I thought it could not get worse than George W Bush.

[onecaliberal]

Now it seems that was Disneyland compared to this. Who would have thought a war criminal in the white house isn’t even close to being as bad as it gets.

[Irish_Dem]

1. The optics are way worse now, but Bush did a lot of damage to the US.

Iraqi War
Financial collapse
Katrina

Bush stayed drunk most of the time, was quiet and docile.
He played the game.

[unblock]

3. donnie is laying the seed for vastly greater damage

it's true that the economy hasn't taken a major hit yet and he's had few laws passed.

but his lifetime appointments will do great damage for decades, and the destruction and neglect of our federal bureaucracy will have an enormous impact on many aspects of life and the economy and the country.

this will actually cost the country trillions in profits and extra medical costs and lost opportunities.


never mind whatever other disasters his second year will bring.

and his third.

and, if we make it that far, his fourth.

[Irish_Dem]

7. I agree with your comments, with one modification.

The potential destruction is there, and some of what is now happening will have
far reaching consequences.

However, after reading excerpts from the Wolff book, I am of the opinion that the
Trump danger level is somewhat lower than previously estimated. Everyone
around him knows that he is potentially dangerous, mentally ill and ignorant.
They babysit him a lot, and lie to him to keep him calm and prevent him
from going off the rails.

So some sort of safeguards are in place.

[unblock]

9. nice to know the bull in the china shop is on a leash. that'll help lots.

seriously, even if they are keeping the damage from being even worse than donnie could make it, they're not keeping it from being worse than shrub made it.

[Irish_Dem]

11. So far we do not have the worst depression since 1929, no mass murder of innocents

via an illegal war.

But Trump does have time to catch up to Bush.

People liked Bush because he was affable and congenial.
But he was very dangerous and did a lot of damage.

[unblock]

12. i agree. hard to compare a catastrophe in progress with a mostly completed disaster

though it's hard for me to see a happy way out, and donnie's potential for long term damage is much greater.

if there's a civil war 15 years from now historians will probably point back to donnie as a key figure (though hardly the only one) in putting us on that path.

[Irish_Dem]

13. I agree, yes the potential is there.

Trump is a wild card and is capable of almost anything.

I think we are already in a civil war of sorts.
Started by the GOP for the sake of obtaining money and power.
And yes it is getting much worse.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. What's going on now is worse than optics.

Bush was awful and I can't defend anything he did. But what's different about Trump is that he is intentionally undermining our fundamental institutions. Bush abused institutions but Trump is outright destroying them.

[Irish_Dem]

10. Yes I agree, that is very serious damage.

It is like arguing which is worse, Hell or Hades.

But for right now, I thinking killing and injuring millions of people, collapsing the economy,
and watching bodies floating in New Orleans, takes the most horrific prize.

But Trump has time to catch up to Bush.

[onecaliberal]

14. dump and russia stole democracy. They have stoked racial tension to an all time high.

The financial collapse is near. The natural disasters in California don't even merit a mention. 15 people died in mudslides including 4 children.

All this shitstain of a human can do is destroy what my father and others sacrificed everything to save.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Excellent points. Yes, Trump and the GOP did sell out the country to a hostile foreign power.

That is about as bad as it gets.

And yes, I am glad my father and uncles are no longer with us.
They would be horrified and furious.

Of course, Bush/Cheney sold us out too.
To Halliburton, the military industrial complex, and the Banks.

The GOP is not a political party, it is a crime syndicate.
And we can argue which crimes are worse, but it is all bad.

[onecaliberal]

16. Yes the GOP is a crime syndicate. That is it in a nutshell.

[elleng]

2. We all did. In this respect,

repugs always prove us wrong: It can ALWAYS get worse, and they'll show us how.

[cilla4progress]

4. I know

I feel sometimes people forget how horrible and oppressive those times were.

After 9/11 many people drove around with American flags waving from their cars - 2 of them. Your patriotism was questioned if you didn't completely support the wars. Rumsfeld and Cheney. Och.

I think we idealize those times now! As Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt become new heroes of the left... myself included.

Something about forgetting your history, and doom...

[cwydro]

5. Its unbelievable.

He’s a horrid, horrid person

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. I'm right with you.

I actually thought Monkeyboy was the worst it could get. Boy, was I wrong.

[OliverQ]

17. American will probably never recover.

The world will never trust us again, because they know we'll just elect another horrible Republican like Bush or Trump eventually and since the electoral college and Citizens United is here to stay, it's going to get harder to prevent these people from winning.

This is all just a symptom of a terminal illness of the United States. A massive racist, hateful, ignorant segment of the US population with far too much power and not enough people or mechanisms in place to stop them.

I truly think America is finished as the leading world power.