. And even Bernie Sanders – the highest-profile voice of the US left today – thanked Bush for his “humble and devoted service”. Needless to say, people expected much better from him:

In short, Twitter wasn’t having it, and neither should we.

The whitewashing is completely unacceptable – and it must stop.

Featured image via White House Photographic Office – Wikimedia Commons

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