Lloyd Lofthouse

The New York Times: Trump Is “the Worst American President in Modern History”

“The lesson of the last four years (and the recorded history of his always failing businesses) is that Trump cannot solve the nation’s pressing problems because he is the nation’s most pressing problem.”

Diane Ravitch's blog

The New York Times published this editorial for its Sunday edition, accompanied by articles detailing the multiple failures of Donald Trump. This is my favorite line: “the lesson of the last four years is that he cannot solve the nation’s pressing problems because he is the nation’s most pressing problem.” The title of the editorial is: “End Our National Crisis: The Case Against Donald Trump.”

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II.

Mr. Trump’s ruinous tenure already has gravely damaged the United States at home and around the world. He has abused the power of his office and denied the legitimacy of his political opponents, shattering the norms that have bound the nation together for generations. He has subsumed the public interest to the profitability of his business and political interests. He has shown a breathtaking disregard for the lives…

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Lloyd Lofthouse

6 responses to “The New York Times: Trump Is “the Worst American President in Modern History””

  1. Susan Lee Schwartz Avatar
    Susan Lee Schwartz

    I get the paper edition. You have to see it, each page with the photo 1/2 of th eager. and a bold headline and the text below.

    They never did something like this for a sitting president but this man isa the disaster for America as the corrupted Republican Party became his enabler, and the billionaires who one the media age the ignorant masses an ‘entertainer,” as NBC did this week when Biden was talking. Ratings were more importtn than a serious public look at both candidates.

    Reply
  2. Lloyd Lofthouse Avatar
    Lloyd Lofthouse

    I will not approve your comment unless you provide links to reputable sources that offer the facts and evidence that support your allegations.

    Reply
    1. rangerdon Avatar
      rangerdon

      It’s common knowledge, sir, but I understand your desire to control the information to support your thesis.

      Donald M. Scott (listed in Who’s Who in America for scholarship etc), author, teacher, mind-ranger

      https://georgerstewart.wordpress.com/

      Reply
      1. Lloyd Lofthouse Avatar
        Lloyd Lofthouse

        Rangerdon, instead of defending your allegations of G. W. Bush and Clinton (from your comment that I refuse to approve) with reliable evidence and with links to that evidence, you have accused me of having a desire to control information to support a thesis and claimed that what you alleged is widely known. By who, you?

        What the FUCK!

        The subject in The New York Times opinion piece was: “Trump is the Worst American President in Modern History”.

        I reposted that from another Blog where the opinion piece in the NYT was mentioned. I am not the author of that opinion piece in the New York Times, but I agree with that opinion that no matter what Presidents G. W. Bush and Clinton did when they were presidents, it will never be as bad as what Trump has been doing all his life, and the evidence is overwhelming.

        Trump is a serial liar.

        “the media has often noted the frequency with which President Trump lies. The Washington Post, for instance, maintains a running database of what it terms the President’s “false or misleading claims” – which now number over 20,000, or an average of 12 per day.”

        https://theconversation.com/from-washington-to-trump-all-presidents-have-told-lies-but-only-some-have-told-them-for-the-right-reasons-145995

        Trump is a failed businessman.

        “Donald Trump’s 13 Biggest Business Failures”

        https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trumps-13-biggest-business-failures-59556/

        Trump is a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predictor:

        https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-memoir-says-trump-is-guilty-of-the-same-crimes-that-sent-him-to-prison/

        Trump is a thief.

        “Commander in Thief”

        “How much of Trump’s profiteering is unconstitutional, and how much is just sleazy,? a field guide”

        https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january-february-march-2018/commander-in-thief/

        Trump is a troll.

        “Trump the Troll”

        https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/24/trump-the-troll-215188

        This is just the shortlist. I could probably spend all night adding more evidence to Trump’s malignant narcissism and sociopathic behavior that make whatever Presidents G. W. Bush and Clinton did when they worked out of the White House, small in comparison.

        Bush and Clinton were not saints, but for any wrongs that they did, Trump has done more than every president the U.S. has had since the United States became a nation. If we added up the alleged transgressions of every previous president, they would not compare to what Trump has done and may still do.

        Proof: “Trump and the Threat to Democracy”

        “Here are ten basic democratic norms that Trump fails to comply with or outright repudiates: (1) respect for an independent judiciary, (2) support for a free and independent press, (3) more generally, the importance of independent actors within government, as opposed to actors who simply owe loyalty to the president; (4) a commitment to the peaceful resolution of political disputes rather than encouraging violence; (5) respect for the legitimacy of elections; (6) not using the legal system to attack political opponents; (7) not expressing admiration for foreign autocrats; (8) preserving transparency within government; (9) the maintenance of a sharp separation between the private interests of public servants and the public good; (10) at least a minimal commitment to truth telling. The remainder of this article elaborates upon Trump’s transgressions against these foundational norms of democracy.”

        https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/democrats/2019/12/10/trump-and-the-threat-to-democracy/

      2. rangerdon Avatar
        rangerdon

        And here, I rise to the challenge:

        Support for disagreement….

        Not the worst – one of the worst: GW Bush hardened the Canadian border (forcing citizens and families to pay a huge passport fee) DOUBLED the obscenely swollen black hole of the Depart of Offense’s budget, started an illegal war based on lies and still underway, created the roving transit GESTAPO named the VIPR Program, […]
        I will not approve this comment unless you provide links to reputable sources that offer the facts and evidence that support your allegations.

        Bush:
        War began in 2003 – Shock and Awe – or don’t you remember that – under Bush? It was NOT declared by Congress, and therefore violates the US Constitution. (The War Powers Act is a statute; you cannot amend the Constitution by statute.) That war still continues, now having spread all over and destabilizing much of the Middle East – except Israel; and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE – “nations” allied with this country, at least two ruled by despots.
        VIPR: created in 2005, under GWB, passed overwhelmingly by both parties. See attached pdf, pp 13 and 32.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_Intermodal_Prevention_and_Response_team
        Dem support continues: https://demings.house.gov/media/press-releases/2020-appropriations-victories
        https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/116th-congress/senate-report/125/1
        Passports: “Beginning on January 23, 2007, all persons (including U.S. citizens) traveling by air to the United States from all foreign countries (including Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda) are required to present a valid passport, NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard/Merchant Mariner Document.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere_Travel_Initiative
        https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/jury-still-out-western-hemisphere-travel-initiative?redirect=cpredirect/34917

        Clinton and capital punishment:
        https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/history-of-the-death-penalty-timeline
        https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/educational-magazines/bill-clintons-death-penalty-waffle
        (For the record: I worked on Alcatraz as a minor scholar on the history of penology, and interacted with former inmates, former correctional officers, a Supreme Court Justice, and others on the topic of the death penalty. Alcatraz followed a model of punishment first suggested by Enlightenment jurist Cesare de Beccaria and implemented in the US by Founding Father Benjamin Rush: The penitentiary. There are NO executions in a penitentiary in that system, but Billy C. reinstated them. Today, William the Barrbarian is executing people for political reasons – one reason why capital punishment is such a god awful idea.)

        Scientific agencies:
        Bureau of mines closed (Clinton signed the bill) [1997] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bureau_of_Mines
        (My grandfather was a brilliant inventor, geologist, manufacturer, and petrologist. He represented the Bureau in Burma in the early 20th Century.)
        https://www.deseret.com/1995/7/28/19184796/plan-to-close-the-u-s-bureau-of-mines-would-undermine-agency-s-vital-mission
        USGS –
        https://science.sciencemag.org/content/281/5378/767.2.full . “USGS is coping with staff cuts and a drive to make it customer-oriented (Science, p. 19 September 1997, 1755). Moreover, the agency has always struggled to defend its mission, which includes mapping, hydrology, seismology, volcanology, and—since the National Biological Service was folded into it in 1996—biology. Indeed, 3 years ago [1995] Congress came within a hair of eliminating USGS.”

        Social Security:
        https://www.ssa.gov/history/thismonth8.html “August 15, 1994 President Clinton signed legislation (H.R. 4277) establishing the Social Security Administration as an independent agency. Among other changes, the legislation establishes a six-year term for the Commissioner and makes the Principal Deputy Commissioner a political appointment subject to Senate confirmation.” (Setting it up as an independent agency was the first step toward privatization.)
        https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/05/29/the-pact-between-bill-clinton-and-newt-gingrich
        “In the evening of Oct. 28, 1997, House Speaker Newt Gingrich headed to the White House to meet with President Bill Clinton, ostensibly to hammer out final details of the 1998 budget. In reality, Gingrich and Clinton were putting finishing touches on a deal to create a centrist political coalition to fix long-term problems facing Social Security and Medicare. In his new book, The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry That Defined a Generation, Steven Gillon, resident historian of the History Channel and a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma, reveals the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the meeting and how the potentially historic effort was derailed in an instant by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
        While there were dozens of reform plans circulating around Washington, ranging from minor tinkering to radical overhaul, there was a growing consensus around “middle ground” proposals that combined some structural changes in the retirement age with some form of private accounts.”
        And let’s add one more thing – the ground laid for the privatization of the post office. Democrats unanimously supported that foundation:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Accountability_and_Enhancement_Act
        “The bill was approved during the lame duck session of the 109th Congress, and approved without objection via voice vote.[4]” That means, of course, that Democrats voted overwhelmingly for this law, one step toward privatization, with the poorly-name deJoy and his buddy trump now trying to take it several steps forward. If there had been no outcry, the Democrats would have voted for that.
        AND, one more thing.
        https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/indy+environment/FMfcgxwKhqmjhlbdQsmTRWCgccgnVlkC
        Our current so-called “Democratic” Senator in Nevada, Cortes-Masto, is leading a trumpian attempt to convert several hundred thousand acres of public and tribal land, and a chunk of the Desert Wildlife Refuge, into military use – so the Department of Offense can practice new ways of killing people. Her proposal is opposed by Nevada’s legislature – both parties – the Democratic Governor – and the VAST majority of citizens commenting. Not to worry – she has the support of trump and his local elf Amodei, and even a Rep from Utah.

      3. Lloyd Lofthouse Avatar
        Lloyd Lofthouse

        When it comes to Donald Trump, there is no “agree to disagree”.

        As much as I disliked G. W. Bush, I reject your argument that Bush and Clinton are just as bad as Donald Trump or worse.

        Those two will never be as horrible as Donald Trump.

        Trump is a monster, a freak, a malignant narcissist, a sociopath, and a puddle of fat puke that only became president because of Russia helping him win.

        Trump is a traitor that makes Benedict Arnold look good. Compared to what TrumpEekThinlySkin has already done to this country since he lied taking the Oath of Office on January 20, 2017, the few examples you use in an attempt to change the subject and crucify Bush and Clinton are meaningless in comparison.

        This conversation is over unless you stick to the topic and the topic is Donald Trump.

Comments are welcome — pro or con. However, comments must focus on the topic of the post, be civil and avoid ad hominem attacks.

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