I have very little hope for our upcoming presidential election. While surely America is not going to vote for the current dimwit again, I'm not all that thrilled with the slate of the Dems who are running. Most of them either are running so far to the far left as to be unelectable (not to mention the insanity of the policies), but they are also playing right into the Far Right's hands whereby their own insanity is still insane, but comparable.
So I have been having this heated fantasy popping into my head while mowing the yard or driving the bus or playing video game, and it's to my blog that I turn when I have stupid ideas that needs to be disposed of.
Here's how it goes: the presidential election debates of 2020 get opened up to a third person on stage. A random American, somebody with no desire for public office but who is drawn by lottery to stand on the stage with Trump and Sanders/Warren/Booker/Biden whoever. Who knows how it happens? Maybe a network decides to spice things up, maybe Trump demands a third person be on the ballots to draw off votes from his opponents. And someday, next September, I get a call saying, "Sir, we need you to come to Columbus next week. You have been drafted to be in the Presidential debate."
I feel so contradictory about being in the limelight. I am a preacher, after all...and so I stand before audiences several times a week and hope to impress for the sake of the gospel. I've never been fully comfortable before others, but I've done it long enough now that I can do this, and I'm arrogant enough to think that I'm smarter than most everybody else. But at the same time being up in front of a stage, becoming famous, horrifies me, because I know that a)I'm not charismatic or telegenic, at all b)I would stumble over my words and become the new meme generator for the 20s, and c)I really, really don't want the responsibility of representing the half of the American population who is sick of both sides.
Yet I'm drafted into this fantasy. And there I am, standing before Chuck Todd and Megan Kelly to give my answers at the great debates of the presidency. I picture myself on the one hand being respectful of the Democrats while at the same time pointing out their message is not being accepted because it is, well, impractical. Cancelling college debt for 17th century French literature majors? Providing 'free' health care for the morbidly obese? Seriously. I know you have good intentions...but do you have any idea how dumb and unrealistic these ideas are?
But my bigger anger turns towards Trump. I imagine myself looking over at the big orange blob known as Mr. President and blasting away. 'Sir, you're a disgrace, an embarassment, a serial adulterer and perhaps a serial rapist...please, for the love of all that's good, resign. I promise, I'll ensure that somebody comes over to you and kisses your butt everyday, since that's what you want. Just go away, and nobody else gets hurt.' And on and on it goes.
Overall, I do my best, dodge the particulars of policy, and I collapse at the end of the night, glad that it's over. But of course my words have sparked a scandal. How dare he! Who does he think he is? Learn to be respectful! You're a preacher of the gospel, and this is God's chosen man? The whole establishment, both left and right, are infuriated (or secretly delighted).
And then three days later the polls come out: Trump, 38% (because he's got 38% of Americans who will never leave him, I'm convinced, until the next paragraph's turn of events). Sanders/Warren/Booker/Biden, 36%. Me, 22%. Other, 4%. People go crazy. Wait, is there a third alternative? Can we get out of the stupidity of this two party system that is destroying America? Yes! Ballot initiatives to get me on the ballots are begun out of nowhere by grassroots people who are equally as frustrated and I find myself on the presidential ballot in 46 states. My high school friend Derek agrees to be my VP running mate, 'cuz he's smart and business-like and he has lived in Iowa long enough to pull those votes. I don't really do anything, except being featured in the Atlantic and occasionally being talked about on late night talk shows. But I've hit a nerve.
And then late September rolls around: the stock market crashes. Sean Hannity breaks down on air. Trump's two oldest sons are indicted for paying millions to the Russians to purchase a tape of their father in a Russian hotel room doing unmentionable things. Mike Pence is overheard on a video saying that the last four years have been a disaster. Trump's support vanishes overnight, and people wake up long enough to recognize that he's the moron that he has always been. Sanders/Warren/Booker/Biden has no plan to get us through this except Spend and Hold Hands.
On a random Thursday evening I finish my bus route and eat dinner with my family and then appear on Wolf Blitzer's show and state the obvious, that the bill has come due for our profligate spending, and we have to suck it up and ride out the next four years, and hey, I'll do my best and then leave, whatever. Immedately people find that I'm the least of three evils, and I'm now polling in late October at 53%. The media swarms my little town, talks to people at church and the kids on my bus route, and I'm suddenly the frontrunner. America's sweetheart, perhaps.
And then suddenly every bad thing I've ever done or thought of doing is now featured in Breitbert News and then picked up on Fox News. Once I underpaid my state income taxes by $200 (honest mistake). I have taken a housing allowance and not paid into social security. In college I once broke up with a girl because I said I was 'bored'. I worked at a pawn shop. I watched I Dream of Jeannie when I was younger because Barbara Eden was HOT. I once posted on a message board about the how Americans are in love too much with a flag and not enough with righteousness, and another time I posted on my blog about how many Americans are just fat and stupid.
All true, I finally announce, three days before the election. At my press conference I have a large bruise and bandage on my forehead where I scraped my bald head on the kitchen cabinet door and look like a complete dork. I get asked a few questions that trap me into saying that too many Americans are privileged and that we haven't been a Christian nation recently, if ever, and that we pay far too much attention to our 'brave men and women in uniform' and not enough to the garbage collectors and custodians and fast-food workers who really make this country run.
And here the fantasy ends.
On the Sunday evening before the election Trump launches some missiles into Iran and North Korea and the Patriotic Defense Rationalization kicks in to give him the votes. Sanders/Warren/Booker/Biden's tour bus crashes somewhere in the Appalachins, and suddenly it's over. Trump wins again, puts me in jail for dissent and unAmerican behavior, and three months later nuclear missiles are detonated under the ice caps and 90% of humanity dies within a week.
I never did figure out how the story would end differently.
Showing posts with label Presidency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Presidency. Show all posts
Friday, July 5, 2019
Monday, February 19, 2018
President's Day
Today is President's Day. Once upon a time this day was actually two holidays, Jefferson's Birthday and Washington's Birthday, but when Congress decided to create a holiday for Martin Luther King they didn't want to create one more holiday, so they consolidated those two birthdates (conveniently both in February) into one holiday, President's Day.
And a stupid holiday it is, because while we may honor founding fathers like Washington and Jefferson, we also have lumped into this holiday the Warren G Hardings and the William Henry Harrisons of our national history. And one day, good grief, Donald Trump will be in the past and this holiday will then be 1/45th of his by default. 😖
Of course, this isn't the dumbest holiday in our country...tied with it likely is Columbus Day, which in recent years has come under fire for a)honoring a man who never came to this country, actually, b)wasn't the first (there were Indians here, not to mention the Vikings and likely others who found there way here) and c)was only one of many who went west at the end of the 15th century. Why we honor Columbus alone I don't really know. But it's a holiday, the dumbest holiday of all.
Every other holiday has a purpose...Veteran's Day honors veterans, Labor Day honors organized labor, etc. Our problem is not in the idea of these holidays, but rather in our execution of it...it makes no sense to me that we close schools and libraries on many of these days rather than use this time to educate as to what our nation is about. Our holidays have lost meaning because we forget to educate. And as we are educated, then we begin to look at some of these holidays in a brand new light: consider how Columbus Day is sometimes re-labeled indigenous people's day, in honor of those who were already here...yet this hasn't really caught on. So what should we do?
For President's Day, let's re-label this day Founder's Day. In doing this we honor not Presidents (nor have to make other honors for Congress, the Supreme Court, or the Bureaucracy), but rather the founding principles of this country. We already have Independence Day to be sure, but that looks back to 1776, while in fact 1789 and the creation of the Constitution might be a better marker for us. On this day we honor the hard work of all those who have come before us, to honor that we stand on the shoulder of giants who gave us not only independence, but the life that follows.
And for Columbus Day? Let's now call it Immigrant's Day. Columbus, if nothing else, helped pave the way for many people to come to America during the following decades. Yes, the indigenous people suffered...but many of us owe our life to those brave men and women who pulled up stakes in their home country and decided to come to a land of new opportunity. My ancestors have likely been here for well over 200 years; others haven't been here nearly this long. But together, by the grace of God, we all make this country what it is. Trumpites are wrong for not being able to see this, that the strength of this country comes because it is continually infused with new blood. We need immigrants in this country, and having a day to honor them might well go against the increasingly nativism that Trump and his cronies cook up in order to make people afraid.
And a stupid holiday it is, because while we may honor founding fathers like Washington and Jefferson, we also have lumped into this holiday the Warren G Hardings and the William Henry Harrisons of our national history. And one day, good grief, Donald Trump will be in the past and this holiday will then be 1/45th of his by default. 😖
Of course, this isn't the dumbest holiday in our country...tied with it likely is Columbus Day, which in recent years has come under fire for a)honoring a man who never came to this country, actually, b)wasn't the first (there were Indians here, not to mention the Vikings and likely others who found there way here) and c)was only one of many who went west at the end of the 15th century. Why we honor Columbus alone I don't really know. But it's a holiday, the dumbest holiday of all.
Every other holiday has a purpose...Veteran's Day honors veterans, Labor Day honors organized labor, etc. Our problem is not in the idea of these holidays, but rather in our execution of it...it makes no sense to me that we close schools and libraries on many of these days rather than use this time to educate as to what our nation is about. Our holidays have lost meaning because we forget to educate. And as we are educated, then we begin to look at some of these holidays in a brand new light: consider how Columbus Day is sometimes re-labeled indigenous people's day, in honor of those who were already here...yet this hasn't really caught on. So what should we do?
For President's Day, let's re-label this day Founder's Day. In doing this we honor not Presidents (nor have to make other honors for Congress, the Supreme Court, or the Bureaucracy), but rather the founding principles of this country. We already have Independence Day to be sure, but that looks back to 1776, while in fact 1789 and the creation of the Constitution might be a better marker for us. On this day we honor the hard work of all those who have come before us, to honor that we stand on the shoulder of giants who gave us not only independence, but the life that follows.
And for Columbus Day? Let's now call it Immigrant's Day. Columbus, if nothing else, helped pave the way for many people to come to America during the following decades. Yes, the indigenous people suffered...but many of us owe our life to those brave men and women who pulled up stakes in their home country and decided to come to a land of new opportunity. My ancestors have likely been here for well over 200 years; others haven't been here nearly this long. But together, by the grace of God, we all make this country what it is. Trumpites are wrong for not being able to see this, that the strength of this country comes because it is continually infused with new blood. We need immigrants in this country, and having a day to honor them might well go against the increasingly nativism that Trump and his cronies cook up in order to make people afraid.
Friday, June 9, 2017
The Adolescent President
It's been said many times before, but we have a 12-year old boy in the White House. No, it's not Barron Trump (I think he still lives in New York with his mother). It's the president, Donald Trump. Watching him the last year or so has called to mind the Tom Hanks character in Big, a little boy who makes a wish for a big boy body and wakes up to find himself an adult. For awhile, it's fun. He gets to plays like a big boy until he finds out that it's not all that he thought it would be. The only difference between Josh Baskin (the character in Big) and Trump is that a)Baskin eventually starts acting like an adult and b)then returns back to being a child again without all of his big-boy responsibilities.
How else can we explain a character like Trump? Whether it is him bragging about getting a second scoop of ice cream (while everyone else gets one), or is never happier than while pretending to drive a semi, or harassing women by grabbing them by the p***y or walking in on them while they are getting dressed, or obsessing about how many people came to his party, he's a little boy who thinks that the world revolves around himself and throws tantrums when this doesn't seem to be the case.
Many liberals see Trump as a much more sinister, evil character, but after watching him for a year, I don't think he really is. Compared to a character like Frank Underwood in House of Cards, who is simply about power and seems to have a Palpatine vibe, Trump is a lot more about the pretend world of what he imagines power and influence to be. I'm not convinced after all this that he is smart or mature enough to get away with many of the things he is accused of doing. That's why he so nakedly tried to tell James Comey to stop snooping around (and then screams out DID NOT! when he finds out this is illegal); that's why he can't keep a poker face and keeps tweeting whatever is on his mind (or whatever he saw on Faux News); that's why so little of what he wants (big walls! tremendous growth! the best people!) will eventually come to be (though, of course, the GOP/Tea Party in Congress seem to be getting everything they want). He's just not capable of being the evil overlord that many fear him to be.
In the end, the strongest feeling I have for Trump is to feel really sorry for him, and I really do need to pray for him more. All his life he's gotten away with doing what he wanted and faced very few consequences. Nobody who has been as emotionally challenged as he is should be forced to do what he is doing. There's a reason we don't let horny, immature, self-involved 12-year-old boys drive cars or make important decisions, let alone run the country. For their own good, we patiently wait for them to grow up. Too bad we didn't do this with Mr. Trump.
How else can we explain a character like Trump? Whether it is him bragging about getting a second scoop of ice cream (while everyone else gets one), or is never happier than while pretending to drive a semi, or harassing women by grabbing them by the p***y or walking in on them while they are getting dressed, or obsessing about how many people came to his party, he's a little boy who thinks that the world revolves around himself and throws tantrums when this doesn't seem to be the case.
Many liberals see Trump as a much more sinister, evil character, but after watching him for a year, I don't think he really is. Compared to a character like Frank Underwood in House of Cards, who is simply about power and seems to have a Palpatine vibe, Trump is a lot more about the pretend world of what he imagines power and influence to be. I'm not convinced after all this that he is smart or mature enough to get away with many of the things he is accused of doing. That's why he so nakedly tried to tell James Comey to stop snooping around (and then screams out DID NOT! when he finds out this is illegal); that's why he can't keep a poker face and keeps tweeting whatever is on his mind (or whatever he saw on Faux News); that's why so little of what he wants (big walls! tremendous growth! the best people!) will eventually come to be (though, of course, the GOP/Tea Party in Congress seem to be getting everything they want). He's just not capable of being the evil overlord that many fear him to be.
In the end, the strongest feeling I have for Trump is to feel really sorry for him, and I really do need to pray for him more. All his life he's gotten away with doing what he wanted and faced very few consequences. Nobody who has been as emotionally challenged as he is should be forced to do what he is doing. There's a reason we don't let horny, immature, self-involved 12-year-old boys drive cars or make important decisions, let alone run the country. For their own good, we patiently wait for them to grow up. Too bad we didn't do this with Mr. Trump.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Why Are We So Surprised?
So we are now almost 4 months into the presidency of Donald Trump. Daily there's something new that comes out that should have shipwrecked almost any other president, and daily the outrage and disbelief that we elected this man continues to grow. But what's amazing to me is not that these things are happening, but that so many are so surprised that this could happen. I mean, electing a thin-skinned reality TV star whose personal life has so often been a shambles to the most powerful office in the land, who could have predicted this?
-Nepotism and conflicts of interests with his family retaining business controls while having high-profile assignments within his administration: check.
-Charges that the election was stolen through Russian hacking, even as Trump continues to maintain many personal relationships and praise for Russian leaders: check.
-Trips on the government dime to Florida almost every weekend so that he can play golf, even though he routinely mocked his predecessor for playing golf: check.
-Firing subordinate government officials who have contradicted his 'facts', stood up to him, or even been investigating him or his cronies: check.
-Administrative incompetence and chaos after his signing of countless executive orders, many of which are quickly turned over for their sloppiness or being unconstitutional: check.
-Pointlessly bombing a foreign nation with cruise missiles, even while stating he has no intention of getting further involved, because his approval rating will tick up slightly after doing so: check.
-Petty late-night Twitter feuds with his 'enemies', to the point of threatening people and abusing the powers of his office: check.
And on and on it goes. There's not a thing that has happened in his administration that has surprised me, except that his approval rating still hovers at around 40%, even amongst people (usually poor, uneducated whites) who are going to be most screwed over by his policies. But then the other day I read a report that even Richard Nixon, who had done many things competently in his presidency, still maintained about a 25% approval rating in the last days before resigning in August of 1974. It made me realize that while Mr. Trump's approval rating will continue to drop, there will always be people who think he's doing a great job. Why am I surprised at this?
-Nepotism and conflicts of interests with his family retaining business controls while having high-profile assignments within his administration: check.
-Charges that the election was stolen through Russian hacking, even as Trump continues to maintain many personal relationships and praise for Russian leaders: check.
-Trips on the government dime to Florida almost every weekend so that he can play golf, even though he routinely mocked his predecessor for playing golf: check.
-Firing subordinate government officials who have contradicted his 'facts', stood up to him, or even been investigating him or his cronies: check.
-Administrative incompetence and chaos after his signing of countless executive orders, many of which are quickly turned over for their sloppiness or being unconstitutional: check.
-Pointlessly bombing a foreign nation with cruise missiles, even while stating he has no intention of getting further involved, because his approval rating will tick up slightly after doing so: check.
-Petty late-night Twitter feuds with his 'enemies', to the point of threatening people and abusing the powers of his office: check.
And on and on it goes. There's not a thing that has happened in his administration that has surprised me, except that his approval rating still hovers at around 40%, even amongst people (usually poor, uneducated whites) who are going to be most screwed over by his policies. But then the other day I read a report that even Richard Nixon, who had done many things competently in his presidency, still maintained about a 25% approval rating in the last days before resigning in August of 1974. It made me realize that while Mr. Trump's approval rating will continue to drop, there will always be people who think he's doing a great job. Why am I surprised at this?
Monday, September 26, 2016
A Poor Pool of Potential Presidents
Do you feel qualified to be President? Sure...you may be over 35 and born a citizen. Constitutionally, you are qualified.
But going by more than just a legal definition, I am becoming increasingly convinced that there are not a lot of human beings that are capable of handling this job. How many? In a nation of 300 million, maybe 300.
Think about what it means to be President...you have to have an intimate knowledge of all workings of government, not just the stuff that ends up on the news every night. You have to have a temperament that allows you to multi-task, work hard, not get frustrated, not quit, and again multi-task to the point that you can juggle a hundred balls in the air at once, because, you are the Decider. You have to be relatively free of scandal, both real and perceived. And you have to have the intelligence that only a few people have, tempered by the wisdom of age and experience.
For all the cries that people have that 'I don't want a politician!' to be president, don't we want somebody who knows what is going on? Somebody who has paid their dues? Somebody whose life has not been a celebration of self-interest but public service? I know...it's easy to say we don't want somebody who knows what the job will really involve. But would you want a CEO who has no knowledge of their industry and thus only sees the bottom line, not customers or products or employees? Would you want a major league baseball manager who doesn't know the techniques of bat control or the ins and outs of handling a multi-national clubhouse? Would you want a preacher who just recently started to study Scripture?
Being qualified matters...and likely there are very few who are truly qualified. The biggest mark against Obama was his lack of experience, and while he has done well given his inexperience (remember, he had been a state senator less than 10 seasons before becoming president!), one wonders whether or not he might have been a great president with a little more seasoning. I am thinking that being a Governor, Senator, or Cabinet secretary should be the minimum requirement; more than one of those is likely needed to get both the executive experience and the overall knowledge needed. So how many are left who have done this...300? This doesn't even begin to phase out those who were dunderheads or bad at their job; these usually get sorted out quick enough in the primaries.
And so this leads us to our election...we have two people who have a chance to win. I am voting for neither, instead deciding to vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who was once a governor. I wish he could win, but he can't get above about 12% so he has little or no shot. The other two candidates are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. One has vast experience, as a first lady (don't tell me that doesn't help somebody know what to expect), Senator, and Cabinet secretary. Is she scandal-prone? Absolutely. Do I like her? No. But compared to the alternative, who has no experience, no willingness to learn, and nothing to indicate anything beyond a concern with himself, and I'll take Hillary any day of the week, even when I don't always agree with her policies.
A Hillary presidency will be...not fun. But a Trump presidency? Get the fire extinguishers ready, because the mother of all dumpster fires is coming.
But going by more than just a legal definition, I am becoming increasingly convinced that there are not a lot of human beings that are capable of handling this job. How many? In a nation of 300 million, maybe 300.
Think about what it means to be President...you have to have an intimate knowledge of all workings of government, not just the stuff that ends up on the news every night. You have to have a temperament that allows you to multi-task, work hard, not get frustrated, not quit, and again multi-task to the point that you can juggle a hundred balls in the air at once, because, you are the Decider. You have to be relatively free of scandal, both real and perceived. And you have to have the intelligence that only a few people have, tempered by the wisdom of age and experience.
For all the cries that people have that 'I don't want a politician!' to be president, don't we want somebody who knows what is going on? Somebody who has paid their dues? Somebody whose life has not been a celebration of self-interest but public service? I know...it's easy to say we don't want somebody who knows what the job will really involve. But would you want a CEO who has no knowledge of their industry and thus only sees the bottom line, not customers or products or employees? Would you want a major league baseball manager who doesn't know the techniques of bat control or the ins and outs of handling a multi-national clubhouse? Would you want a preacher who just recently started to study Scripture?
Being qualified matters...and likely there are very few who are truly qualified. The biggest mark against Obama was his lack of experience, and while he has done well given his inexperience (remember, he had been a state senator less than 10 seasons before becoming president!), one wonders whether or not he might have been a great president with a little more seasoning. I am thinking that being a Governor, Senator, or Cabinet secretary should be the minimum requirement; more than one of those is likely needed to get both the executive experience and the overall knowledge needed. So how many are left who have done this...300? This doesn't even begin to phase out those who were dunderheads or bad at their job; these usually get sorted out quick enough in the primaries.
And so this leads us to our election...we have two people who have a chance to win. I am voting for neither, instead deciding to vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who was once a governor. I wish he could win, but he can't get above about 12% so he has little or no shot. The other two candidates are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. One has vast experience, as a first lady (don't tell me that doesn't help somebody know what to expect), Senator, and Cabinet secretary. Is she scandal-prone? Absolutely. Do I like her? No. But compared to the alternative, who has no experience, no willingness to learn, and nothing to indicate anything beyond a concern with himself, and I'll take Hillary any day of the week, even when I don't always agree with her policies.
A Hillary presidency will be...not fun. But a Trump presidency? Get the fire extinguishers ready, because the mother of all dumpster fires is coming.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
My Presidents
My father recently said that Obama was the worst president of his lifetime. I wanted to answer back and say, no he's not. But then again, now that he is retired, he has a lot of time to watch his Fox News and be told that everyday. Combined with the common sense of historical lack of perspective we all have that leads us to hyperbole (e.g. "This is the BEST movie I've ever seen!" "I've never had a worse experience in my life"), I can see how he thinks that. But he's wrong.
And so, who are the best and worst presidents of my lifetime? Let's see.
-Richard Nixon. This is a tough one, because I was just a baby. His Presidency was overshadowed by Watergate, but it's interesting that he was overwhelmingly elected both times, beating Humphrey big and then absolutely crushing McGovern in 1972. So until Watergate, people liked him and must have thought he was doing a good job. He was getting out of Vietnam, the economy wasn't in terrible shape yet (though the recessions that followed into the early 80s were probably his fault, at least somewhat), and we didn't get involved in more foreign excursions. He's all over the place...had he not been so thin-skinned and paranoid, he might have been a great president. Let's give him a C.
-Gerald Ford. A good man who should have stayed in Congress. Rightly pardoned Nixon, was never seen as legitimate since he only became VP when Agnew had to resign, and the economy started to tank during his Presidency. Probably ought to give him an incomplete, but 2 1/2 years was long enough for America. C-
-Jimmy Carter. A great man who was in way over his head. Recently in watching The Seventies miniseries I got the impression that he had high ideals that were incompatible with a man who must exercise that kind of power. If I were president, I probably could do no better than him...you need to get along with Congress, and he was clueless about that. He had problems to fix, and seemed incapable of doing anything. The Iranian revolution is on his watch, and he was impotent to do anything about it. The economy tanked, and Reagan became President and looked great by comparison. A D+ is as high as I can go, and likely that includes points for the good things he has done after his presidency.
-Ronald Reagan. Now we start coming to people I can remember well. He was the president when I left elementary school and when I began college. Most people would give him a solid A, but many of the things he did have started to look worse in hindsight and led to many problems we have today. He lowered taxes, but the debt began to balloon. He helped bring back American pride after the 60s and 70s, but it has led many to believe in American Exceptionalism. He got us involved in many foreign policy adventures, all in the name of freedom (Panama, Grenada, Lebanon), and this has led to many intractable problems today. He took on communism, leading to the fall of the USSR, but this change the geo-political landscape, in that instead of a few large problems, we have many more small problems today. He began in earnest the drug war, imprisoning millions of Americans. He was likely the most transformative president of my lifetime, for good and for bad. I still feel fondly about him, even as I know his many failures. I'll give him a B.
-George Bush. We forget about him, but he was likely underrated. He pulled back on some of the excesses of Reagan's conservative revolution, but in doing so he alienated conservatives ("Read my lips, no new taxes") and did not go far enough for liberals. It's hard to really judge what he did, because Reagan's effects dominated his presidency. B-.
-Bill Clinton. Like Nixon, a scandal (Monica Lewinsky/Whitewater) overwhelmed good policy actions. Clinton was the last president to lead us to a balanced government budget and he mastered the ideology of centrism. But because he could not keep his pants up, and because enough of the scandals people accused him of had some basis in fact, he was not who he could have been. B
-George W Bush. Here was a man who was the conservative Jimmy Carter in his incompetency but allowed himself into so many disastrous policies by his advisers that America is still reeling. After 9/11, he looked good standing on a pile of rubble, but it all went downhill from there. The War on Terror went out of control on his watch, and we will be suffering its effects the rest of my lifetime. One wonders about how his presidency would have gone had he not had people like Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney by his side. I can't give him any better than a D-.
-Barack Obama. The black president with the Muslim-sounding name. He is the coolest president of my lifetime, and he could have been transformative. Remember those 'change' and 'hope' signs? But a combination of a hostile Congress and screaming conservative element gave him little hope to really get a lot done. He should have taken on the bankers and the huge corporations some more, but they had bought too many representatives and senators to make this possible. I sometimes feel he should have been more ambitious, but perhaps he did the best he could with what he had. The economy has stayed OK, we've not been involved in a lot more foreign wars (though we've been drone-striking terrorists), and social change has continued to progress. He's not the best president, but he's not the worst, either. B-.
And so, who are the best and worst presidents of my lifetime? Let's see.
-Richard Nixon. This is a tough one, because I was just a baby. His Presidency was overshadowed by Watergate, but it's interesting that he was overwhelmingly elected both times, beating Humphrey big and then absolutely crushing McGovern in 1972. So until Watergate, people liked him and must have thought he was doing a good job. He was getting out of Vietnam, the economy wasn't in terrible shape yet (though the recessions that followed into the early 80s were probably his fault, at least somewhat), and we didn't get involved in more foreign excursions. He's all over the place...had he not been so thin-skinned and paranoid, he might have been a great president. Let's give him a C.
-Gerald Ford. A good man who should have stayed in Congress. Rightly pardoned Nixon, was never seen as legitimate since he only became VP when Agnew had to resign, and the economy started to tank during his Presidency. Probably ought to give him an incomplete, but 2 1/2 years was long enough for America. C-
-Jimmy Carter. A great man who was in way over his head. Recently in watching The Seventies miniseries I got the impression that he had high ideals that were incompatible with a man who must exercise that kind of power. If I were president, I probably could do no better than him...you need to get along with Congress, and he was clueless about that. He had problems to fix, and seemed incapable of doing anything. The Iranian revolution is on his watch, and he was impotent to do anything about it. The economy tanked, and Reagan became President and looked great by comparison. A D+ is as high as I can go, and likely that includes points for the good things he has done after his presidency.
-Ronald Reagan. Now we start coming to people I can remember well. He was the president when I left elementary school and when I began college. Most people would give him a solid A, but many of the things he did have started to look worse in hindsight and led to many problems we have today. He lowered taxes, but the debt began to balloon. He helped bring back American pride after the 60s and 70s, but it has led many to believe in American Exceptionalism. He got us involved in many foreign policy adventures, all in the name of freedom (Panama, Grenada, Lebanon), and this has led to many intractable problems today. He took on communism, leading to the fall of the USSR, but this change the geo-political landscape, in that instead of a few large problems, we have many more small problems today. He began in earnest the drug war, imprisoning millions of Americans. He was likely the most transformative president of my lifetime, for good and for bad. I still feel fondly about him, even as I know his many failures. I'll give him a B.
-George Bush. We forget about him, but he was likely underrated. He pulled back on some of the excesses of Reagan's conservative revolution, but in doing so he alienated conservatives ("Read my lips, no new taxes") and did not go far enough for liberals. It's hard to really judge what he did, because Reagan's effects dominated his presidency. B-.
-Bill Clinton. Like Nixon, a scandal (Monica Lewinsky/Whitewater) overwhelmed good policy actions. Clinton was the last president to lead us to a balanced government budget and he mastered the ideology of centrism. But because he could not keep his pants up, and because enough of the scandals people accused him of had some basis in fact, he was not who he could have been. B
-George W Bush. Here was a man who was the conservative Jimmy Carter in his incompetency but allowed himself into so many disastrous policies by his advisers that America is still reeling. After 9/11, he looked good standing on a pile of rubble, but it all went downhill from there. The War on Terror went out of control on his watch, and we will be suffering its effects the rest of my lifetime. One wonders about how his presidency would have gone had he not had people like Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney by his side. I can't give him any better than a D-.
-Barack Obama. The black president with the Muslim-sounding name. He is the coolest president of my lifetime, and he could have been transformative. Remember those 'change' and 'hope' signs? But a combination of a hostile Congress and screaming conservative element gave him little hope to really get a lot done. He should have taken on the bankers and the huge corporations some more, but they had bought too many representatives and senators to make this possible. I sometimes feel he should have been more ambitious, but perhaps he did the best he could with what he had. The economy has stayed OK, we've not been involved in a lot more foreign wars (though we've been drone-striking terrorists), and social change has continued to progress. He's not the best president, but he's not the worst, either. B-.
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