Tillman Gilson

Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and my life changed. Following Desert Storm, I flew to Kuwait in temporary seats on a DHL flight; was among the very first civilians to spend the night on the ground after we won the war; and had the unique experience of a soldier opening our can of wafers with the knife tucked into his boot. All because of George H. W. Bush, James Baker, Senator Richard Lugar, and Dennis Ross. And all of those memories came rushing back to me as I watched the 41st President’s funeral.

It is true that I have led an incredibly lucky and interesting life; among the most fascinating things I have been involved with was assisting in the return of Constitutional government to Kuwait.

It happened thanks to a phone call from a Kuwaiti man.  The Emir had dissolved Parliament in the 1980s and had not held new elections, this Kuwaiti had been promoting a Constitutional Government ever since.  He suggested that if the US President offered American aide if power was restored to the ruling family, all of the Kuwaiti Opposition would support the Emir and his return.

I was with IRI (The International Republican Institute) at the time, and although we were affiliated with the Republican Party, I could certainly not speak for the White House. So I went to meet with Dennis Ross at State to ask his advice. The next thing I knew I was meeting with Jim Baker and within ten minutes I had gotten the all clear to talk to my Board members.  After the war was won, the White House would back a call for elections to be held in Kuwait as soon as possible. The White House and State would also support the IRI to to train electoral candidates and observe the elections.

Senator Lugar was on the IRI board and was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was able to arrange a meeting with the Kuwaiti Ambassador. Thanks to an excellent twist of fate, the day Senator Lugar allotted for a private lunch between myself and the Kuwaiti Ambassador was the day the war ended. The Ambassador was ebullient when he entered. He gave us watches that had been especially made with the U.S. and Kuwaiti flags and the Desert Storm shield as mementos. His happiness dissipated immediately over his turkey sandwich when Senator Lugar told him of the deal that President Bush had made with the Emir.  We needed to leave for Kuwait as soon as possible and needed the Ambassador’s help to get the paperwork in order – the entry system for visitors had not been restored yet.  Adding to the keepsake of the watch (which I still have!) I have a handwritten visa entry in my passport.

There were several glitches in the process, of course, but every time I called the White House from Kuwait, any problem I had was immediately corrected. Elections were held and to this day they are still happening – not perfectly but significant progress has been made; women now vote and hold office and there is a functioning Parliament. The same cannot be said for many of Kuwait’s neighbors!

I was so lucky to have worked for individuals who believed and advocated the core values of decency, freedom, and true democracy and promoted it throughout the world, changing the lives of millions. We need more like them.  We need more politicians like George Herbert Walker Bush.

Thank you to all who have written worried that they haven’t gotten all my posts recently.  I hope that you will all get this and I am not writing as many because every time I do a political or foreign policy one it seems that it is overtaken by events as I close.  Let’s hope 2018 moves a touch more slowly and I can keep up.  In the meantime a Very Merry to all – and I’ll write you again in 2018.

What a game! I’ll be back writing next week after I thaw out from going to the Army-Navy game in Philly!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Unfortunately I haven’t been traveling to fun or exotic places recently so I apologize to those readers who have been asking nicely when will I do another travel post. Today I am writing about a much more serious topic – sexual abuse.

I have never had it happen to me, but one of my co-workers had it happen to her and she came to me for help.  She had been harassed by a senior member of our office and since I was the most senior woman in the office, she asked for my help.  I willingly did so and I am glad to say that the individual involved was rapidly removed from his job.  There was no legal pursuit.  We didn’t go to the police by the request of the employee and this was thirty years ago when other than outright rape, it was very hard to file charges.

Our world is improving in this aspect of awareness now and the ability to talk about sexual harassment, but what is so sad is that we have so many who have had to endure years of the pain that being the target of unwanted sexual contact causes.  It is especially nauseating to me that we elect men who have bragged about their behavior or who have involved minors in these heinous acts.

Where has this country gone in its moral underpinnings if someone like Moore in Alabama is still being supported?  I found it hard to believe that any woman would vote for Trump after the Access Hollywood tape but to hear women in Alabama say that they will still vote for someone who exposed himself with teenagers (yes, 16 is the legal age in Alabama, but that doesn’t excuse a 30 something from picking on a 16 and 18 year old). And to hear people interviewed saying they would rather vote for a pedophile than a Democrat is just as bad as the excuses given Clinton for his behavior with Monica Lewinsky.

Perhaps it is time for us to outlaw all party affiliation and vote for the best candidate? George Washington hated the idea of political parties, and I am now beginning to agree with him. In DC, though, if one is an Independent, one can’t vote in the primary process which is by far the more important election in DC than the general.

Maybe standards will be brought back to us.  I hope so since I will hate trying to explain to my grand-daughter someday that all of America has become inured to bad behavior if it is connected to anyone politically active.

San Francisco is a wonderful city with great food and museums. We decided to go to the “Summer of Love” exhibit all about the “hippy” days and movement that started in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district. The Museum describes the exhibit:

“The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco present The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll, an exhilarating exhibition of iconic rock posters, photographs, interactive music and light shows, costumes and textiles, ephemera, and avant-garde films at the de Young. A 50th anniversary celebration of the adventurous and colorful counterculture that blossomed in the years surrounding the legendary San Francisco summer of 1967, the exhibition presents more than 400 significant cultural artifacts of the time, including almost 150 objects from the Fine Arts Museums’ extensive permanent holdings, supplemented by key, iconic loans.”

“The 1967 Summer of Love was a defining moment in San Francisco’s history,” states Max Hollein, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “With the de Young’s proximity to the Haight-Ashbury district, our exhibition is the cornerstone of a city-wide celebration. The work created during this period remains a significant legacy and we are uniquely positioned to present this story in all of its controversial glory.”

In the mid-1960s, artists, activists, writers, and musicians converged on Haight-Ashbury with hopes of creating a new social paradigm. By 1967, the neighborhood would attract as many as 100,000 young people from all over the nation. The neighborhood became ground zero for their activities, and nearby Golden Gate Park their playground.

It was particularly amusing to see so many individuals wandering through the crowd who could not possibly have been alive during the movement but who were completely caught up in the psychedelic posters and bizarre clothing.

The exhibit is worth seeing just for the history of the times even if one didn’t participate in the movement.

And when you are finished walk outside and to your rights and wander through the Japanese Garden. Complete with ponds, carp and pagodas, it is a small taste of the elegance of traditional Japanese culture. It is even relaxing in a slight drizzle.

For fun one evening we went to the Fairmont Hotel that has a great bar and ran into a wedding party from Nigeria resplendent in their native dress and headdresses – some of which made my neck hurt just thinking of the weight of the cloth but were beautiful.

For our one night dinner in San Francisco we went with friends to Le Jardiniere, a wonderful French restaurant with great ambience as well as elegant preparation of their delicious food. (And the wine list is impressive as well.)

For lunch one day we just wandered to China town and ate at a 8 table restaurant that was full of Japanese and had fantastic shrimp and chicken dishes. No alcohol was served but the green tea was perfect.

It was delightful to be in mid sixties weather while DC sweltered in the 90s! A great getaway!