In last 50 years what is best and worst thing America has done

[Bandit]

For me the best thing is to put man on the moon. The worst is Bush* vs Gore 2000. Supreme court really stepped on it there.:shrug:

[Lancer]

1. For me, it's like this:

Best: Medicare/Medicaid
Worst: Supreme Court annointing Dimson in 2000. (That will probably be a unanimous choice.)

[bigscott]

2. best thing?

the marshall plan after WW2 (ok that is 50+ years ago but it took a while!!)
worst is Reagan/bush/bush legacy

[blm]

3. Best: Tie between Carter mideast peace and Clinton stopping genocide in

Bosnia.

Worst: Tie between Clinton keeping the books closed on the Bush family crimes when he and Gore took office (because THAT would have stopped BushInc cold) and Clinton NOT stopping genocide in Rwanda

[blm]

15. Must add Civil Rights advocacy to the Best list.

.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Best: Getting out of Vietnam. Worst: Going into Vietnam.

After killing 4 million people to "defend freedom".

[El Supremo]

9. You have my vote! n/m

[Wwagsthedog]

10. Count me in on this vote! nt

[genie_weenie]

16. I'll pile on as well!

Supporting France's return to Imperial Power in "French Indochina" falls just outside the perview of the 50 year thing, but by '56 we had taken the Baton...

[Mist]

5. Best: Civil Rights legislation in the '60s. Worst: Supreme Court selecting

Bushco. So much evil stems from that.

[blm]

17. Very true - but it never even should have gotten to the point where a Bush

in 1999 could even hope to get in the WH.


http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/051006.html

>>>>>>>>>
So for Clinton, learning the truth about controversial deals between the Reagan-Bush crowd and the autocratic governments of Iraq and Iran just wasn’t on the White House radar screen. Clinton also wanted to grant President George H.W. Bush a gracious exit.

“I wanted the country to be more united, not more divided,” Clinton explained in his 2004 memoir, My Life. “President Bush had given decades of service to our country, and I thought we should allow him to retire in peace, leaving the (Iran-Contra) matter between him and his conscience.”

Unexpected Results

Clinton’s generosity to George H.W. Bush and the Republicans, of course, didn’t turn out as he had hoped. Instead of bipartisanship and reciprocity, he was confronted with eight years of unrelenting GOP hostility, attacks on both his programs and his personal reputation.

Later, as tensions grew in the Middle East, the American people and even U.S. policymakers were flying partially blind, denied anything close to the full truth about the history of clandestine relationships between the Reagan-Bush team and hostile nations in the Middle East.

Clinton’s failure to expose that real history also led indirectly to the restoration of Bush Family control of the White House in 2001. Despite George W. Bush’s inexperience as a national leader, he drew support from many Americans who remembered his father’s presidency fondly.

If the full story of George H.W. Bush’s role in secret deals with Iraq and Iran had ever been made public, the Bush Family’s reputation would have been damaged to such a degree that George W. Bush’s candidacy would not have been conceivable.

Not only did Clinton inadvertently clear the way for the Bush restoration, but the Right’s political ascendancy wiped away much of the Clinton legacy, including a balanced federal budget and progress on income inequality. A poorly informed American public also was easily misled on what to do about U.S. relations with Iraq and Iran.

In retrospect, Clinton’s tolerance of Reagan-Bush cover-ups was a lose-lose-lose – the public was denied information it needed to understand dangerous complexities in the Middle East, George W. Bush built his presidential ambitions on the nation’s fuzzy memories of his dad, and Republicans got to enact a conservative agenda.

Clinton’s approach also reflected a lack of appreciation for the importance of truth in a democratic Republic. If the American people are expected to do their part in making sure democracy works, they need to be given at least a chance of being an informed electorate.
>>>>>>>>

[enigma000]

6. Last 50 years?

I think the best thing was American leadership during the Cold War. It helped reconcile old enemies, paid for most of the defense of the West and contained the USSR until it imploded; liberating hundreds of millions.

The worst? Inaction in the face of the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides.

[Buck Laser]

7. Civil Right Act and War on Poverty

I may be biased because I was actively involved in both, but the results of both are still becoming evident. The Civil Rights acts are probably not so controversial as the War on Poverty, but I think that's because many people confuse welfare with the War on Poverty. Head Start, Job Corps, Emergency Food & Medical Services, Legal Services and Community Action were all parts of the Office of Economic Opportunity, where I worked from 1967 through 1973. One of the most tangible remainders of OEO is the open meetings laws, which grew originally out of a drive to make sure that local government entities be required to conduct their meetings in public. The press latched on to this requirement, and helped bring it to reality.

I left OEO when it became clear that Nixon intended to destroy OEO during his second term. Incidentally, Don Rumsfeld was Nixon's first appointee as OEO director.

[AlamoDemoc]

8. Here's my take:

The Best:

1)Civil rights legislation
2)Defeat of the Soviet Union

The Worst:

1) deception of going into war with other nations
2) Corporate hegemony
3) Racism
4) Intellectual deception in the media



I can go on, and on, but for now that is my short list

[Greyhound]

11. The Good;

Civil Rights
Moon landing (even though it was all done in a Hollywood basement :D)
The Internet
Labor Laws (@ least what few remain)
Corporate/Industrial regulations (@ least what few remain)
Endangered Species Act
Clean Water Act

The Bad;
Everything else

[Joe Fields]

12. Socially, the Civil Rights Act. Economically, Clinton's balanced

budget.

[The2ndWheel]

13. The best: has to be making sure we have enough cheap energy

I mean, without it, there would be no time for civil rights, worker rights, moon landing, etc, because we'd all be slaves anyway. The work has to get done, and cheap energy makes it easier to do.

The worst: running the globalized planet on cheap energy.

Although, when oil gets too expensive and there is no alternative, or combination of alternatives, that can match the energy output of oil, the masters will have more slaves then ever, thanks to cheap energy.

So, screwed either way you go.

[Buck Laser]

14. But that happened immediately after WW2,

not in the time frame we're talking about. And it was part of an ongoing process. I agree that it was very important, both for good and ill, but I'd put the social changes higher. Nevertheless, an intriguing idea.
Buck

[oneinok]

18. Viet Nam

Viet Nam, election of 2000, Iraq