[Thanos]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Then I'd say aside from Reagan (who won a 49-state landslide in 1984) there is not one President in the past fifty years who would be considered 'good' by a non-partisan majority.

None of the ones from the 1960's were good. Kennedy gets so much myth-making done about him that it's almost impossible to separate the truth from the propaganda that consistently swirls around what is, in reality, a genuinely wretched family. Johnson did a lot of great things domestically, and consistently stood up against Communism, but got forever ruined by the debacle of Vietnam.

My list:

1) Great - Eisenhower, Truman
2) Good - (*see below, requires explanation)
3) Average - Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, Bush I
4) Poor (verging on abysmal failures) - Carter, Bush II

* Both Nixon and Clinton had the potential to be great presidents but were both self-sabotaged by the failures of their own personalities, Nixon by his paranoia and willingness to break the law over petty concerns and Clinton by his personal moral inadequacies and lack of self-discipline; Obama had the potential to be great but was blocked by die-hard opposition obstructionism too many times to get much of an agenda established, and his legacy will be seen mostly in terms of avoiding having more massive amounts of damage on America by doing the exact opposite of what his failed predecessor in Bush II did.

I tend to look at the FDR/Truman/Eisenhower triumvirate as the height of the American presidency. They were like the Antonine Emperors of imperial Rome (Trajan/Hadrian/Antoninus Pius/Marcus Aurelius) who ruled at the pinnacle of Roman society and government, in that successors were clearly of dwindling quality. Some better than others but none of them ever coming close to reaching the level of the Antonines either.

[Zipperfish]

QBC QBC:

Wow, such debate over.......this. Must be a slow news day.

When Psudo brings out his scalpel, it will usually be a thorough dissection.

[Thanos]

Only in America could a silver-spoon trust fund baby be chosen as a Presidential candidate, and then call 47% of average America citizens moochers and parasites for legally using the same tax loopholes and adjustments that the 1% of the uber-wealthy use to reduce their own tax burdens. And then expect these same moochers and parasites to go out and vote for him. Dave? Dave's not here, man!

[andyt]

Actually, Dave turned out to be a pretty good president. Did you see the movie?

[Thanos]

Yeah, that was a fun little fantasy movie.

[CanadianJeff]

Um who's even talking about ridiculing NF. I was pointing out at least NF posts actual facts to back up things he argues. Hell I was commending him on it and pointing out how Sandorski blatantly dismissing it all was wrong.

[N_Fiddledog]

Thanos Thanos:

Yeah, that was a fun little fantasy movie.

No kidding it was fantasy. You know how at the end him and his buddy pick through the budget, and they fix it by axing all the unnecessary stuff? Then everybody cheers. Can you imagine the actual squealing in protest if anybody actually tried that? The free phone lady would be kicking down the White House door.

[Thanos]

So would all the grifters from the corporate and financial communities if a President like Dave ever cut off all the government welfare they inexplicably keep getting.

[BartSimpson]

Hmmm. I was lurking on FR and what did I come across?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-blo ... 4287/posts



Hey, does NF have an account on FR?

[Zipperfish]

Only in America can you ask for a cup a tea nad get a cold drink wiht ice in it.

That's about the only one I can come up with.

[sandorski]

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

Um who's even talking about ridiculing NF. I was pointing out at least NF posts actual facts to back up things he argues. Hell I was commending him on it and pointing out how Sandorski blatantly dismissing it all was wrong.

Sorry, I don't have the time to waste on weak propaganda E-Mail Spam.

[2Cdo]

sandorski sandorski:

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

Um who's even talking about ridiculing NF. I was pointing out at least NF posts actual facts to back up things he argues. Hell I was commending him on it and pointing out how Sandorski blatantly dismissing it all was wrong.

Sorry, I don't have the time to waste on weak propaganda E-Mail Spam.

Unless it completely supports your political bent.

[Psudo]

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

Pusdo [sic] where do you keep finding the time for all this data gathering?

It only took an hour or two, and it was my only post in a week. That's not much of a time burden.

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

I have no idea what ID if any is required.

Info

In summary, 4 states have strict photo ID laws, 7 more have photo ID laws of some kind, 19 require ID but not necessarily photo ID, and the remaining 20 states require no ID to vote at all.

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

I doubt that the majority of politicians attend 35000 a plate dinners and if they do I doubt they share conversation with the author at those events. I think the majority of politicians stay safely out of the 35000 plate greed category.

I suspect you're wrong. At least in the United States, you have to hold a few dinners like that in order to fund any campaign for President. I doubt any Presidential candidate of my lifetime has gone without at least one.

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

point out which of these lines is 'propaganda' and is false.

I'd say they're all propaganda in the sense that they present exaggeration and ideological slant and portray it as objective fact. The stats were correct, but the conclusions drawn from those stats were baseless gibberish. I say that despite agreeing with the ideological sentiments of #1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 (or, in other words, all of them except #2, 4, and 11).

Brenda Brenda:

I'm genuinely curious as to which Presidents were considered to be good Presidents?

Reagan was very popular in his time among both Republicans and moderates, and is my personal favorite. His face cemented in popular culture as an icon of 80s culture. Clinton and Obama have both been celebrities of their eras in a similar manner, but not quite to the same extent. I imagine most Democrats and leftists think of Clinton as the better leader of the two, but I prefer Obama. Obama did a lot more than Clinton to reach across the aisle and seems to have better morals in his personal life, both of which are praiseworthy traits. Also, Obama has been more successful in it's policy pursuits; for example, Clinton couldn't pass health care reform but Obama did. Even though I opposed the health care reform (both times), I have to recognize that achieving one's goals is respectable.

I've heard some say Carter was the most under-appreciated President in recent history, but they can rarely back it up with anything but "Here's a list of things Reagan did wrong." He's probably a great guy, but he wasn't much of a President.

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Only in America can you ask for a cup a tea nad get a cold drink wiht ice in it.

That's about the only one I can come up with.

Only in America do people live in trailers.

Only in America is political debate a form of recreational entertainment.

Only in America is Budweiser considered beer.

[bootlegga]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Only in America can you ask for a cup a tea nad get a cold drink wiht ice in it.

That's about the only one I can come up with.

You're not trying hard enough...

They can range from funny;

Only in America can someone turn milk into plastic and call it ‘cheese’.

to sexy;

Only in America do women have no problems posing for photos in bikinis, yet draw the line at bras and panties.

to highly partisan (like this very list);

Only in America can thousands of people be killed every year by firearms, yet millions of Americans will insist guns have nothing to do with the problem.

You've got me thinking - maybe it's time to come up with a similarly partisan list for the other side...

[Brenda]

Only in America is one of the biggest industries the production of porn, yet nipples and breastfeeding are "a-moral"