General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMiss these guys yet? You betcha. - By Jennifer Rubin
They looked relaxed, comfortable in their own skin and happy to be in each others company. They looked normal. The sight of former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Presidents Cup golf tournament made one downright nostalgic and a little sheepish about not appreciating them more when they were in office, even the ones we passionately disagreed with.
In the 24 years of their combined presidencies, we experienced war, economic calamity, government shutdowns, an impeachment and a myriad of other painful episodes. One segment of the electorate differed strongly with the policies of one or more of them. Looking back, however, some of the criticism was entirely deserved and some was disproportionate, unfair and wrongheaded. Despite their mistakes and missteps, we passed positive, bipartisan measures, including welfare reform, No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D reform and the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). We normalized relations with Vietnam, passed the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Magnitsky Act again on a bipartisan basis. We helped end the Balkan war, saved the auto industry and prevented a financial meltdown (thanks to Bushs and then Obamas support for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP). Some part of the electorate approved of more controversial items under each president; the electorate did not believe by a large majority (as they do now) that any of them was unfit to hold office, no matter how strongly some of us disagreed with some of their actions.
More important and we took this entirely for granted none of these presidents thought the office was an opportunity for self-enrichment, stoking racial divisions, demonizing immigrants or delegitimizing the free press. Pick your least favorite of the three, and he will be regarded as a giant in comparison with President Trump. Collectively, in 24 years they told fewer lies than Trump has in eight months in office. Each actually bothered to read things, appoint honorable and experienced people to high offices, filled political slots, tried to understand the issues and cared about the content of the laws they signed.
These presidents did not hold office in some distant time. We dont have to go through decaying microfilm and stacks of yellowed, crumbling documents to recall their presidencies. We can, it seems, collectively decide that the Trump presidency is an aberration, a horrible mistake. He need not define either our time nor our country. He can be a blip on the political radar, passing out of sight before he does permanent damage. We can at least reestablish the baseline decency and conscientiousness the three predecessors displayed.
We are tempted to overstate the influence of a single president, to proclaim ourselves inevitably on the road to ruin. We should avoid the addiction of defeatism and the lure of resignation. These three presidents (and George H.W. Bush as well) can help by setting an example of public civility and cooperation and at appropriate times speaking out to defend American values and democratic norms. They can address audiences jointly and make videos defending the free press, denouncing moral relativism when it comes to neo-Nazis and deploring the temptation to shut ourselves off from the world and repudiate objective reality.
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/09/29/miss-these-guys-yet-you-betcha/?utm_term=.119999082bb2
mini-vids of all five living former Presidents are a part of this article. Vids are about 30 secs long each.
tblue37
(65,483 posts)niyad
(113,527 posts)biggest lying scum to ever soil the people's house.
ProfessorGAC
(65,156 posts). . .some of his missteps weren't evil and some of the dumb things he said weren't lies, merely wrong.
With this new one, that can't be said.
Kaleva
(36,328 posts)NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)of Worst President Ever. He has a lot to answer for, but he was nowhere near the evil of Dump. I have to say he even LOOKS good, physically, compared to the bloated cheeto.
NNadir
(33,541 posts)Trump is giving poor James Buchanan a run for the money. Buchanan also appointed traitors to office and coddled traitors, although he himself was not a traitor.
Buchanan lead us into a war during which 2% of Americans died.
Trump is almost certainly a traitor himself, unlike Buchanan but it remains to be seen how many Americans and other citizens of the world he kills.
Of course dumb asses put this fool in control of nuclear weapons, so, as terrifying as it is, Trump could dwarf Buchanan as all time worst.
We will certainly need a Lincolnesque leader to get past the damage this despicable, deplorable criminal will do.
Martin Eden
(12,875 posts)Trump has to play catchup to do as much damage.
lapfog_1
(29,219 posts)I don't think he will be welcomed by this group... especially if he resigns or is forced to leave.
Even GWB is head and shoulders above Shart Cannon.
True Dough
(17,314 posts)Dolt 45 ever being anything but a pariah to his predecessors.
50 Shades Of Blue
(10,036 posts)Kaleva
(36,328 posts)50 Shades Of Blue
(10,036 posts)Kaleva
(36,328 posts)Trump will be in the company of Harding, Andrew Johnson, Buchanan, Pierce and Fillmore. A group that Bush 43 isn't considered part of.
50 Shades Of Blue
(10,036 posts)Kaleva
(36,328 posts)Trump is all around despicable and with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Ohiya
(2,238 posts)...so far...
Let's get rid of Trump before he surpasses GW.
Gothmog
(145,489 posts)Even W looks great compared to trump
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)NO! Fuck no!
CrispyQ
(36,502 posts)And what will come after Trump, if this is normalized? Which seems to be happening, with each passing day. There is worse than Trump out there - just look at Alabama.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)will come after 'Donnie Doll Hands'.
CrispyQ
(36,502 posts)Even though they got it by lying, cheating & stealing, they still see it as validation that they are superior. Which leads to even more repugnant behavior & new crops of even more heinous candidates. I wish I shared the optimists hope that we'll come back from this. If we do, I think it will take a long, long time.
not fooled
(5,801 posts)chimpy started wrecking the Federal Government in earnest. chumpy now is putting that on steroids but chimpy was there first. Having a shtick that makes you look like a cowboyin' ranchin' good ol' boy while in reality you are the dimwitted tool scion of an evil crime family doesn't make you presidential material.
And nothing excuses lying the nation into a hideously elective war.
Installing presidents who didn't win legitimately never works out well.
dalton99a
(81,568 posts)because he's not a normal human being
OldHippieChick
(2,434 posts)something about his mouth and how he expresses himself that is so contrived. Alec Baldwin has somehow mastered it. I have actually tried because it must take lots of practice. It truly hurts my face.
Kaleva
(36,328 posts)OldHippieChick
(2,434 posts)But he makes it some kind of a pucker and attempts to speak from that pucker. What the hell is that?
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)Skittles
(153,182 posts)NOT NOW, NOT EVER
mithnanthy
(1,725 posts)Worst of the worst!
oppressedproletarian
(243 posts)Not to mention non-repulsive bodies, families....
DinahMoeHum
(21,806 posts)geardaddy
(24,931 posts)Not the one in the middle. Yes, * seems less loathsome now, but he got us into the mess in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, no, I don't miss him.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)GoCubsGo
(32,086 posts)I'm still futilely trying to recover from his and his minions actions, which totally destroyed my career, my ability to earn an income, my health, and my life, in general. I hope they all wind up in my shoes. The sooner the better.
As for the other two guys, I miss them more than I can express. Especially the one wearing sunglasses.
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)Doreen
(11,686 posts)Tatiana
(14,167 posts)I really thought we were going to get Bubba back. ***Sigh***
I miss capable, intelligent Presidents.
Lil Missy
(17,865 posts)Solly Mack
(90,779 posts)Never.
Click link in my sig line if you ever start to think he was anything but a piece of shit war criminal.
Why wouldn't Trump think he could get away anything? The Bush administration got away with torturing people.
I recall people saying, myself included, if a president is allowed to get away with war crimes and erosion of rights, then there will be a future president who goes even further.
Well, the future is here.