Hey, you older DUers...How does Bush compare to Nixon?

[progressoid]

[sam sarrha]

1. The F'n Corporate Whore just hasn't resigned yet... wet brain Moron

[papau]

2. Nixon cared - a little - about the poor - Bush does not

Nixon's national health was on the table when he was tossed.

And Soc Sec had gotten a benefit index under Nixon.

[AllyCat]

3. Much, much worse

I am not that old, but was old enough to know that Nixon was the bogeyman that lived in my closet when I was a toddler. Given what I know now, Nixon had nothing on the War Criminal.

I'd take Nixon any day over this jerk.

[demnan]

4. I say much worse

When Nixon was in, he was a thug, but at least he wasn't reaching to destroy the entire fabric of our social security system, and at least he wasn't trying to get us into another war, well he had trouble getting us out of a war but that was going on before he got in.

Nixon was his own worst enemy. His lack of self-esteem expressed itself in trying to destroy his enemies. However his personal problems weren't driving his domestic and foreign policies as much as Bush's are.

Reagan was close to being as bad, because like Bush, he was somewhat of an empty vessel waiting to be filled by the worst around him, but not quite as empty as Bush.

[rsmith6621]

6. Nixon Did the right thing......

HE QUIT

[CBHagman]

5. Basically worse.

Granted, there are a lot of things that Nixon is justly reviled for -- anti-Semitism, the break-in, the involvement in the Chilean coup, etc. But he did pursue some policies which led to long-term good (for example, in the environmental area).

Bush may be fairly close to Nixon in terms of secrecy and vindictiveness, though only a team of historians and psychologists could do justice to that topic! But Bush never had to work his way to the top the way Nixon did, and no, I'm not just taking the Checkers speech and running with it. Nixon did not come from the lap of luxury and all the right connections. I can understand a bit the bitterness and frustration, for example, Pat Nixon seemed to feel at all the sacrifices she had to make as a young woman.

But Bush has the Nixonian resentment without ever having suffered anything worse than one defeat at the polls. Can you think of a single mistake for which Bush has paid the price? Do you think George and Laura Bush struggled for much of anything in this life?

And Bush richly deserves criticism for trying to undo the post-Watergate reforms involving disclosure. The executive orders creating further restrictions on release of documents are utterly shameful.

[progressoid]

8. talking to a repub, I tried to come up with one redeeming thing about b*

and I couldn't even say "well, he's better than Nixon".

[indepat]

7. Much, much, several times over multiplied by a large factor

[DelawareValleyDem]

9. much worse and much less intelligent

Nixon was a bright but paranoid guy. Bush is just a spoiled brat who partied most of his life and then relied on his name to carry him once he got 'serious'

[illflem]

10. Reagan was worse than Nixon but bush takes 1st place by far

[jdonaldball]

11. Nixon was a tragedy, Bush is a farce. And Nixon had

some moral courage. Nixon went out alone to meet thousands of protesters at the Lincoln Memorial, late at night, with no security.
Nixon actually loved America, in his own twisted, criminal way.
Bush does not. The difference is that Nixon understood at least some of what was best in America - while Bush doesn't understand and doesn't care.
Nixon was a criminal, but he was a criminal who actually knew something about, and cared about, the Better Angels of America's nature. Bush neither knows nor cares.
Nixon loved his country in a sick, tragic way. Bush does not even know or care about what his country represents.
And finally, Nixon grew up poor, and even in his worst years, Nixon had some residual sympathy for the poor and disenfranchised.
Bush knows nothing of that, and doesn't care.
Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream."
Nixon corrupted the dream. But it was still a truly American dream.
But Bush has no dream. His words are empty, and his dreams are as empty as a dog's.

[IndyPriest]

28. Tragedy vs farce. That's about it! n/t

[hedgehog]

12. As I said elsewhere - at least Nixon had keepers

Bush has enablers.

[ckramer]

13. At least Nixon'd had the gut to say "I'm not a crook" and resign

[MarianJack]

14. Bastard That He Was...

...nixon was BY FAR the best republican president in my (cognizant) lifetime. I was born when Eisenhower was president but the first president I knew of was JFK.

At least nixon did some positives for the country. He also was a very intelligent man, perhaps among the smartest presidents, though not in the Jefferson or Wilson class. He also was at least IN CHARGE of his administration.

Don't get me wrong. I have no positive memory of nixon. I was a 16 and 17 year old volunteer for McGovern in 3 primary states and the general. nixon was a much much better president and (GASP! I CAN'T believe I'm about to say this about NIXON!) person than bush jr.

[TR Fan]

15. * and Nixon were exact opposites...

in terms of foreign policy. The Nixon/Kissenger doctrine of RealPolitik was essentially a strategy of containment. *'s foreign policy, in a perverted way, is much closer to Woodrow Wilson's, a great believer in expanding democracy and, the keyword of the day, "self-determination." Wilson sought to do so through international cooperation and the development of multi-national organizations, while * seeks to do so through military force.

Nixon, on the other hand, firmly believed in the containment of enemies (communists) in the belief that they would eventually collapse under their own weight. That's not to say, however, that if a proxy was available, Nixon/Kissenger would hesitate to use that agent, in any way possible.

edit: spelling

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Nixon was a nasty, paranoid SOB, but I'd take him back in a heartbeat

if he could be resurrected to replace the Chimperor. He was crooked and sneaky, but he did at least a few good things (the EPA, for example), and compared to the Bush Reich his administration was downright liberal. When he resigned I was jubilant because I thought we'd finally gotten rid of the worst president imaginable. Silly me.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Nixon was a ruthless politician. Bush is a True Believer.

Nixon was a sociopathic, paranoid, politician in the worst sense of the word. He was responsible for horrible, bloody, things as he sought power at any price.

Bush really believes in what he says and does. So did Hitler.

[housewolf]

18. Give me Nixon any day of the week or year....

Not all that he did was wrong. He DID get out out of Viet Nam even though it took him a while to do it. He DID end the draft. He got extensive environmental protections passed. He cracked the wall with China.



Yes he was paranoid and morally bankrupted by his pursuit of power but in the end, he did much less damage to the world in 6 years than GWB has done in 4.

[IronLionZion]

19. Pathetic, dishonest, insecure, punk bitch

describes both of them, but Nixon didn't start his war or try to destroy Social Security. :P

[progressoid]

20. Sad - - - Bush makes Nixon look good

which makes America look even worse for voting for the bastard.

[Sugarbleus]

21. DUPE...Sry

[Sugarbleus]

22. Voted Much Worse ..but #5 is a keeper too... n/t

[Eloriel]

23. There is no comparison -- the only apt comparison

is either Hitler or Mussolini.

Trust me.

[against all enemies]

24. One creates EPA, the other destroys it. Goodbye Environment.

[deadparrot]

25. I'm not old, but some f the stuff BushCo. has done would make Nixon blush

methinks.

[tnlefty]

26. Much worse. I also remember reading John Dean's stating that

after the release of documents, etc., that Nixon was more corrupt, paraniod, etc., than he had realized at the time. No telling what all Dimson** has done that will never see the light of day.

[kodi]

27. nixon was a brilliant, self-made man, bush is an idiot son of wealth

anyone who knows nixon's bio understands how hard nixon worked to achieve his goals, regardless of his paranoia.

bush, with another last name would be face down in a gutter and either a drunk or crackhead.

[uppityperson]

29. N=bad reputation/paranoid, B=destroy civilization

Nixon was a paranoid brilliant statesman who did good with world politics. Bush has destroyed more of the world environment and killed more people and gotten rid of civil rights than any president yet, even reagan/papa bush. Bush has better publicity, Nixon worse publicity but Mr. Bush is much much much worse and scary. Even according to my 80+ yr old father.