Happy Birthday "Crazy Socks Day," President George H.W. Bush!

Got some crazy socks that sit in the drawer? Pull them out and proudly wear them for a good cause and, while you're at it, take a photo and post it on Facebook or Twitter (#41s89th)!

Former President George H.W. Bush, commonly known as the dad of President George W. Bush, and as 41, turns 89 years old today, June 12, 2013. Happy Birthday, 41!

To help celebrate his birthday, it will be "Wear Crazy Socks" day. Bush 41 is known for wearing his personality on his feet ... that is, mismatched socks and brightly colorful socks -- anything that's different and looks startling to the unsuspecting when they see a gentleman in a business suit suddenly flash colorful ankles.

Here's what you can do to help celebrate. From the George Bush Presidential Library Facebook page:

The George Bush Presidential Library Foundation will celebrate the 89th Birthday of its' namesake, George Bush, 41st President of the United States, by wearing exuberant socks this Wednesday, June 12. The Foundation encourages others to join us in this celebration of the President's 89th Birthday and post photos of your socks online.

President Bush has recently been recognized for his penchant for wearing bright socks. At the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in April, for example, he wore bright pink socks with a hint of blue. In 2012 he told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager, that he "likes a good sock."

Join us in wishing President Bush a Happy Birthday by wearing your most colorful or outlandish socks. All are invited to submit a photo wearing crazy socks to share in the birthday festivities by:

• Post to the George Bush Facebook page: www.facebook.com/georgebush41
• Tweet to the George Bush Foundation twitter account: twitter.com/GB41Foundation - Hash tag #41s89th
• Email bushfoundation@georgebushfoundation.org

Select birthday sock photos will be chosen and given to President Bush for his 89th birthday. Help us celebrate the 89th birthday of George Bush, 41st President of the United States. For more information, visit www.georgebushfoundation.org/socks.

The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University will host a birthday celebration in honor of President and Mrs. Bush on June 12. Museum visitors are invited to join for free birthday cake, Blue Bell ice cream and refreshments in the Rotunda of the Bush Library and Museum from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For more information, visit bushlibrary.tamu.edu.

The George Bush Presidential Library Foundation was established in 1991 as a nonprofit educational foundation to design, build and support the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University. In addition to sponsoring its own programs and activities, the George Bush Foundation provides logistical and financial support to the Bush Library and Museum, as well as to The Bush School of Government and Public Service. Through its outreach, the George Bush Foundation is helping make the George Bush Presidential Library Center a leading institution in academic, policy and cultural discussion. Visit www.georgebushfoundation.org for additional information.

Happy Crazy Socks Day ... and Happy Birthday, President Bush! Thank you for your service to our country....

George W. Bush not endorsing in presidential primary is no mystery

The media are beside themselves trying to figure out why former President George W. Bush has not endorsed in the current Republican presidential contest. Everywhere you look, there's some variation of the question wondering why he isn't front and center. One example of the ink spent on the story is this one from Politico that asks, "Where is George W. Bush?" and accuses him of being on a "self-imposed exile" from the current political season.

After Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, endorsed Mitt Romney for president last week, the feeding frenzy picked up with many of the mainstream media outlets wondering whether W would endorse and why he hadn't already endorsed and explaining the reasons why that made him the proverbial elephant in the room.

The plain and simple answer is that George W. Bush is doing nothing any different now than he has done since leaving the White House in 2009. He has made it a point to keep a low profile in his private life and not interfere in policies or make comments about the current president or issues. It's the way of the Bush family. It's called diplomacy, something missing with many in the MSM.

Friends with the Romney family for years, the Bush family has ties that have encouraged former President George H.W. Bush and his son, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to endorse Republican front runner Mitt Romney. Former First Lady Barbara Bush has even made Get Out The Vote calls for Governor Romney.

George W. Bush, meanwhile, is simply continuing his policy of not interjecting himself in politics. Interesting that the MSM are able to put so many words in his mouth during his silence.

Typical of GWB, he is not letting the press live rent-free in his head as he goes about his life. It has been three years since the Bushes left Washington and during that time he has found plenty to keep him busy. He wrote a #1 national best seller book, "Decision Points," that stayed at the top of the charts for weeks, selling two million copies in the first month and outpacing books written by former President Bill Clinton and others.

He has been busy in Dallas with the Bush Center, the Bush Library, and the Bush Institute, traveling the country and the world on behalf of human freedom, global health, education, economic freedom, and AIDs research in Africa, something he began while President. In 2008, he received the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Award for his work in Africa, and in December 2011 he and Mrs. Bush traveled to Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Zambia in their continued commitment to the people.

Indeed, not many are aware of Bush's humanitarian work in other parts of the world -- most certainly the MSM doesn't give credit. However, in the summer of 2011, Bono of the rock group U-2 praised Bush for his fight against AIDs in Africa, a stand that has saved over five million lives during the past eight years. Separately, human rights activist John Prendegast noted that it was during Bush's administration and with the help of America's influence that South Sudan was able to successfully obtain peace with the north.

Democrat Bob Beckel, co-host on Fox News Channel's "The Five," recently praised Bush's African work and picked him as one of his two all-time favorite presidents.

On the home front, most of the time the former president has spent with America's military members is unknown to the public, greeting solders at airports when they return home from service overseas, reaching out to individual families, and working with the Wounded Warrior Project that surrounds him with injured military veterans.

A 2011 Fox News video report by Bret Baier about the Wounded Warrior 100K bike ride in the back country of Texas showed the real George W. Bush, comfortable with everyday Americans and revealing the one thing he misses as president is being Commander in Chief of the military. The connection between him and the troops is real as he shows respect and admiration for them and they, in return, show respect and admiration for him.

In addition, Bush has spoken to numerous groups around the country, helped raise money for a number of charitable causes, and, in 2010, he and former President Bill Clinton set up a relief fund for the victims of Haiti's earthquake.

Most of all, he is able to enjoy time in private with family and on the ranch. From Politico:

... Bush has never had the political neediness of Clinton, and is not spurred on by what [former Bush White House spokesman Ari] Fleischer dubbed “the roar of the crowd.”

“So much of it is voluntary,” Fleischer said about Bush’s isolation. “I think President Bush is happy to be enjoying his private life. I don’t think he craves or misses life on the stump.”

Indeed, while many in the Republican Party may be eager to turn the page on Bush, former aides to the 43rd president say that’s a two-way phenomenon: Bush, too, has happily moved on from politics as a profession.

The ability to voluntarily step back from the limelight is the sign of a leader and a truly secure individual. George W. Bush obviously is comfortable with his life and feels no need to entertain the MSM by doing what they want.  As a result, he will continue writing the script of his own life, and it may or may not include an endorsement of Mitt Romney. One thing is for sure: The final decision will, ultimately, be his.

Cross-posted at Bearing Drift

MSM assailed George H.W. Bush for talking to school children

So Democrats and liberal bloggers are calling conservatives' concerns over President Barack Obama's speech to school children nationwide as hysteria and stupidity. Interesting when the shoe is on the other foot.

In 1991, Democrats and the Washington Post called for investigations into President George H.W. Bush's administration when he addressed school chidren. Byron York at the Washington Examiner recalls:

The controversy over President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren will likely be over shortly after Obama speaks today at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. But when President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech on October 1, 1991, from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC, the controversy was just beginning.
Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush's speech -- they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned top Bush administration officials to Capitol Hill for an extensive hearing on the issue.

Unlike the Obama speech, in 1991 most of the controversy came after, not before, the president's school appearance. The day after Bush spoke, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president's political benefit.

"The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props," the Post reported.

The National Education Association denounced the speech.

A Democrat is now in the White House. Interesting how the NEA and Democrats have changed their tune.

Brit Hume's interview with Presidents Bush (dad & son)

President George W. Bush and former President George H.W. Bush sat down with Fox News Channel's Brit Hume on Sunday in an honest discussion about the war in Iraq, non-ending attacks on the President from the left, and plans for the future.

Father and son, who have obvious admiration for one another, are members of that extremely small fraternity of Americans who have held the highest elected office in the land.

The political divisiveness was an important topic with both Bushes:

The president's father, former President George H.W. Bush, became emotional when assessing his son's tenure.

"You can make a tough decision and stay with it," he told his son before turning to Hume in the White House Diplomatic Room. "And he's been tested unlike any other president with 9/11. So he passed the test."

He said political invective has "gotten worse" since his days in the White House, adding: "It's offensive, very offensive."

The younger Bush agreed. "The biggest disappointment in the political process, that's been this kind of bitterness by a few people to the point where they don't want to have a logical discussion or a civil discussion about policy," he said. "They just want to tear you down."

Read the entire article here.

President Bush # 41 addresses commissioning of his namesake ship

FORMER PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you. Mr. President and Mr. Vice President, all the distinguished guests here; I want to single out Captain O'Flaherty and what a great man he is and how lucky we are to be in command of this ship.

If you'll forgive an old Navy man a little reminiscing, being here in this ceremony takes me back 65 years to another commissioning -- this one on the shipyards of Philadelphia, of the USS San Jacinto, the light carrier upon which my crew mates -- very few of whom are with us today -- and I were preparing to serve in World War Two. Speaking of not many of them being with us, I feel like Phyllis Diller, when she said, "All my friends are dying in alphabetical order" -- but I'm glad to be here. (Laughter.)

A few memories of that distant day, December 15, 1943, stand out. First and foremost, it was during that trip to Philadelphia that I gave my fiancée -- a certain Barbara Pierce of Rye, New York -- an engagement ring. She had come down for the ceremony with my mother, and we had only just that week made our engagement public. Bar and I thought we had done a pretty good job of keeping our romance a secret -- but by that point in our courtship it is possible the Germans and the Japanese were the only people who didn't know we were planning to get married. (Laughter.)

The other memory that stands out from this first commissioning was the fact that I was -- thought that the San Jac was by far the biggest ship -- or anything else I'd ever seen. At 660 feet long and 120 feet high it cut an impressive figure, to be sure. But next to this ship, it really cannot compare. Almost twice as long, with a 4.5 acre landing field, a tower that exceeds up to 20 stories above the waterline, and a feature that a few of my granddaughters, in particular, would really like -- that's right, onboard this carrier there are a mind-boggling 1,400 telephones. (Laughter.)

For all of the special enhancements this carrier has received, however, for all of the state of the art technology, and the safety, the environmental features, the most important element will finally be added today in the form of the men and women who will serve aboard this floating Naval air station. To those who are sitting out there where I was 65 years ago preparing to serve aboard your new ship, I wish I was sitting right out there with you, ready to start the adventures of my naval aviation career all over.

I don't know if I could have handled the jets we fly today, but as you prepare to man this ship, I do know that you take with you the hopes and the dreams of every American who cherishes freedom and peace. And you take with you the undying respect and admiration of the entire Bush family.

In just a few moments I will take part in helping to set the first watch for CVN 77. And from that moment on, until this ship is officially retired many, many years from now, you will form an unbroken line of patriots protecting this special piece of American territory. As someone who has stood that watch and remembers the quiet solitude of that experience, I know you will find comfort and inspiration particularly in the night sky, for it is basking in the splendor of the stars that you will truly understand the majesty of creation and bear witness to the certain hand of God.

Make no mistake, the work aboard this ship will be routinely difficult and sometimes dangerous. But the freedom we seek and the peace we desire can only be found in the countless sacrifices you will make in everyday tasks you will perform. So thank you for your service. Good luck to each and every one of you. And may God bless the men and women who sail in CVN 77. (Applause.)

USS George H.W. Bush commissioned in Norfolk

It was a commission worthy of a Bush family celebration on Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia, as the USS George H.W. Bush was put into service as the newest member of the Naval fleet.

According to Fox News:

It's the perfect gift for an old Navy flier: 1,092 feet of flattop.

"What do you give a guy who has been blessed and has just about everything he has ever needed?" asked President George W. Bush from aboard the Navy's newest ship. "Well, an aircraft carrier."

The USS George H.W. Bush, a steel-gray vessel longer than three football fields and built at a cost of $6.2 billion, was commissioned Saturday with its namesake, the 41st president, and other members of the Bush family on hand for the ceremonies at Naval Station Norfolk.

Adorned for the day with red, white and blue bunting, the USS George H.W. Bush is one of the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the largest warships in the world.

"The ship that bears our dad's name is more than 95,000 tons of aluminum and steel," Bush said from a podium tucked under the flight deck. "She will carry nearly 6,000 of the finest sailors and Marines in the world. She represents the craftsmanship of many skilled builders, and thousands of hours of preparation."

Bush, who took his last scheduled flight aboard Air Force One to get to Norfolk, added: "Laura and I are thrilled to be here to help commission an awesome ship and to honor an awesome man."

The latest honor for a family that has honored the country with their service was for former President George H.W. Bush who joined the Navy on his 18th birthday, six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He became engaged to his future wife, Barbara, and then went to war becoming the youngest aviator in the U.S. Navy. Remembering those years, the former President addressed the crew:

Speaking to the sailors preparing to serve on the new ship, his voice quavering at times with emotion, the former president said: "I wish I was sitting right out there with you, ready to start the adventures of my naval aviation career all over."

In 1942, the future President flew torpedo bombers off the USS San Jacinto and, in 1944 his plane was downed by the Japanese in the Pacific. He was rescued by Americans and returned to finish serving out the war. Now 84 years old, his is a story worthy of heroes.

A bronze statue on its hangar bay deck depicts the former president as a youthful, smiling pilot in his flight suit. On an upper deck, a "tribute room" presents Bush's life from his days in the Navy to his four years in the White House.
...
Four F-18s flew overhead, followed by a solo World War II torpedo bomber similar to the one the elder Bush flew during the war.

Congratulations to the former President with our thanks for his service to our country.

Presidents Bush (dad and son) on Fox News Sunday

Fox News Channel's Brit Hume sits down tonight with the President and his father to discuss their years in the oval office, triumphs and disappointments, and what lies ahead for the President-elect. Get the presidential perspectives tonight on Fox News Sunday at 6:00 and 9:00 pm Eastern Time.