Mr. President, you're no Harry Truman

[spindrifter]

By MARIANNE MEANS
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has taken to talking a lot about former President Truman these days, implying that like Truman -- vilified in the 1950s for the Korean War but vindicated by history -- he, too, will grow in stature as the Iraq mess fades.

This is a political insult to Truman of epic proportions. President Bush has a lot of gall.

It registers, in fact, at about the level of Sen. Dan Quayle's comparing himself to Sen. (and later President) John F. Kennedy. That exaggeration prompted Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, Quayle's Democratic vice presidential rival in 1988, to deliver one of the most famous comebacks in politics: "I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine" Bentsen said. "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

The world knew Bentsen was correct; Quayle became vice president, but was finished as a potential presidential candidate.

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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/296809_means22.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Harry served in the Missouri National Guard

but unlike shrub, actually went to war, and was on the front when the Armistace was declared Nov.11, 1918. He was also a student of history, and considered himself a servant of the people.

Harry Truman didn't have a rich father to make sure he got to go to an Ivy League school. Harry never graduated from college, though he took college level courses in a night school.

Instead of having a Karl Rove to cater to racists and bigots, Harry confronted the KKK and told them to basically go to h*ll, he didn't need their endorsement.

If Harry were alive today, I think is opinion of Bush would be lower than his opinion of Nixon, which, if memory serves, was very low.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. Well said.

Harry referred to Nixon as "that S.O.B."

He used to walk slowly by my junior high school some mornings, cane in hand, and a neighbor friend by his side. Secret Service kept an eye on him, but he didn't let them follow him around. That 80-something year-old man projected more presence and quiet power than Chimp could ever dream of.

[Lisa]

3. wow! That is so cool ...

"He used to walk slowly by my junior high school some mornings, cane in hand, and a neighbor friend by his side."

Meanwhile, Bush wouldn't dream of going outside without his convoy of black armored SUVs -- unless he could put on a big show of jogging around in a flightsuit or whatever.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

6. I'm thinkin' that whole WWI generation . . .

. . . would've seen the "flightsuit moment" for the B.S. that it was.

I guess TV has made most people easily fooled.

Hard to figure.

:shrug:

[Lisa]

7. Truman and FDR never needed to pose in front of a backdrop ...

And neither did Churchill (another historical leader whom Bush brazenly compares himself to).

I simply cannot imagine those guys having to resort to cartoonish antics like this:
http://www.dubyaspeak.com/dim.phtml

I must admit that I didn't start off thinking that Harry Truman was one of the great presidents, but the more I learn about him, the more I respect and admire him. (In contrast to the number of politicians whom I have second thoughts about, as I find out more about them. Even Churchill ... after reading "All the Shah's Men", I am convinced that despite his wartime accomplishments, he also made some rather bad decisions. Truman comes out looking better by comparison, in the Iran situation.) In Bush's case, from what I could see of him, he started out at "zero" and is now in the negative integers.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

8. Yeah, the WWII leaders were mightily flawed . . .

. . . when you start digging. Churchill, for his brilliance and courage, was a warmonger and a colonialist of the highest(?) order.

I have been to the Truman Library many times, and I come away with the impression that the guy humbly tried to do what was best. He certainly didn't love war, like someone we know . . .

Whatever the guy's flaws really were, here's one little detail that speaks volumes: When he left Washington in '53, he got in the Chrysler, and he and his wife drove back here to their home in Independence. They stopped along the way and greeted gas station attendants and soldiers and homemakers and salesmen. People who are like my people--clinging to the lower rungs of the middle class. He didn't consider himself to be better than them.

Yep. Our current "leader" is truly in the negative integers . . .

[Lisa]

9. I love that story!

"he and his wife drove back here to their home in Independence"
--reminds me of what happened when the Governor-General, Canada's head of state, stepped down. (The G-G does all the ceremonial duties like our equivalent of the State of the Union, greeting and hosting foreign dignitaries, and is also Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces.) Adrianne Clarkson used to hold the position, and after the ceremony where her replacement assumed the title, Ms. Clarkson and her husband slipped out the back entrance of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa while the crowds were still cheering the new head of state, and drove off to the house they'd recently bought in Toronto. Rather than going to some fancy restaurant, they stopped at the side of Highway 401 and had a picnic!

Whenever I see Bush out there in public with his fly open or his jacket all lumpy -- or that gaudy tie that gave off distracting patterns during that televised speech a while back -- I wonder what Truman would have thought. The clothes are undoubtedly very expensive, but Bush looks sloppy in them ("ill-suited", Business Week commented). Truman once owned a men's wear shop, so he knew how to dress!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

10. Well said, about Chimp's sloppy dressing habits. Then there's the teeth . . .

Maybe we should all chip in an' buy the poor fool some Crest whitening strips for those brown nubbins of his.

Naaaah . . .

That's very interesting about Ms. Clarkson. I sure didn't know that.

I like hearing stories about classy behavior--they aren't too common!

See ya.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. You were lucky to see him

He was truly a man of the people.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

5. Yeah, he preferred to hang out with average people.

And he valued education.

And he respected soldiers. Even African-American soldiers, when that was not a very popular thing.

All sorts of values that are foreign to our pathetic Boy-King.

I wonder what he thought of Prescott Bush? Probably not printable!

:hi:

[Vidar]

11. What, you mean "pass the buck" bush?