From the Editor

On November 30, George H.W. Bush passed away after suffering from poor health for years. His death has prompted a flood of laudatory obituaries from news outlets across the political spectrum.  The New York Times, in the first of its many obituaries, portrayed Mr. Bush as “steady and prudent and able.” The National Review, likewise, published a list of his greatest accomplishments.

Deceased world leaders and high-profile public figures typically leave behind complicated legacies. Media coverage of the deceased President Bush–however–has skewed sharply toward the complimentary while overlooking essential flaws in his legacy. Uncritical coverage of any topic, even an obituary, ultimately does a disservice to the public. The news helps shape history. Among Americans born after the 90s, recent press coverage sways their opinion of Bush’s one term presidency. Newspapers further serve as historical archives, and one-sided tributes to the Bush presidency only distort political realities of the period for future generations. Americans and the rest of the world need critical but respectful coverage of our leaders to give truth to power.

President Bush, while deserving credit for easing our transition to a post-Cold War world, committed a number of domestic missteps that the media have chosen largely to ignore in their obituaries. The New York Times failed to highlight President Bush’s decidedly mixed record on civil rights. The racial stereotyping that President Bush brought to the forefront of political conversations through his Willie Horton ad has found its more recent incarnation in the divisive campaign rhetoric and post-election tweet storms of President Trump. And one should not overlook Bush’s opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Johnson’s hard-fought and historic legislation, expressed during his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat.

Further troubling, The Times failed to disclose President Bush’s stance on the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Bush served as President during a period that witnessed the death of more than seventy thousand people due to HIV/AIDS-related complications. Despite the high death toll, he did not publically address the crisis until a year after taking office and essentially blamed the victims by urging a “change in behavior” by people at risk to avoid contracting the disease. Visibility is the starting point of politics, and for that reason aids activists have consistently demanded that the war on the disease be open and not hidden from the public. In separating Mr. Bush’s legacy from his statements on AIDS, The Times continues to deprive victims of recognition and awareness of their continuing struggle.

President Bush has a respectable public record, and legitimate reportage of his failures does not detract from his hefty accomplishments—which include securing the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and committing the United States to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. His strong personal attributes and fundamental decency have been recognized by public officials, close friends, and even comedians like Dana Carvey, who satirized him on SNL for years. But for respected news outlets to serve as reliable sources of informed and objective truth, they must not allow the public’s hunger for heroes to diminish their obligation to provide comprehensive and balanced reporting.

We are guided by these standards as we produce each issue of theVoice. While we are not always perfect, we strive to provide a platform for all voices to be heard through truthful, fair and balanced coverage. In keeping with this spirit, we are proud to present our first “Room for Debate” offering, which features the views of Connecticut College Republicans and Democrats. In this issue, members of each club provide their perspectives on the recently passed tax cut legislation promoted and signed into law by President Trump. We hope these columns will help spur meaningful conversations among the diverse members of the Conn community.

As we wrap up this final issue of the semester, we would like to thank our readers, writers and staff. We look forward to producing another six issues during the upcoming semester featuring topics relevant to you. Please reach out to us about anything you would like to see–we will be here working through our late night copy editing and InDesign formatting sessions to compose the best paper possible.

-Dana