Speaking Ill of Premature Beatification — George H.W. Bush Wasn’t Perfect. And That’s OK.

“President Bush would never — under any circumstance — intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. (Heather) Lind.”

Speaking ill of the dead is universally accepted as poor form. And the origin of this etiquette dates back 3,000 years before antiquity. But this long taboo norm is slowly shifting, according to Ben Guarino: “Those taboo enforcers rallied around an ancient custom. In the early 3rd century, biographer Diogenes Laërtius attributed the…