Pelosi praises George H.W. Bush at Texas school
"It's a great privilege to spend President's Day with President George Bush," Pelosi said to applause. "His name and his presidency are synonymous with the word 'civility.'"
Pelosi called the Republican Bush a "strong president, confident to speak of a kinder, gentler America." And she hailed him for his work with former President Bill Clinton, raising money for disaster recovery in Haiti and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Pacific tsunami. She also complimented his courage to skydive while in his 80s.
The California liberal was greeted warmly by an overflow crowd of more than 600 people at the College Station school. Her appearance was billed as a conversation, with Andrew Card, acting dean of the George H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, as moderator. Card was deputy chief of staff during Bush's White House years and chief of staff when Bush's son, George W. Bush, was president.
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/pelosi-praises-george-h-w-bush-at-texas-2187148.html
Pelosi also made remarks about her advocacy for women to be elected public office and how she reconciles her practice of Catholicism with the issue of contraception under the new health care law.
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She was civil and courteous which is what we Democrats like to think we are. And she was even courageous to accept the invitation to Texas A&M George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. George H.W. Bush and Barbara were in attendance. I can't see that she would have accepted the invitation and then been rude by criticizing the bushes while they were there in the audience.
And frankly as former repuke presidents go, G.H. was certainly not the cretin Reagan or his idiot son G. W. was.
She took some tough questions and stood her ground. I think she showed backbone to go into very unfriendly territory and hold her own.
"The issue is not about contraception," Pelosi said. "It's about women's health."
She acknowledged her stance differed from women in her family.
"I understand that, I respect that," she said. "The fact is, this is no longer and never was an issue of church and state." Instead, she said, it's an "issue of conscience" for each person.
I think Pelosi handled the event graciously and it appears that the audience at Texas A&M were also respectful. 
The photo of the people protesting the event outside appear to meet the stereotype of what should be expected. 
However, I would 
if there was an open microphone and she walked up George and Barbara and told them that their son was a dumbass. 
As an aside, I remember back in 1984 when Phil Gramm came to Southwestern for a campaign event. The administration was relatively conservative, so he probably thought that it would be a cakewalk. However, there was definitely a large contingent of students with a liberal ideology who grilled Gramm with a number of questions that he couldn't answer and they also questioned his philosophical goals on the human condition and fundamental rights. Needless to say, Phil never had and never will have an altruistic thought in his noggin.
Because of that event, Phil Gramm tucked his tail and never set foot on that campus again in his life. 
I'd hate it if the campus was soiled again by his presence. I never found out what happened when Karen Hughes came there.
