NOT "defending" George W Bush in any way, but he NEVER had the APPETITE to lock horns with Trump.

[Miles Archer]

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2675278055/

Jonathan Last and Tim Miller at The Bulwark make some reasonable points at the link above.

We don't know if Bush's "President's Day poke at Trump" was an attempt to "rehabilitate his image," but he's basically sat silent, on the sidelines, while Barack Obama has been at the "Former Presidents Front Line" when it comes to vocally and forcefully calling Trump out.

It helps to remember who we're dealing with here.

George W Bush, in relation to his father George H.W. Bush, was sort of like Don Jr to Donald Trump.

Maybe not as bad, but I'm sure MANY ON DU will remember the nickname "Dim Son" for Bush.

He was a silver spoon hard partying Connecticut frat boy who was groomed by Karl Rove to be a rootin' tootin' brush clearin' Texas tough talking bad assed hombre.

Who didn't like to read.

He was on the receiving end of goodwill during his post-9/11 bullhorn moment, which ultimately got pissed away when he and Cheney lied our way into Iraq.

And, after his presidency, he just sort of went away, and stayed there, and it didn't bother too many of us because we really didn't want to hear what he had to say anyway.

Then Barack Obama started pushing back against Trump, while GWB remained largely silent.

So "too little too late" or "every bit helps"...your call.

I do not believe that Bush has revealed himself to be anyone other than the person we believed him to be.

No one expected post-presidency greatness from him.

No one expected him to be Jimmy Carter, buiilding homes for people who couldn't affort to buy one.

We pretty much got what we expected, and for his own reasons he decided to take the mildest possible swipe at Trump, and...in the interest of not provoking an all-out war of words, will probably sink back into obscurity and silence.

I could be wrong. We'll see.

[Whyisthisstillclose]

1. Agree totally. Expected nothing, got very little.

W was and is an empty hat

[Blue Owl]

2. I could see him being intimidated or even "scared" by trump

As ridiculous as that seems

[sop]

3. Jeb has been conspicuously silent as well.

[Bread and Circuses]

4. "w" is a nepo baby . Total sellout and traitor

[UpInArms]

5. I think jr is protecting his daddy's legacy

Just saying

[Miles Archer]

7. I can see that...whether it's his father or the family as a whole.

He's smart enough to know that once you engage in unrestrained verbal combat with Trump, it never ends.

And I think that Bush basically wants to live out his twilight years in peace. Can't say that I blame him, and as I said in the OP, I don't say that as someone who admires or respects him.

He'll always be that "Now watch this drive" guy, the "I'M THE DECIDER" guy, the "catapulting the propaganda" guy, the "lied us into Iraq" guy.

He's seen the bottomless pit of seething hatred that is Donald Trump, and he wants no part of it. Personally, or in the form of attacks on his family.

[dalton99a]

10. Plus he doesn't want the cult to go after his daughter Jenna

[Miles Archer]

12. That makes sense too

Trump's established a pretty effective "deterrent campaign" against his critics.

That doesn't mean that there are not people who are willing to take their chances.

It just means some people have witnessed what he's done to others and want no part of it.

And Jenna's not Princess Ivanka. I haven't paid much attention to her life at all but it seems like she turned out reasonably happy and normal, not a bird in a gilded cage.

[alwaysinasnit]

6. I imagine that the FBI and other federal agencies are storing an awful lot of skeletons and

some of them might have the Bush name on them.

[Wednesdays]

13. Remember how his 1976 DUI arrest wasn't made known until right before Election 2000?

There are probably worse things in his past that he'd rather stay buried.

[alwaysinasnit]

14. Oh yeah, that's right. We did start to hear about Bush's Nat'l Guard service scandal but that

seems to have died away too.

[mr715]

8. His work on AIDS in Africa was significant.

That is probably his only redeeming act.

Then USAID gets axed, and the only good thing Bush did goes out the window with the shitty paintings.

[gulliver]

9. Dubya is Trump's political father.

Dubya and Cheney got us into the Iraq War and a prolonged war in Afghanistan. They gave Bin Laden a massive win against the United States.

Iran was freed from their rivalry with Iraq. ISIS was created. North Africa and the Middle East were destabilized, resulting in massive flows of immigrants to Europe. Destabilizing Europe. (Brexit and the new "remigration" populism in other countries are examples.)

Dubya's idiocy kneecapped his brother Jeb, allowing Trump to win the 2016 Republican primary. Republicans who had cheered for Dubya were humiliated and turned Tea Party, later MAGA.

Trump would actually love for Dubya to criticize him. There would be no Trump but for Dubya.

[struggle4progress]

11. Another rich kid brain-damaged by his alcohol and cocaine excesses

like Robby Kennedy Jr