Hooray for George Bush -

Following up on that George Bush bagel poster, I just now found this concerning an earlier George Bush:

In 1844, Christian restorationist George Bush, a professor of Hebrew at New York University and ancestor of the Presidents Bush, published a book entitled The Valley of Vision; or, The Dry Bones of Israel Revived. In it he denounced “the thralldom and oppression which has so long ground them (the Jews) to the dust,” and called for “elevating” the Jews “to a rank of honorable repute among the nations of the earth” by restoring the Jews to the land of Israel where the bulk would be converted to Christianity.^[2] This, according to Bush, would benefit not only the Jews, but all of mankind, forming a “link of communication” between humanity and God. “It will blaze in notoriety...". “It will flash a splendid demonstration upon all kindreds and tongues of the truth.”^[3] The book sold about a million copies in the antebellum period.^[4]

That was a very good idea.
^