Gephardt: Bush worst president of last 5

[onehandle]

Dec. 28, 2003  |  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt told cheering union workers Saturday that Oklahoma and its labor unions are an important part of his strategy to win the White House.

"I'm going to win the Democratic nomination and I'm going to beat George Bush," Gephardt, standing on a stage in front of a large American flag, said during a campaign stop at the Teamsters Local 886 meeting hall.

"I've served with five presidents and he is by far the worst. I'm nostalgic for Ronald Reagan," Gephardt said, drawing laughter from the crowd of about 300 union members and supporters, many wearing "Gephardt for president" campaign stickers.

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/12/28/gephardt/index.html

Dems need to say things like this...over and over and over.

Worst President. Miserable Failure.

[mmm]

1. worst president ever - they all need to start saying this

all the time. Then tell us why. It ain't difficult.

[IndianaGreen]

6. You are right, Bush is the worse President ever!

Why is Gephardt being so kind?

BTW, Gephardt was the worse Democratic House Leader that I remember!

[grytpype]

17. Well, James Buchanan was a really bad president...

But Bush is the worst since the Civil War, I would agree. Much worse than Nixon.

[UrbScotty]

2. AT LEAST the worst of the last six

Probably the last 12.

Maybe the last 43.

[worldgonekrazy]

9. Since Hoover, for sure

I would label him as the "worst post-World War II President" or "the worst President in modern times"

[BiggJawn]

28. He's the 10th since Hoover. And Hoover sucked...

BIG time!

The depression-era shantytowns of the un-employed that popped up around most cities were called "Hoovervilles". I saw pictures of the one Indianapolis had. Right on the banks of the river.

[UrbScotty]

32. Duh-bya is the 12th since Hoover

We've had FDR, Truman, Ike, JFK, LBJ, Crookhous Nixon, Ford, Carter, Raygun, Poppy, Big Dog Clinton, and Duh-bya.

[BiggJawn]

50. How'd I forget LBJ and Carter?

That's what I get for relying on Grey Matter....

I think another poster hit when they said "worst of the last 43"....

[LiberalFighter]

63. Gephardt needs to say more than just those he served under.

AND highlight some of the other corrupt presidents that we have had like Nixon.

[LiberalFighter]

62. Careful now... you don't want to give the vacuum cleaner a bad name

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Good for Gep!

This must be our mantra! And every candidate needs to say "any one of us (Dem candidates) can and will beat Bush in November." That bit of nastiness at the debate where Ted Koppel asked the candidates whether they thought Howard dean could beat Bush, and none of them raised their hands (except Dean), was shameful.

All for one and one for all. No less than the future of America is at stake!

[BigDaddyLove]

4. Wow, I completely forgot that Gephardt was even..................

running for President.

Sure don't hear his name mentioned much these days. Outta sight outta mind I guess.

[goforit]

56. Me too.............who is he anyway? I thought he was a Republican?

Didn't he solidify the Republican hold in the House for
the last 4 elections?
And didn't he just say that Dean was another Osama Bin Laden?

[CBHagman]

5. Dear, why stop at FIVE?!

The august Helen Thomas has observed that Bush is the worst president ever, or perhaps during her lifetime (I forget which). I don't think Rep. Gephardt should have any compunction about lambasting President Miserable Failure in the coming months.

[SharonAnn]

21. Because Nixon was the one before that and he resigned

because of his crimes.

[UrbScotty]

31. Actually, Ford was the one before that

Gephardt was referring to Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Duh-bya.

[LiberalFighter]

64. Helen Thomas: GWB Is Worst President in American history

Helen Thomas: GWB Is Worst President in American history

[cliss]

7. That's sweet of Gephart.

But, why be a piker? Why not tell it like it is: Bushya is the worst president EVER, in our country's history.

By the way, why would he miss Reagan? Bush idolizes Reagan, and his has built his administration as a carbon copy of the Reagan administration. It was a failure then, and it's a failure now.

[worldgonekrazy]

10. Worst ever is a stretch

There were some REALLY REALLY REALLY bad ones during the nineteenth century. McKinley, who is Karl Rove's favorite of all time (which says a LOT), comes to mind. I think one can say with certainty though that he is the worst since Hoover.

And I think the Reagan comment was meant to be taken as "this guy is so bad he makes Reagan look okay", not that he actually liked Reagan.

[louis-t]

15. Interesting article this morning

showed that these supposed 'fiscal conservatives' have outspent Democratic presidents. Reagan increased gov spending by 68% in 8 years. B*sh has increased it by 30% in 3 years as opposed to Clinton who increased it 3.5% in 3 years. During the Clinton years, the fed was actually taking in more money than it spent (I know, old news). So much for the big lie that Repubs make government smaller and Dems make it bigger.

[Maximus Darius]

8. Worse than Nixon???

- "Our attitude toward liberation by armed struggle against an oppressor political power should be in accordance with the rules of proletarian internationalism."


Get a grip. No one was worse than NIXON!

-VIETNAM
-LAOS
-CAMBODIA
-CHILE
-KENT STATE
-WATERGATE
-PENTAGON PAPERS
-PLUMBERS
-ENEMIES LIST

[Liberal Veteran]

12. Yes, I would say worse than Nixon.

Nixon sucked to be sure, but he wasn't a total incompetent and could usually manage to speak in public without making a total ass of himself. Nixon also did not totally destroy our reputation worldwide.

[worldgonekrazy]

13. I think he's worse than Nixon

If only because he has more power.

Nixon didn't try to kill the Bill of Rights with the Patriot Act I and II.

Nixon's criminal profiteering pales in comparison to what these guys are raking in.

In the end, I think Iraq will prove to be a bigger disaster than Vietnam (though not more casualties as a direct result of it)

[Maximus Darius]

19. Drowning in 'anger and hatred' will get you nowhere

- "Our aspiration is that the party become a mass of one."

+ So Nixon was not / but Bush is a "total incompetent"
IF YOU BELIEVE THIS, you are swallowing the 'cool aid' that the
enemy has given you to drink.

+ So Nixon did not / but Bush will "totally destroy our reputation"
IF YOU BELIEVE THIS, the masses will not hear you.

+ So you think Nixon didn't / but Bush will "kill the Bill of Rights"
IF YOU BELIEVE THIS, you will not recognize the real enemy.

+ So you think that Nixon's "criminal profiteering pales in
comparison to what these guys are raking in"
IF YOU BELIEVE THIS, you are no better to judge who the real
thiefs are.

+ So you think that "Iraq will prove to be a bigger disaster than
Vietnam"
IF YOU BELIEVE THIS, you completely ignore the depths to which a
government undertook to conspire, deceive an entire nation, in
order to sacrifice the lives of thousands, TOTALLY for their own
selfish political interests.

[Cocoa]

23. you've been trained well!

nice use of the "anger and hatred" talking point.

You get a Snausage. :toast:

[Maximus Darius]

33. Those are not my words 'anger and hatred'...

- "There is no life outside the revolution."


however, you appear to get the point. Too many are getting overcome with believing their own propaganda against Bush and the Republicans. Just like the Freepers did against Clinton and all the demonization that went with it - THE PUBLIC DID NOT BUY IT!

THOSE THAT DO NOT LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES, WILL BE DOOMED TO FAILURE!

ALL MUST STAY FOCUSED ON WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS.

[TruthIsAll]

44. Maximus, the public wants their money and jobs back..

They want all the money shifted to the top 1%, to Iraq and to Bush's cronys at Halliburton and Exxon and Carlyle.

You had better get some kool-aid. Were you even around in '70?

Believe me, I thought no one could be worse than Nixon. I was wrong. Both Bushes and Reagan were.

Nixon opened doors to China and the Soviet Union. Good for him. He bombed Cambodia. Bad. He was a victim of his own petty weaknesses, so we got Watergate. But at least he thought strategically. He had a functioning brain. He was not a sock-puppet, like Bush.

Bush is the worst ever.

[LiberalFighter]

65. If he wasn't around during the 70's

it is a shame cause I'm sure kool-aid would explain everything.

[judgegina]

35. I have more respect for Nixon...

So, YeS Bush* is the worst, EVER!

[tinrobot]

41. Absolutely worse than Nixon...

Nixon was certainly smarter than *

He also opened up China, started the EPA...

[Cocoa]

58. 5 = Clinton + Poppy + Reagan + Carter + Ford

What part of 5 don't you understand?

Anyway, Gep's comment isn't a abstract one, it's from his experience working with those presidents over the years, many of those years as dem leader.

You,`know, like full-time work, day after day. Not from reading about the presidents, but from working with them, meeting with them in person, etc.

[0007]

11. ....and the worse attorney general is

[louis-t]

16. great pic 0007!

[jab105]

14. You mean he's actually bashing Bush and not Dean...

how nice...

[Dr. Wu]

18. So Gephart would lose to' the worst president in 35 years?'

It doesn't say much for Dick, does it?

[Deesh]

20. Gephardt & Bush

The worst president of our last five... well, posters on this thread have got it right.

Bush must not have been so bad to Congressman Gephardt and Senators Liberman and Bayh. These 3 and others made a special splashy trip to the Rose Garden last spring to stand with the president on the Iraq approval measure.

As miserable failures go, Bush's Iraq War is right up there. And Gephardt was Minority House Leader at the time.

[Capablanca]

22. Humor Me.

Would someone please give a newby your reasons as to why you believe Bush is so bad? I have some of my own reasons but may not share the intensity that you guys do.

[Deesh]

29. Why Bush is Bad

He cheated to win an American election.
Other world leaders dwarf his statesmanship.
He is embarrassingly inarticulate.
He is "blusteringly unilateral" (in Kerry's phrase).
A Yale graduate, he pretends he's a cowboy.
His macho, smoke-em-out talk inspires anti-U.S. sentiment.
He surrounds himself with corporate hacks.
His Cabinet is among the worst of any modern president.
He has failed to resolve intra-Cabinet conflicts re Iraq.
He selects judicial nominees guaranteed to polarize.
He aligns dangerously with the Christian Right.
He relies heavily on the treasonous Karl Rove.
He reinforces existing social limitations with his non-mind.
He evidences no critical thinking skills necessary to statecraft.
He evidences no critical thinking skills necessary to adulthood.
His environmental record is abominable.
His budget/deficit management is abominable.
His VP's energy plan is a give-away to Big Energy.
He lied to the nation's citizens about WMD in Iraq.
He uses force instead of diplomacy and reason.
He permits alienation of our allies by his Cabinet.
His "compassionate conservatism" is manipulative crap.
He panders to the nut-case Right at every turn.
He lessens the chance for mutual respect among nations.
He allowed the character assassination of McCain in SC.
There is no sense of poetry in him.
There is no awareness of history in him.
He doesn't care that U.S. jobs are disappearing overseas.
He's sneaky and furtive and in essence deceitful.
He favors private profit over the public interest.

and

He's the south end of a north-bound mule.

Vote Democratic.

[Cuban Peril]

36. Huh?

"He has no sense of poetry in him"?

[Deesh]

38. Right. No --

--sense of poetry. Robert Graves once said "There's no money in poetry, but then, there's no poetry in money, either."

One of Bush's many shortcomings is that there is no poetry in him -- there's no sense of a moment, no sense of poignancy, no sense of a leader's ability to distill language to its essence -- to lead, to inspire, to commemoriate, to exalt.

If you read the biographers on statesmen and stateswomen, you'll find that some had it (Lincoln, Kennedy) and some did not (Harding, Hoover).

The Address at Gettysburg (Lincoln's masterpiece) is arguably the most elegant speech ever written by an American president. No speech-writers, either -- it was by Lincoln's own hand. It is more poem than presidential address. Bush stumbles over simple jingoistic speech.

The best inaugural addresses have a sense of poetry. Bush's lack of that sense renders him shallow and ultimately, unable to inspire and lead.

[lightbulb]

57. Very well stated

With that one point you've described what's at the primal heart of all his inadequacies, Deesh. He is simply a cold and hollow man.

[Patty]

49. Are you the one

who hands out the tin foil hats and black helicopter night-vision scopes around here?
We are not going to regain both houses and the White House with this "Bush is evil" nonsense.
:crazy:

[number6]

61. Bu$h is evil, I can feel it ...

:evilgrin: :smoke:

[LiberalFighter]

67. Keeping quiet about the truth won't help defeat Bush

[the_boxer_]

52. Excellent post!

[number6]

60. that 's a good list

:thumbsup: :) :smoke:

[LiberalFighter]

66. Good point

All the more point that Gephardt will not win.

But my particular reasons on why Gephardt will not win is because he has never been a Senator, has never been a VP, has never been a Governor, and has never been a military hero. That has been the resume of previous presidents since at least the mid 1880's.

As for Lieberman and Bayh... they are from the lower echelon of the Democratic Party. Both from the DLC. And as I have stated previously, Bayh will never be able to fill his father's shoes. His father being Senator Birch Bayh. I would not support a presidential campaign by Evan Bayh. I would actively campaign against him in the primaries. On the other hand I would support and vote for his re-election as Senator only because any other Republican in the state of Indiana come from the dregs of society.

[Cocoa]

24. go Gep!

I've heard him say that, his delivery is great.

He has another great line where he says, if you had been working with George Bush the last 3 years, you would be running for president too. :-)

[jeanmarc]

25. BRILLIANT!

We need more Democrats speaking this message. Now, we all know how pathetic Reagan's record was, but these 'Reagan Dems' or undecideds or whatever don't remember as well as we do.

Damn, this is going to be a fun primary season!

[Nlighten1]

26. He will retract this statement tomorrow...

wouldn't suprise me a bit if he came out and said he was misquoted.

[Cocoa]

27. Gep doesn't do that

say what you will about him, he's the steadiest candidate. He's the turtle in this race. :-)

[Nlighten1]

46. Gep is a DINO

And yes he does do that...remember 9/11?

[Cocoa]

55. calling Gep a DINO is dumb in many ways

-- Calling anyone names is dumb.

--Gep is a solid dem -- in case you don't know this, I'm not saying you have to like him. you understand that, don't you?

--Whether he's a DINO has absolutely nothing to do with whether he will retract this statement.

By the way, how's that preditcion going? Has Gep retracted what he said?

I don't know or care what you're talking about re. Sept. 11. I assume it's not worth much.

[kanrok]

30. Gephardt: "Sun Rises In The East"

He wins my 2003 "Master of the Obvious" award.

[Cocoa]

37. he's speaking from his experience working with those presidents

it's not facile, mindless Bush-bashing, like the dems are accused of, it's an honest assessment from someone that knows what he's talking about.

You should hear him say it, it carries a lot of weight.

I especially likes how he doesn't stoop to pointless hyperbole, he just sticks to what he knows personally. If he said Bush was the worst of all time, it would mean nothing.

[DemocratOrDeath]

34. Not harsh enough!

bush allowed 9/11, anthrax and every other bad event to happen in the US. He must be blamed for it all and we MUST be allowed to as Democrats to run the country for the next four years at least by default. I can't believe we have not impeached bush by now and when he is run out of office in November we should have him jailed and convicted or treason!

Enough of this nice guy shit and let's show the country that the Dems are back!!!

[Cocoa]

40. not harsh at all, really

just matter-of-fact. Gep says it more sad than angry, as someone who wants the president to succeed for the good of the country, regardless of whether he likes him or is from the same party. Pretty patriotic, no?

Anyway, there are different styles to choose from, Dean gives pretty good harsh if that's what you want, although the media exaggerates Dean too.

Assuming your post isn't a parody of dems, which it very well might be...

[CalebHayes]

39. From BLOW jobs to NO jobs - Democrat for president 2004

[tinrobot]

42. Great slogan...

Put it on a bumper sticker, please!

[Deesh]

43. Your slogan...

is one that somebody ought to put on a t-shirt and wear to the 2004 Republican Convention.

Good one.

[the_boxer_]

53. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fucking beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From BLOW jobs to NO jobs - Democrat for president 2004

[grannylib]

54. That is awesome! I love it!

[JohnKleeb]

Good for him

Hes definely the worst in my lifetime.

[JohnKleeb]

45. Good for him

Hes definely the worst in my lifetime.

[Gore1FL]

47. Worse of the last 43 Is what he probably meant.

n/t

[leesa]

48. Exactly. Say it over and over...counter the media whores

unwarranted fake admiration for the criminal in the WH. Don't empower bush and his criminal backers by EVER saying bush is strong on this and that, or can't be beaten. The man has nearly destroyed our country. We know it. They know it. The clown prince has no clothes.

[the_boxer_]

51. I don't like Gephardt..but it is true...

repetition breeds comtempt....

[DemonFighterLives]

59. Giving Bush too much benefit of the doubt

I think Helen Thomas may have been closer with,"the worst President ever". His crimes have not been revealed though, so Poppy and Nixon still look worse.
My father, who is 80, just told me last weekend that Jr. is the worst since Hoover, so that is probably pretty close to reality. :hurts: