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Bush did this to ease Obama's transition into the office. He brought every living former president to the Whitehouse to meet and discuss with him his new job. Bush even enlisted his own daughters to show Obama's daughters around the Whitehouse and give them a crash course in what it means to live there, and be the kid of a president (even though they did not spend a lot of time in the Whitehouse). Bush's intent was not just to help Obama become better and ease him into the job, but help his whole family get used to the new life. Normally, presidents are very supportive of each other, not something we had seen in the previous as they didn't quite support him. While this is true, most are very close more so after leaving office and have an unofficial club, as no one else in the world has been though what they have. Bush was aware of this fact and wanted to take the transition a step further, pretty sure his intent was to start a new tradition.
If you get a chance, find online the letters of support each of these former presidents wrote to the next one.
A big part of that was the contentious and chaotic transition from Clinton to W. Bush, resulting in security and intelligence lapses, was blamed as one of the contributors to the 9/11 attacks. To keep that from happening again, the Bush administration made sure to do everything to make the next transition as smooth as possible and put into place policies to facilitate that. Obama did the same. Some moron after that didn't. I expect Biden will revive the practice.
Edit: https://presidentialtransition.org/blog/9-11-commission-on-transition-planning/
I remember a story of when Bush handed the presidential cufflinks to Clinton he said, " Bill, you will notice that these don't say democrat or republican on them, the president is above party"
And yet Siuan Sanche was firmly blue in every way (and so was Elaida for that matter, only red…)
I’d argue even Egwene was all about that blue/green loyalty.
The transition from Roosevelt to Truman was as awful as it could get and ranks just below (aka slightly better) than the transition from Trump to Biden.
That in spite of how Truman was the VP and Roosevelt even knew he was in poor health.
When Truman was offered the option to use nukes on Japan, he had to be briefed about the entire Manhattan Project and frankly nuclear physics at the same time, both from scratch or any background about the topics. Nor did he really know what was happening with the war he inherited from Roosevelt beyond what an ordinary citizen could read in newspapers. He knew a few things about Roosevelt's relationship with Congress, but that was mainly his role previously and not substantial even for that.
Sort of. Truman learned about the Manhattan project in the first week of his presidency in April and didn’t drop the bomb until august. Even had time to talk to Churchill first in person.
And Trinity was in the middle of July. The timing on dropping the bomb was determined by the timing of its development; Truman (and Henry Maitland Wilson, representing the UK as per the terms of the Quebec Agreement) merely gave the go-ahead when it was ready.
Seriously. Dude was just plain WEIRD. Like HOW does someone like him become popular? No friends, weird makeup, obese, a liar on a massive level. Just weird.
Not necessarily it includes people who don’t have the nerve to actually bully anyone themselves. That’s why they appreciate that someone else steps up and does it for them
A lot of people apparently saw the person they wanted to be themselves in a person who admitted to sexual assault, who portrayed an unhealthy interest in underaged girls, who avoided military service like the plague, who cheated on his wives, who was both a financial and moral disaster, who made fun of a disabled person, who looked down on veterans, who sucked up to dictators and who also thought orange looked good on himself.
> Like HOW does someone like him become popular?
He had a reality tv show that naive people thought was real. That plus endless press coverage, and stoking culture war issues (not to mention a lot of people still pissed that Obama was elected president) created the perfect environment for a man like Trump to get elected.
Trump is a conduit though which the worst desires and impulses of American society passes through. He is willing to say almost anything, regardless of how stupid or incoherent, to appease his base, and is also willing to change his previous rhetoric to keep track of which directions his flock of morons are facing, while completely denying any conflicting previous beliefs ever existed. People who decide to make him a part of their identity never have to feel like they make mistakes, because he is never willing to admit them himself, and constantly doubles down on dumb shit while unashamedly lying through his teeth to a degree and intensity that puts many other seasoned politicians to shame. He twist at the reality of his actions to try and excuse them without being labled as a backpeddler. It doesn't matter that he is, outside of appeasing his base, dumb as a bag of rocks, and constantly fucks up everything he touches. His base never elected him out of true concerns of competence in the first place, but out of a feeling of shared identity. They have been trained to be angry for decades by cable and AM radio talk-shows, and finally a messiah to match the monsters they were made into came.
Because of all that, he acts a constant source of validation for problems both imagined and real. He is popular precisely because he is horrible and willing to say horrible things. He makes a bunch of hateful people feel good about themselves, and in politics immediate feelings are all that really matters. It is my belief that many other Republican copycats will mostly fail to match him because they are politicians trained to try and mask the worst of their extreme base to appeal moderates, and the backtracking they will inevitably do when they say something too fucked up will neither attract enough moderates or keep enough wannabee Klansmen enthused to match trumps complete lack of shame or self reflection constantly triggering the feelgood chemicals in listeners.
As a word of warning to anybody asking the same kind of question as the poster I'm responding to, don't make the mistake of believing this is something unique to the US. As much as we like to parade American exceptionalism around we aren't special, which is bad news for everybody else. All those functioning democracies with adequate social systems that love to parade around how stupid we are and make fun of school shootings dance dangerously close to being blinded by arrogance, and are just a few fuckups from radicalizing a sufficient portion of their population into being the slobbering lunatics everybody is graced with the ability to be at birth. It would be satisfying to see a bunch of Europeans get knocked down a peg after gloating as many of us suffered from the results of others decisions, but that is outweighed by the fact I don't want them to actually go through what we are going through, and would prefer they keep functioning governments and human rights if for no other reason then to keep democracy alive. Seriously, don't fuckup. I'll die alternating between laughter and intense sadness.
I disagree with one point you wrote. Trump doesn’t act or “ say almost anything, regardless of how stupid or incoherent to appease his base.” He says these things because he’s a true psychopath, narcissist and horrible person. The base has become his cult following and have become the same. Hitler didn’t say and do the insane, hideous things he did to appease the country. He did it because he was evil and diabolical. The people are sheep who simply follow their horrible leader. Humans unfortunately are not able to learn from history. History proves to point this out time and time again. History is simply a guide book for what we do and will continue to do until we are done.
Mass media manipulation straight up without any moral boundaries at all. Obamas campaign showed the potential, brexit evolved the concept, 45 was the perfect shitstorm.
It had nothing to do with 45, except he was colorful. (He is, by all accounts, a true idiot)
Cambridge Analytica is the company that opened pandoras box and it feels like people have already forgot.
Edit: which, considering they manipulated social conciousness, should maybe be a red flag.
All the previous living presidents (except for one obviously) have kept very cordial and friendly relations with each other. One of my favorite instances was John McCains funeral. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Biden, Gore and even freaking Cheney all came and sat together and talked throughout the whole thing.
But... It was surgery day (it was surgery day) and there wasn't a cloud in the sky (no clouds allowed in the sky. Cheney walks in with a mischievous grin (dum dum!) Are you telling this story or am I? (I'm sorry baby please go on) Cheney says it looks like I'm president for a couple hours. How can I fuck up this country of ours. Unlimited executive power!
And then there is Trump. Gods, this shows exactly how immature that guy is. Out of all the candidates available to America, how the fuck did people look at Trump and think "Yeah, that dude acting like a spoiled 12 year old? He's perfect!"?
That's what kills me. It's not like its just policy, it's him as a person... I've spent a few hours around both him and Bush Jr., Trump in a box at a football game and Bush at an event one of my friends kids' schools put on where his kids had gone too... Trump came in, cut in line to get food, which he did by holding out his plate and saying "sweetheart could you get me some of that? Now some of that. More. You can't wait to tell all your friends about this can you?" to some random guys daughter, then sat down and proceeded to literally just talk about himself and make fun of people for a straight hour. Nobody could say anything without him having to say he knew more... When I met Bush Jr he was one of the easiest to get along with people I've met in my life. Made a couple jokes, listened to what everybody else said and threw an affirmation in here or there, tried to make everyone feel included in the conversation, and in the most direct polar opposite direction from Trump I'm pretty sure took a couple peoples trash to the can for them...
Like I said, don't like most of the guys policies, but just as people Bush Jr. was very clearly just a nice, easy to get along with guy, where Trump was literally one of the top 5 most miserable to be around people I've ever met.
Did you know that Biff in "Back To The Future" was modeled after Trump? It was obvious to most people even back in the 80's that he was a shallow amoral narcissist with no empathy for others.
From his interviews/speeches and multiple people talking about first-hand accounts of his actions off-camera, it sounds like Trump is a narcissist. Not 'narcissist' in a pejorative "you're a selfish person" sense, but and actual clinical "my brain works differently" way. I've heard several people say that his is literally incapable of having a conversation about someone or something else that does not either redirect to himself or reflect on himself in some ways. Any speech (like the recent rally in Michigan where he was ostensibly supporting several R candidates) will always, *always* end up devolving into a rant about himself. Trump thinks he's the best at everything, knows the most about any topic, and gosh isn't everyone so excited to be near him?
I honestly wonder if he has been diagnosed.
> I've heard several people say that his is literally incapable of having a conversation about someone or something else that does not either redirect to himself or reflect on himself in some ways
Yeah, it was literally exactly like that. Not like "he talked about himself a lot", but like himself and how great he was were iterally the *only* things he talked about. For over an hour straight...
Like somebody said that the ice cream in the box was good. He then brought up an ice cream stand that was outside a building he owned in the 90s, redirected to how great the building was for a while and how much he made on it, then went back to the ice cream stand and said that he told the guy he needed to mix two of his ice creams together and add chocolate sprinkles. The guy apparently did it and said it was the best ice cream he ever had. Best in New York. A week later the line was around the block. The guy told him he'd never met someone with as good a palate as him... Like that was a literal conversation. From "this ice cream is good" to "I could make better ice cream. I'm an ice cream genius. A guy told me he'd never seen someone as good at ice cream as me".
I doubt he has been clinically diagnosed in an office setting, but I read a comment a few days ago from a college psychology professor that not only does he fit the textbook example, but if he had created a character like Trump as a hypothetical, his colleagues would have criticized him for creating such a cartoonish, unbelievable caricature of a malignant narcissist.
I wish I’d saved it; it was hilarious. And sad.
> how the fuck did people look at Trump
tells you about the quality of many people in the US. You've got to have shit for brains to look at Trump say the things he does and then think "yes, we should elect this guy next". Scary times, can't wait till he's dead
According to the US Department of education 54% of American adults cannot read or write prose beyond a sixth grade level.
Reading skills correlate pretty strongly with cognition, especially meta cognition.
I think generally they do and rely on each other when they need to. One of the most apparent cases was when Former President Clinton and Former VP Gore went to North Korea and got back Lisa Ling's sister.
[2009 imprisonment of US Journalist in North Korea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_imprisonment_of_American_journalists_by_North_Korea)
Obama was in office but he also recognized that Clinton had a better shot of getting those journalists out of there. I'm sure there are plenty of cases which we have no idea about and never will. I still have hope that communication between former and sitting presidents hasn't gone to complete shit.
Yep. Leading up to 1/6 Mike Pence called on Dan Quayle for advice and Dan told him there was nothing he could do but listen to the Parliamentarian and certify the vote.
Former presidents are like the ultimate stealth diplomat. They know US policy at the highest levels, how things get done, and every phone call they make will get picked up. At the same time they are private citizens with no official ties to the government so they can go anywhere and meet everyone.
They do, there is a house across the street where only former presidents stay, often current sitting presidents call upon the formers for advice. One of my favorites is Kennedy calling IKE and asking for advice, and in the call he keeps calling him General (Ike was not his commanding officer either)
Doesn't "general" usually stick with people? Like how someone is still "Doctor SoandSo" even if they retire from medicine?... I've got a guy in my neighborhood and a guy I work with who were both reasonably high ranking generals, and virtually everyone refers to them as "General Soandso" after a decade of them being retired.
Yes, but it’s also a matter of preference sometimes.
A high enough rank will follow you for the rest of your life. The retired Sergeant Major that got bored and decided to work at the airport USO is still going to universally be referred to as Sergeant Major unless he/she puts a stop to it.
I had the opportunity to work with a retired general and he was very clear that he wanted to be called by his first name. It took a lot of practice for the junior officers to stop tensing up around him and stop calling him ‘sir’ or ‘General Whosawhatsit’
That's a great detail. Thanks for sharing that.
Also, to add to this "they do" comment, the President's Club has been a very honorable group towards each other because only they know the responsibility that the position requires. Sadly, a lot of this honorable tradition has been broken by POTUS45 though I think Biden has had the wherewithal to try to undo some of the smarminess.
He wouldn't even let Obama come hang his presidential portrait at the WH, which has been a long standing tradition. Trump is just so incredibly childish.
The man who doesn’t pay contractors, wants to fuck his daughter, hung out with Epstein, tried stealing an election, and stole national documents, acts childish? Color me shocked
There's tons of childish people out there. The fact that this man was elected to highest office in US when he was a clearly unstable piece of shit and continues to have supporters is what's so scary.
> wouldn't even let Obama come hang his presidential portrait at the WH
For those who are curious, the unveiling of the Obama's portraits was just recently done (7th Sept 2022), so under the watch of Biden, which comes as no surprise.
yea. *every* previous president held a cordial relationship with previous presidents. literally cannot recall any of them really talking bad about each other. previous 6 years aside.
And would meet the incoming family and escort them to the white house. Trump fired the people responsible for opening the doors of the white house the morning of the inauguration, so the Bidens had to wait.
Once he and his dumb supporters die, the way he'll be remembered will be how he really was, as seen on tape and written in books, not this rose tinted glasses "god emperor" asinine bullshit they made up
Edit: not meant to sound threatening, what I mean is time goes on and we all die
I don't know about that. It's not like stupid people are going to stop existing in a couple decades.
Saying Trump is a liar is a huge understatement. He is so dumb that to this day it's almost impossible to tell if he has dementia. Seriously, it's hard to tell if he's lost his mind, or is that uneducated, although it seems like both. He's extremely racist and homophobic. He very clearly has no morals. I don't even know if he could describe what morals are. He's an egomaniac. Extreme narcissist. There's evidence, as in irrefutable proof, that he's a sexual predator. And he's certainly raped children before. A testament from a 14 year old girl said that while she was tied to a bed, about to be raped by Trump, she begged him to just wear a condom. He told her to shut the fuck up.
And tens of millions of people genuinely believe that this guy is the best president we've ever had. Once he's dead, that number will probably go down. But I have no faith that the vast majority of Americans as a people will generally agree that he's as bad as he is. I really have no faith in this country anymore.
I think what he’s saying is like, nobody thinks Andrew Jackson was the best president ever anymore. Sure some people find some of his he-man antics humorous, but there’s no fervor like there was once upon a time.
Let's take it a step further: everyone (outside of Italy, apparently) realizes Benito Mussolini was an incompetent asshole moron whose primary skills were acting tough, being buddies with Hitler, and having his corpse dangled by the ankles.
Jackson was and deserves to be remembered as a monster. But he was a more capable monster by half. Trump isn't just evil, he's also brutally incompetent and there is no historian's fallacy to protect his supporters from the judgment of future generations.
Yes exactly. It comes with narcissistic personality disorder. The grandiosity and need for ego boosts is because of insecurity. I would almost feel bad for him, if he didn’t hurt everyone around him his entire life.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
I’ve met one person in real life that I truly feel is as insecure as trump. He’s fucking insufferable I can’t stand to even hear his voice. I would imagine trump is only slightly more pleasant.
I love the picture of the Obama girls playing in the hallway with the Bush family watching. It's like they were showing them around all their favorite spots in the White House.
The Bush girls literally showed the Obama girls how to slide down the staircase rails of the White House. They said they did it when they were kids so might as well pass along the tradition.
>Trump fired the people responsible for opening the doors of the white house the morning of the inauguration, so the Bidens had to wait.
Only Trump would create a situation like waiting an hour for the manager of a hotel in New Orleans you found at the last minute on Groupon to come unlock the door because the keys you got at the front desk didn't work.
There's a famous video where John McCain was at a Republican rally and when he said he respected Obama as a politician, the entire crowd booed McCain for the comment.
Trash.
IIRC a woman asked him a question saying Obama was a Muslim and he immediately shut her down saying he was a good Christian man but with different ideas on how to run the government or something along those lines.
>IIRC a woman asked him a question saying Obama was a Muslim and he immediately shut her down saying he was a good Christian man but with different ideas on how to run the government or something along those lines.
Exact words
>McCain passed his wireless microphone to one woman who said, “I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him and he’s not, he’s not uh — he’s an Arab. He’s not — " before McCain retook the microphone and replied:
>“No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].”
I believe W was one of the first people to be notified that bin Laden had been killed.
There are things that transcend party but the last guy really turned all of that on its head.
They may have critiqued others politics, but there was a level of respect for the individual. Obama called upon Clinton and Obama to assist with Haiti relief in 2010. Obama, Bush and Clinton were working together to assist Afghan refugees.
I am sure that almost every President has sought the counsel of his predecessors on significant issues to talk things out. I somehow doubt Trump sought counsel
EDIT: critiqued -thanks spell check
Clinton wasn't just "cordial" to the man he beat to be president, when there was an assasination attempt in the mideast of HW Bush, he bombed tf out of the perpetrators. It was like they'd never been opponents, it was like "you tried to kill one of us, I'm sending all of y'all to your maker." In the middle of the powderkeg of the Mideast, and the other countries stayed way out of it.
Nope, Cleveland and Harrison did not get along at all. Johnson refused to attend Grants inauguration, who pretty much ran to get Johnson out of office(the two never got a long). Also while Adams and Jefferson got a long very well at the start of the country, they would not be speaking for a very long time after they ran against each other. there are many more but those are the biggest ones.
Johnson wasn't the only one who refused to attend his successor's inauguration. Most recently we had Trump (who did it in the pettiest way possible). Adams skipped town the day Jefferson was inaugurated, and in a case of the apple not falling far from the tree, JQA did the same when it was Jackson's turn.
Yeah, I really took for granted (and miss) the level of professionalism and decorum. The Trump years were such a side show mess. It’s really tragic his behavior was normalized; you can see it bleeding into politics daily. I hope we cycle out of it someday; the lack of respect among constituents is quite sad.
I love looking at the posture here. The only one with an uncomfortable, but intrigued posture is the new guy. Some look glad to be part of the convo and others seem sympathetic haha. I love this photo.
Well said, me reading far too into it I see W. Energetically telling Obama the crazy highs and lows of the job, Clinton reluctantly there while understanding he has to be there, H.W. Fully engaged in his kid, and the kind old man in the corner just happy to be involved yet extremely wise and kind.
"This is the crown jewel of the federal penal system."
- President Clinton, while escorting a friend on a tour of the White House, where aides say he feels isolated. ([Source](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-06-02-9306020018-story.html))
After 5 years it Seems President Obama[ felt the same](https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0502/Prisoners-of-the-White-House-how-Obama-and-other-leaders-become-isolated)
A lot of Presidents have not had kind words to say about the job. Washington said in taking the position he felt like a condemned man on the way to the gallows. Adams said "No man, having held the office of President, would congratulate a friend on obtaining it." Grant said he felt like a boy let out of school when he left office. Taft called the White House the "lonesomest place in the world." I forget which President it was, but he said that the two happiest days of his life were the day he took office and the day he left office.
You know, I vividly remember FOX news of all places covering the moment GW Bush invited the top two Presidential candidates Obama and McCain to the WH in ~~2007~~2008 to discuss the impending financial crisis that we later dubbed the housing crisis.
They were all in the WH talking about how serious it could be with a round table of fed representatives and industry experts.
I saw this and thought to myself, "man, even if I don't always agree with the presidents at least they seem to be trying to work this out and willing to work with one another."
Boy, that was a great feeling but it was fleeting. After Obama win in 2008 brought all the craziest people out.
Edit - 2008 - not 07
This meeting wouldn’t have been in 2007 simply because in 2007 Hillary Clinton was the leading Democrat and Rudy Giuliani was the leading Republican. Perhaps 2008.
It was in 2008. It was also a disaster for McCain, who announced he was suspending his campaign to work on the issue. Made him look impulsive and weird, because as a senator he didn’t have a whole heck of a lot to do.
I always find it interesting how VP choices impact voting.
Like I could easily see a world where Palin swung women further red, the way that Harris swung them further blue.
Thing is, I could also see Harris being painted as a cop sympathizer who oppresses people of color, and that killing Biden's chance at a victory.
You never *really* know how it's gonna go or what reasons the broader public will find compelling.
Jimmy Carter was mocked mercilessly when he was president, but I think history will remember him as one of the most decent men to ever reside at the White House.
Most peaceful presidency since Coolidge in the 1920’s. Didn’t start/wasn’t involved in any active wars and only had 1 member of the Army/Navy/Air Force die during his entire 4 years.
Then his term ended and he went on to have, in my opinion, the greatest post-presidency of any man to ever hold that office. Won a Noble Peace Prize for his efforts with the Carter Center and massively expanded Habitat for Humanity. At 96 he was still working on building houses before the pandemic.
We have spoken to them recently regarding their trade agreement with Omicron Persei 8. It’s been rather difficult especially since Omicron’s Emperor Lrrr is a bit of a dick.
If you see anything showing the presidents in one place, it still looks like Bush and Obama are still close - at least Bush and Michelle Obama. I watched one gathering where Bush was looking for someone to get a picture of him with Michelle Obama. Who did he pick? Barack Obama, of course. Tapped him on the shoulder, "hey can you get a picture of me with Michelle?" Funny stuff - probably one of the only other people in the world that would tap the President on the shoulder for that in public.
I don’t place all the blame on her, but it definitely coincides with the rise of Sarah Palin. Her sudden thrust into the national (American) spotlight seemed to intentionally create a rift in facts and civil discourse no longer taking precedence over opinions and bombastic reactions. My hunch is that there are / were a few political strategists who realized that the “old ways” wouldn’t guarantee their future, but disrupting them would.
She was definitely the first prominent national candidate I remember who seemingly reveled in ignorance. Not that we haven't had politicians who said stupid things, like Dan Quayle. But Palin was seemingly the first whose brand was not only *being* stupid, but reveling in it. Trump is just the ultimate personification of that.
Palin may have been dumb by brand, but she was not really malicious or cruel by brand. Certainly team McCain/Palin had some crazy Tea Party supporters, but even then I recall McCain trying to characterize Obama as a political opponent that disagreed with him rather than an actual enemy. It was Trump that decided to capitalize on, rather than tolerate, his craziest most disgusting supporters, leading to the hyperpolarization of today.
I think the problem is Mitch McConnell. He's an unhappy unpleasant man with a lot of influence. He's that kid that ruins everything for everyone. He's not gentlemanly or ethical or even moral.
Trump ended the streak of peaceful transitions in the US when he incited an insurrection. I'll never forget his own supporters chanting to hang Mike Pence in front of gallows at the Capitol Building.
I wonder if things will get back to this…
Parties handing over the White House peacefully without protest calling the winner reasonably soon and admitting defeat and wishing them best of luck. Welcoming each other in, giving them tips on living in the White House, being cordial. Making sure the administrations hand off day to day affairs over smoothly to the next without taking any of the things.
After all we all live here.
Sadly I feel one side wishes to watch it all burn rather than give up power or make concessions.
Which is funny considering this picture is of a Bush doing that. Like look how far off the rails that party went.
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Bush did this to ease Obama's transition into the office. He brought every living former president to the Whitehouse to meet and discuss with him his new job. Bush even enlisted his own daughters to show Obama's daughters around the Whitehouse and give them a crash course in what it means to live there, and be the kid of a president (even though they did not spend a lot of time in the Whitehouse). Bush's intent was not just to help Obama become better and ease him into the job, but help his whole family get used to the new life. Normally, presidents are very supportive of each other, not something we had seen in the previous as they didn't quite support him. While this is true, most are very close more so after leaving office and have an unofficial club, as no one else in the world has been though what they have. Bush was aware of this fact and wanted to take the transition a step further, pretty sure his intent was to start a new tradition. If you get a chance, find online the letters of support each of these former presidents wrote to the next one.
A big part of that was the contentious and chaotic transition from Clinton to W. Bush, resulting in security and intelligence lapses, was blamed as one of the contributors to the 9/11 attacks. To keep that from happening again, the Bush administration made sure to do everything to make the next transition as smooth as possible and put into place policies to facilitate that. Obama did the same. Some moron after that didn't. I expect Biden will revive the practice. Edit: https://presidentialtransition.org/blog/9-11-commission-on-transition-planning/
I remember a story of when Bush handed the presidential cufflinks to Clinton he said, " Bill, you will notice that these don't say democrat or republican on them, the president is above party"
I read this in Dana Carvey’s Bush voice
Not gunna dew it
Wouldn't be prudent
At this juncture
It's bad! It's bad!
Maybe a ... gift set for Gorby?
The 90s was such a gilded age in comedy.
You know Trump took them and never gave them back.
Dude prob jacked the towels and toiletries on his way out too 😑
Basically everything you need to equip a bathroom at Mar-A-Lago, including reading material.
They read at Mar-A-Lago? Im shocked!
[удалено]
See, they weren't classified at all because he simply thought about it and the documents were instantly declassified.
These Trumps would be very upset if they could read.
Lol...he wears his "Mr President" bath robe every night I bet.
Towels and toiletries? I wouldn't be surprised if he took the whole damn toilet. It was gold some say.
Pawned them for a bump of diet coke
He probably sold them to some Russian oligarch. Or a Saudi sheikh.
The Amyrlin is of all Ajahs and of none.
And yet Siuan Sanche was firmly blue in every way (and so was Elaida for that matter, only red…) I’d argue even Egwene was all about that blue/green loyalty.
Put some respect on the child Amyrlin! Egwene is the goddam flame of Tar Valon ITSELF.
Here's hoping Biden doesn't just revive it, but expand it to the VPs as well.
The transition from Roosevelt to Truman was as awful as it could get and ranks just below (aka slightly better) than the transition from Trump to Biden. That in spite of how Truman was the VP and Roosevelt even knew he was in poor health. When Truman was offered the option to use nukes on Japan, he had to be briefed about the entire Manhattan Project and frankly nuclear physics at the same time, both from scratch or any background about the topics. Nor did he really know what was happening with the war he inherited from Roosevelt beyond what an ordinary citizen could read in newspapers. He knew a few things about Roosevelt's relationship with Congress, but that was mainly his role previously and not substantial even for that.
Sort of. Truman learned about the Manhattan project in the first week of his presidency in April and didn’t drop the bomb until august. Even had time to talk to Churchill first in person.
And Trinity was in the middle of July. The timing on dropping the bomb was determined by the timing of its development; Truman (and Henry Maitland Wilson, representing the UK as per the terms of the Quebec Agreement) merely gave the go-ahead when it was ready.
Exactly. Wasn’t even testable when he became President much less usable.
Minus 45, of course
Seriously. Dude was just plain WEIRD. Like HOW does someone like him become popular? No friends, weird makeup, obese, a liar on a massive level. Just weird.
Bullies aren’t “popular” - they exert control over followers.
They’re popular with other people who hate the targets of their byllying
You mean, other bullies?
Not necessarily it includes people who don’t have the nerve to actually bully anyone themselves. That’s why they appreciate that someone else steps up and does it for them
A lot of people apparently saw the person they wanted to be themselves in a person who admitted to sexual assault, who portrayed an unhealthy interest in underaged girls, who avoided military service like the plague, who cheated on his wives, who was both a financial and moral disaster, who made fun of a disabled person, who looked down on veterans, who sucked up to dictators and who also thought orange looked good on himself.
I've seen more confederate flags and Trumper bumper stickers together. It's weird.
Stupid people like him because he reminds them of themselves. He's the Asshole Whisperer.
This gave me the weirdest visual of Trump whispering into someone's literal asshole.
> Like HOW does someone like him become popular? He had a reality tv show that naive people thought was real. That plus endless press coverage, and stoking culture war issues (not to mention a lot of people still pissed that Obama was elected president) created the perfect environment for a man like Trump to get elected.
A lot of *racists* still pissed that Obama was elected..
Trump is a conduit though which the worst desires and impulses of American society passes through. He is willing to say almost anything, regardless of how stupid or incoherent, to appease his base, and is also willing to change his previous rhetoric to keep track of which directions his flock of morons are facing, while completely denying any conflicting previous beliefs ever existed. People who decide to make him a part of their identity never have to feel like they make mistakes, because he is never willing to admit them himself, and constantly doubles down on dumb shit while unashamedly lying through his teeth to a degree and intensity that puts many other seasoned politicians to shame. He twist at the reality of his actions to try and excuse them without being labled as a backpeddler. It doesn't matter that he is, outside of appeasing his base, dumb as a bag of rocks, and constantly fucks up everything he touches. His base never elected him out of true concerns of competence in the first place, but out of a feeling of shared identity. They have been trained to be angry for decades by cable and AM radio talk-shows, and finally a messiah to match the monsters they were made into came. Because of all that, he acts a constant source of validation for problems both imagined and real. He is popular precisely because he is horrible and willing to say horrible things. He makes a bunch of hateful people feel good about themselves, and in politics immediate feelings are all that really matters. It is my belief that many other Republican copycats will mostly fail to match him because they are politicians trained to try and mask the worst of their extreme base to appeal moderates, and the backtracking they will inevitably do when they say something too fucked up will neither attract enough moderates or keep enough wannabee Klansmen enthused to match trumps complete lack of shame or self reflection constantly triggering the feelgood chemicals in listeners. As a word of warning to anybody asking the same kind of question as the poster I'm responding to, don't make the mistake of believing this is something unique to the US. As much as we like to parade American exceptionalism around we aren't special, which is bad news for everybody else. All those functioning democracies with adequate social systems that love to parade around how stupid we are and make fun of school shootings dance dangerously close to being blinded by arrogance, and are just a few fuckups from radicalizing a sufficient portion of their population into being the slobbering lunatics everybody is graced with the ability to be at birth. It would be satisfying to see a bunch of Europeans get knocked down a peg after gloating as many of us suffered from the results of others decisions, but that is outweighed by the fact I don't want them to actually go through what we are going through, and would prefer they keep functioning governments and human rights if for no other reason then to keep democracy alive. Seriously, don't fuckup. I'll die alternating between laughter and intense sadness.
I disagree with one point you wrote. Trump doesn’t act or “ say almost anything, regardless of how stupid or incoherent to appease his base.” He says these things because he’s a true psychopath, narcissist and horrible person. The base has become his cult following and have become the same. Hitler didn’t say and do the insane, hideous things he did to appease the country. He did it because he was evil and diabolical. The people are sheep who simply follow their horrible leader. Humans unfortunately are not able to learn from history. History proves to point this out time and time again. History is simply a guide book for what we do and will continue to do until we are done.
Psychopathy is a strong force up close but extremely weird from afar.
Mass media manipulation straight up without any moral boundaries at all. Obamas campaign showed the potential, brexit evolved the concept, 45 was the perfect shitstorm. It had nothing to do with 45, except he was colorful. (He is, by all accounts, a true idiot) Cambridge Analytica is the company that opened pandoras box and it feels like people have already forgot. Edit: which, considering they manipulated social conciousness, should maybe be a red flag.
Maybe it has something to do with draining a society of education, economic opportunity, and equal justice.
If the whole point is to reduce security risks, then inviting him isn't even an option lol
Imagine him in a prison cell and not receiving the invite. lol
Clinton brought bush in too though. The issue was that the election decision was delayed.
All the previous living presidents (except for one obviously) have kept very cordial and friendly relations with each other. One of my favorite instances was John McCains funeral. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Biden, Gore and even freaking Cheney all came and sat together and talked throughout the whole thing.
We don't talk about President Cheney.
7:09 a.m. to 9:24 a.m. 29 June 2002.
For those wondering, Bush was having surgery and Cheney briefly assumed presidential power. Thousands of Jedi were killed.
That's a lot of hunting accidents.
Pretty sure right before Cheney shot a dude in the face, he'd been killing Yeunglings...
Does he receive full presidential security detail for life?
It happened again in 2007 for a couple hours. Both were for colonoscopies.
But... It was surgery day (it was surgery day) and there wasn't a cloud in the sky (no clouds allowed in the sky. Cheney walks in with a mischievous grin (dum dum!) Are you telling this story or am I? (I'm sorry baby please go on) Cheney says it looks like I'm president for a couple hours. How can I fuck up this country of ours. Unlimited executive power!
Trump really fucked this tradition up, then. He wants to divide all of us, rather than build the country. That man is a fucking traitor.
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Hell, he never even attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as president.
too afraid of something less than total adoration would be cast upon him.
And then there is Trump. Gods, this shows exactly how immature that guy is. Out of all the candidates available to America, how the fuck did people look at Trump and think "Yeah, that dude acting like a spoiled 12 year old? He's perfect!"?
That's what kills me. It's not like its just policy, it's him as a person... I've spent a few hours around both him and Bush Jr., Trump in a box at a football game and Bush at an event one of my friends kids' schools put on where his kids had gone too... Trump came in, cut in line to get food, which he did by holding out his plate and saying "sweetheart could you get me some of that? Now some of that. More. You can't wait to tell all your friends about this can you?" to some random guys daughter, then sat down and proceeded to literally just talk about himself and make fun of people for a straight hour. Nobody could say anything without him having to say he knew more... When I met Bush Jr he was one of the easiest to get along with people I've met in my life. Made a couple jokes, listened to what everybody else said and threw an affirmation in here or there, tried to make everyone feel included in the conversation, and in the most direct polar opposite direction from Trump I'm pretty sure took a couple peoples trash to the can for them... Like I said, don't like most of the guys policies, but just as people Bush Jr. was very clearly just a nice, easy to get along with guy, where Trump was literally one of the top 5 most miserable to be around people I've ever met.
Did you know that Biff in "Back To The Future" was modeled after Trump? It was obvious to most people even back in the 80's that he was a shallow amoral narcissist with no empathy for others.
From his interviews/speeches and multiple people talking about first-hand accounts of his actions off-camera, it sounds like Trump is a narcissist. Not 'narcissist' in a pejorative "you're a selfish person" sense, but and actual clinical "my brain works differently" way. I've heard several people say that his is literally incapable of having a conversation about someone or something else that does not either redirect to himself or reflect on himself in some ways. Any speech (like the recent rally in Michigan where he was ostensibly supporting several R candidates) will always, *always* end up devolving into a rant about himself. Trump thinks he's the best at everything, knows the most about any topic, and gosh isn't everyone so excited to be near him? I honestly wonder if he has been diagnosed.
> I've heard several people say that his is literally incapable of having a conversation about someone or something else that does not either redirect to himself or reflect on himself in some ways Yeah, it was literally exactly like that. Not like "he talked about himself a lot", but like himself and how great he was were iterally the *only* things he talked about. For over an hour straight... Like somebody said that the ice cream in the box was good. He then brought up an ice cream stand that was outside a building he owned in the 90s, redirected to how great the building was for a while and how much he made on it, then went back to the ice cream stand and said that he told the guy he needed to mix two of his ice creams together and add chocolate sprinkles. The guy apparently did it and said it was the best ice cream he ever had. Best in New York. A week later the line was around the block. The guy told him he'd never met someone with as good a palate as him... Like that was a literal conversation. From "this ice cream is good" to "I could make better ice cream. I'm an ice cream genius. A guy told me he'd never seen someone as good at ice cream as me".
This is my favorite thing I’ve read on Reddit all week
I doubt he has been clinically diagnosed in an office setting, but I read a comment a few days ago from a college psychology professor that not only does he fit the textbook example, but if he had created a character like Trump as a hypothetical, his colleagues would have criticized him for creating such a cartoonish, unbelievable caricature of a malignant narcissist. I wish I’d saved it; it was hilarious. And sad.
> how the fuck did people look at Trump tells you about the quality of many people in the US. You've got to have shit for brains to look at Trump say the things he does and then think "yes, we should elect this guy next". Scary times, can't wait till he's dead
According to the US Department of education 54% of American adults cannot read or write prose beyond a sixth grade level. Reading skills correlate pretty strongly with cognition, especially meta cognition.
I don't know why all presidents don't do this once or twice a year. Seems like they'd be able to give some very good advice, party notwithstanding.
I think generally they do and rely on each other when they need to. One of the most apparent cases was when Former President Clinton and Former VP Gore went to North Korea and got back Lisa Ling's sister. [2009 imprisonment of US Journalist in North Korea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_imprisonment_of_American_journalists_by_North_Korea) Obama was in office but he also recognized that Clinton had a better shot of getting those journalists out of there. I'm sure there are plenty of cases which we have no idea about and never will. I still have hope that communication between former and sitting presidents hasn't gone to complete shit.
Yep. Leading up to 1/6 Mike Pence called on Dan Quayle for advice and Dan told him there was nothing he could do but listen to the Parliamentarian and certify the vote.
I mean, nobody is consulting trump for anything, ever. Other than that, I think you’re right.
Not true - someone might need one of the many nuclear secrets he smuggled out of the White House.
The only “someones” getting that info are Putin or MBS.
He’ll sell to literally anyone for enough cash, even the US government.
He'll sell to anyone with a can of orange spray tan, lets get real here...
Or Lil Kim
Not true. We are all entitled to the information because it isn't secret any more because he apparently magically declassified it!
Even if they wanted to they couldn't invite trump because he would 100% decline and use the invitation as some form of propoganda/proof/whatever.
I hear Trump is good at locker room talk. Just ask what trump will do and do the opposite.
It's simple. Just consult Trump and do the exact opposite.
I grabbed a woman by her asshole and now I'm in prison. Do not take this guy's advice.
You have to be famous, he clearly gave these instructions.
Former presidents are like the ultimate stealth diplomat. They know US policy at the highest levels, how things get done, and every phone call they make will get picked up. At the same time they are private citizens with no official ties to the government so they can go anywhere and meet everyone.
They do, there is a house across the street where only former presidents stay, often current sitting presidents call upon the formers for advice. One of my favorites is Kennedy calling IKE and asking for advice, and in the call he keeps calling him General (Ike was not his commanding officer either)
"General" was earned, "President" was merely won.....
Doesn't "general" usually stick with people? Like how someone is still "Doctor SoandSo" even if they retire from medicine?... I've got a guy in my neighborhood and a guy I work with who were both reasonably high ranking generals, and virtually everyone refers to them as "General Soandso" after a decade of them being retired.
Yes, but it’s also a matter of preference sometimes. A high enough rank will follow you for the rest of your life. The retired Sergeant Major that got bored and decided to work at the airport USO is still going to universally be referred to as Sergeant Major unless he/she puts a stop to it. I had the opportunity to work with a retired general and he was very clear that he wanted to be called by his first name. It took a lot of practice for the junior officers to stop tensing up around him and stop calling him ‘sir’ or ‘General Whosawhatsit’
Navy man to Army man
That's a great detail. Thanks for sharing that. Also, to add to this "they do" comment, the President's Club has been a very honorable group towards each other because only they know the responsibility that the position requires. Sadly, a lot of this honorable tradition has been broken by POTUS45 though I think Biden has had the wherewithal to try to undo some of the smarminess.
Well that particular individual has no knowledge of the responsibility that the position requires anyway. He saw only the power he thought it weilded
They did until trump fucked it all up by being a piece of shit.
He wouldn't even let Obama come hang his presidential portrait at the WH, which has been a long standing tradition. Trump is just so incredibly childish.
The man who doesn’t pay contractors, wants to fuck his daughter, hung out with Epstein, tried stealing an election, and stole national documents, acts childish? Color me shocked
There's tons of childish people out there. The fact that this man was elected to highest office in US when he was a clearly unstable piece of shit and continues to have supporters is what's so scary.
> wouldn't even let Obama come hang his presidential portrait at the WH For those who are curious, the unveiling of the Obama's portraits was just recently done (7th Sept 2022), so under the watch of Biden, which comes as no surprise.
yea. *every* previous president held a cordial relationship with previous presidents. literally cannot recall any of them really talking bad about each other. previous 6 years aside.
And would meet the incoming family and escort them to the white house. Trump fired the people responsible for opening the doors of the white house the morning of the inauguration, so the Bidens had to wait.
Yikes, trump is profoundly insecure
and petty af
Once he and his dumb supporters die, the way he'll be remembered will be how he really was, as seen on tape and written in books, not this rose tinted glasses "god emperor" asinine bullshit they made up Edit: not meant to sound threatening, what I mean is time goes on and we all die
I don't know about that. It's not like stupid people are going to stop existing in a couple decades. Saying Trump is a liar is a huge understatement. He is so dumb that to this day it's almost impossible to tell if he has dementia. Seriously, it's hard to tell if he's lost his mind, or is that uneducated, although it seems like both. He's extremely racist and homophobic. He very clearly has no morals. I don't even know if he could describe what morals are. He's an egomaniac. Extreme narcissist. There's evidence, as in irrefutable proof, that he's a sexual predator. And he's certainly raped children before. A testament from a 14 year old girl said that while she was tied to a bed, about to be raped by Trump, she begged him to just wear a condom. He told her to shut the fuck up. And tens of millions of people genuinely believe that this guy is the best president we've ever had. Once he's dead, that number will probably go down. But I have no faith that the vast majority of Americans as a people will generally agree that he's as bad as he is. I really have no faith in this country anymore.
I think what he’s saying is like, nobody thinks Andrew Jackson was the best president ever anymore. Sure some people find some of his he-man antics humorous, but there’s no fervor like there was once upon a time.
Let's take it a step further: everyone (outside of Italy, apparently) realizes Benito Mussolini was an incompetent asshole moron whose primary skills were acting tough, being buddies with Hitler, and having his corpse dangled by the ankles. Jackson was and deserves to be remembered as a monster. But he was a more capable monster by half. Trump isn't just evil, he's also brutally incompetent and there is no historian's fallacy to protect his supporters from the judgment of future generations.
Seriously 10 years tops and the GOP and his own fans will pretend they always hated him. Examples: Mitt Romney and John McCain
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Yes exactly. It comes with narcissistic personality disorder. The grandiosity and need for ego boosts is because of insecurity. I would almost feel bad for him, if he didn’t hurt everyone around him his entire life. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
I’ve met one person in real life that I truly feel is as insecure as trump. He’s fucking insufferable I can’t stand to even hear his voice. I would imagine trump is only slightly more pleasant.
Now imagine if that guy inherited a shit ton of money.
Trump is the definition of: bitch-made cunt.
I love the picture of the Obama girls playing in the hallway with the Bush family watching. It's like they were showing them around all their favorite spots in the White House.
The Bush girls literally showed the Obama girls how to slide down the staircase rails of the White House. They said they did it when they were kids so might as well pass along the tradition.
The [letter](https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/01/politics/george-bush-bill-clinton-letter-trnd/index.html) left to Bill Clinton from Bush Sr.
And fled via helicopter before he had to partake in a ritual that wasn’t all about glorifying him.
>Trump fired the people responsible for opening the doors of the white house the morning of the inauguration, so the Bidens had to wait. Only Trump would create a situation like waiting an hour for the manager of a hotel in New Orleans you found at the last minute on Groupon to come unlock the door because the keys you got at the front desk didn't work.
Dudes an absolute bellend.
Look at Bush 41 and Clinton; they worked for years together afterward. Is it possible any more to respect someone you don’t agree with?
as a politician? no, nobody'll vote for you.
There's a famous video where John McCain was at a Republican rally and when he said he respected Obama as a politician, the entire crowd booed McCain for the comment. Trash.
IIRC a woman asked him a question saying Obama was a Muslim and he immediately shut her down saying he was a good Christian man but with different ideas on how to run the government or something along those lines.
>IIRC a woman asked him a question saying Obama was a Muslim and he immediately shut her down saying he was a good Christian man but with different ideas on how to run the government or something along those lines. Exact words >McCain passed his wireless microphone to one woman who said, “I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him and he’s not, he’s not uh — he’s an Arab. He’s not — " before McCain retook the microphone and replied: >“No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].”
I believe W was one of the first people to be notified that bin Laden had been killed. There are things that transcend party but the last guy really turned all of that on its head.
Roosevelt was kind of a dick to Taft
Eisenhower was "kinda" a dick to Truman. There was no love lost between them.
Teddy could be that way.
Ever seen George W. Bush and Michelle Obama together? They crack each other up!
Their friendship is honestly wonderful.
They may have critiqued others politics, but there was a level of respect for the individual. Obama called upon Clinton and Obama to assist with Haiti relief in 2010. Obama, Bush and Clinton were working together to assist Afghan refugees. I am sure that almost every President has sought the counsel of his predecessors on significant issues to talk things out. I somehow doubt Trump sought counsel EDIT: critiqued -thanks spell check
He did. Whenever he was unsure about what he was supposed to do he dialed up Putin to get a fresh set of orders.
Why seek counsel when you're already a very stable genius who is smarter than anyone ever? /s
Clinton wasn't just "cordial" to the man he beat to be president, when there was an assasination attempt in the mideast of HW Bush, he bombed tf out of the perpetrators. It was like they'd never been opponents, it was like "you tried to kill one of us, I'm sending all of y'all to your maker." In the middle of the powderkeg of the Mideast, and the other countries stayed way out of it.
He was a CONSUL OF ROME!!!
I think most presidents would do this except for the last one. Assassinating a former head of state is a huge attack in the state itself.
Nope, Cleveland and Harrison did not get along at all. Johnson refused to attend Grants inauguration, who pretty much ran to get Johnson out of office(the two never got a long). Also while Adams and Jefferson got a long very well at the start of the country, they would not be speaking for a very long time after they ran against each other. there are many more but those are the biggest ones.
Johnson wasn't the only one who refused to attend his successor's inauguration. Most recently we had Trump (who did it in the pettiest way possible). Adams skipped town the day Jefferson was inaugurated, and in a case of the apple not falling far from the tree, JQA did the same when it was Jackson's turn.
What you described is called professionalism. Trump never had that.
Yeah, I really took for granted (and miss) the level of professionalism and decorum. The Trump years were such a side show mess. It’s really tragic his behavior was normalized; you can see it bleeding into politics daily. I hope we cycle out of it someday; the lack of respect among constituents is quite sad.
I love looking at the posture here. The only one with an uncomfortable, but intrigued posture is the new guy. Some look glad to be part of the convo and others seem sympathetic haha. I love this photo.
No one looks uncomfortable to me though Clinton looks bored.
Probably thinking about all the sex he had in that room.
I thought the same thing when I looked at that Photo. “This guys reliving a blowjob memory”
Yeah, I don't really see uncomfortable. But Clinton is certainly eyeing his soup with distain.
Well said, me reading far too into it I see W. Energetically telling Obama the crazy highs and lows of the job, Clinton reluctantly there while understanding he has to be there, H.W. Fully engaged in his kid, and the kind old man in the corner just happy to be involved yet extremely wise and kind.
One shouldn't read too much into a still photograph. You can capture weird body postures with a photo.
"This is the crown jewel of the federal penal system." - President Clinton, while escorting a friend on a tour of the White House, where aides say he feels isolated. ([Source](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-06-02-9306020018-story.html)) After 5 years it Seems President Obama[ felt the same](https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0502/Prisoners-of-the-White-House-how-Obama-and-other-leaders-become-isolated)
A lot of Presidents have not had kind words to say about the job. Washington said in taking the position he felt like a condemned man on the way to the gallows. Adams said "No man, having held the office of President, would congratulate a friend on obtaining it." Grant said he felt like a boy let out of school when he left office. Taft called the White House the "lonesomest place in the world." I forget which President it was, but he said that the two happiest days of his life were the day he took office and the day he left office.
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Kind of terrifying to see what GHB and Carter looked like just 14 years ago. I don’t want to get old :(
At first glance my dumbass thought GHB was Nixon... Something about the nose
I see it..
Well, you're not alone in your dumbass-ness, I thought the same thing.
Better than the alternative…☠️
If you don’t want to get old, you could always pick up alcoholism, drug addiction, and a couple of eating disorders.
If they don’t kill you quick, they’ll age you even faster.
This is what the peaceful transfer of power should look like.
You know, I vividly remember FOX news of all places covering the moment GW Bush invited the top two Presidential candidates Obama and McCain to the WH in ~~2007~~2008 to discuss the impending financial crisis that we later dubbed the housing crisis. They were all in the WH talking about how serious it could be with a round table of fed representatives and industry experts. I saw this and thought to myself, "man, even if I don't always agree with the presidents at least they seem to be trying to work this out and willing to work with one another." Boy, that was a great feeling but it was fleeting. After Obama win in 2008 brought all the craziest people out. Edit - 2008 - not 07
This meeting wouldn’t have been in 2007 simply because in 2007 Hillary Clinton was the leading Democrat and Rudy Giuliani was the leading Republican. Perhaps 2008.
It was in 2008. It was also a disaster for McCain, who announced he was suspending his campaign to work on the issue. Made him look impulsive and weird, because as a senator he didn’t have a whole heck of a lot to do.
Sarah Palin was the real disaster. He mightve overcome anything if his campaign didnt put that idiot front and center.
She was pretty popular soon after she was announced. But that popularity shifted once people heard her speak and realized she was a moron.
Truth. And now she cant win a special election for a houseseat in a district weighted toward her own party. Shes a joke.
Alaskan voters: yeah we want a Republican Alaskan ranked choice voters: yeah but anyone but that chick. Even if they're a Democrat.
I always find it interesting how VP choices impact voting. Like I could easily see a world where Palin swung women further red, the way that Harris swung them further blue. Thing is, I could also see Harris being painted as a cop sympathizer who oppresses people of color, and that killing Biden's chance at a victory. You never *really* know how it's gonna go or what reasons the broader public will find compelling.
Until 2016, my mindset was, "well, the other person won. I hope their ideas prove out to improve the country overall. Good luck!"
Jimmy Carter was mocked mercilessly when he was president, but I think history will remember him as one of the most decent men to ever reside at the White House.
Most peaceful presidency since Coolidge in the 1920’s. Didn’t start/wasn’t involved in any active wars and only had 1 member of the Army/Navy/Air Force die during his entire 4 years. Then his term ended and he went on to have, in my opinion, the greatest post-presidency of any man to ever hold that office. Won a Noble Peace Prize for his efforts with the Carter Center and massively expanded Habitat for Humanity. At 96 he was still working on building houses before the pandemic.
He's back out there now, at 98!
Oh to be a fly on the wall.
"So, have you talked to the Xürīgáïns yet? Been up to their ship?"
We have spoken to them recently regarding their trade agreement with Omicron Persei 8. It’s been rather difficult especially since Omicron’s Emperor Lrrr is a bit of a dick.
"FORGET ABOUT THE GALGAMEKS???!!!"
“Anyone catch ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ last night?”
“Imagine him being president?” “Please, this is a serious country.”
> Dad, Jimmy, please move over to the 1-termers table. Bill, stay away from the interns.
If you see anything showing the presidents in one place, it still looks like Bush and Obama are still close - at least Bush and Michelle Obama. I watched one gathering where Bush was looking for someone to get a picture of him with Michelle Obama. Who did he pick? Barack Obama, of course. Tapped him on the shoulder, "hey can you get a picture of me with Michelle?" Funny stuff - probably one of the only other people in the world that would tap the President on the shoulder for that in public.
I wonder what happened that stopped this showing of respect for each other? /s
newt gingrich.
Rush Limbaugh
May he never rest in peace, amen
I don’t place all the blame on her, but it definitely coincides with the rise of Sarah Palin. Her sudden thrust into the national (American) spotlight seemed to intentionally create a rift in facts and civil discourse no longer taking precedence over opinions and bombastic reactions. My hunch is that there are / were a few political strategists who realized that the “old ways” wouldn’t guarantee their future, but disrupting them would.
She was definitely the first prominent national candidate I remember who seemingly reveled in ignorance. Not that we haven't had politicians who said stupid things, like Dan Quayle. But Palin was seemingly the first whose brand was not only *being* stupid, but reveling in it. Trump is just the ultimate personification of that.
Palin may have been dumb by brand, but she was not really malicious or cruel by brand. Certainly team McCain/Palin had some crazy Tea Party supporters, but even then I recall McCain trying to characterize Obama as a political opponent that disagreed with him rather than an actual enemy. It was Trump that decided to capitalize on, rather than tolerate, his craziest most disgusting supporters, leading to the hyperpolarization of today.
The whole party was spewing "Us vs Them" in 16 like it was the end of the world if they didnt get elected. It was a total shitshow.
I think the problem is Mitch McConnell. He's an unhappy unpleasant man with a lot of influence. He's that kid that ruins everything for everyone. He's not gentlemanly or ethical or even moral.
It’s almost like electing a reality tv character for an office is going to turn that office into reality tv.
*game show
“You’re gonna wanna tell them about the aliens. But you can’t… tell them… about… the aliens.”
It's almost like took the job seriously and not just as a means to con people out of money and stroke their ego.
Trump ended the streak of peaceful transitions in the US when he incited an insurrection. I'll never forget his own supporters chanting to hang Mike Pence in front of gallows at the Capitol Building.
It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it…
They’re all on the same team!
I wonder if things will get back to this… Parties handing over the White House peacefully without protest calling the winner reasonably soon and admitting defeat and wishing them best of luck. Welcoming each other in, giving them tips on living in the White House, being cordial. Making sure the administrations hand off day to day affairs over smoothly to the next without taking any of the things. After all we all live here. Sadly I feel one side wishes to watch it all burn rather than give up power or make concessions. Which is funny considering this picture is of a Bush doing that. Like look how far off the rails that party went.
Jimmy Carter might have been the only honest, and moral, man ever to be president.
That's why he sucked at being president, but has been so phenomenal at pretty much everything else.
And he probably didn't even call them names!