I told my friend something that floored him today re Dubya vs Romney

[NRaleighLiberal]

I worked in big pharma long enough (23 years) to know that CEOs do not necessarily make good or effective leaders - and in fact, what they probably did to get themselves to where they ended up stripped them of any true respect that I had for them.

So I told him something that he thought he would never hear - that to me, Romney is WORSE than Bush. Hear me out before you jump on me for this....I thought that Dubya was a terrible terrible leader, probably lousy at every job he took or did - in fact, his failure as president was fully predictable from his previous history. But he was not the brightest bulb or particularly ambitious - I think he was enabled/cosseted by his family and used by Rove, Cheney at al.

Romney, on the other hand, to me, knows exactly what he is doing. He craves power and wealth, exudes greed. He is a bad CEO that would make not only a lousy president, but a dangerous one - even more dangerous than Dubya.

so that, to me, is the tale of two CEOs - one a failed president, the other a potentially catastrophic one that just must be beaten. None of us want to behold and live through the disaster of a Romney presidency.

My friend said "you loathed Dubya" and I agreed - but I guaranteed him that I loathe Romney even more.

[Tumbulu]

1. Yes, I share your fear about him

for precisely the same reasons.

Good OP

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Well, ya floored me too........but I agree with you.

You've really shown very clearly just how they differ in their own bad ways. And for that, I thank you!

[niyad]

3. I think you are correct. der chimpenfuhrer was an incompetent, indolent dolt of a puppet. rmoney

on the other hand, knows exactly what he is doing. he is hateful, and arrogant beyond measure (if you have not read it already, see the rolling stone article about him from about two months ago) He KNOWS he is lying, he just doesn't care.

[mainstreetonce]

4. I agree

Too much of Nixon in Romney.

[crazylikafox]

6. Even Nixon was better than Romney

He would be considered a liberal by today's standards. And I think that he had more humanity in him than Romney.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

8. Maybe not a liberal

But Nixon would be a centrist republican for sure.

[JI7]

9. i said before Reagan was worse than Nixon and W Bush was worse than Reagan and

Romney would be worse than W Bush.

[immoderate]

48. Agreed. Just when you think it can't get any worse...

What makes people think that the prime characteristic of a good president is greed?

--imm

[lastlib]

10. To me, Romney/Ryan is just Nixon/Agnew with better hairdos.

The paranoid secrecy--about tax returns, tax policies, budget policies, you name it. They are paranoid about what the public might find out. And in a democracy, that's dangerous. They're the antithesis of democracy. They're the reason we HAD Watergate, et al. Nixon had his secret plan to end the war, and we all know how that turned out. He kept his secret enemies list (I was very saddened that even though I was only a teenager in his tenure, that I didn't make the list.) Romney/Ryan will do the same goddamn stuff that Nixon did, and quite possibly do more of it, since he's getting away with not releasing his returns, and not being called on his other secret policies. They.Need.To.Be.Destroyed. Humiliated. Crushed. We can NEVER let them or anyone like them to gain power in this nation.

[Egalitarian Thug]

24. Who do you think holds the power of this nation now? They have always been in charge and

the times that they have been foiled or frustrated in their agendas have been the rare exceptions. Usually when an outside threat rises, they kill him.

There are a thousand times more Rmoneys in DC than there are Bernie Sanders. The entire system, from the schools & universities that one must attend to be granted entree to the internships that are unofficially required to move into the power positions inside the beltway, is exclusionary. Average people need not apply.

[cui bono]

45. It's not a "paranoid" secrecy. Romney is hiding something very real for a very real purpose.

That's not paranoia, that's deception and well, just plain old secrecy.

[mzteaze]

52. Agreed!

I've said this before as well. Mitt is Agnew. IF he makes it as president, I suspect any one of his past dealings will flare up as a major issue.

I also still have not heard how he plans to deal with the country of Italy who at last reading wanted him in jail.

[Egalitarian Thug]

19. I think the big difference is that Nixon was not born into the ruling class and they never

accepted him. He was vile, mean spirited, racist, conniving, and paranoid, but he never lost or forgot his roots. He carried the derision they heaped on him every waking moment of every day of his life and the Texas mafia that brought him back to power used his hatred of the east coast elites to carry out their agenda even as he sought to do what he believed was best for the nation. This is largely what made him such a mass of contradictions.

Then as today, the real contest is between the ruling parasites and the rest of us.

[NYC Liberal]

36. A rabid racist, misogynist, homophobe, anti-Semite, and warmonger would be considered a liberal?

No. I don't think so. Nixon would fit in just fine with today's GOP.

[Patiod]

42. But OSHA, the EPA, the CPSC, Title IX, SS COLAs, the ERA, and SALT would not.

"He recognized the People’s Republic of China, created the Environmental Protection Agency, created OSHA to oversee workplace safety and comfort, created the Consumer Product Safety Commission, created Title IX for women’s sports, added the cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security, and expanded food stamps and welfare assistance. He also supported the Equal Rights Amendment, though that failed out among the States."

http://liberalironist.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/richard-nixon-our-last-liberal-president-until-the-present-one/

[NYC Liberal]

46. Read up. Nixon had a Democratic congress for his entire tenure that forced his hand.

Democrats had 62 seats in the Senate and 248 (57%) in the House when he came into office.

Nixon was a fucking monster who could never, ever be called a "liberal". The historical revisionism that says otherwise is amazing.

Remove that pressure and give Nixon a Republican Congress for 6 years like Bush had, and I can guarantee you he would not have supported any of that.

[JDPriestly]

63. Some of the legislation he signed had poison pills in it -- like ERISA

which concerns employee benefits in the workplace. And as we now see, the Environmental Protection Act was not nearly what it should be.

As for opening up to China, I am wondering what kinds of backroom deals were made there. The "opening up" to China has enslaved Chinese workers and enabled the plutocracy in our country and around the world to grab nearly all the money and run. "Opening up" to China in the way it was done has hurt workers everywhere -- in China and in the developed countries.

[mikki35]

44. 100% agreed

I think the relative 'good' Nixon did was because it was expected, because both sides wanted it, etc. Today? I think he would be right smack in the middle of the Rove/Norquist/Cheney, etc bunch - and THRIVING on the steady diet of hate-n-ugly. This is the same guy that spend much of the late 40s/early 50s as McCarthy's whip, hunting down (or conjuring, more like) and destroying the lives of hundreds and thousands of "red Communists." Oh, yeah, he had the hate thing down from the git-go.

[Patiod]

47. True, and he and his team originated the "Southern Strategy" (nt)

[Carolina]

5. My feelings exactly

What also makes a Rmoney presidency worse is that the country has not yet recovered from the horrors of the Bush years, so a Rmoney-Lyin' misadministration would be even more catastrophic with no hope of recovery...

[wishlist]

7. Romney's stream of lies and distortions eclipses Bush's by far

I also despised Bush more than any previous President, but Romney has proven to be a much more manipulative deceptive liar with no scruples or ethics whatsoever and has been on the wrong side of every issue despite his allegations of moderation.

I always sensed that after the Clinton impeachment, Bush was sensitive about not making blatant lies, so he was careful to hedge his words, be vague or make statements that could not be construed as boldfaced lies. On the contrary, Romney has no scruples about persistantly lying and will not admit his blatant dishonest even in the face of strong media blowback and factchecking that totally refutes his lies. He knows with a Repub Congress he will be able to get by with anything.

[lastlib]

12. Well-stated--I FULLY AGREE with you!

Manipulation and deception without scruples is not tolerable in our democracy. It enrages me to this day that Cheney's meeting with oil executives on energy policy was never brought into the open, and that those rotten POS's were rewarded with a second term.

[The Wizard]

40. Bush's word salad

was deliberate so as to not be nailed down on anything. For a year he kept saying or alluding to "Stay the course" in Iraq. Then one day he claimed he never said stay the course. The Bush Administration was eight long years of the Gish Gallop.

[reusrename]

11. I'm certainly not going to jump on you for this.

I agree that he's got a much more sinister personal agenda, and that he'd commandeer the Bush Juggernaut in order to achieve his master plan.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

13. Romney, the worst of both worlds.

Bush the dumber was a doofus. All you had to do is listen to him for a few minutes to realize that he didn't have a clue, but he wasn't a Sadist. He had Cheney for that. Cheney held everyone who wasn't in his club in contempt.

Watching Romney is like watching the doofus of Bush with the contempt of Cheney all wrapped up in one candidate.

[Art_from_Ark]

65. Apparently you never heard bu$h talk about the death warrants he signed

And he was chomping at the bit to get wars started, as evidenced by his bombing of Iraq almost as soon as he got in the White House (and then pushing out the UN inspectors to get his hot war going), and his war against Afghanistan 8 months into occupying the White House. He was a sadist as far as I'm concerned.

[charmay]

14. I never thought that there would be a candidate or president worse than Bush,

but you're right. Romney is worse. Even more frightening is that Paul Ryan scares me more than Palin.

[Tennessee Gal]

15. I despised W for many reasons beginning with his team's manipulations in Florida

to steal the election and continuing with his ineptness while in office that cost the lives of thousands of Americans with the attack on 9/11 and the ensuing wars. Throw in his administration's running up the deficit and crashing the economy and you have the end result of a dolt mismanaging this country. Yes, W was a blithering idiot personally and professionally.

Romney, on the other hand, is vindictive, haughty, manipulative, egotistical, and a vile liar. I fear that he is far worse than W on many, many levels. Romney in the White House would absolutely ruin this country and take us to places both financially and internationally from which we might never recover.

I not only loathe Romney. I fear him for the sake of this country.

[MarianJack]

16. I never expected to see a worse republican nominee than george w turdhead again.

I'm floored that it only took them 4 years after turdhead went home to not only nominate one, but to userp their own rules to do so. WOW!

Good post. K&R!

PEACE!

[JackN415]

17. Agree. CEO requires a different skills, personality, and MO n/t

[Ztolkins]

18. This is what I was worried about a few months ago

I kept thinking "man, this guy makes Bush look better than he was" and Bush does not deserve that. I kept having to slap myself every time I'd start thinkin' it.

[markpkessinger]

20. Rachel Maddow covered some of this territory last night -- well worth watching n/t

[BarackTheVote]

21. It's all cumulative, isn't it?

We're always playing catch-up... Bush wrecked the economy--deliberately, I think--to make the democrat who followed him look bad... because, honestly, how did the Repugs have any chance whatsoever of taking the White House after eight years of Bush? So, Obama got bogged down trying to fix Bush's fuck-up, but was still able to force through some impressive legislature. But between dealing with the economy and an obstructionist Republican congress, he hasn't been able to shore us up nearly enough for another destructive Republican presidency.

[Blanks]

22. The GOP should learn from this...

... if they want an actor for president; set up an actor for the role of president.

Dubya thought he was running things. He wasn't acting. Romney IMHO knows he isn't really going to be running things, but it's difficult to nail down enough issues to get a majority vote (that's why so much changing). In the end the republicans (actually the wealthy) pick someone who looks like a movie president and then 'they' run the country.

The only reason Romney would be worse than Dubya is because this country hasn't healed up from Dubya yet. The same people will be running the country.

Next time they would be wiser to pick an actor. Reagan had (and still has) more people thinking that he was a good president.

[eggplant]

23. With Bush, at least you could park him in front of a TV with beer and pretzels and he'd be happy.

Well, so long as someone was there to give him the Heimlich Maneuver when he choked.

Romney, on the other hand, is actively dangerous.

[upi402]

25. i suggest the 'safety' pretzels for George

he has issues sometimes

[GliderGuider]

26. I think I even see a bit of Prescott Bush in Romney's character.

I see it in his patrician sense of entitlement, and the belief that he is up there where the laws can't fly. Thank God at least he's not as smart as Prescott was.

Romney/Ryan scares the living shit out of me, and I'm not even an American.

[JackRiddler]

27. We differ - Bush was extremely successful.

Or the administration was. The front man didn't matter very much and was just smart enough to let others run it for him.

They accomplished a great many evils that they intended to accomplish. This is an essential point. The Bush agenda was not the product of "incompetence," and it had little to do with Bush the man himself. With very few exceptions, it was implemented with success continuously for about six or seven years before they finally ran into obstacles. No administration had as much "success," albeit in doing all of the wrong things -- intentionally -- since Reagan.

[tclambert]

28. Romney is very different from Bush.

He's at least two inches taller.

[GoneOffShore]

29. An interesting thought and a perfectly valid hypothesis. Well done. n/t

[valerief]

30. I feel the same way. Mittens is just as dumb as Dubya but far more ruthless. nt

[Tigress DEM]

31. I never wanted to actually PUNCH *ush, but Robme inspires me whenever he opens his mouth.

I'm a peace loving person. Only bullies inspire me to feelings of violence.

Someone hits me, I will most likely hit them back.

Someone beats on another person in my presence and I'll intervene.

*ush made me mad. It broke my heart that his stupidity cost lives, but I agree that Robme KNOWS exactly what he's doing and he's doing it on purpose. He's more dangerous.

Definitely.

[hue]

32. Way to Go!! I feel much the same as You--totally fear Rmoney as POTUS!!

[Stinky The Clown]

33. Yup

[blkmusclmachine]

34. Arkansas GOP supports a Death Penalty for "Unruly Children."

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/10/08/974321/republican-candidate-in-arkansas-says-parents-should-seek-death-penalty-for-rebellious-children/?mobile=nc

[patrice]

35. Oh, I think we pretty much have that covered with the "backdoor draft" nt

[ladym55]

37. I definitely agree

If we were actually allowed to learn about Rmoney's tenure as Governor of Massachusetts, we'd see just how much of arrogant, egotistical man he is. He hurt the state's economy. He taxed its people over and over (called the taxes "fees&quot . He left office, spending $100,000 to cover his steps and destroy records of his administration.

I am appalled that this is a race. It isn't just the billions of Citizen United money pouring in the door, it's the totally complicit M$M. Lies stand unquestioned.

I am terrified what he and heartless Paul Ryan would do to the nation in just four years.

[ErikJ]

38. . . We just need a president to sign this stuff . . . Pick a Republican with enough working digits .

. . We just need a president to sign this stuff (Ryan Budget) . . . Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States." - Grover Norquist

[mopinko]

39. the gop is a bottomless barrel. every 4 years, i think they are scraping the bottom

then 4 years later they seem to find a deeper level.
but the more i learn about rmoney, the more i see that he is also a puppet. his ego stroked as only tptb can, stuffed full of cash, and lead by the nose, told what to say.
i am worried more about what clings to his coat tails than i am about him, really. they have been dragged through the deepest of slime.

[patricia92243]

41. Prez Clinton reminded us that Romney would be Bush - on steroids. He is correct. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. He will make a worst president

no doubt in my mind, but you know what, stopped having emotions for them a long time ago.

But worst, can you say war with Iran and deficits though the roof, as well as no safety net? (OK worst case scenarios rarely come to pass, but it will be close)

His partner, Ryan, is actually worst... than Chenney as well.

[beachgirl2365]

49. I totally Agree!

I told my kids the other day, I'd take 4 more yrs of Bush vs. Romney, if I couldn't have Obama........Be very afraid of Mittens............

[Gruenemann]

50. I agree too.

I loathe W, but I think he was a much better person than Rmoney. That should tell you how much I detest Rmoney.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

51. You are absolutely correct. n/t

[Arugula Latte]

53. Bush was a dumbass puppet who'd fried his brains out on booze & drugs.

Romney is far more dangerous -- he's a like a cartoon plutocrat who would systematically continue and accelerate the transfer of wealth from the bottom to the very, very top.

[NRaleighLiberal]

56. yes, my point exactly!

[rhett o rick]

54. Not a good comparison. Bush was a total puppet while Rmoney is totally scary.

But the comparison should be made between Rmoney and the man with his arm up the behind of Bush, Cheney. Do you think Rmoney is worse than Cheney?

[NRaleighLiberal]

55. I think it is a good comparison because Bush was "president" - whether real or not.

I think Cheney is in a class my himself. But Romney is potentially not far behind.

[rhett o rick]

59. I believe Bush was President in name only and made few decisions.

As dangerous as I think Cheney was, I think Rmoney is worse. Cheney wanted power but was smart, clever and devious. Rmoney wants power and is a total lose cannon. Cheney would only invade Iran if he thought he could profit. Rmoney will invade Iran just because he can.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

57. I am with you 100%.

I thought I could never despise a leader more than baby Bush. I was wrong.

[yardwork]

58. I agree with you. I've been thinking the same thing.

I remember reading DUers from Massachusetts warning us years ago about Romney. I had no idea how bad he was until this campaign. The man is evil.

[bluesbassman]

60. Bush was masterfully manipulated while Romney is a master manipulator.

I have to laugh (well cry really, but I try to be upbeat) every time I hear Romney or one of his surrogates make the "successful businessman" claim. He was nothing of the sort. A successful businessman creates value for all parties concerned in a transaction. Romney's sole purpose was to create wealth for himself and his investors. If any tertiary benefits were realized by employees or communities affected by Romney's activities you can be sure that they were inadvertent.

Catastrophic is putting it mildly, but I know you didn't want to scare your friend with the entire truth.

[Jim Lane]

61. I'm reminded of what Clarence Darrow said decades ago....

"When I was a boy I was told that anyone could become President. I'm beginning to believe it."

[Cherchez la Femme]

62. The Tale of Two CEO'S

It was the worst of times, it was the worster of times...

And instead of, say, a Uriah Heep, a Fagin, a Mr. McCawber, a John Jasper, a Mr. Bumble, (Bill Sykes character in effect admirably played by Cheney),
and with the Sidney Cartons long pushed out as Eisenhauers or even RINO'S; the 'pukes have now got in place the original, unreformed Ebenezer Scrooge.

God help us, every one.

[obamanut2012]

64. I agree with you -- I said this very thing to my mother today

Also, Laura Bush and the Bush Twins are waaaaaaay better than HRH Ann and the Romney Lads.

[humbled_opinion]

66. Look I tried the Romney is a greedy CEO type...

on the baggers where I work and I got hit with a Forbes article " Romney's tax returns a stellar example of citizenship and generosity."
which they hung up on the bulletin board, and it shows Romneys 2010/2011 tax returns that show that he gave 57.9 percent of his income to taxes + charity contributions.

Sometimes I find it hard to argue against their logic, namely that government good intentions have a terrible track record of wasting the taxpayers money but money given directly to charity can and will help those who need it most.

[TahitiNut]

67. The MittWit is worse than Duhbya EXACTLY like Cheney is worse than Duhbya.

A lazy, clueless pathological narcissist isn't quite as "bad" as a sociopath willing to do and say anything to screw 99% of the people for their own malicious benefit.