Puppy.
Your points are well taken, 'lucy, but what do you make of the fact that Ms. Thomas, who knew Dick Nixon well (and probably Harding, for that matter) would single out Junior as the absolute worst? It seems like an extraordinary thing for her to say. Can it be that she knows a truly empty suit when she sees one?
I hate Bush.
Hate him hate him hate him. The Dems would have to run Osama Bin Laden before they’d lose my vote in 2004, and if they did, I’d vote Green.
But worst ever?
He’d have to slaughter the rest of the Cherokee, fail to prevent a second civil war, be massively corrupt (moreso than I’ve heard plausible said), and send goons to his rivals’ houses before he even makes the top (bottom) five!
Maybe he can squeak past LBJ and Reagan, if he really commits himself to evil and stupidity, but that still live a lot of tough competition.
This country has weathered much worse. It will survive Bush.
Hyperbole doesn’t help anything. Although this lady should know.
Good question, Diode. She definitely a brainy lady, got stones of her own, kinda reminds me of St. Molly of Ivins, Our Lady of Perpetual Bar-B-Q. Her testimony carries a lot of weight, so I remain open.
Erm.
At first I was tempted to say “Hell, yes!” But then I thought over past presidents [even the ones before i was born – which was, er, anyone before reagan] and I wasn’t so sure.
Johnson was pretty bad, from what I’ve heard/read/whatever. Started that whole war-fought-from-Washington foolishness, something for which I will never forgive him, despite the fact that he is long dead. As for Nixon, I don’t hate him so much as pity him for being the paranoid little freak he was. Gerald R. Ford, who, by the way, came from my hometown, was never even elected into office, which is enough to make me dislike him. Thank god he didn’t go to a second term. I honestly don’t mind Carter, as he was a break from the hideousness of the Republican regime, and has done a lot to try to improve the world.
And Reagan. Ugh. Reagan’s the big contender with Bush right now. Trickle-Down Economy my ass. He was elected because he was a movie star and did absolutely nothing except screw the country over and cause some scandals.
But Bush still wins out, I think. With his blatant abuse of the nation’s fear of terrorism and his tactic of McCarthyism, I’m genuinely terrified to be an American. Reagan was pretty bad, but he never exploited a nation’s emotions to quite this extent. Jesus.
[end rant?]
Not sure if he is the worst ever but he is pretty embarassing. I was recently on vacation at a resort full of people from everywhere across the globe and GW is the laughing stock of the planet along with the rest of us Americans who elected him. (or did we?)
You do realize that her testimony only carried weight with ‘extreme’ Democrats and the like, no? She is looney, and growing more so as she gets impossibly older.
Maybe once upon a time, she was able to offer sane and rational opinions (Which a reporter should keep to themselves, unless writing an editorial peice, but I digress), but she is the laughing stock of the White House press pool. When she cackles out a ‘question’ to poor Arie, the looks on the others in the room vary from pained to bemused; Only die-hards take her with any degree of seriousness.
Well, you can pretty much pin it on the 10,000 people in Florida who went to vote for Gore and unknowingly voted for Buchanan. Hadn’t been for that, there might not have been the opportunity for theft. Then, of course, the Florida Legislature who made it clear that they would vote the Bush ticket in electorally, regardless of what any recount said.
You know, I’ve been on the left all my life, first on a picket line with my Grandfather when I was three. Over the years, I’ve learned to generally keep my political opinions close to the vest when in the workplace. But this is the first time I can recall, save for when Nixon screwed the pooch, that I’ve heard so much open and unembarassed contempt expressed for a sitting POTUS.
Thing is, Americans don’t like the think ill of the Prez, regardless of who he is. We just don’t like it, we make excuses. And we are natural born suckers for the “solidarity in time of war” ploy. Just about always works. Most unusual, it raises the oddest sensation, warm, but not tingly, its kinda like…hope, I guess.
That’s sort of interesting. I’m sorry if I missed a thread on this before, but I wonder how Bush’s allies and defenders address this? Do they just deny it’s true? Believe that the rest of the world is just stupid? A clash in communication styles? Dislike of policy carrying over to the man? What?
Cite?
Ah yes, the White House press room: forever the nerve center of sane and rational thought, not to mention truth.
Hell, if they <b>weren’t</b> rolling their eyes at her, I’d be worried.
My father and I were discussing GW before the election and my worst fear then has come to pass. My exact words: “he will have our military strung out across the globe”. The guy just doesn’t know what else to do. Give him a big stick in one hand and a English / Arabic dictionary in the other and everytime he will drop the dictionary and start wailing away.
There we’re two young English girls, about 25 I’d guess, that gave a chuckle everytime we got around to GW in the conversation. They were of similar opinion about the need for counter terrorist measures and the like but they just thought that GW was a big “boob” as one of them put it. There were two Frenchmen that I spoke with at length and with great difficulty (my french is not good and thier english worse) but at the mention of “Bush” the reaction is the same, a good chuckle. I don’t really know why other than the same reasons lots of people here chuckle at him. He comes across as being a slow witted kind of guy sometimes.
He’s been a rather effective president by most objective measures. He’s gotten most of his agenda passed, and his response to 9/11 has been measured and focused.
The midterm elections of 2002 were another big success for him.
He’s not a great public speaker, and looks that much worse next to Used Car Salesman Smooth Bill Clinton.
Well, where I work, we work…we don’t discuss politics, 'cept maybe the day after the election.
The Planet???
Cite?
Worst in the galaxy, it would actually seem…
Anyone have access to Alpha Centauri newswires?
Well I wouldn’t have any other cite than what I already said. After meeting lots of different people from all over the planet I can tell you that almost without exception they laugh at GW. Hence, the laughing stock of the planet. I don’t do jokes very well in Frech or Spanish but “George Bush” seemed to be an international ice breaker at happy hour.
Dubya the worst President ever? Oh, hell, no. While I’m certainly no fan of our current President (and, IMHO, we really should wait until his tenure’s over to pass Historical Judgment on him), so far the worst President ever, hands down, is James Buchanan.
He saw the Civil War on the horizon, AND CONSCIOUSLY CHOSE TO DO NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO TRY TO AVERT IT. Okay, maybe NOTHING could have stopped it, but there was no point in even trying, said Jimmy. Most memorable quote: “I am the last President of the United States.”
Shameful.
It has to be Pierce. That guy was a douche
elucidator, perhaps that’s a function of the company you tend to keep? I don’t mean that to sound flippant. I work at a company whose management team tends to be very conservative. I don’t hear the naked contempt for Bush that you do, though it was practically uninterrupted for Clinton. I’m not implying a value for either president here, only pointing out that people who have “been on the left” all their lives may tend to travel in circles where the perception you have is quite common.
World travelers and personal observations aside, Bush’s approval ratings (yes, on the downswing) have not (I don’t think) been reflective of a president held in particular contempt. Again, I don’t offer that to show he’s a great president, only to suggest that personal experience is not the best gauge of national opinions.
And, IMHO, given the cavalcade of dopes already cited, Bush ain’t the worst by a long shot (but, hey, it’s early yet).