Carl Bernstein: Bush More "Disastrous" Than Nixon

[marmar]

by John Nichols for The Nation:


BLOG | Posted 08/10/2007 @ 12:22am
Carl Bernstein: Bush More "Disastrous" Than Nixon



Carl Bernstein will always be known as the journalist who brought down a president whose disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law disqualified the errant executive from completing a second term in the White House. And Bernstein still gets a round of applause when mention is made of the role he played, as part of a Washington Post investigative team that also included Bob Woodward, in exposing the high crimes and misdemeanors of a president named Nixon.

But 33 years after Nixon resigned in order to avoid an inevitable impeachment -- on August 9, 1974 -- Bernstein is more concerned about a president named Bush.

When we appeared together recently at The Aspen Institute's first symposium on the political reporting of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Bernstein recalled the old stories of when he and Thompson were busy revealing the sordid details of Nixon's presidency.

But the Pulitzer Prize-winning author was under no illusions regarding the extent of Nixon's wrongdoing as compared with that of Bush and those around the current president.

Bernstein says that Bush's presidency has produced far more "disastrous consequences" for the country than did Nixon's.

Unlike the often crude and conniving but unquestionably intelligent and highly-engaged 37th president, Bernstein says of Bush: "He's lazy, arrogant and has little curiosity. He's a catastrophe..."

But that is not the worst part of the Bush era as compared to the Nixon era, explains Bernstein. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=221074

[indepat]

1. More disastrous by a factor of (fill in the blank)?

[Demeter]

3. At Least a Thousand

If you count the deaths and economic aspects, more like a billion. A thousand just covers the political and Constitutional damage.

[yurbud]

4. it's like comparing king kong and a sea monkey

[pacalo]

2. Thanks for the article.

[tex-wyo-dem]

5. Nixon was a small-time petty thief compared...

To the multi-national organized crime outfit of bushco. Nixon, however, may very have had some involvement in the assassination of a president, which I guess little boots can't claim (yet).

His father on the other hand...