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Bush
May 4, 2008 11:14:30 GMT -5
Post by Azrael on May 4, 2008 11:14:30 GMT -5
I knew the controversial title would attract some visitors, but here's the main issue. Why is it that FDR is viewed as one of America's best presidents and Bush is viewed as one of America's worst?
Here are some less than scrupulous things that FDR did.....
Sent all Japanese Americans to internment camps
Tried to pack supreme court with extra members that approve of his policy to counter-act the legitimately appointed other judges (One in time saves nine)
Had an affair against his wife who was one of the most beloved figures in America of all time
His election opponent, the popular Huey Long, was mysteriously assassinated
Only US President to presumptuous enough to serve more than 2 terms (even Washington didn't.)
Tried to cut 500,000 veterans and widows out of government benefits
Just like Wilson, he promised to keep us out of war, but failed to. Note that Wilson was criticized heavily for it, but FDR seems to have escaped blame
Denied 936 Jewish refugees from the Holocaust asylum on US shores. (And Bush gets flak for wanting to deny asylum to Illegal Immigrants?)
Refused to stand behind anti-lynching legislation for fear of losing support
How can we criticize Bush when all of his defects weren't character related and he didn't do nearly as many horrible things as FDR. By todays standards, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is even more despicable.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 11:22:17 GMT -5
Post by clareabel on May 4, 2008 11:22:17 GMT -5
I think the issue there may be something to do with the fact that nowadays people are far more encouraged to vote, but don't really know the politics. Many people I know simply hate Bush because he's in power. A lot of the "problem" with him is that the mistakes he makes get wide coverage in the media, but the good things he does are largely ignored. I don't know enough to make any further comment, and what I've said is probably generalising, but that is probably the beginnings of an answer.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 11:30:45 GMT -5
Post by Azrael on May 4, 2008 11:30:45 GMT -5
I agree completely. Where in political circles, political ideology tends to change continually, the media always remains to the left. Conservative presidents and politicians always come under fire more often than their liberal counter-parts. It's just one of the many problems with today's government that I believe must be fixed before we can operate optimally.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 12:17:50 GMT -5
Post by augustwinterman on May 4, 2008 12:17:50 GMT -5
Many people I know simply hate Bush because he's in power. Not to mention the fact that most people simply hate Bush because it's the cool thing to do. Bush is obviously very unpopular in popular media, so if people's favorite actors or musicians hate Bush, then they tend to follow the example (especially younger people). I'm not saying that everyone who hates Bush is like that, but there are a lot of people that only hate him because....well, it's what everyone else is doing. I'm not the biggest Bush supporter, but I don't hate the guy.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 13:08:51 GMT -5
Post by amoyensis on May 4, 2008 13:08:51 GMT -5
Bush has done a lot of stuff but obviously the thing he will be most well-known for is the fact that he sent America into war. People's opinion of him are largely based on their opinion of the war, his attitudes towards the invasion, the reasoning behind it, etc.
Of course there are a lot of other issues... his pardoning of a crook who happens to be a friend, his environmental policy, his domestic social policies, etc. But the war is the most prominent.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 13:10:13 GMT -5
Post by radar on May 4, 2008 13:10:13 GMT -5
Because many people believe he got us out of the Great Depression.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 13:41:57 GMT -5
Post by Azrael on May 4, 2008 13:41:57 GMT -5
Bush has done a lot of stuff but obviously the thing he will be most well-known for is the fact that he sent America into war. People's opinion of him are largely based on their opinion of the war, his attitudes towards the invasion, the reasoning behind it, etc. Of course there are a lot of other issues... his pardoning of a crook who happens to be a friend, his environmental policy, his domestic social policies, etc. But the war is the most prominent. Clinton pardoned his brother. A lot of politicians do it. It just depends on how quiet they can keep it.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 14:08:51 GMT -5
Post by Scott on May 4, 2008 14:08:51 GMT -5
The media always remains to the left. Not really.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 14:34:38 GMT -5
Post by amoyensis on May 4, 2008 14:34:38 GMT -5
Bush has done a lot of stuff but obviously the thing he will be most well-known for is the fact that he sent America into war. People's opinion of him are largely based on their opinion of the war, his attitudes towards the invasion, the reasoning behind it, etc. Of course there are a lot of other issues... his pardoning of a crook who happens to be a friend, his environmental policy, his domestic social policies, etc. But the war is the most prominent. Clinton pardoned his brother. A lot of politicians do it. It just depends on how quiet they can keep it. I'm not sure when I backed Clinton? I also don't think "everyone does it" is all that compelling an argument.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 14:43:22 GMT -5
Post by Azrael on May 4, 2008 14:43:22 GMT -5
Clinton pardoned his brother. A lot of politicians do it. It just depends on how quiet they can keep it. I'm not sure when I backed Clinton? I also don't think "everyone does it" is all that compelling an argument. Well, at any rate, we can't judge it well because we don't know either person well enough to call it. As for how the press is biased, my Gov text was written from an unbiased point of view and confirms that the press is always as a whole left-leaning.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 15:16:30 GMT -5
Post by radar on May 4, 2008 15:16:30 GMT -5
I'm not sure when I backed Clinton? I also don't think "everyone does it" is all that compelling an argument. Well, at any rate, we can't judge it well because we don't know either person well enough to call it. As for how the press is biased, my Gov text was written from an unbiased point of view and confirms that the press is always as a whole left-leaning. "As a whole," as in "all of it" or "most of it"? Cause I'm thinking of FOX news right now...
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Bush
May 4, 2008 15:35:39 GMT -5
Post by Azrael on May 4, 2008 15:35:39 GMT -5
Well, at any rate, we can't judge it well because we don't know either person well enough to call it. As for how the press is biased, my Gov text was written from an unbiased point of view and confirms that the press is always as a whole left-leaning. "As a whole," as in "all of it" or "most of it"? Cause I'm thinking of FOX news right now... Fox news is definitely off the road of normal, and I thought of it earlier, but it can't change the fact that almost every mainstream media network in this country CNBC, C-SPAN, etc. is left leaning. Even my journalism professors next year are leftists.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 15:40:58 GMT -5
Post by amoyensis on May 4, 2008 15:40:58 GMT -5
"Left" and "right" are relative terms. If the Democrats were running in Canada, in a lot of ways they would be considered a moderate-right party.
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Bush
May 4, 2008 15:44:31 GMT -5
Post by Azrael on May 4, 2008 15:44:31 GMT -5
"Left" and "right" are relative terms. If the Democrats were running in Canada, in a lot of ways they would be considered a moderate-right party. Exactly. The fact that the Press is left leaning means that it can always be that way. If the press where Whig, it would have had to change, or it would have died. Because left and right are eternal, the press never has to redraw sides. They only have to move in proportion to where the "Line" of political ideology lies.
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Bush
May 8, 2008 20:40:38 GMT -5
Post by synchesis on May 8, 2008 20:40:38 GMT -5
FDR has been remembered favorably largely thanks to the success of the New Deal and because he led our nation through most of World War II. It's true that he promised to keep the US out of the war while campaigning, but World War II was probably the only major war in history that absolutely had to be fought; it was the closest the world has come to a war of "good" against "evil." But the biggest reason is that he tragically died before the end of the war. This timing left a memory of him as a hero who fell before his glorious task could be fulfilled. Those negative sides you mentioned are indeed largely forgotten.
Also, a few presidents in the past were extremely unpopular during the end of their tenures if they were wartime presidents, yet have since been viewed more favorably. Two good examples are Harry Truman and Richard Nixon. Truman was incredibly unpopular at the end of his first elected term, bet now is considered one of America's most respectable presidents for shouldering the burden of ending the War, dropping the bomb, and initiating US Cold War policy. Nixon has Watergate to stain his name forever, but now historians look back and say that his presidency was actually quite clean aside from that scandal. I actually believe that after a few decades or so, when Bush's two terms have been examined more thoroughly and put into retrospect, he too will be viewed far more favorably than he is now.
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