I don't recall Bill Clinton doing this

[SHRED]

I don't remember Clinton, while under intense investigations, folding and melting like this Orange Snowflake.

Bill still managed the country fairly well while under intense pressure from being investigated.

This current pResident is so utterly weak of character he's melting down. So self centered he can't do anything. He's paralyzed by his over inflated ego.

[Wounded Bear]

1. K & R ......for visibility..nt

[cilla4progress]

2. So galling...

also, watching the Watergate doc last night, to reflect on why Clinton was impeached.

Watching Nixon and his megalomania, and now trump, not to mention crimes committed by Reagan's team and war crimes of W. ...hmmm, recurring pattern much?

[apcalc]

3. And Hillary didn't do it either.

Can you imagine this guy testifying 11 hours like she did re: Bengazi?

[Docreed2003]

4. Bill was pretty much always cool as a cucumber

Other than the "I did not have sexual relations" press conference, I can't think of a time where he seemed to let the BS get under his skin.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Even Nixon held it together in public.

Toward the end of the Watergate investigation he was said to have become pretty squirrelly in private, drinking a lot and ranting to the portraits of presidents on the WH walls, but apart from looking kind of sweaty on tv he managed to comport himself fairly normally. And the executive branch didn't stop functioning.

If the Internet and Twitter had existed then I still don't think Nixon would have gone off the way Trump is doing. He was at least smart enough to know that would have made a bad situation a lot worse.

[maddiemom]

13. Funny how much better Nixon looks since the advent of Trump.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Nixon doesn't look *better*. He was terrible. The problem is that Trump

has all of Nixon's bad qualities (paranoia, dishonesty, hatred for the press, etc.), and then some, with none of his good ones (intelligence and self-control).

[maddiemom]

24. My point. In the Nixon years it was hard to see those "good qualities."

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

22. Forget Nixon

Think of the happy dance boy george the 43rd must be doing. He isn't the dumbest or worst Prez in history any more.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. I imagine the ghosts of Buchanan, Harding, Fillmore and Andrew Johnson

having a spectral party somewhere in the bowels of the White House, because their reputations have suddenly improved considerably.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Career public officials understand that they serve at the whim of the public.

Some people can pull off the illusion for a short term, while those who are strictly from private sector don't take long to show us what they are made of.

[Lotusflower70]

7. That's because

He is a strong man. He didn't fold under pressure. His resilience is off the charts. And he had decades of experience. Trump is newbie wading into uncharted territory. He has been a conman for years but never under this much scrutiny. He doesn't know how to deal with it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Trump wasn't even a real CEO of a public company

who had to answer to a board of directors and shareholders. He own and controls his businesses privately and never has had to explain anything to anybody. He's surrounded with family members and sycophants who have always done what they were told, and he's always been able to fire anybody he didn't like for any reason. I think he thought being president would be pretty much the same gig, and now he's finding out that, contrary to the ridiculous belief of many conservatives that running the government is just like running a business, he has a lot less power than he expected, and is subject to a whole lot of scrutiny.

[luvtheGWN]

10. The next time we hear someone say

"we need a business man to run the government", it will be so easy to refute that nonsense by pointing to Trump. So there's that.....

[Lotusflower70]

11. Exactly

There was no accountability. And these Asshats thought they cod all of a sudden control Trump or at least reign him in. But I think his Twitter feed alone showed them that was happening. Also the constant need for ego strokes is a huge red flag. And yet they chose to tie themselves to him anyway to get what they could. He loves his suck ups to suck up to him and boss people around. He wants the power and profit but doesn't want to work.

[maddiemom]

14. Very valid points!

[TNNurse]

8. Trump is an emotional child in a 71 year old body

and the memory of someone much older.

[NastyRiffraff]

12. I remember Clinton's State of the Union

right in the middle of his impeachment trial. He was almost preternaturally calm and on point. The Republicans in the audience showed their boorishness by refusing to stand, or applaud but he ignored them. I'm sure he was giving them a mental middle finger, but he showed nothing but calm competence in the SOTU.

[narnian60]

21. Yes.

[Amaryllis]

16. All he did was lie about having sex. T has done vastly more, and and vastly more corrupt,

and vastly more criminal, stuff.

[LakeArenal]

19. Sex with a consenting adult...

Who admits to starting the "thing" by flashing him her butt. And baby had back....

[nikibatts]

17. Whatever Bill Clinton's flaws, his heart was always in the right place...not bigoted, not hateful...

and very smart.

[SHRED]

18. Yep.

[calimary]

20. It's because he's not used to this! He has no template for this.

This isn't working out the way he's used to working things out in the business world. Where you own things and you can rule your own private little fiefdom and be Lord, Master, and King. And if you own the company yourself, if it's the "family business," then you're not answerable to anybody. You don't have to report to a room full of board-of-directors members. You don't have to account to stockholders who expect a return on investment.

And speaking of "return on investment," there's Vladimir Putin. I've seen the reports that trump & comp are trying to "soften" the sanctions on Russia for meddling in our election - that the Senate just voted for OVERWHELMINGLY. trump's lord and master is going to want a return on his investment. Putin doesn't do anything for anybody for free.

[onetexan]

23. apples & oranges here - can't compare the two

Bill, slick & tried to hide the truth re: his infidelity, was at the time, and still is, an incredibly intelligent and capable leader. That was his only wrong doing. Agent Orange, on the other hand, is a deranged megalomaniac who is inept, selfish, and highly corrupt whose willing to sell his own country to line his pockets and interests. You can't compare the two. Matter of fact, most every other POTUS - arguably successful or otherwise - is heads and shoulders more qualified this this buffoon staining the halls of the WH with his calumnies and ineptitude. This treasonous idiot has brought egregious shame to our country.

[Boomerproud]

29. Wow! Welcome to DU. I always say there is no liberal like a Texas liberal.

Agent Orange....

[onetexan]

31. Heck yea

[DesertRat]

27. k&r

[lunamagica]

28. K&R.

[KT2000]

30. they have called it compartmentalization

tRump has a one track mind. Clinton, who is very intelligent, has a multi-track mind. He was also able to set priorities for himself.

[Maraya1969]

32. His approval rating was up around 60% during that witch hunt

[CBHagman]

33. Heck, Trump ought to send up the Goodyear blimp...

...with "I'm insecure" written on the side.

And he really needs those enemies and scapegoats to play to his base, just as he did during the campaign.

[BrooklynTech]

34. I hope 45 serves his full term (or close to it)

Sure, it'd be nice to see the current resident of the WH suffer the humiliation of impeachment he so richly deserves, but the longer he stays in office, the better our chances of not seeing his and his party's agenda implemented.

If the man behind the curtain is impeached we get President Pence and it's full steam ahead.

I'd rather see the current guy remain in office, as much as he deserves to be removed.

[SHRED]

36. Pence would pardon him

That alone would make him a lame duck president.

And when I say pardon I'm saying for very criminal behaviour that the public will not tolerate well.

[itcfish]

35. Bill Clinton was not accused

of treason.