Rewriting History (aka Spin)

Cyclonepride

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As to the original point, most politicians on both sides are ridiculously corrupt. What was that the comedian said that you should say when your wife catches you in bed with another woman.........Wasn't me..... just keep repeating that, and eventually she might believe you.
 

alaskaguy

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Lyndon B. Johnson resume:

Named his ***** Jumbo.
Enjoyed watching movies of animals mating.

And a couple of quotes:

"I never trust a man unless I've got his pecker in my pocket."
"I want real loyalty. I want someone who will kiss my *** in Macy's window, and say it smells like roses."
 

Stormin

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Lyndon B. Johnson resume:

Named his ***** Jumbo.
Enjoyed watching movies of animals mating.

And a couple of quotes:

"I never trust a man unless I've got his pecker in my pocket."
"I want real loyalty. I want someone who will kiss my *** in Macy's window, and say it smells like roses."

But was his nickname as good as Warren "Hard **" Harding?

And I rate GW Bush as the worst, not just for the Iraq War debacle, but also for his unprecedented attack on the Constitution, plus his ridiculous signing statements which mean that any law passed he doesn't have to follow. That is why I think he is dangerous. Bush is setting precedents in place that we will end up regretting.
 

alaskaguy

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I've read a few excerpts from Greenspans book and one excerpt I can recall is that he considered Gerald R. Ford "as close to normal as you could get in a President."
 

herbicide

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Bush is far from the first president to attack the constitution.

In recent history, the biggest, most blatant attack the constitution was the Japanese/German/Italian internment camps during WWII.

FYI the president at the time was FDR.

Bush's precedent that he is setting is that he hasn't just used those signing statements sparingly, he is using them all the freaking time.
 

herbicide

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I've read a few excerpts from Greenspans book and one excerpt I can recall is that he considered Gerald R. Ford "as close to normal as you could get in a President."

Ford was a personal friend of my Great Grandfather. University of Michigan connection. Despite his public appearance of being clumsy, he was probably the most athletic president ever. Played on a few Nat'l championship Michigan teams. I believe he was an All-American as well.

I think he was one of the most underrated presidents of all time, especially considering he was never on a ticket, never elected, and how he was thrown into the office.
 

alaskaguy

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Ford was a personal friend of my Great Grandfather. University of Michigan connection. Despite his public appearance of being clumsy, he was probably the most athletic president ever. Played on a few Nat'l championship Michigan teams. I believe he was an All-American as well.

I think he was one of the most underrated presidents of all time, especially considering he was never on a ticket, never elected, and how he was thrown into the office.

I seriously doubt whether Gerald Ford makes anybody's best or worst list. I presume that indicates his agenda was not overly partisan. I recall during the Carter-Ford election that Ford was considered the more "liberal" candidate. Unless there is a major shift in the party platforms I doubt we will witness another election where the Republican candidate is percieved to be more liberal.
 

alaskaguy

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LBJ's biggest lie (spin):

"As President and Commander in Chief it is my duty to the American people to report that renewed hostile actions against United States ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action in reply."

The Reality:

There was no unprovoked Vietnamese attack on a U.S. warship. President Johnson ran with the untrue story to gain support for American involvement in Vietnam.

The consequences:

None for LBJ. The lie resulted in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized the president to use "all necessary measures" to defend U.S. forces. Johnson later compared the resolution to "grandma's nightskirt -- it covered everything." 58,214 Americans died in the Vietnam War.
 

herbiedoobie

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Actually, both Abe Lincoln and FDR attacked the constitution more significantly and in more ways than Bush.

Both Lincoln and FDR mismanaged war efforts in an order of magnitude worse than G.W. Bush. The fact that both of them won their wars doesn't exonerate them from not understanding how the military worked, and picking the wrong guys to run the war effort, initially.

Even Truman made worse foreign policy mistakes than G.W..

G.W. is "Bush-league" (pun intended) in comparison to them for his screw-ups. What makes him SEEM so bad, is proximity. It's happening right now, so it seems that much worse, to us.

One of the greatest things about this country, is how the country has perservered, despite some pretty uniformly poor presidential leadership.