I'm currently reading an article in Maclean's Magazine regarding George Bush, in which they claim that he is the worst US President in over 100 years.
Some highlights (or lowlights, whatever you call it)
Image Problems: "Asked to give a one-word description of the president, the most popular response was 'incompetent' followed closely by 'idiot' and 'liar'. A year ago, the top response was 'Honest'." My Take: Discounting the invasion of Iraq, I probably would have almost said the same thing. But the US is in Iraq right now, and it is not looking pretty. Especially with no WMDs found at all.
Foreign Policy Problems: "There is an old weakness in our foreign policy: we make the mistake of believing that inside every foreigner there is an american just waiting to emerge. It's just not true." My Take: Interesting considering the influences of Western Entertainment. But then again, there are those states who ban everything that is American
Fiscal Problems: "The United States Government would need an immediate cash infusion of US$43 Trillion Today, in order to meet all of its future obligations under Medicare and Social Security." My Take: It's interesting to note that the U.S. Senate voted 52-48 to increase the ceiling of the National Debt by $781 billion to $9 trillion, or roughly $30,000 for every man, woman and child in this country. This was done to avoid the first ever default on U.S. debt. At the same time, the House of Representatives then approved another $92 billion to support the war in Iraq.
Economy Problems: "Manufacturing has been the hardest hit, losing 2.9 million jobs since Bush took office, worse than the early 70s stagnation under Nixon, worse than the darkest days of Reagan's rust belt plant closures." My Take: I would go on a limb and say that the American Unions should shoulder some responsibility for this predicament. How the hell do you ask for insane raises and benefits and expect a company to keep going? And don't get me started about Garbagemen.
Iraq Problems: "The Whole notion that you can expect democracy at the point of a bayonet simply does not work." My Take: Of course, what do you expect? However, at the same token, leaving Iraq now would signal a victory for terrorism, and I don't think that is what we want to happen.
If we were to discount Iraq from all of this, Bush would still be considered one of the worse presidents to hold office. And this is speaking strictly from an economy point of view, ignoring the Iraq equation. This sort of explains Bush's efforts to "overhaul Social Security" whatever that means. For this Canadian, however, this contributes to my ideal that most politicians, when in power, use it in reckless and misguided efforts. George W. Bush is simply one more person in my personal hall of maligned politicians. Again, this is without taking Iraq into equation.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
Oh, why limited him to being the worst president for the last 100 years.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"Asked to give a one-word description of the president, the most popular response was 'incompetent' followed closely by 'idiot' and 'liar'. A year ago, the top response was 'Honest'."
I'd have said "monkey".
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Jay, you seem to have more of a personal, rather than political, hatred of poor little Bush....
care to elaborate?
Posted by FawnDoo (Member # 1421) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jay the Obscure: Oh, why limited him to being the worst president for the last 100 years.
I dunno...maybe the president 100 years ago was even worse? Quick bit of research turns it up to have been Theodore Roosevelt in the big chair from 1901 to 1909, so he would fit the bill for being the president 100 years ago...maybe he kicked puppies? Wiped his nose on his sleeve? Threw stones at old ladies? Littered? Really, the possibilities are endless.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN:
"Asked to give a one-word description of the president, the most popular response was 'incompetent' followed closely by 'idiot' and 'liar'. A year ago, the top response was 'Honest'."
I'd have said "monkey".
Does the term "motherfucker" count as just one word?
quote:My Take: Interesting considering the influences of Western Entertainment. But then again, there are those states who ban everything that is American
Like Florida or South Dakota?
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Fine, I meant countries. Whatever.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: Fine, I meant countries. Whatever.
I know. that's why it's funny allbeit in a sad way.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
From the OED :
"state, n. ... 30. a. A body of people occupying a defined territory and organized under a sovereign government. Hence occas. the territory occupied by such a body."
So, you meant states, too.
"I dunno...maybe the president 100 years ago was even worse? Quick bit of research turns it up to have been Theodore Roosevelt in the big chair from 1901 to 1909, so he would fit the bill for being the president 100 years ago...maybe he kicked puppies? Wiped his nose on his sleeve? Threw stones at old ladies? Littered? Really, the possibilities are endless."
Well, he was a bit of a racist, but, then, who wasn't? Regardless, the phrase used above was "over 100 years". So, they could very well have been referring to someone earlier. I'm not sure who that might be, though. Grant? I mean, he was a drunk who had no political experience whatsoever, but that hardly makes him worse than Bush.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I do not like Bush, though I ponder it is very difficult to give him the title of "worst" President..
I think Andrew Jackson was a horrible president. The Indian Removal Act came under his presidency and was something he recommended and pushed through Congress� the Cherokee Nation sued the US government over it, and the Supreme Court sided with the tribes- Jackson ordered their removal anyway, and in doing so 1/4th of the Indian population east of the Mississippi River died. Jackson also completely destroyed the national banking system.
Tyler was so bad the Whigs expelled him from their party while he was in office.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: Jay, you seem to have more of a personal, rather than political, hatred of poor little Bush....
care to elaborate?
Saltah'na, why does thinking he�s one of the worst presidents ever necessitate you thinking I�ve got a personal hatred of Mr. Bush.
I�ve got nothing personal against Mr. Bush. I�m sure that in interpersonal situations he�s a very personable and amiable man.
I was watching one of his talks he was giving and I figured out what it is about him. To me, Mr. Bush is a combination of a fraternity president and a fellow who�s seen too many bad westerns and thinks he�s a gunslinger.
The one glad-hands people he comes in contact with and does very well with individuals and small groups, making jokes and making people fell comfortable. The other makes snap decisions without much thought and walks away, never to revisit the decision, and feels the go it alone mentality of the movie cowboy.
The thing I have against Mr. Bush, and it�s political not personal, is that he�s hid behind surrogates who have dragged the political discourse into the gutter and has said and done nothing.
Politically, I can�t think of a policy initiative of his that has worked. And it�s not an opposition Congress holding him back.
Personally, I think the misuse of the mandate given him after the attacks of 9/11, will go down in history as one of the worst acts of any single president. Which is why I use the quote from John Adams in my signature.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Amongst all Flareites here, I see you spitting out the most vitriol. Of course this pisses his defenders here to no end (but then I haven't been keeping up with Flameboard events lately).
I dislike Bush myself, but to me, Bush is representative of all politicians of all stripes, incompetent, bumbling idiot who always tries to cover up his mistakes......
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shakaar: I do not like Bush, though I ponder it is very difficult to give him the title of "worst" President..
Well, history will tell the tale- and Bush's decisions will have reprecussions long after he's out of office.
I'd say that there's a diffrence between being a bad President and an ineffective one. Bush did get a lot of his agendas going during his first term and going to Afghanistan was the right thing to do....
I cant really agree with any of his other decisions though- definitely not his hypicritical political policies.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: I dislike Bush myself, but to me, Bush is representative of all politicians of all stripes, incompetent, bumbling idiot who always tries to cover up his mistakes......
Amen to that!
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
Politics....
From the root words "Poly", meaning "Many" and "Ticks", meaning "Blood sucking leaches"
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: Amongst all Flareites here, I see you spitting out the most vitriol. Of course this pisses his defenders here to no end (but then I haven't been keeping up with Flameboard events lately).
I dislike Bush myself, but to me, Bush is representative of all politicians of all stripes, incompetent, bumbling idiot who always tries to cover up his mistakes......
I'm going to disagree with the phrase spitting out vitriol.
I don't think that's what I do. Rather, I point out things that I think that he and his administration are doing wrong. It isn't my fault there's so much to choose from.
But as I do that I try to be respectful. I refer to him as Mr. Bush rather than the way that those who really hate him call him other names and the way that people who hated Bill Clinton called him names. I didn't start out that way, but I came to think that in doing so I was no better than those people who called Mr. Clinton names so I decided not to do that anymore.
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
Which is strange given how little respect he seems to have for you.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush
George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.
From time to time, after hours, I kick back with my colleagues at Princeton to argue idly about which president really was the worst of them all. For years, these perennial debates have largely focused on the same handful of chief executives whom national polls of historians, from across the ideological and political spectrum, routinely cite as the bottom of the presidential barrel. Was the lousiest James Buchanan, who, confronted with Southern secession in 1860, dithered to a degree that, as his most recent biographer has said, probably amounted to disloyalty -- and who handed to his successor, Abraham Lincoln, a nation already torn asunder? Was it Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, who actively sided with former Confederates and undermined Reconstruction? What about the amiably incompetent Warren G. Harding, whose administration was fabulously corrupt? Or, though he has his defenders, Herbert Hoover, who tried some reforms but remained imprisoned in his own outmoded individualist ethic and collapsed under the weight of the stock-market crash of 1929 and the Depression's onset? The younger historians always put in a word for Richard M. Nixon, the only American president forced to resign from office.
Now, though, George W. Bush is in serious contention for the title of worst ever. In early 2004, an informal survey of 415 historians conducted by the nonpartisan History News Network found that eighty-one percent considered the Bush administration a "failure." Among those who called Bush a success, many gave the president high marks only for his ability to mobilize public support and get Congress to go along with what one historian called the administration's "pursuit of disastrous policies." In fact, roughly one in ten of those who called Bush a success was being facetious, rating him only as the best president since Bill Clinton -- a category in which Bush is the only contestant.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Well, that cover proclaiming Peral Jam having "the best album in 10 years" says little for their opinion. nless they mean Pearl jam's current album is [i]their[/i best in 10 years...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Well, that Rolling Stone cover proclaiming Pearl Jam having "the best album in 10 years" says little for their opinion. Unless they mean Pearl Jam's current album is their best in 10 years...
Pearl Jam sucks collosal donkey cocks at the best of times.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
So, other than Pearl Jam....
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Nick Lachey, then. isn't he the one who married whatserface, they had that reality show? Boy-band member, or something like that.
And, I've only heard the Raconteurs' single so far, but I like it.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
"Steady, As She Goes"?
(That is the best comma in modern rock music.)
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
quote:"First time I met Jack I hated him," Benson smirks. "Brendan and I were dating," adds Keeler, with a wry set to the mouth. "Yeah, we were dating," Benson rolls on, "and Jack was like, moving in on Patrick ..." They begin to snicker. "Then they had me!" Lawrence suddenly pipes up from the corner. "I was a mistake!" "You were not a mistake," says Keeler fondly, "you were just not expected, that's all."
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
So, it's now quite clear that posting the cover was a huge mistake.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
What else is there to say?
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
If he's "one of America's leading historians" why have I never heard of him before? One makes one a "leading historian," anyway? Is he privy to more of history than others? Is he in fact history incarnate?
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
The way DT went on, you'd think he was a "leading historian." He certainly thought so at any rate. Twat.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
"Leading HIstorian" sounds like it would be a posting in the Bush admin- spinning the past (further).
[ April 24, 2006, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: Jason Abbadon ]
