Depending on how the next four years go I’m on the fence between Bush Jr. and Trump but I’d like to hear from you

  • KurtVonnegut [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 hour ago

    Woodrow Wilson was so racist that he was quoted in an epigraph for “The Birth of a Nation.” You know, the 1915 movie about how awesome the KKK was, which became the first true “blockbuster” film and which led to a huge resurgence in KKK activity. Not only that, but Woodrow Wilson also personally invited the filmmakers to screen the movie in the White House - the first movie ever screened in the White House, by the way. Honorable mention!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation#/media/File:Wilson-quote-in-birth-of-a-nation.jpg

  • Yeat [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    22 minutes ago

    If we’re talking strictly the neoliberal era would it be too out there to say 1. Bush Jr 2. Reagan 3. Biden? All time though probably Andrew Jackson

  • TheDrink [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    3 hours ago

    Andrew Jackson and it’s not even close. Not to downplay the horrible crimes committed by many of our other presidents but I don’t think anything rises to the level of the Trail of Tears.

    Remove Jackson from the running and it’s a more interesting conversation, however thinking about it reveals just how interconnected all of this stuff is. While the current genocide is occurring under Biden, we can’t forget that the conditions that lead to Oct 7 were created under Trump. For that matter so were the conditions that lead to the escalation of the war in Ukraine.

    I think the worst in my lifetime by a mile is Dubya, but while his wars were massive and consequential we can’t forget that George Senior also killed scores of people in Iraq, and Clinton carried out the sanctions regime that killed scores more. Clinton was also the one who broke Labor’s influence within the Democratic Party - but it was Obama who was swept into power on the promise of a working class revolution only to smother it in its crib.

    But yeah my top two are Jackson and Dubya but beyond that I’m not sure there are a lot of crimes in the history of America’s presidency.

    • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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      3 hours ago

      What’s wrong, snowflake, are you triggered by this conversation? Don’t worry, if his cabinet succeeds in their plans to eliminate vaccines and shut down life-saving agencies such as NWS, you’ll get to see genocide at home. And even though he hasn’t eliminated the department of education yet, there’s a chance you may already be one of the victims of the conservative agenda.

      • CloutAtlas [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        2 hours ago

        Trump’s not even bad by republican standards, he’s just vulgar and baffoonish. Replace him with Jeb! or Ron DeSantis or your garden variety Republican and you’d get the same defunding, same deregulation and same enshittification as him, just more subtle.

        Come back when he’s killed a million Iraqi civilians over fictional WMDs or getting several million people addicted then dead over opioids by deregulating prescription.

        He didn’t commit war crimes in Vietnam, spill over to Laos and Cambodia. Come back when he pardons the perpetrators of My Lai. Come back when he interns Japanese and nukes civilians. Come back when he Manifests Destiny.

        Top 5 my ass

      • Balefirex [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        2 hours ago

        You have grossly misread the intent of that comment, chief. She’s saying that putting Trump in top 5 worst (atm) downplays America’s historical atrocities such as invading Vietnam, killing 20% of the population of North Korea, Iraq war, Afghanistan war, etc

        • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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          1 hour ago

          Sorry, I wasn’t looking at it in terms of just the senseless loss of lives, but also how much damage was being done at home. Yeah there’s a lot of hard lines there to cross but Trump has made a policy of tearing the nation apart instead of trying to bring people together, and that weighs a lot to me.

        • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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          1 hour ago

          I’m still on the fence about W. just because he didn’t really do anything on his own, he just took the excuse to continue his daddy’s war. I think if Sr. had gotten another term in office he would have ramped things up, but either way I think the family as a whole pushes up there on the list.

          For the rest of the list… yeah it’s not hard to find a lot of presidents who have killed a lot of people. However the original question was about the worst president overall, which to me includes the damages done here at home. Trump is high on my list simply because of how far back he has set us in terms of equal rights, moving beyond the pettiness of racism, dealing with important things like the unfolding climate disaster, and his nonchalant attitude that Palestine and Ukraine need to just surrender because being in the news cycle is inconvenient to him. Looking at Trump’s agenda of just how much he wants to destroy things here, I find it concerning that the only thing stopping him is a few Republicans that still have a moral compass.

  • kersploosh@sh.itjust.works
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    3 hours ago

    While W. sucked in many ways, there is no way he is the worst. Off the top of my head I can easily think of four better contenders: Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan (both guilty of pro-slavery fuckery before the Civil War), Andrew Johnson (fought to let the Confederates off the hook after the war and opposed the 14th amendment), and Donald Trump (first president to be impeached twice, first to be convicted of a felony, and may be remembered by future historians as the spark that ignites the next Civil War).

    • adarza@lemmy.ca
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      5 hours ago

      donvict ain’t done yet, either. i think the damage and legacy he leaves behind, leaking out that giant diaper, will be the worst of the bunch.

    • einkorn@feddit.org
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      4 hours ago

      Btw. question from Germany regarding Trumps Felony: I read that people convicted of a felony may not vote yet I also read that Trump cast his in Florida. Hoe does it actually work?

    • guy@piefed.social
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      3 hours ago

      Question from another European about that, he’s convicted but never got a sentence? Or did he and why in that case isn’t he serving?

      • FoxyFerengi@lemm.ee
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        2 hours ago

        Sentencing was delayed until after Nov. 5th, and now it’s been permanently delayed. I’m sure the conviction will be overturned at some point while he’s in office

      • 50MYT@aussie.zone
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        2 hours ago

        Non burgers here: I believe the sentencing for the conviction was delayed till after the election. And since that they have announced it has been delayed indefinitely.

  • MF_COOM [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    4 hours ago

    How is it even close between Dubya and Trump like honestly Bush started the war on terror, killing and displacing millions.

  • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 hours ago

    lol trump is bad but not like Andrew Jackaon bad.

    Probably

    1. Andrew Jackson - Crimes against native people
    2. Andrew Johnson - Fucked up reconstruction
    3. Ronald Reagan - Trickle down economics
    4. 45/47 🤮 - We all know why…
    5. Richard Nixon - The Infamous Crook

    Might have some memory gaps, but these are what I can remember from the top of my head.

    • MF_COOM [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      4 hours ago

      If you think Trump is worse than no-oil you’re telling everybody that you think norms are more important than a million dead brown people

    • reaper_cushions [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      3 hours ago

      Y’know, Nixon was also ultimately responsible for the extensive bombing of Cambodia and the extension of the Vietnam war, both of which killed millions (the former by laying the ground work for the rise of the Khmer Rouge) BUT the important part was that he spied in Democrats! Not to defend Trump, he’s a vile removed that would serve the world best as fertiliser, but his legacy doesn’t even remotely hold a candle to the likes of Nixon, Dubya, Truman/Eisenhower etc.

    • P_P@lemm.ee
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      3 hours ago

      Don’t forget that the SCOTUS appointed by 47 ended the American experiment since Presidents are now effectively kings. Thanks to Presidential immunity, we no longer get to say nobody is above the law.

      • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        39 minutes ago

        By this analogy, where does Biden, the American Paul von Hindenburg, land? Like obviously it’s worse to actually abolish democracy, but surely working with those doing it and doing nothing to stop them is also evil?

        E: As a disclaimer about my political views, I believe that Trump and every other US president should be executed for crimes against humanity.

      • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 hours ago

        Elected Temporary Dictator with small restrictions.

        They still have to get rid of elections to make thing permanent, and time will tell if they actually managed to do so.

        The federal government doesn’t run elections, states do. Whether or not states decide to resist the tyranny of the federal government will decide if we will have legitimate elections.

        Swing States do not all have a republican trifecta.

        Also remember there are non-maga republicans, like Brad Raffensperger.

        And president does not yet have unlimited power, only immunity from breaking laws. The president still have to find those yes-men to do their bidding.

        He cant just say “Kill all Democrats” on day one. That aint happening. The military isnt maga yet.

        It takes time to purge the military. Not every non-maga military member is gonna announce their beliefs. You cant find them all and purge them all in 4 years. Hitler already had a majority of loyalists in the military when he became chancellor. trump does not. Not yet.

        When the federal government becones tyrannical, states can declare federal actions unconstitutional and use their state national guards. Then our country’s fate is up to the military and national guards.

        The US can totally become a dictatorship forever if we don’t change course, but there is still time to reverse course.

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.net
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    5 hours ago

    It’s tempting to pick someone recent, but the real answer is probably Andrew Jackson. He successfully engineered a genocide, trampled the Constitution and human rights, and was actively hostile to limits on Presidential power.

    • P_P@lemm.ee
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      3 hours ago

      We’ll see if 47 surpasses him. He’s set up to do so. It’s going to be wild to see what happens when Trump order troops to fire into crowds of American citizens.