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tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#43276: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:16:09 PM

Obama and Boehner had an unannounced meeting on the fiscal cliff today.

So something's being done, even through all the stalling.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Joesolo Indiana Solo Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Indiana Solo
#43277: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:16:19 PM

[up][up] yea, 2 different teachers of mine(both of whom tried to teach neutrally) dont like him. the one in middle school basically said he was a bad man. My high school teacher called him a dick.

seriously, he killed a lot of people. and not just the ones he shot personally.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:16:27 PM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack
terlwyth Since: Oct, 2010
#43278: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:17:27 PM

Every president has done screwy things,Jackson had the Indian Removal Act,FDR allowed internment of Japanese-Americans,Carter's foreign policy was a disaster.

And really that whole act kind goes under Values Dissonance,technically every president until Roosevelt is hard to look at straight under modern values. So you gotta look a the older ones with a Fair for Its Day.

And with that I'd say Jackson was one of the better ones,certainly better than Van Buren or Pierce.

But I don't recall anything seriously wrong with anything Kennedy did,...perhaps it's because he didn't live long enough for many of them to be traced back to him.

A better scale isn't best or worst but rather Underrated and Overrated

I'd say Carter wins the Underrated contest,although Truman comes close

And Reagan wins overrated.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:24:58 PM by terlwyth

DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#43279: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:18:06 PM

I think James Garfield would have been a great president had he survived his assassination.

[up]

He helped contribute to 'Nam.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:19:01 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Lascoden ... from Missouri, USA Since: Nov, 2012
...
#43280: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:19:25 PM

[up][up]Bay of Pigs Invasion?

boop
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#43281: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:20:32 PM

[up]

That blew up beautifully in Kennedy's face.

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Trivialis Since: Oct, 2011
#43282: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:20:40 PM

Things like Vietnam, Cold War, Civil Rights... these are things many presidents "lived through", from Truman to Nixon and Ford. It's not to be attributed to a single person.

DrTentacles Cephalopod Lothario from Land of the Deep Ones Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Cephalopod Lothario
#43283: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:21:23 PM

Best: Teddy Roosevelt (Progressivism FTW!), FDR, and Lincoln. Oh, LBJ, but only with domestic affairs.

Worst: Coolidge, Reagan (Only economically, though), and Jefferson (I mean Adams. Oops.).

Jackson did some terrible things, but he also managed to put more power directly in the hands of the American people, instead of the "elite."

edited 9th Dec '12 6:29:35 PM by DrTentacles

DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#43284: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:21:53 PM

[up]

Wait JEFFERSON?

Although I second your point on Jackson.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:22:31 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Trivialis Since: Oct, 2011
#43285: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:23:24 PM

There's a similar thread for this: it talks about favorite president, though. Post here, and please be a bit detailed.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#43286: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:23:53 PM

Kennedy is to blame for the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam. That instantly drops him a few spots.

Lascoden ... from Missouri, USA Since: Nov, 2012
...
#43287: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:23:57 PM

[up]x4Didn't Reagen have some pretty crappy social policies as well? He's been blamed for allowing AIDS to spread so catastrophically, and for the War on Drugs.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:24:18 PM by Lascoden

boop
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#43288: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:24:14 PM

[up][up][up]

Details are for nerds!

[up]

Nixon started the War on Drugs (I think), and while Reagan could have done more to address the AIDS epidemic he certainly couldn't has stopped it from going global.

[up][up]

Remember Ike was the one to fist put troops in Vietnam. And he strongly urged the Kennedy administration to follow up on his plans.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:28:40 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Trivialis Since: Oct, 2011
#43289: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:25:20 PM

Reagan had charisma and sense of leadership, and actually demonstrating care. And he raised taxes when it was necessary.

[down]Yep.

Well, remember that if Carter was not so unpopular during the election, Reagan wouldn't have been as prominent. That big change is partially to blame.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:28:45 PM by Trivialis

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#43290: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:26:41 PM

Reagan didn't do too many things wrong but his memory has been warped and used to push a terribly destructive agenda. I can't find myself liking the man even if he's mostly guilty by association.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:27:26 PM by Kostya

DrTentacles Cephalopod Lothario from Land of the Deep Ones Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Cephalopod Lothario
#43291: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:28:31 PM

Sorry, I meant Adams, with the whole sedition act bullshit. Way to go, undermining the entire first amendment, less than two decades after it was written.

Jefferson was...meh. He did some decent things, but also drafted the entire Indian removal act, and was pretty stupid when it came to slavery. Oh, I'm fairly certain he was a moron economically.

[down] And some debt is good. Means we're spending money, and gives our creditors a reason to keep us afloat.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:30:44 PM by DrTentacles

terlwyth Since: Oct, 2010
#43292: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:29:19 PM

Reagan bothers me more socially than economically believe it or not,mostly because in hindsight the Tea Party craziness is his fault,he put evangelicals onto the map.

As for why Jackson isn't worst,...he paid off the debt and is the only president to do so and he precedes the original Roosevelt in Bad Assery.

A shame William Jennings Bryan never had a chance,his anti-Imperialist stances and championing of leftist economics would've made him a great president.

Enkufka Wandering Student ಠ_ಠ from Bay of White fish Since: Dec, 2009
Wandering Student ಠ_ಠ
#43293: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:30:41 PM

Reagan is directly responsible for the anti-federal government stuff, or at the very least the popularity of the rhetoric, today. I'd rank him low on the goodness scale of presidents, very low indeed. He started the very racist meme of the Welfare Queen. Also the whole, massive fucking evil which was the Iran Contra affair.

Very big Daydream Believer. "That's not knowledge, that's a crapshoot!" -Al Murray "Welcome to QI" -Stephen Fry
Trivialis Since: Oct, 2011
#43294: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:31:17 PM

[up]x4 Jefferson also wrote this in response to sedition. That created a precedent for secession crisis.

[up][up]That's not the Tea Party though.

[up]That's more of the supreme court at the time though, and some of it is justified.

Who is your favorite American President?

edited 9th Dec '12 6:32:50 PM by Trivialis

DrTentacles Cephalopod Lothario from Land of the Deep Ones Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Cephalopod Lothario
#43295: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:33:24 PM

To be fair, the sedition act is probably in the top five most retarded, unconstitutional things ever passed. Actually, it's probably the most unconstitutional, if we're going by the constitution purely as written.

Joesolo Indiana Solo Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Indiana Solo
#43296: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:41:31 PM

[up] How about the embargo act?

"Alright, so England and the french are pissing me off. what say we don;t trade with anyone?"

I'm baaaaaaack
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#43297: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:45:16 PM

A shame William Jennings Bryan never had a chance, his anti-Imperialist stances and championing of leftist economics would've made him a great president.

I always call this guy, 'William Bryan Jennings' for some reason.

Reagan bothers me more socially than economically believe it or not, mostly because in hindsight the Tea Party craziness is his fault,

I judge presidents by what they actually due as president, and not what there legacy may have caused.

edited 9th Dec '12 6:50:36 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Arkasas (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#43298: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:54:01 PM

Best: Lincoln.

Worst: His Most Grand High Exaltedness, Slayer of the Dragon of Communism, and Defender of the Faith: Saint Ronald Wilson Reagan

Any further questions?

DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#43299: Dec 9th 2012 at 6:55:17 PM

[up]

You made Reagan sound like such a badass

edited 9th Dec '12 7:01:43 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016

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