G. Vidal "He will leave office as the most unpopular president in History"

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

When I first protested the war in NYC, Feb. 15 2003 - I replayed these words from one of my heroes, Gore Vidal, like a mantra. I had read this piece on the net - I think it was on Salon that I first saw it.

"Q - And yet Americans seem quite susceptible to a sort of jingoistic "enemy-of-the-month club" coming out of Washington. You say millions of Americans hate the federal government. But something like 75 percent of Americans say they support George W. Bush, especially on the issue of the war.

A - I hope you don't believe those figures. Don't you know how the polls are rigged? It's simple. After 9/11 the country was really shocked and terrified. does a little war dance and talks about evil axis and all the countries he's going to go after. And how long it is all going to take, he says with a happy smile, because it means billions and trillions for the Pentagon and for his oil friends. And it means curtailing our liberties, so this is all very thrilling for him. He's right out there reacting, bombing Afghanistan. Well, he might as well have been bombing Denmark. Denmark had nothing to do with 9/11. And neither did Afghanistan, at least the Afghanis didn't.

Q - So the question is still asked, are you standing tall with the president? Are you standing with him as he defends us?

A - Eventually, they will figure it out.

Q - They being who? The American people?

A - Yeah, the American people. They are asked these quick questions. Do you approve of him? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, he blew up all those funny-sounding cities over there.

That doesn't mean they like him. Mark my words. He will leave office the most unpopular president in history. The junta has done too much wreckage."

This, I remember thinking at the time, is going to be in the annals of American History as the way we tell successive generations what to look out for. But, then again - History is written by the victors.

[Was_Immer]

1. i wonder who he's supporting

haha

[eridani]

12. Endorsed Kucinich in the primaries--

--I think he's ABB now.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Shrub Bush will be recorded in history as one of the worst.

Link to Vidal interview:

http://laweekly.com/ink/02/33/features-cooper.php

In my opinion (and many others) shrub Bush will go down in history as one of the worst American presidents.

He will certainly be the last global warming denier.

[Arkana]

3. Flame if you must, but that may be up for debate

Andrew Johnson was a universally hated figure when he left office as well. Historians will argue that with how close he came to being removed from office that he is the most hated president.

[RoyGBiv]

6. No flames, but ...

Andrew Johnson was not truly hated on the same level Shrub is, at least not by the public as a whole. (Of course, it's a bit harder to determine these things with people who held office before polls, television, radio, etc.) He seems to have been hated more by Congress than he was by the people, and it is his battles with Congress that led directly to his impeachment. IOW, Johnson's situation was more comparable to Clinton's. The latter is hated by a significant minority, but it is a minority.

Johnson was elected to the Senate shortly before his death, less than a decade after he left office. Where people knew him, particularly in E. Tennessee, he was very much a revered man.

[Arkana]

8. I suppose

The political atmosphere in 1869 was quite different than now...no radio or TV to determine public sentiment, so it will definitely be up for argument.

[Iceburg]

4. Great post & recall Chavez

One correction: "He will leave office the 2nd most unpopular leader in history barring any late-breaking Hitleresque assaults"

[gauguin57]

5. I'm still pissed at Gore Vidal.

He's RELATED to Al Gore and he WOULD NOT support him in 2000 (I think he was a Nader supporter).

[gulfcoastliberal]

7. Everyone should read that

it is excellent.

[Cha]

9. I was there, too ,Chavez!

I think Gore Vidal was right then and he's more right now!

[Democrat 4 Ever]

10. I don't find that amazing, he entered the office as the

most hated president in history. It is only right and just that he go out the same way. BoyGeorge is damn determined not to flip flop on anything. Don't think even Andrew Jackson could begin to match this feckless thug and his merry band of a**holes.

[Cha]

15. But, after 9/11 ..it was said that bush had

90% of the Country behind him..I was a proud member of the 10% club.

Of course, bush squandered that like he squanders everything else..

With all the poll lying going on..I'm now wondering if 90% were really supporting him?

bush needed 9/11..his polls were way down before then..is that why he took a month's vacation after the Aug 6 memo saying terrorists could come into our Country and use airplanes?

[texasmom]

17. Another proud member of the

10% club here, too. I have never had a day where I haven't despised him and the damage he's done to our country.

It's very interesting, too, because I didn't like him or dislike him when he was governor.

[geek tragedy]

11. * is hated, but he's no Richard Nixon. Even Repugs disliked his ass. eom

[divineorder]

14. * will be most hated. Nobody will be close.

While some Republicans hated Nixon, Nixon was able to regain respect as a party elder and an inspiration for the present generation of wingnuts. Plus one could point to some good things that happened during his watch like the reapproachment with China, the continuation of the Great Society, and a general competence when he wasn't feeling too paranoid. James Buchanan was reviled too by those who felt he had done too little to prevent the Civil War, but was personally treated quite respectfully. History gave Andrew Johnson his props by recording that the Republicans had overreached in so many ways, and he was re-elected to the Senate after he finished his term.

The previous worst, Harding, was reviled more for his womanizing and lack of mental acuity. But even his hardest critics have failed to detect a trace of vindictiveness, a note of personal greed, or delusional thinking. Harding knew he wasn't really Presidential material, but couldn't really stand up to his wife and his cronies. More a person to be pited than hated.

Shrub on the other hand, has demonstrated all three negative traits along with a complete lack of any competence. Add the sure to be thoroughly documented case of election fraud in 2000, making him an illegitimate President to boot, and he takes forever last place unless we somehow manage to resurrect Hitler and put him in.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

13. Kick

[AirAmFan]

16. So true. When election results are final, the Rove disinformation machine will

be turned off. *'s 'Teflon' will be gone, and all those who expressed support for him because they thought their jobs depended on doing so will be set free. Two months as a lame duck will seem like an eternity for true-believer Republicans, most of whom gradually will rejoin the 'reality-based community'.

News reporting will make a comeback. Milllions of people finally will learn that there were no WMDs in Iraq, that Saddam was not protecting terrorists (but * was), that on 9/11 * ran home crying to hide behind Karen Hughes's skirts all day, that * was AWOL, that the 'tax cut' was a bait-and-switch ripoff, that they came within months of losing half their Social Security, etc.

Lies don't last forever, and sometimes liars get everything they deserve.