I have to say, I'm irritated by the accusations coming out against George H. W. Bush that he groped women while posing for photos.
It's great that women are more comfortable going public with their sexual assault allegations against rich and powerful men. That's a major step for women.
It's different with Bush though.
First of all, he's 93 years old. He suffers from vascular Parkinson's and is on medications for that. The chances that he doesn't suffer from at least some degree of dementia are slim. He's probably sexually disinhibited. I see patients like that all the time, and yes, they do sexually inappropriate things sometimes. Lucky for them though, it doesn't land them in the newspaper to be humiliated in front of the whole country.
I really don't think Bush would make a David Cop-a-feel joke if he were all there. The proof is that even with all these women coming forward about the photo op harassment, nobody has made any accusations about non-demented Bush from years ago. Now would be a perfect time to do it, but nobody has. Which makes me think this is new behavior from his dementia.
Is it right that Bush grabbed those women? No. Do they have a right to come forward? Yes, absolutely. Is it Bush's fault this happened? I don't think so. Is it somebody's fault? Yes. Somebody around him who was aware of this behavior should have warned the women or not put him in a situation where this was likely to happen. I mean, at least if the women were warned, they could be prepared and know it's not meant in a predatory way.
I guess my point is I feel there's something wrong with tarnishing Bush's reputation because of things he does while demented. Hate him for Desert Storm, don't hate him for this. The finger-pointing should at least be directed at the right people.
Boo boo. If he wanted to take out his penis during a photo shoot I'm sure Barbara or his caregivers would stop him. They can do the same to prevent him from grabbing assess.
ReplyDeleteHe has my sympathy for his infirmity. But if he's allowed to grab ass, the grabees are entitled to tell.
I’m not saying he’s entitled. I’m just saying he’s not responsible. If a small child we’re doing this, we wouldn’t vilify the child. We would vilify the people who are letting a child do this.
DeleteYou said you're annoyed by the accusations against him. My point is, it's not up to the people having their asses grabbed in photo shoots to determine whether he's in his right mind or not. Their sole responsibility is to speak up so other unsuspecting women will know to avoid him.
DeleteIf these women keep speaking up, perhaps Bush's wife or caregivers will tell him to knock it off or will keep unsuspecting women away from him.
I spent quite a bit of time in nursing homes a few years ago for 2 separate relatives. They have very strict rules about no touching. Even patients with dementia are told NO, and if they persist, they're removed from those situations.
And Marty, the women are not being opportunistic. They just don't want some guy digging his fingers into their butt cheeks. If they didn't speak up, Barbara and the others would continue to laugh nervously and look away. By speaking up, these women are doing a favor to other women (some of whom may have PTSD from sexual assault) who will know to stay out of arm's reach.
Yes but when those men at the nursing home do inappropriate things, the women don’t go to the press and vilify them. Think about someone you truly respect having their good name besmirched publicity by something they did while demented. It’s just not right.
DeleteInstead of blaming the victims why not blame his caretakers?
DeleteI don't have any problem with what the victims have done. It's not their problem to determine his mental status. I would've done the same thing because he's a public figure and obviously it was going to keep happening unless word got out. Maybe now they will set some limits for him and not just laugh nervously and look away.
But he is being publicly blamed and forced to apologize. The caregivers aren’t apologizing. It’s not being made clear whose fault it is.
DeleteThis is pretty much what I was just saying to someone yesterday. So many of these stories are legitimate, but the woman complaining about Bush senior (and no, I'm not necessarily a fan of all things Bush, although they're looking darned good about now) seemed almost opportunistic. He's 93, folks.
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to alert the caregivers that the demented patient is doing this. It's quite another to alert the media.
ReplyDeleteThe caretakers already know and weren't doing anything about it.
DeleteIt's up to Barbara and the caretakers to protect his reputation by keeping him away from women. It's not up to the women to protect his reputation.
If he's got dementia, then he's not responsible. But if he's not responsible, then he can't consent to doing the public appearances. So he shouldn't be paraded around. Who benefits from parading him around?
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't these women speak up while it was happening? As in "Get your hands off my butt!"
ReplyDeleteFizzy, I thought the exact same thing myself when I heard this story. I'm sure he did it but I also think he has some sort of dementia that caused it. An article I read also said Barbara said "oh not not again" and the someone there told the woman she shouldn't have been standing next to him, leading me to believe she stood thereafter being old not to FOR THIS REASON.
ReplyDelete