# Bush II to Not Attend RNC **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 20, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904 "2012-07-20T23:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/1 "2012-07-20T23:23:48Z")
[http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/george-w-bush-will-not-attend-republican-national-convention/](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/george-w-bush-will-not-attend-republican-national-convention/) This was to be expected, although I wish President Bush would at least comment more on current events. He seems to be almost in exile, not retirement. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/2 "2012-07-20T23:26:58Z")
I wonder why that might be. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/3 "2012-07-20T23:36:48Z")
Somebody should get a few drinks in him and talk him into crashing the party. “Dude, you were president. What are they going to do? Have some goons to frog-march you out?” Whatever happened would be entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/4 "2012-07-20T23:38:07Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Somebody should get a few drinks in him and talk him into crashing the party. “Dude, you were president. What are they going to do? Have some goons to frog-march you out?” Whatever happened would be entertaining. He was _invited_ in the first place. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/5 "2012-07-20T23:52:43Z")
Of course he was, and he can protest that to the goons as they escort him out. “What we have here, Mr. President, is failure to communicate.” ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/6 "2012-07-21T00:18:16Z")
He didn’t seem to pay a great deal of attention to current events when it was his job, why start now? ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/7 "2012-07-21T00:25:20Z")
Unlike Carter, he believes in the tradition of former presidents bowing out gracefully and largely remaining silent. When former presidents do regain the limelight, it’s usually to do with some sort of charity work or personal events, such as when Bush 41 went skydiving. We’ll almost certainly see Bush 43 become somewhat more visible as time goes on. That’s the usual cycle. Looking back through history, it’s almost as if a president requires a multi-year decompression period after leaving office before he is willing or able to really do much of anything. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/8 "2012-07-21T00:38:02Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > He was _invited_ in the first place. :rolleyes: Yabbut, they deliberately scheduled it for the same week as his kids’ talent show.\* Even a dweeb like him is going to be able to read between the lines when its _that_ blatant. \*_The RNC Presents: An Intimate Evening of Music and Laughter With Laura and Jenna at the Richard M Nixon Library and Brithplace_ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/9 "2012-07-21T01:11:32Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > He seems to be almost in exile, not retirement. While he may have been invited to the convention, I think he understood as well as anyone that they probably don’t want him there. McCain didn’t want to be associated with him and neither does Romney. Neither will the next candidate. I suspect he’ll become a little more public as time goes on, but politically, “exile” is the least of what he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/10 "2012-07-21T01:40:37Z")
> [@Mekhazzio](#): > > He didn’t seem to pay a great deal of attention to current events when it was his job, why start now? he seems just plain out not interested in things. not the curious type, as far as i could/can see. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/11 "2012-07-21T02:08:33Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Unlike Carter, he believes in the tradition of former presidents bowing out gracefully and largely remaining silent. When former presidents do regain the limelight, it’s usually to do with some sort of charity work or personal events, such as when Bush 41 went skydiving. > > We’ll almost certainly see Bush 43 become somewhat more visible as time goes on. That’s the usual cycle. > > Looking back through history, it’s almost as if a president requires a multi-year decompression period after leaving office before he is willing or able to really do much of anything. Nevertheless, as the linked story notes, “Most modern presidents have attended their party’s first convention after leaving office, including Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Mr. Bush’s father, George Bush. (The elder Mr. Bush, 88, who has a form of Parkinson’s disease, also will not attend either this year.) Exceptions: Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.” ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/12 "2012-07-21T02:19:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Nevertheless, as the linked story notes, “Most modern presidents have attended their party’s first convention after leaving office, including Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Mr. Bush’s father, George Bush. (The elder Mr. Bush, 88, who has a form of Parkinson’s disease, also will not attend either this year.) Exceptions: Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.” To be fair, LBJ had a pretty good excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/13 "2012-07-21T02:26:38Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > I wonder why that might be. Because, iirc, he said he was content to keep a low profile once he left office. Edit: Ah, I see someone else explained it already. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/14 "2012-07-21T03:50:58Z")
How nice for him that he gets to assert a noble motive for doing what he’d pretty much have to do anyway. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/15 "2012-07-21T04:26:07Z")
In other news, Jerry Sandusky will not be attending this years Penn State alumni dinner. Scheduling conflicts. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/16 "2012-07-21T04:32:21Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Unlike Carter, he believes in the tradition of former presidents bowing out gracefully and largely remaining silent. When former presidents do regain the limelight, it’s usually to do with some sort of charity work or personal events, such as when Bush 41 went skydiving. > > We’ll almost certainly see Bush 43 become somewhat more visible as time goes on. That’s the usual cycle. > > Looking back through history, it’s almost as if a president requires a multi-year decompression period after leaving office before he is willing or able to really do much of anything. Nope, wrong again. He just knows people are disgusted with him and stays out of the public in shame and at the insistence of all the other R’s that would like to keep their jobs or get one. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/17 "2012-07-21T17:50:36Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > I wonder why that might be. Well, just start with the significance of a bunch of Democratic governors and representatives not showing up at their convention, and extrapolate upwards from there. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/18 "2012-07-21T18:09:03Z")
> [@Untoward\_Parable](#): > > He just knows people are disgusted with him and stays out of the public in shame … Shame? I don’t think GWB is capable of shame. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/19 "2012-07-21T18:25:36Z")
I have to agree, I don’t think a guy who can stand before a, ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner, when it’s clear he hasn’t accomplished anything, doesn’t really know the meaning of shame. It’s not shame, on his part, that’s keeping him away. American’s are ashamed of his presidency and the RNC, who dare not even speak his name, know it better than anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904/20 "2012-07-21T19:02:32Z")
Didn’t I read or see somewhere that Palin was actually NOT invited? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-ii-to-not-attend-rnc/628904.md?page=2)