Bruce Bartlett, former adviser to Ronald Reagan, compares Donald Trump to Nixon and it's EPIC

[kpete]

Link to tweet

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/4/1640099/-Bruce-Bartlett-former-adviser-to-Ronald-Reagan-compares-Donald-Trump-to-Nixon-and-it-s-EPIC

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Holy Cow.

And Bartlett should know.

[iluvtennis]

2. Take 50 points off the IQ...more like 100 nt

[AnnieBW]

3. That's about it

The two differences between the Shitgibbon and Nixon are that 1) Nixon at least knew how to run the government and 2) he was smarter.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Also, whatever else you thought about Nixon, you have to acknowledge that

he came up the hard way. He never had anything handed to him in his life. He did not come from a wealthy family.

[charlyvi]

8. Nixon founded the EPA in 1970

and also opened up diplomacy with China. He had government smarts.

He was also a lying, sneaky egomaniac who coined the phrase, "If the President does it, that means it is not illegal". He ruined many lives, and got away scot free while his minions did prison time. I think our problems today go back to Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. It taught the American people that the more powerful you are, the more you can get away with; therefore, the President can get away with anything. Hunter S. Thompson said it best in his Nixon eulogy:


He was a Crook

Richard Nixon is gone now, and I am poorer for it. He was the real thing -- a political monster straight out of Grendel and a very dangerous enemy. He could shake your hand and stab you in the back at the same time. He lied to his friends and betrayed the trust of his family. Not even Gerald Ford, the unhappy ex-president who pardoned Nixon and kept him out of prison, was immune to the evil fallout. Ford, who believes strongly in Heaven and Hell, has told more than one of his celebrity golf partners that "I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon.".....


https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/07/he-was-a-crook/308699/

[mgardener]

9. I have been saying this for years.

The Republicans are arrogant and deplorable precisely because they saw what Nixon got away with.
He was not impeached " for the good of the country".
The Republicans learned that lesson well and used it with Bush and Cheney.

That is why I fear that Trump will start a war and we will be stuck with him.

[charlyvi]

12. IKR It's their original sin.

They could get away with ANYTHING! It spawned today's crises of fake news (FOX), fake character (Ryan, McConnell), and fake patriotism (USA! USA!). If you're not held accountable for what you do, why not do anything. I agree with Thompson, surely Ford is in hell with him.

[sharedvalues]

15. And now we must prosecute torture

Today we are letting torturers off the hook.

The next John Yoo will not worry because John Yoo was not punished.

After the Trump administration self - immolates, we must all stand for prosecution of the torturers. The govt contractors, Yoo, Frith, Addington, and Bybee MUST be ostracized. No matter how much it's been done before secretly or illegally -- we know what these guys did.

If we care about America we can't let off the hook those who tore up our most sacred principles. Or we'll just be repeating the Nixon error.

[charlyvi]

16. Agreed.

[drm604]

4. Nixon would be drunk tweeting.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Kick!

For Tricky Dick, setting precedence for presidential melt downs since...what was it, 1969?

Thanks kpete. ♡

[dchill]

7. OMFG.

Nixon was actually really smart, so maybe like 90 IQ points.

[JHan]

10. "subtract 50 IQ points" .............

[Nitram]

11. He forgot to mention "collaborate with Russia to win an election."

[dalton99a]

13. Good one.

[StevieM]

14. Trump has plenty in common with Reagan as well. And I don't mean that as a compliment. (eom)