I’ve been here since 2000, and I recall no such claim about Bush on this board. Plenty of worry about things like Unitary Executive nonsense like signing statements, but not that level of stupid. I think you’re conflating at best, Asuka.
That’s what we said with W. Then we elected worse.
I’m sure Roman citizens reassured each other with “We’ve had bad Emperors before, I’m sure we’ll survive.”
There’s always THAT one really bad one that causes things to permanently go downhill.
It’s hard to say, but from everything I’ve read about him, it seems that only Andrew Johnson was despised as much as Trump by his opposition – and some might have hated him even more than Trump is hated now, if that can be believed.
This is the first time a self-serving immoral idiot has been put in office on purpose-there is no prior history/pattern to repeat on this one.
Although Obama did some things which were unpopular from a left perspective – the left expected he would be a left wing president but he was and is a centrist – the left never turned on him en masse either on the internet or anywhere else.
Bush was stupid and a warmonger, and he was roundly hated on the left. Only trump could make him look like a statesman. But now we’d all cheer if Bush magically was president today. Trump is by far the worst president in the history of the United States. I can’t imagine what human refuse could be shoveled up to be worse than him.
“Caustic” isn’t just a personality quirk of this one (although it is part of his personality). It’s also a strategy. He and/or his handlers have recognized that a sizable percentage of the electorate are attracted to the idea of an authority figure who is mean to those weaker or with less material wealth, and they like and cheer this meanness. Like the white supremacists and Nazis who are their fellow travelers, they feel emboldened in their own urges (in this case to be mean and selfish) when they see someone in such a formerly respected position feeling free to express such petty meanness.
W Bush – Iraq, Afghanistan, trillions for the rich, “patriot” act…
Agreed. I’d say we only have about a good what, 7, 8, minutes until the country is destroyed permanently and turned into a burning wasteland with nothing and no one left but the people who supported trump. The white male. All females and non-white males will have been slaughtered with but a few left to survive in slavery.
Chump is the proverbial bull in a china shop. And anything he does, every single thing, is aimed at enriching himself and his family. If it benefits Americans, it’s just a coincidence, a secondary consideration. So he does not care how caustic he is.
Thing about Trump is that he didn’t actually do this. He unwittingly revealed that Santa is a myth, while participating in a Santa themed PhotoOp.
The important part isn’t reveal or criticize, its unwitting. The man is an imbecile. He is literally incapable of thoughtful action. There are no decisions coming from his desk that involve a nuanced or complex understanding of the topic at hand.
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Trump was trying to be clever and funny. Only, he’s really bad at it.
Remember when Reagan said he’d outlawed the Soviet Union, and said ‘We start bombing in five minutes.’ into a mic. he didn’t know was hot? Many (or most) people disagree with me, but even though I disagreed with Reagan and his policies, I thought the quip was hilarious. It’s like the scene in TYO ‘Nasty’ where Neil says ‘We can’t bury Ric alive!’ and Vyvyan says, ‘You’re absolutely right, Ric. We’d better kill him first.’ It’s the way my humour runs. Reagan’s joke was absurd, especially in context. Trump’s attempt at making a joke (‘Everyone knows Santa Claus is fake, so I’ll be funny to let everyone know I know he’s fake; and this kid won’t understand my awesomeness anyway.’) was pa-thetic. It wasn’t over-the-top ludicrous like Reagan’s was (even if Reagan’s joke was in poor taste). It was a stupid way of saying ‘I’m pulling the wool over this kid’s eyes. Everyone sees my power! And I don’t even mind if they fool their own kids, because then they’re being like me!’
But the OP is asking if they were as colossally assholish as Trump, and they simply were not. Of course everyone has flaws.
No President has ever been as openly awful and trollish a person - Andrew Jackson, perhaps, but that’s hard to compare.
Give him a break. He’s just not quite ready to commit to “America-hating fuckstick” yet. Give him time. He’ll get there.
I don’t know, it seemed critical to me, but possibly he was making a bad joke or simply being clueless. None of these are really a good look for a president.
Carter? Jimmy Carter? There are certainly arguments that he wasn’t a good president, but his being “caustic” is not one of them.
Ah, Spinal Tap. I don’t think we can accuse GW of coming down on the “clever” side.
ETA: I’d vote for Jackson.