# Who is the most universally agreed upon scumbag on Planet Earth Right now? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2012, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406 "2012-12-18T06:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/1 "2012-12-18T06:57:44Z")
I’m really at kind of a loss here. The only people I can think of seem like pretty week tea or penny ante villains – Putin, Joseph Kony, Justin Bieber, etc. Help me out. Because as one of the ongoing competitions between between saving drowning mice and men, I wanna put up the worst against … I dunno, a hamster, Lassie, head lice, _something_ … ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/2 "2012-12-18T07:04:55Z")
Baiting. Assorted people saying those little kids got shot because prayer is “not allowed” in schools. (Which is not true.) And because in addition Mike Huckabee had to toss in “THE GAYS” he is my nominee. > **[Huckabee blames gays for the Newtown massacre](https://www.salon.com/2012/12/17/huckabee_blames_gays_for_the_newtown_massacre/)** > > Somehow, the Fox pundit ascribes the shootings to "abortion pills," iPhones and homosexuals. Has he no shame? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/3 "2012-12-18T07:06:29Z")
Bashar al-Assad of Syria comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/4 "2012-12-18T07:14:29Z")
He will certainly shoot right up to the top if he uses chemical weapons. As it is, he’s another tinpot dictator with an active rebellion. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/5 "2012-12-18T07:20:51Z")
George W. Bush ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/6 "2012-12-18T07:29:29Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > George W. Bush No way. Plenty of Conservatives still use the “miss me yet?” poster. Plenty of people like him. I almost want to say Westboro Baptist. Even other nuts like Jack Chick don’t like them (albeit these kinds of nuts usually hate each other because they believe different nutty things). I don’t think there exist many people that aren’t already part of the tiny church that like them. However, that’s kind of marred by the fact that I’d wager over 90% of the world doesn’t even know who they are. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/7 "2012-12-18T07:29:56Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > He will certainly shoot right up to the top if he uses chemical weapons. As it is, he’s another tinpot dictator with an active rebellion. He’s responsible for the deaths of, what, 20,000 or 30,000 people in the last two years? And the revilement seems pretty universal for him at this point. Maybe Robert Mugabe, then? Alexander Lukashenko seems pretty loathsome but I’m not sure how much death and destruction he’s caused, and Kim Jong-Un may not have been in power long enough to be a contender in this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/8 "2012-12-18T07:30:15Z")
Fred Phelps and family of the Westboro Baptist Church comes to mind; widely hated, widely known, _and_ essentially no allies. Guys like Assad or Putin have plenty of enemies, but also plenty of followers; Phelps doesn’t. And while there’s plenty of homophobic bigots in the world, most aren’t professional media trolls who embarrass their own ideological fellow travelers by going after dead military veterans. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/9 "2012-12-18T07:31:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s responsible for the deaths of, what, 20,000 or 30,000 people in the last two years? And the revilement seems pretty universal for him at this point. In online discussions at least I see plenty of people support him, because the rebels are supposedly fundamentalist Muslims and thus the Ultimate Evil. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/10 "2012-12-18T07:34:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s responsible for the deaths of, what, 20,000 or 30,000 people in the last two years? And the revilement seems pretty universal for him at this point. Maybe Robert Mugabe, then? Alexander Lukashenko seems pretty loathsome but I’m not sure how much death and destruction he’s caused, and Kim Jong-Un may not have been in power long enough to be a contender in this discussion. The problem with people like the Kims is that they have entire nations that are pretty much brainwashed into liking them (or “like” them insofar as their regime furthers their own need for power such as the members of their inner circle). That ruins the “universally” thing because there’s a non-trivial number of people who think they’re pretty cool dudes. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/11 "2012-12-18T07:38:56Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Fred Phelps and family of the Westboro Baptist Church comes to mind; widely hated, widely known, _and_ essentially no allies. Guys like Assad or Putin have plenty of enemies, but also plenty of followers; Phelps doesn’t. And while there’s plenty of homophobic bigots in the world, most aren’t professional media trolls who embarrass their own ideological fellow travelers by going after dead military veterans. Yeah I know a gay guy who blows them off as “a large family with problems.” Doesn’t make me hate them less though. Even more than God Hates Fags! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/12 "2012-12-18T07:40:49Z")
Kirk Cameron. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/13 "2012-12-18T08:30:31Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > No way. Plenty of Conservatives still use the “miss me yet?” poster. Plenty of people like him. “Universally” does include the entire world, not just the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/14 "2012-12-18T08:36:05Z")
Nobody outside the U.S. has ever heard of Fred Phelps. Well, I mean, I have. But I’m the exception. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/15 "2012-12-18T08:45:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Nobody outside the U.S. has ever heard of Fred Phelps. IIRC he’s made an international spectacle of himself a few times. More to the point, he’s in the running for “most universally agreed upon scumbag” because among the people who know who he is, that agreement appears to be indeed universal. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/16 "2012-12-18T08:50:19Z")
The most hated scumbag on Earth right now is the person who authorized the removal of the **“turn off safe search”** feature on Google. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/17 "2012-12-18T09:10:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Nobody outside the U.S. has ever heard of Fred Phelps. > > Well, I mean, I have. But I’m the exception. No no. I have a strange following spanning several countries (and generations) and we all agree Fred Phelps is repulsive. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/18 "2012-12-18T09:11:08Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > No way. Plenty of Conservatives still use the “miss me yet?” poster. Plenty of people like him. In the US. Outside the US he is universally abhorred. Let’s say half the population in the US think George W. Bush is ok, that leaves 6850000000 people in the world who probably think he is the world’s biggest scumbag. Assad does bad things in Syria, to Syrian people. Kony does bad things in Uganda. Bush did bad things all over the world, and we’re _still_ fighting his stupid wars. Everyone knows him. I’m not convinced that Joseph Kony got much coverage in Azerbaijan, but Bush did. In some countries (incl. Russia) people are probably told that Assad is a kind-hearted teddy bear dictator whose naughty population are being horrid to him. Bush will be reviled there, as he is everywhere. I vote Bush for biggest universally agreed upon scumbag on Planet Earth. He may not objectively be as bad a person as the other nominees, but if we need to universally agree he is it. ETA Fred Phelps is only for people who watch documentaries on television, ie a few people. My Granny in the UK doesn’t even know who he is. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/19 "2012-12-18T10:22:17Z")
For the UK, I’d suggest Jimmy Saville is probably the most hated (admittedly posthumously) person right now. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406/20 "2012-12-18T10:28:47Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Nobody outside the U.S. has ever heard of Fred Phelps. > > Well, I mean, I have. But I’m the exception. I have as well. I don’t think Bashar Al Assad is that disliked outside the West and in Syria and in Turkey. I am pretty sure that in many in Israel’s security establishment hope he survives, better the devil you know. Anyway, Dick Cheney? Rumsfeld? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-universally-agreed-upon-scumbag-on-planet-earth-right-now/644406.md?page=2)