We can appreciate that they suffered a loss, while remembering what the family has done to the US.

....but certain people don't rise to the level of grave dancing for me personally. There are others for whom she may, and I hold no judgment over them.

I think the dividing line for me was that certain people have power through which their lack of empathy actively harms others.

Someone like Scalia I'd happily relieve myself all over every inch of his grave.

Not the rest of the family.

My wife is an intelligent person. Surely, if the decision of who to marry was simply an intellectual exercise, she would have picked someone else. I suspect the heart cannot be told who it will love.

Loss is the one thing that we can (or will) all relate to, so, yes, I have some empathy. That doesn't mean I don't remember some of the many thoughtless and caustic things she said and the pain-inducing policies both Bushes enacted.

Still, if I had to say one nice thing (actually, I'll make it two), it would be that I found her occasional quick wit amusing and I dearly share her love of dogs. The latter alone probably means she wasn't ALL bad, as dogs are pretty damned discerning, IMO.

not dancing on her grave at all
breitbart tho?

when Dick Cheney (among others) "shuffles off his mortal coil", that's for sure.

just as hers was when those poor dead military young folks returned from the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

as though Texas would be so much better for them than their homes in New Orleans.

That was the comment I could not believe. How someone could be so callous. So unfeeling.

But this was a woman who went golfing after her daughter died.

I know, all too well, how they are probably feeling, right now.

because we have empathy, right?

Her family certainly has the expectation that the country will mourn the passing of this woman who was First Lady as well as mother to a President.

How do you show respect to the Bush family? Did they respect the country?

She was not conservative and was pro choice.

I liked that she didn't dye her hair or have plastic surgery.

And she was pro-choice.

I'm not in a position to judge her, really. I can judge the outcomes of those Presidencies (her husbands and her sons). But today - well, good luck on whatever comes next.

And it troubles them so they will withhold their empathy

Others are better people...

And I think it is important that we all teach our kids about who she really was, not the candy coated version that will be all over the press this week. If the press starts actually doing honest obituaries, it might cause famous people to be more concerned about their legacies.

I remember when Nixon died, you'd have thought he found the cure for cancer. It was like being in an alternative universe for several days.

in life felt no need to shed crocodile tears when she died. Glenda Jackson's speech on the House of Commons was brutally honest.

A brief clip of her remarks: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2013/apr/11/glenda-jackson-margaret-thatcher-video

There was also a website called "Is Thatcher Dead Yet". For years it said "No, check back later." Check her to see what it eventually said http://www.isthatcherdeadyet.co.uk/

While there were those (Thatcher's supporters, no doubt) in Britain who thought Jackson and sites like the one I referenced were horrible, I was really impressed with those who did not feel the need to pretend, so refreshingly honest after what went on here when Nixon and Reagan died.

I never subscribed to the "don't speak ill of the dead" attitude. If you were an ass in life, death will not make you a better person.

Well, not so much.

The average person does not take politics as seriously as we on DU tend to.

But dancing on the grave of an old lady tends to turn them off.

I liked that the Brits are not as hypocritical as we are.

Given what happened to the Democrats (at least through 2016) it appears that fawning over dead right wing jerks doesn't help either.

I assume you are aware of the whole royal family farce that most of them go with?

No fan of Babs. But I think President Obama’s statement was very classy. Our leaders dancing on her grave would nothing but harm us.

shortly before the commencement of the invasion of Iraq:

‘Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? It’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?’

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/barbara-bush-beautiful-mind/

You dole it out based on who you think is worthy? It doesn't seem like it's worth much if so.

it's just how I feel.

Woman was not intrinsically a nice person.

Barbara Bush did have empathy.

I can't believe that's even a question.

and the rest of the Bushes as well

it's not conditioned on whether someone else had empathy.

Empathy doesn't depend on whether you think someone has earned it. That's the point.

I don't think she was a cold-hearted as some of the things she's quoted as saying may suggest she was. Many of these quotes were taken out of context.

For instance, her "beautiful mind" quote:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/barbara-bush-beautiful-mind/

snip:

Her comment was not meant as a dismissal of actual deaths or suffering (troops had not yet been engaged at the time of her remark), but of news coverage that amounted to one expert after another making predictions about what they saw as likely to occur.

She was pro choice in the early 90s. She was compassionate. She cared.
We saw it.
To assume otherwise simply because she was a republican is really sad.
She showed empathy alot and not for show, like Nancy.
It was why she was so admired back then.
Try learning alittle about the woman before just assuming

That said, I do have sympathy of her family. Losing your spouse or your mother is a terrible thing. But I will not pretend she was a saint.

I'm a Buddhist.

And I profess Christianity.

I am without any feeling for that family.

So then, this is on my head and I will be called to account if necessary.

So be it.

You just see their awfulness. But have you ever asked what makes them so awful? I guarantee you 100% that RWers are suffering, very unhappy people. Filled with deep insecurity and fear. They pretend to be happy, but it's a sham. They chase after money, power, and fame. Their minds are filled with the negative emotions of greed, anger, pride, envy, all of which, are a type of ignorance.

Since becoming a Buddhist, my point of view about stuff has changed radically. Having compassion for others, does not mean that we give degenerate people a pass on bad behavior. My 2 favorite New testament stories are the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and the story of Jesus overturning the tables of the money-changers in the temple. Good stories.

Even tho you don't currently feel much empathy for them now, you can aspire to generate empathy for them eventually. We all have to start somewhere. So start where you are.

Best regards

of $$$, status and fame.

Presently I have feelings of not one way or the other for the family of bush*. Leaving these kinds to 'heaven'.

I do experience deep compassion for the disenfranchised, disabled, those oppressed and
those kicked to the curb.

Mrs. Bush uttered some uncharitable sentiments, unbecoming for a wife of a former president.

"From the heart proceeds the issues of life."

Peace be unto you.

🕯

I will say though that GHW Bush, her husband and our 41st president won't be here much longer now that she's passed, and especially since he's in ill health himself.

That's a very large family and I assume some were close to her and are grieving.

Not acting as hateful, vile and dismissive has republicans.
Republicans today are happy to see the death of a democrat and celebrate it or say nasty things about the person passing.
I always thought being better, not being hateful when someone's life has ended was part of being a democrat.
Appreciating a life.
Seeing the good they have done and celebrating it.
Saying nasty, hateful things simply because someone belonged to different party was all part of the ugliness of being a cultish rightwinger and It is sad to see some democrats embrace that ugly thinking.
Instead of just appreciating the person who has left their life on earth regardless of party
I guess some are allowing themselves to embrace the hate

comes from a song I don't really like, by a band I don't really care for:

I ain't the worst that you seen.
Can't you see what I mean?

That one made me really sad.

Luckily got to go to a few tapings of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me over the years. He was a treasure.

If you choose to be just like them, then don't have empathy.

"Holding onto anger is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die."

Fighting against her when she was the opposition is one thing. At this point, we would just be swallowing poison.

I'm certainly not trying to stop you. But I just don't see the point in making a lot of noise about hating a dead old woman.

. . .and great-grandchildren.

That's all I have to say.

because I know and remember the pain of losing someone you love even though that person wasn't a saint and didn't mean anything to anyone else but they meant everything to you.

... but they won't be endorsing it.

I do hope there's some smidgen of good shit about me they'll be crying about, but only briefly, before they laugh about that too.

Fuck it.

Barbara Bush is a prime example of why eugenics was a terrible idea.

The people who most believe they are the better than the rest of us are not.

A beautiful mind is decomposing.

Good.

Death comes to us all.

It’s death. It’s final. Your loved ones never see you again. They weep for the loss, for the things never said, never done. Sometimes they can’t grieve and rage instead. It’s the thing not a one of us can escape and I empathize with her, her family and friends, and everyone else who feel that sadness for our fragility and unrealized dreams.

loses a loved one. We are all complex people, we all have good and bad edges. Bans was no different, may she RIP.

We are all connected, as difficult as that reality can be.

They started us down this road to ruin when they stole the election from Al Gore.

Good riddance whenever any of them dies.

To have them does not mean that we need to celebrate Barbara Bush's life or even to indicate our approval of it, but it is a measure of our being able to simply have compassion and empathy for the Bush family as human beings and their loss of a wife, mother, and grandmother. That's it.
I don't think any of us would want others to sit in judgement of our lives after our deaths as to whether our family deserves empathy for their loss. But it is proof that perhaps it's not just Republicans who are a judgemental lot.

If we let hate become our driver then DU will become the liberal FR and I will leave.

FR is celebrating McCains impending passing.

My empathy lies with the familes of thepeople the Bushes killed and whose lives they destroyed.
My empathy lies with those who suffered under torture orvlost everything to the Bushes economy.

I can't waste my beautiful mind thinking about them.

after long illnesses, I feel great empathy for anyone who has to deal with that situation. It's very difficult and very sad to have to watch your parents slowly decline, become helpless, and die as you watch helplessly. I didn't care much for the Bushes but I understand what they have been and are now dealing with. Obviously they loved her. I'm not going to dance on that grave.

What's their family got to do with it?

==========

May her family find comfort in their shared sorrow, and may she RIP.

=========

The agony of watching my mother slipping away of COPD and CHF. I get it.

Seeing their carefully managed appearances on television and in other media does not mean that you are acquainted with someone or have a relationship with them.

People are silly to be emotionally invested in these ersatz relationships with people they've never actually met face-to-face in person.