Richard Nixon is often reviled as the Official Worst President and I think there are much more apt choices plus he signed off on the Environmental Protection Agency. (WIKI: United States Environmental Protection Agency)
You may know that much already but the part you may not know is Nixon pushed the EPA via Executive Order. I had thought possibly he had been forced into it as a result of some machiavellian chicanery but that was not the case. Apparently he wanted it.
That aspect alone puts Nixon into immediate contrast with Trump who is taking all possible steps, also via Executive Order, to disable EPA. In the context of willful destruction to the environment, Trump goes way down and Nixon goes way up.
Nixon was also a diplomat insofar as he opened Red China whereas Trump treats the rest of the world like they're lucky he lets them continue breathing ... so long as they pay up. Nixon was thoughtful or devious as you will whereas Trump and his crew (e.g. Tillerson) only display simple arrogance.
In these respects, the Rockhouse believes Nixon clears Trump's clock but there's more to it than that.
Kent State was on Nixon's watch and the Ohio National Guard killed four unarmed kids on the Kent State campus. The next worst in terms of oppression of We the People was Obama in the way he went after Occupy Wall Street and he did a lot of shitty things but he never killed anyone.
Kent State won't wash off.
I know this pissed you off when I tangled with the idea previously but I really don't mean to go soft on him and instead try to get a bit objective about it.
Something else which won't wash off is the stain on America's reputation from all the Indian blood Andrew Jackson left on it. He brought more disgrace to America than any other President so he's an easy winner for the Official Worst President. Neither Nixon nor Trump qualify.
The point of this missive is I don't see a one-size-fits-all situation for Nixon. He did some really shitty things but he did some impressive ones as well. Thus far, Trump doesn't impress at all but the only expectation from him was he would not be as aggressive in Syria as Obama / Clinton / Biden as he had said in the campaign.
That's now busted out and we're just seeing the same old song and dance we have been seeing for years.
Patience my ass, I just wanna kill somethin'.
Note: I know some of you old geezers remember that one.
They weren't setting out to get Hitler in WWII since no matter who was running the place, America was going to whack him. It was the same with Japan since no-one cared about whacking the Emperor because Japan was going down with or without him. There was no aspect of personality at that time. Now there's endless campaign to whack this bad guy or that one because, yeah, boy, then we will have peace.
People have noticed, however, that never brings peace and Washington just keeps repeating the same things. In other words, they have no idea what they're doing. There's nothing guiding this ship except fucking sorcery.
Ed: there's John McCain!
That fool couldn't find the bottom of the hill in a soapbox derby racer.
You may know that much already but the part you may not know is Nixon pushed the EPA via Executive Order. I had thought possibly he had been forced into it as a result of some machiavellian chicanery but that was not the case. Apparently he wanted it.
That aspect alone puts Nixon into immediate contrast with Trump who is taking all possible steps, also via Executive Order, to disable EPA. In the context of willful destruction to the environment, Trump goes way down and Nixon goes way up.
Nixon was also a diplomat insofar as he opened Red China whereas Trump treats the rest of the world like they're lucky he lets them continue breathing ... so long as they pay up. Nixon was thoughtful or devious as you will whereas Trump and his crew (e.g. Tillerson) only display simple arrogance.
In these respects, the Rockhouse believes Nixon clears Trump's clock but there's more to it than that.
Kent State was on Nixon's watch and the Ohio National Guard killed four unarmed kids on the Kent State campus. The next worst in terms of oppression of We the People was Obama in the way he went after Occupy Wall Street and he did a lot of shitty things but he never killed anyone.
Kent State won't wash off.
I know this pissed you off when I tangled with the idea previously but I really don't mean to go soft on him and instead try to get a bit objective about it.
Something else which won't wash off is the stain on America's reputation from all the Indian blood Andrew Jackson left on it. He brought more disgrace to America than any other President so he's an easy winner for the Official Worst President. Neither Nixon nor Trump qualify.
The point of this missive is I don't see a one-size-fits-all situation for Nixon. He did some really shitty things but he did some impressive ones as well. Thus far, Trump doesn't impress at all but the only expectation from him was he would not be as aggressive in Syria as Obama / Clinton / Biden as he had said in the campaign.
That's now busted out and we're just seeing the same old song and dance we have been seeing for years.
Patience my ass, I just wanna kill somethin'.
Note: I know some of you old geezers remember that one.
They weren't setting out to get Hitler in WWII since no matter who was running the place, America was going to whack him. It was the same with Japan since no-one cared about whacking the Emperor because Japan was going down with or without him. There was no aspect of personality at that time. Now there's endless campaign to whack this bad guy or that one because, yeah, boy, then we will have peace.
People have noticed, however, that never brings peace and Washington just keeps repeating the same things. In other words, they have no idea what they're doing. There's nothing guiding this ship except fucking sorcery.
Ed: there's John McCain!
That fool couldn't find the bottom of the hill in a soapbox derby racer.
2 comments:
Historians would disagree with both of our assessments of Nixon and Jackson. Nixon is ranked by a consensus of polls of historians spanning several decades as #33 of 43 previous presidents. Andrew Jackson is rated #9 of 43 and James Buchanan is worst at #43 of 43. This is based on 18 surveys of groups of historians going back to 1962 from organizations such as C-SPAN and the Wall Street Journal. WIKI: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States .
These rankings do not take into account individual perspective such as ours. Obviously, if you were an Indian or a descendent of one removed from their land during Andrew Jackson's administration, he would be rated last at #43 not #9. Likewise, in your opinion the removal of Indians from their lands ranks Andrew Jackson last. If your son or daughter was killed in Vietnam or you are Vietnamese (over 21,000 Americans & over 1 million Vietnamese were killed 1969-1974 http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20061211_was_nixon_worse), you would likely rate Nixon #43 not #33. In my opinion, Vietnam and resigniing in disgrace ranks Richard Nixon last.
However, in both cases our opinions are contrasted with those in these surveys who have carefully studied these Presidents relative to theirs and other Presidents weaknesses and achievements. This does not make them right, but in my case will encourage further study regarding both presidents; i.e.: Nixon prolonged the Vietnam War for political gain http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nixon-prolonged-vietnam-war-for-political-gainand-johnson-knew-about-it-newly-unclassified-tapes-suggest-3595441/ .
I appreciate the thinking and threw out another article on the theme. The frame of reference idea is astute since we see now with so many using as a frame the Pentagon can do no wrong. With that as a foundation, just about anything goes.
Post a Comment