Flimsy Sanity: How Historians View Bush

Flimsy Sanity

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

How Historians View Bush

This article is about interviews with academic historians and their opinions of BushII. Said one:
My assessment is that George W. Bush’s record on running up debt to burden our children is the worst since Ronald Reagan; his record on government surveillance of citizens is the worst since Richard Nixon; his record on foreign-military policy has gotten us into the worst foreign mess we’ve been in since Lyndon Johnson sank us into Vietnam; his economic record is the worst since Herbert Hoover; his record of tax favoritism for the rich is the worst since Calvin Coolidge; his record of trampling on civil liberties is the worst since Woodrow Wilson. How far back in our history would we need to go to find a presidency as disastrous for this country as that of George W. Bush has been thus far? My own vote went to the administration of James Buchanan, who warmed the president’s chair while the union disintegrated in 1860-61.
And another said, The George W. Bush presidency is the worst since:

“In terms of economic damage, Reagan.

In terms of imperialism, T Roosevelt.

In terms of dishonesty in government, Nixon.

In terms of affable incompetence, Harding.

In terms of corruption, Grant.

In terms of general lassitude and cluelessness, Coolidge.

In terms of personal dishonesty, Clinton.

In terms of religious arrogance, Wilson.”

I was googling "Bush ten best presidents" trying to find the right wing blog that said Bush was one of the ten best Presidents this country has ever had and stumbled on this interesting piece. Never did find that Bush fan.

The article did talk about how academia is always accused of being liberal but I have noticed that any institution that tries to remain unbiased and tolerant(like PBS) is labeled liberal.

2 Comments:

  • At 9:24 AM, Blogger Shephard said…

    Favorite line... "The worst since Ronald Reagan." ~S

     
  • At 12:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Flimsy, great piece! If there's anyone around who seriously believes Bush II has been/is being among our greatest Presidents, we should probably be making a concerted effort to get him off the streets before he hurts himself or someone else!

    Academia, if it does reflect more liberal than conservative outlook, probably does so because conservatives do not routinely look to become tenured professors -- they look to become Fortune 500 cover boys. While I worked among the wealthy, I saw them grooming their sons (seldom their daughters, by the way) for business. I don't recall a single instance of anyone suggesting that his son go in for a teaching career.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home