Nixon or Bush?

[Pryderi]

Poll question: Nixon or Bush?

Nixon.

[Lasher]

1. Nixon or Bush what?

Worst? Best? It it's the worst, Junior gets my vote for sure. He's the worst president ever, of anything.

[cali]

2. Nixon or Bush what? Worst president, or do you prefer Nixon over bush?

And my answer is that they were both terrible, criminal presidents, and I prefer neither.

[dmallind]

3. Gotta be.

Assuming we get to pick an overall preference rather than, say, who had the nicest dog, it's surely not much of a battle. Personal failings aside, Nixon's policies were quite moderate in most areas, especially in the sociological context of the 60s and early 70s. He was also an incredibly intelligent chap. Neurotic as hell obviosuly, but not a dumbass like Shrub.

[onehandle]

4. To be a President that could talk in complete sentences? Nixon.

To wash my car? Bush.

[MarianJack]

6. You're more generous than I am.

I'd NEVER let bush near my car!

[MarianJack]

5. I voted nixon...

...assuming that you meant who was a "better" president.

With those 2, "better" is a pretty low bar. Both are criminal bastards. but by default, nixon would be better than *, because * is the WORST PRESIDENT EVER, and even #42 (in quality) is better than #43!

PEACE!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Nixon at least had a classically tragic sense to him.

Bush is just a plain and simple screw up. Nothing sympathetic about him in the least.

[SwampG8r]

8. i refuse to vote in this poll

i cannot bring myself to cast a vote for either of these 2
nixon was a more thoughtful person and more intelligent but he was at the end of the day evil

bush is thoughtless and stupid but at days end also evil

sorry cant vote for either

[Lerkfish]

9. hm. choose between stupid and evil or paranoid and evil.

Nixon did far less damage to the world and the US, even though he was more competent and evil.

[slackmaster]

10. For me Nixon has always been The One

[jberryhill]

30. More than ever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZfN7cdm_M

Larf.

[bunkerbuster1]

11. didn't vote since I didn' t know the question, but

for what it's worth, Nixon got a LOT more people slaughtered than Bush. That ought to count for something.

[ShortnFiery]

13. I disagree. If we didn't invade Iraq, hundreds of thousands of the natives would be alive today.

Dead is dead. :nuke:

[bunkerbuster1]

14. I DON'T disagree, but...

I was just arguing, Nixon slaughtered a lot more Vietnamese than Bush did Iraqis.

That's not intended to minimize Bush's crime against humanity.

[grantcart]

21. Yes but Nixon didn't start the slaughter, he inherited it and made it worse

Even though I hate him I don't think he would have started a stupid war, he seemed to have better stragic sense than that.

[bunkerbuster1]

33. Fair point. Maybe it's a tie?

An infantile part of me simply won't give Bush the "Worst" award because I can't even allow him that much.

[nyc 4 Biden]

12. Neither.

[bitchkitty]

15. Too vague, baby.

Stupidest? Bush
Biggest asshole? Bush
Most alcohol-damaged brain? Bush
Most embarrassing? Bush
Most far-reaching consequences? Bush

On the other hand:

Best covered scandal (Watergate) - Nixon (with Poppy sleazing around in the background)
Biggest audio OOPS moment(s)? Definitely Nixon
Floppiest jowls? Nixon
Working penis - probably Nixon, even now.

[Pryderi]

16. Which president was better? I say Nixon. Give me competence with my corruption!

[Tribetime]

17. sewage plant or septic tank?

[Pryderi]

18. Oh, gimme a break! Nixon founded the EPA and would be considered a moderate today.

http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/epa/15c.htm

President Nixon called for "a strong, independent agency." The mission of this "Environmental Protection Agency" would be to:

*

Establish and enforce environmental protection standards.
*

Conduct environmental research.
*

Provide assistance to others combatting environmental pollution.
*

Assist the CEQ in developing and recommending to the President new policies for environmental protection.

[Robeson]

19. Nixon was a political scumbag.

[jberryhill]

29. Watch This Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCsGSMze_6Q

Nixon playing his own piano concerto.

No way could Bush do that.

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. Both were members of the Bush Crime Family and murderous warmongers

But at least Nixon created Earth Day and the EPA. I guess that makes him a little better.

[Jennicut]

22. Nixon was a complete loon and paranoid to the point of obsession but his policies don't even match

the level of horribleness inflicted on us by the neo cons and Shrub. And Nixon did himself in but he was much smarter then Bush. That being said, he deserved what he got, a common criminal.

[Beacool]

23. Nixon

He was far brighter and a better president than Bush, despite the inner demons that ended up destroying his presidency.

[Occam Bandage]

24. Nixon was a good President. He'd have been a centrist Dem today.

He created the EPA (and Earth Day!), SSI, and OSHA, implemented the first serious affirmative action plan, toned down the Cold War, indexed Social Security to inflation, expanded the national parks program, replaced American soldiers in Vietnam with Vietnamese, brought down the diplomatic walls between China and the Western world, and proposed a universal health-care plan almost identical to the one Hillary ran on this year.

He's no saint, and abused power like a motherfucker (both at home and in Southeast Asia), but policy-wise, he was pretty sensible. Plus, you know, most the evil shit he did was a result of raging personal demons, so if you squint your eyes and cock your head, it's almost sympathetic. Almost.

[jberryhill]

27. Amen to that....

As you demonstrate, one can rattle off a decent list of things that Nixon got right, did well, and really could have been the only person to pull off. Starting out as a rabid commie-hunter, he could be "trusted" by the right to start the Detente' process and arms limitation with the Soviets, to lay the groundwork for Camp David with shuttle diplomacy in the ME, and establish relations with the Chinese.

Wage and price controls in response to inflation? Socialism! Joe the Plumber would not approve.

There is NO comparison with Bush.

[chieftain]

25. If the question is who was the worse president, W wins hands

down.

[Rhiannon12866]

26. I think they're both equally nutty, but Nixon did a few good things,

like opening up China.:shrug:

[saltpoint]

28. It's tough picking between 2 repellent reptiles slithering around

the kitchen.

Here's this from Hunter S. Thompson on Nixon:

“Nixon, at least, was blessed with a mixture of arrogance and stupidity that caused him to blow the boilers almost immediately after taking command. By bringing in hundreds of thugs, fixers and fascists to run the government, he was able to crank almost every problem he touched into a mindbending crisis.”

--Hunter S. Thompson

-- and this from Harry S. Truman:

“Richard Nixon is a no-good lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he’d lie just to keep his hand in.”

--Harry S. Truman

-- and one more from Dr. Thompson:

"It is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal, almost incurably violent side of the American character that every other nation on earth has long learned to fear and despise."

Truman and Thompson knew a monster when they saw one, so I don't discount their judgment and recall Richard Nixon with some understandable horror.

But.

Dubya is as vacuous as Nixon was scheming and Dubya comes with a cadre of "fixers and thugs" as well, easily rivaling Nixon's inner circle.

If you want notably, spectacularly poor excuses for public servants, either Nixon or Dubya will do. Given current events and the stakes at hand right here and now, I think Dubya wins in overtime.

[Spider Jerusalem]

31. Kind of like arguing the relative merits of Nero and Caligula, isn't it?

[anigbrowl]

32. I think Nixon was a much better president than Bush.

Usual disclaimers apply, but Nixon had some real merits that mitigated his flaws. Bush...ah, don't get me started. 45 more days.

[Pryderi]

34. Zombie Nixon '04 - Corrupt but Competent.