Interesting question to Liberals.
- Thread starter Wildcard Ky
- Start date
Virtual_Burlesque
Former Ecdysiast
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2004
- Posts
- 4,083
It is not that all politicians are irretrievable liars. Some are. Some a cast iron, double reinforced, chrome-plated, bevel-edged, safety-handled prevaricators of immense capacity. Others, are merely trapped into it by the requisiteness of the job.
That is what made Bulworth such a fun film.
If a candidate actually told nothing but the unvarnished truth one hundred percent of the time, 24/7, he could not get elected garbage collector.
As far as that goes, he couldn’t survive in private life, either. The difference is, we non-politicians don’t tell our essential lies in public, before a group of people gathered to make an important decision based upon our lie.
Somewhere between telling Scottish-Americans that he loves haggis and telling the country that we must invade a foreign country which he guarantees has weapons of mass destruction, before they launch an immanent attack against us, we must find someone in the middle ground.
That is what made Bulworth such a fun film.
If a candidate actually told nothing but the unvarnished truth one hundred percent of the time, 24/7, he could not get elected garbage collector.
As far as that goes, he couldn’t survive in private life, either. The difference is, we non-politicians don’t tell our essential lies in public, before a group of people gathered to make an important decision based upon our lie.
Somewhere between telling Scottish-Americans that he loves haggis and telling the country that we must invade a foreign country which he guarantees has weapons of mass destruction, before they launch an immanent attack against us, we must find someone in the middle ground.
Wildcard Ky
Southern culture liason
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2004
- Posts
- 3,145
shereads said:
That's exactly right. "The worst" president would have to be the worst in many categories to win the overall award.
In my lifetime Carter would have to be the overall worst. The hostages, bad economy, rampant inflation. Carter had a really bad run.
With that being said, Carter also brought peace to Egypt and Israel. Carter had a common mans approach to a lot of things. He cared about the down trodden. I also think he was the most moral man to be in that office in my lifetime.
Being a good or bad president can't be summed up by one or two things, the job is much bigger than that.
G
Guest
Guest
Politicians are not inherently liars. They tell the truth as often as they can, but remember this. We remember things we don't like far more than the things we do like. Politics also requires compromise, and that means sometimes you give up something important for something more important.
If they are liars it's our fault.
Every decade or two someone runs for President who gives us the straight unvarnished dope. They tell us we have these problems we have to face up to. They get a steady 10% of the vote in the primaries despite the fact that everyone likes them.
The fact is that we as Americans like to be told the things we want to hear, and we punish politicians who dare tell us something different. We claim to hate negative campaigning but every political scientist will tell you that distate does not apply in the voting booth. The fact is also that most Americans really don't give a rats ass about politics, and many make a point of pride of their lack of real information.
When George Bush ran for office in 2000 he painted himself as a center-right pragmatist, which is the country his father squarely occupied. George H.W. Bush had long experience in government, and in policy making.
In practice Bush has acted as an extreme right wing ideologue, who has moved in many ways to make America more socially conservative, and in foreign policy to alienate almost everybody. That probably has a lot to do with his staff, which is almost entirely doctrinaire ideologues, and with Bush's personal style, which does not involve immersing himself in policy details. An ill-informed President does what his staff tells him.
I would like to support my President. I certainly support my country. I wore an American flag on my car in the aftemath of the bombing. By mid 2002 I took it off beccause I realized i was not showing support for a unified America, but for the extreme policies of the Bush Administration. He spoke of unity, and then impugned the patritotism of Georgia's Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam while Bush was AWOL campaigning. He bullied everyone and listened to no one from the LOYAL opposition.
Do i want the job of President? Not on a bet. But if i were President I'd be up nights working hard, trying to grasp the issues I would be compelled to decide every day. I'll support any President who shows himself worthy of said support. I'm not supporting a man who seems to take his job less seriously than did Tsar Nicholas II.
If they are liars it's our fault.
Every decade or two someone runs for President who gives us the straight unvarnished dope. They tell us we have these problems we have to face up to. They get a steady 10% of the vote in the primaries despite the fact that everyone likes them.
The fact is that we as Americans like to be told the things we want to hear, and we punish politicians who dare tell us something different. We claim to hate negative campaigning but every political scientist will tell you that distate does not apply in the voting booth. The fact is also that most Americans really don't give a rats ass about politics, and many make a point of pride of their lack of real information.
When George Bush ran for office in 2000 he painted himself as a center-right pragmatist, which is the country his father squarely occupied. George H.W. Bush had long experience in government, and in policy making.
In practice Bush has acted as an extreme right wing ideologue, who has moved in many ways to make America more socially conservative, and in foreign policy to alienate almost everybody. That probably has a lot to do with his staff, which is almost entirely doctrinaire ideologues, and with Bush's personal style, which does not involve immersing himself in policy details. An ill-informed President does what his staff tells him.
I would like to support my President. I certainly support my country. I wore an American flag on my car in the aftemath of the bombing. By mid 2002 I took it off beccause I realized i was not showing support for a unified America, but for the extreme policies of the Bush Administration. He spoke of unity, and then impugned the patritotism of Georgia's Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam while Bush was AWOL campaigning. He bullied everyone and listened to no one from the LOYAL opposition.
Do i want the job of President? Not on a bet. But if i were President I'd be up nights working hard, trying to grasp the issues I would be compelled to decide every day. I'll support any President who shows himself worthy of said support. I'm not supporting a man who seems to take his job less seriously than did Tsar Nicholas II.
The Mutt
Cunnilingus Ergo Sum
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2004
- Posts
- 22,265
shereads said:
100 years from now, historians will point to Bush's doctrine of "Pre-emptive War" as the moment the United States became the bad guys. By serving notice that we might invade any nation we declare to be a possible future threat, we have forced the rest of the world to start a rush to aquire nuclear weapons- the only defense against us. That alone is enough to make him the worst president in history. That puts him in the ranks of the worst world leaders in history. A true threat to human life.
Last edited:
