After spending a combined 12 years in the Oval Office, former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush know how to craft a public statement on paper. “America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism,” the father and son former chief executives wrote on Wednesday.
The nation must condemn, they continued, “hatred in all forms.” And presumably yes, that includes malice on both sides of the divide.
Days after the street fighting that left three dead and dozens more wounded in Virginia last weekend, this statement was much needed. Elected officials still in office have leveraged the current crises for publicity. Thankfully, the Bushes did not do this.
The presidents grounded their statement in principles instead of politics.
“As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city’s most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence,” the Bushes wrote, cribbing from Thomas Jefferson.
“We are all created equal and endowed by our creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country.”
Remarkable for its economy and its effect, in one little paragraph they condemn hatred as inconsistent with the idea of America by stoking the mystic chords of national memory. Isn’t this exactly the kind of statement a president should issue?
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
