Honor GHWB by creating a kinder atmosphere

David Shribman’s “Last Great Soldier-Statesman” (Dec. 6) on the front page vividly evoked images of both the man and the day. “[T]he last president to know Japan and Germany as both adversary and ally.” “[A] funeral rite of poignancy and power.” Five chief executives seated together in the first pew, “a portrait gallery of our politics.”

However, when I read the observation that President Donald Trump’s presidency had been “skewered gently but unmistakably by Mr. Bush’s eulogists…” I had to state my opinion publicly. We are a nation, not of soldier-statesmen, nor of patriots, pioneers and visionaries; we are a nation of bullies.

No event or circumstance is immune from being commandeered as a political pulpit. Every occurrence— including the funeral of a world leader — can be politicized.

We can spin the bullying and vitriol to suit our personal views. It is deplorable politicization and appropriation for personal and political gain if it’s you; it is passion and patriotism if it’s me. However, the fact is, chairs on both sides of the aisle are filled with bullies. The seats on news stations — liberal and conservative — are filled with bullies. The airwaves are filled with bullies; Hollywood is filled with bullies. And yet, we have a national obsession with bullying in schools. Where on earth would children learn such behavior?

It has ceased to be about jobs, or the economy, or foreign policy. It is about civility and common decency and respect. Especially when we disagree. Until we can master that, there is no hope for intelligent and productive discussion of any substantive issue facing our country today.

Mr. Shribman wrote that George H.W. Bush’s presidency was “the last breath of a time he described as ‘kinder, gentler.’” Perhaps, Democrat or Republican, we could honor the man by doing our part to create such an atmosphere, and by demanding that our elected officials — Democrat and Republican — do so as well.

JENNIFER WILSON

HEWITT Upper St. Clair