This is fucking 10 times worse than Nixon back in the 1970s.

[Elwood P Dowd]

The infrastructure is falling apart. We are universally hated around the globe. 31,000 citizens die every year because our politicians refuse to solve our health care and infrastructure problems. Our health care system now ranks 37th in the world. Our education system is a disaster. We have invaded a sovereign country simply to steal their assets and enrich our military contractors. We have an administration that uses the Constitution to wipe his ass while destroying our freedoms. We are spending ourselves into bankruptcy with 1.1 trillion dollars a year in budget and current account deficits. Our savings rate is the worst since the 1930s Depression as most Americans now spend more than they make. Millions of jobs are being shipped out of the country in the name of Free Trade and outsourcing. Billions of dollars in imports are pouring into our country every month, and many of them are making us sick because the current administration has reduced inspections below 2%. Incompetent political cronies or industry insiders have all but destroyed critical government agencies such as the FDA, USDA, FTC, EPA, and FTC. Our own Departments of Labor and Commerce conduct seminars to assist giant multi-national corporations in their quest for lower wages and fewer job opportunities for American citizens. Our judicial branch of government is now nothing more than a political agency for our President. Even our fucking elections are rigged. What so sad is that this is only a short list - this is only a small sample of what the bastards have done.

Nixon was bad, but Nixon was a rank amateur compared to Bush and his crime family. I'm 60 years old, was drafted during the terrible days of Nixon Administration, and never, ever thought I would witness a disaster of such proportions that it would destroy simply everything you could think of that was good about this country. The Nixon years were THE GOOD OLD DAYS compared to this shit.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Check your cellphone.... it's probably on ROME. n/t

[lonestarnot]

2. Or on fire.

[Demeter]

3. We Weren't Exactly Beloved in Nixon's Time, Either

and infrastructure was scary then, too. Carter and Clinton were able to get some patching done, but when so many governor's mansions were occupied by forces of evil, the rebuilding and responsible behaviors stopped cold.

I've lived all my adult life under these fascists. Truly a Chinese cursed life.

[EnricoFermi]

76. You are right

I was going to say the same thing.

However, this time I think they will succeed in gaining full control and establishing a totalitarian state.

I really think this is different than the Nixon in that way. They are using the lessons learned of Nixon and Watergate to their own success and our own demise.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. And what are our Dems doing to get these rats out of office? nt

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

7. More than the Republican'ts, not enough for the rest of us.

MKJ

[YOY]

60. Nail on the head there BHP

Dead solid.

[RufusTFirefly]

9. Pelosi adamant: "Constitution is 'off the table.'" n/t

[JDPriestly]

46. Pelosi is completely blinded by Bush's alleged "charm."

After all, Bush is such a "nice" man from such a "nice" family. I am so disappointed in Pelosi. She lives in a bubble. I hope that her constituents bring her back to reality during the summer break. If you live in her district, please let us know here at DU what you are doing to help Pelosi regain her senses.

[Virginia Dare]

49. I hope she's not...

I'm hoping she's just operating under the theory that you can't catch flies with vinegar. Maybe she thinks she can still salvage something from all of this, but I'm not so sure.

[PurpleChez]

84. I SO hope you're right.

I'm not holding my breath, but I do hope. I keep telling myself that there is a reason why she is doing what she is doing. That there is a reason that the Dems seem to have no more power than when they were the Congressional minority.

[Peregrine Took]

57. I heard her today on the radio, what a terrible, dithery public speaker! Yow -

Very tentative, hesitant, little girl-ish voice. Sheesh! I couldn't wait 'til the interview was over it was so irritating to listen to her. I'm no Hillary fan but at least she is a very good, confident public speaker with good diction and enunciation.

[redacted]

62. Pathetic Pelosi.

[BeHereNow]

83. She's not blinded, she is complicit and making money from her complicity.

it's ALL about the money-
Trust me when I tell you America has been sold down the river
by the Congress for personal profit by appeasing the corporations
and multi nationals arranging the so called new world order,
which translated means, a few very rich people while the
rest of us go under, GLOBALLY.
BHN

[krkaufman]

73. You mean "us Dems", right? Since the people in office are merely a reflection ...

... of public sentiment and activity.

[Mr Rabble]

77. You don't really believe that do you?

If you honestly think that our elected representatives are a reflection of public sentiment you would be best served by looking at public opinion pools from ANY of the major polling firms.

Public sentiment is overwhelmingly opposed to the vast majority of public policies. The war, health care, spending, etc...I could go on.

Our "leaders" have gamed the system to get themselves "elected" and then done exactly the opposite of what We The People want.

Sorry to jump on you for that comment, but I firmly believe it to be wildly inaccurate.

[mmonk]

5. Yep.

Smokes the sh*t out of Nixon.

[tom_paine]

6. Ten times? I think you underestimate, Elwood.

We have passed at least two orders of magnitude in this country. Two more orders of magnitude, and the roundups will begin.

[Auggie]

59. Me too.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. I'm right there with ya, Elwood. Nixon was a boy scout.

Both back then and still, today, I can find some good things to say about Nixon.

I can find **nothing** good about the Bush boy.

[Peregrine Took]

58. A veritable saint next to this dudey.

[vssmith]

10. At least Nixon was smart

[Elwood P Dowd]

14. He was genius compared to Bush.

"I know all about small business growth. I was one."

[asjr]

11. Amen to that! The Nixon years were a tea party

compared to this administration.

[Olney Blue]

12. That is one helluva good summary of our plight.

:banghead: Nixon: The Good Old Days

[Red Zelda]

13. Ah, Dumbfuckistan

shithole for a new millennium

[FloridaJudy]

15. You know things are bad

When you start feeling nostalgia for old Tricky Dick. I'm 60 years old as well, and I've never seen this country in such sad shape. It makes me wish I had emigrated to Canada back when I was young enough for that to be an option.

But it looks like I'm going to have to stick around and fight.

[C_U_L8R]

16. Nixon would be ashamed of these nitwits

[defendandprotect]

27. Nixon had "nitwits" of his own -- they got caught. They're only human; often less so -- !!!!

[Seabiscuit]

88. Nixon had 2 "nitwits" who didn't get caught - Cheney and Rumsfeld.

By now I think Nixon's worst crime was bringing those two to Washington with him.

[defendandprotect]

89. Interesting observation because R&C seem to have been working to recreate a Cold War for the MIC --

[Seabiscuit]

94. "MIC"?

[midnight]

17. Our judicial branch is nothing more than a political agency

for our president. That phrase is the reason we need to continue to stay aware of the decisions that our being made in our Government. Our judicial system is the place where we should feel comfortable to address our grievances.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

18. You've said a mouthful - a very sobering one

And since this administration has become the most secretive in U.S. history, opposing virtually every effort to oversee its nefarious activities, you may have just scratched the surface regarding what they actually have done in secret.

[Lugnut]

19. It's stunning.

I never thought I'd live to see a president who was worse than Nixon.

[jazzjunkysue]

20. More like 200,000 times worse. Nixon didn't start a war that killed 200,000.

[defendandprotect]

28. Nixon kept the VN war going and the count of dead VN and the brutalization is high --

Phoenix Program was TORTURE --

run by the CIA in VN --

60,000 dead and more just with that program --

*************************************************

[Double T]

21. Nixon was a choirboy compared to THESE dirty rotten corrupt psychopathic criminals.

[Harper_is_Bush]

22. you're not "universally hated around the globe".

things are bad, but let's not inflate them.

[EVDebs]

29. BBC: Poll suggests world hostile to US

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to an international poll for the BBC say they have an unfavourable opinion of George W Bush.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2994924.stm

[Name removed]

32. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hootinholler]

23. Nixon was part of the Family...

He was a protege to Prescott Bush, he also brought Poppy's career along as well.

Just Sayin that for almost a century, there's been a Bush Man involved.

-Hoot

[defendandprotect]

30. Prescott Bush + his group recruited Richard Nixon and provided $$$$ -- -

which Nixon specified over and above his Congressional salary -- a slush fund.

It costs a lot to keep "the communists are coming" mentality in place --

[lordsummerisle]

24. What continues to amaze me is that much of what you stated

was known (if you were paying attention) on the eve of the 2004 election and yet BushCo still got RE-ELECTED... :wtf:

[defendandprotect]

31. No -- Bush stole his second or third election in 2004 --

[Booster]

25. You know, Nixon was kind of in your face about what he was doing,

but nothing he did compares to this bunch. They're in your face and saying "who cares whatcha think". I think it's the arrogance more than anything; that and the fact the Dems in Wash not reading a scintilla of what the average DUer reads in one damn day. Frustrating to say the least.

[defendandprotect]

26. You forgot Global Warming which has the potential to make many KATRINAS . . .

The Republicans are destroyers --

And Ralph Nader has been telling us about this for decades --

You certainly haven't gotten this overall perspective from your "free press" --

[EFerrari]

33. No fucking kidding.

Nixon was Shirley Temple compared to these felons.

[provis99]

34. Amazing, isn't it? Nixon really does look good compared to Bush

Even Bod Dole called Nixon evil. And Bush is worse.

[Truthiness Inspector]

35. The sky is falling n/t

[L. Coyote]

36. This is part of Nixon's legacy. Cheney was on his staff.

These are the same people, politically if not actually.

[Breeze54]

37. What about Raygun?

I think it's close to the devastation he caused America back then. Well, except he didn't invade
another country, ummm, except Granada but poverty and homelessness was rampant back then and he
was the reason!! And he told mental health patients and AIDS patients to go fuck themselves.

All RepubliCon pukes suck!! :grr:

[omega minimo]

53. ALL THIS IS THE LOGICAL, PREDICTABLE OUTCOME OF REAGAN AND REAGANISM

People need to start gettin that.



http://www.thomhartmann.com

[Hidden Stillness]

99. Oh My God; Holy Shit--omega minimo!

omega--Hi! What happened to you? Where were you? Did you read the "Where is omega?" threads--there were two, and I started one of them. What were you doing? I'm so glad you are back--now, explain yourself young lady!

[corkhead]

38. the * pResidency summed up in one paragraph. Wow. K & R

I am bookmarking this

[and-justice-for-all]

39. I will have to conceed to that statement

Nixon fucked us over Health Care and he knew it. But Bush wipes his ass with that "goddam piece of paper" that we the people call the Constitution. I also have this feeling that its only going to get worse, regardless of who gets the hill in '08...I seriouly think we are fucked.

[deacon]

40. And, the GOP leadership and GOP candidates still supports it. n/t

[Skittles]

41. I hear you Elwood

I'm 50 and this is as bad as I have ever seen it - it is despressing and downright painful to witness

[Hissyspit]

42. And yet no one seems to be able to do anything about it.

And many don't want to do anything about it.

[HamdenRice]

43. I beg to differ

I'm certainly not saying things are not terrible. But it's really difficult to put yourself back in time and think about how bad things really were. In a bad month in Vietnam, US forces could suffer a hundred deaths per week. Millions of Vietnamese died in that war, and the US was carpet bombing North Vietnamese cities and "unsecured" parts of South Vietnam. Even as Nixon deteriorated into paranoid dementia, he still had his finger on the nuclear trigger, which could cause instant incineration of all life on earth.

During the Nixon years, the economy was suffering inflation so severe that the federal government imposed price controls.

As for the level of treason, we did not know it then, but candidate Nixon had scuttled Johnson's peace process by going behind the sitting government's back and persuading the South Vietnamese not to agree to peace terms. Nixon then prolonged the war, murdering millions, to get the same deal that was on the table during the last months of Johnson's administration. Moreover, he was overthrowing governments or maintaining in power ruthless dictators, all over the world, most notably in Chile.

We complain about gas prices today, but in 1973, I remember my father had to get up early and waste an entire day waiting on line for gasoline. You could only buy gas on odd numbered days of the month or even numbered days of the month depending on your license plate number. The stock market slid into oblivion so badly that institutions that depended on endowments, such as universities and charitable foundations, nearly went bankrupt. Libraries at Yale and Columbia had rain pouring into them and no money to fix their roofs.

We may hate the fact that Bush has targeted dissidents with NSA wiretaps, but Nixon had the FBI target dissidents with automatic weapons, killing many in COINTELPRO. Our most inspiring non-radical leaders, JFK, MLK and RFK had been mysteriously gunned down.

Watergate was being investigated as the coverup of a burglary, but it was becoming clear that Nixon had created an over-arching, treasonous dictatorship that relied on spying, murder and intimidation by the FBI, CIA, IRS and other shadowy intelligence networks.

This is bad, but the 1970s was much worse. We got through that; we'll get through this one too.

On edit: The one thing that is stranger is that the Bush people are so incredibly stupid. During the Johnson and Nixon administration, some very intelligent people made many disastrous decisions. Now complete idiots and looters are making the disastrous decisions.

The other difference is the lack of opposition within the establishment today. This is the most worrying part. We've lost our independent judiciary and investigative media.

[DeeDeeNY]

44. But the news media was different back then

There were independent newspapers and media outlets, so as bad as Nixon was, people were much more aware of what was going on.
What we have today passing for news is mostly right-slanted spin and infotainment. And without an informed electorate, a democracy is much more vulnerable to deteriorating into something ugly.

[RufusTFirefly]

50. Indeed. Media consolidation has been extremely damaging to democracy

I believe that when Ben Bagdikian first sounded the alarm, there were close to 50 major media outlets. Now there are close to five.

[FiveGoodMen]

66. As it was meant to be.

[omega minimo]

54. You are assuming your rights are intact, even though you know they aren't

"This is bad, but the 1970s was much worse. We got through that; we'll get through this one too."

"Now complete idiots and looters are making the disastrous decisions... We've lost our independent judiciary and investigative media."

[broadcaster]

45. Agreed, and the Dems are as bad since they do nothing..

to truly stop what is happening.

Pelosi might as well be Dennis Hassert, the previous speaker, for all the
appeasement she's done for the Bush/Cheney agenda.

We need a third party of reformers, the Democrats are as corrupt in my
view (and I lived through Nixon also).

John Edwards calls out Hillary for taking money from Murdoch, and then
it turns out he has an $800k book deal with a Murdoch publisher and got
a 300k advance for 'expenses.'

We no longer have any sort of representative government, unless you
define representative to mean of the corporate elite.

I truly don't see a way out of this now. The corrpuption, the Congressional
complicity with Bush/Cheney seems total, and all we get are stage shows in
Congressional hearings, with no action taken of substance.

I hate to say it, but the Democrats, with Pelosi/Reid, must support
what is happening, or they would stand up to it. What you see is
what you get.

[paparush]

47. Nixon and Prescott Bush

http://fawcett911.us/images/prescott+nixon.jpg

Prescott and Ike
http://fawcett911.us/images/prescott+ike2.jpg

Some background reading-
http://fawcett911.us/DemRepNeoHistory.html

[L. Coyote]

48. Time to dust off a Nixonian era idea

http://jqjacobs.net/politics/impeach/

[yellerpup]

51. K&R!

I feel you all the way. :kick:

[omega minimo]

52. And you witnessed it as it happened over the last few decades......... (not 6 years) .............

:popcorn:

[Irishonly]

55. Bush Makes Nixon Look Like Romper Room

I am 54 and I remember Nixon. I remember the protests and I will never forget the day Nixon resigned. I was sitting in a summer school class and the professor brought in a TV and told us what we were about to watch was more important than anything she could teach us that day. You could hear the cheering throughout the campus.

A few years ago I said that Cheney was evil. I haven't changed my mind and have added a lot of people to the list. We don't have the investigative reporting now. Corporations own the media. I don't know about the rest of you but I am appalled that I have to get my news on line and through the BBC or PBS.

I don't understand why impeachment is not on the table. I have always thought republicans stick with the party no matter what is happening. With as many people opposed to the invasion, it would seem that a time line wouldn't be an issue. I have also just heard that about 150 of the repukes signed a loyalty oath to the president. Party before the people is the motto. I've not heard the last figures on how many support impeachment. Are the democrats waiting for more people to support the impeachment? What will happen if martial law is declared? I never thought I would even have to think about martial law in our country but I do now.

I thought the cutback were awful during the Raygun years. They were mild compared to what we see now. Our country is falling apart and it seems no one is doing anything about it. I write and call and call and write. Like many of you I write to people who are not my senators or representatives. I am frustrated and scared like I have never been before.

[Olney Blue]

86. Great post.

What you said....

[tomp]

56. no.

nixon was part of the bfee plan. the difference between then and now is mere historical development. they are equal qualities of evil. w surpasses nixon only because the possibilities have expanded, more is possible now.

[betrue2meonly]

92. rotten oranges vs. rotten tomatoes...

I have to agree with tomp. Nixon was evil and pathetic. He was every bit as bad. As far as opening up China, that was Kissinger, mostly, and they only did it to retrieve some respect, and open up cheap markets. I wish they had left China alone, it was for benefit of big business, only.
Kent State! Damn it. Nixon was every bit the war criminal Bush is. Cambodia, etc.
I'll never forget being at Nixon's 2nd inauguration and his speech. Our boys were still in Nam, and he didn't even mention them, thank them, or ask for our prayers for them.
Instead, he asked for our prayer for him and Agnew!
We were not much better informed then, the press was in on it then, too, except for a very few.
Now, the internet brings the truth out sooner.
The Watergate break in happened before the election, and the press suppressed it. Was very little coverage until later.
Sadly, we have no John Dean.
And we have no one on par with Daniel Schorr. Schorr kicked ass at the Watergate news briefings, and question/answer sessions. He made the other reporters look like idiots with his brilliant questions, skewering his targets.
Nixon did install "Skill Centers" to retrain workers, something Bush would never do. I forget the circumstances, was probably a Dem. program.

[redacted]

61. NO. More like 1000 times worse. 10,000 times worse. I remember.

[dragon82a]

63. YOUR FUTURE BENEVOLENT DICTATOR IS NOW HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS..!

2008 Ruling Campaign platform: (after a "terrorist" attack took out some 2nd tier city -Hackensack New Jersey and martial law was imposed)



Vote for your ruler To vote is to be patriotic, you must vote and you must vote for the only candidate running --Me.

When I first came to your Washington D.C. and demanded your homes, property and very lives, I didn't know you were already doing so, willingly, with your own government. I can win no tribute from a bankrupted nation populated by feeble flag-waving plebians. In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.

-- General Bush (New self Imposed Title)
Your Current/Future President and Eternal Ruler


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I do not take orders. I give them. Congress shall no longer have the ability to impeach me or override my decisions, and the Supreme Court shall not meddle in government affairs.
Your freedom will be expanded. You will be even more free to give your money and lives to me, and to be my eternal subjects.

Make permanent the Iraq War. I will indulge your wishes if you all want a Westernized, unpopular regime in Iraq, and I too shall gloat in its troubles, but it will not be done at my expense, just yours.

Universal health care. In the form of televised gladiatorial games to the death, this will easily separate the strong from the weak and provide an even better reality tv than the tripe that is shown currently.

Sincerely,

God-Emperor Bush
Your Friend

[Tom Joad]

64. too bad the congress is also 10 x's worse.

[FiveGoodMen]

67. And the populace!

A quarter of the country still thinks this is good.

And almost no one that I know personally thinks it's really all that bad.

[Blue_In_AK]

65. No doubt in my mind...

I was just saying that to someone last night. Nixon's crimes were petty in comparison. And at least he had a little bit of a clue foreign-relations wise, i.e., China, etc. No one could every accuse ** of being a diplomat.

[Gloria]

68. I agree. We're in a total morass with no leadership at all.

I mean, I've essentially had to disconnect from most of this crap...and it's the DEMOCRATS in Congress and a couple of the frontrunners who are shoving me out of being engaged at all....

[pas11]

69. Worse than Nixon . . . .

As much as I despise the fascist cabal running this country . . . and "despise" is not strong enough to capture my . . . hatred? loathing? NO WORDS CAN DESCRIBE IT! But . . . . almost the worst thing about all of this is that this country just has too damn many "good Germans." I used to hope we would have a revolution. Then it dawned on me - that the very people I might count on to pull a revolution off will be the ones with the guns taking part in the slaughter against US . . . those of us who have brains, hearts, believe in democracy, et al. They will also be among the thousands of "citizens" the FBI is hiring to snoop around and spy on . . . US . . . you know, again, those of us who have brains, hearts, believe in democracy, et al. So, in the end, for me . . . the "enemy" is . . . . fellow Americans. Read Noam Chomsky's interview on Counterpunch. He says it eloquently, intellectually . . . but our CULTURE of entitlement, exceptionalism . . . has turned us into evil empire builders. I think Ward Churchill was ABSOLUTELY correct . . . we are all Eichmann's to the extent we have allowed the atrocities of this adm. to occur. May Americans all be damned forever for thinking we are the only people on earth who count. Even fucking religion. I drive by a church - a christian church - very day to work; I look at the sign: God bless america. Makes me fucking puke.

[19jet54]

70. Bush is modern day Hover/Coolidge

Does that mean Hillary is modern day FDR?

[FiveGoodMen]

79. Hillary's supporters appear to be just as much of a personality cult as Bush's.

[Madspirit]

81. That has what to do with this?

Comparing Hillary to Bush is just...wow...irrational.
Lee

[FiveGoodMen]

96. I compared Hillary's supporters to Bush's

Not Hillary to Bush.

I stand by what I said.

[19jet54]

98. Your fucked up!

Paper tiger? (the only combat you've seen is with a pencil)

[19jet54]

93. Were you born yesterday?

Or are you just naive? Duh! Welcome to politics :)

[FiveGoodMen]

95. If that's what Democratic politics is going to be like, then the Dems are no better than

the Republicans.

And sarcasm doesn't really win arguments.

[19jet54]

97. I wasn't being sarcastic

and my previous comment doubly applies at your surprise to human behavior

[RadiDem]

71. I'm 52 and concur - I also think Ray-gun (Iran-Contra, etc) was worse than Nixon -nt-

[porphyrian]

72. Yeah, but the pot's better. - n/t

[Madspirit]

82. We FINALLY agree on something...

I do miss love bead and bell bottoms and paisley and ....

Lee

[porphyrian]

85. We probably agree on more than you think...

...but I won't tell anyone. ;)

[Faygo Kid]

74. Yep. Easily, and my late father-in-law at 81 also said W worst, scariest ever

This was a man who stood up against Nixon with every fiber of his being, actively opposing Tricky Dick. He died last year fearing for the fate of this nation, and crushed that after all he had seen people go through, this country could still accept putting W into office. He really lost hope, I think, once we were involved in another insane war.

John Dean's book puts it best: "Worse Than Watergate."

And the horror is that it is a long way from over.

[mnhtnbb]

75. I'm 56 and I remember Nixon days vividly. Our situation is now far worse

Nixon was brought down by his skullduggery; NOTHING is being done to hold Bushco accountable for their crimes.

I really do fear for the future of our country. Even if the Dems manage
to take the WH--look at the incredible damage that's been done! It won't
be fixed overnight. Remember how long it took to build the WTC? And how fast it came down? It's much easier to destroy than to build--whether it's an office
tower or a vibrant democracy.

It makes me terribly sad. Angry and sad.

[democrank]

78. I agree, Mr. E P Dowd.

Another oldster here who thinks Nixon was a cakewalk compared to these fascists. There won`t be much left of our country when Junior finally rides off into the sunset.

[Madspirit]

80. k&r...it was fun having Dick to kick

...but I doubt Viet Nam or Cambodia would think so. ...or the students at Kent State. Still, I agree, these times are worse.

Lee

[Seabiscuit]

87. I hear ya, man. I'm 62, and those *were* the "good old days" compared to this shit. n/t

I often feel these days that the people in this country who have backed the current regime, the "God Bless America" crowd, the selfish, mindless a-holes speeding/lane-changing/tailgaiting down the highway on their cell phones, the rude mofos butting in lines everywhere at places like Disneyland, etc., etc. ad nauseum make it no longer worth while to work to save this country. For who, them? No thanks. If I could leave permanently I would.

[barbtries]

90. and to think

that's just the tip of the iceberg.

an absolute catastrophe, for the country, for the world, for the planet.

[Elwood P Dowd]

91. I didn't make it half-way through the list

and just stopped. It's that bad.