The Bush Legacy: On Par with Nixon?

With Bushie wrapping up his fun eight-year term as our nation's head do-gooder, he reflects with Charlie Gibson... Uh, what??? Yeah, you heard it right. Bush is getting all reflective now, and it brings up an interesting parallel between him and Nixon's legendary interview with David Frost. Yet, if Ron Howard had his way, you wouldn't put Bush and Nixon on the same plate...

Giving us some perspective, Ted Johnson offers an exclusive review of Ron Howard's new film, Frost/Nixon, as well as a portion of an interview he conducted with the Academy Award Winning Director (oh yeah, All Caps) at a recent screening. Don't skip out and miss Howard's Nixon impression. Apparently, it's what all the cool kids are doing these days. Teresa and Maegan also weigh in on the Bush/Nixon comparison, our leaders' difficulties in admitting mistakes, and the judgment of history.

Now, who you callin' a team of rivals? Hilary? Really? Didn't you disagree with her on everything? Yeah, a reporter asked that and what was That One's response: brushed his shoulders off. It's like the primaries didn't even happen. Obama's got some explaining to do, with his appointment of Senator Hilary Clinton as his new Secretary of State. Will Obama punish the reporters for asking about that? And what about this paradox of our current presidential duopoly, with every time Bush says something, the market crashes? How does that reflect psychologically on the administration, and how will the Mumbai terrorist attack affect Obama's first real days in office? Is this India's 9/11? How did the media respond, online and off, and how has it affected the Obama's transition? All on today's Wilshire & Washington.

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Wilshire & Washington, the weekly Blog Talk Radio program that explores the intersection of politics, entertainment, and new media, features co-hosts Ted Johnson, Managing Editor of Variety; conservative blogger Teresa Valdez Klein (www.teresacentric.com), and liberal blogger Maegan Carberry (www.maegancarberry.com). The show airs every Wednesday at 7:30am PST on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Comments

[TheIndependenceParty]

Anyone who believes there is a close parity between Nixon's abuses and Bush's in office, didn't observe either!

There are almost no parts of our goverment that Bush has not pushed toward ruination and corruption of purpose. Worse, he continues to do the same thing to this very day in regulatory changes issuing from the White House. It would be as if Nixon, when leaving the White House and boarding Marine Corps 1 had flipped the American People the bird with both hands.

No, Bush is truly one of a kind in our history.

[MBryant]

Nixon's legacy is much more mixed - with more positive elements than Bush's. Nixon in many ways completed LBJ's Great Society, Nixon got the U.S. out of Vietnam, and his diplomacy efforts in China were significant. On the other hand, Kissinger's aggressive foreign policy towards smaller countries, Nixon's bizarre campaign covert operations, and some of his appointments were awful. The thing that nailed Nixon was absolutely illegal and absolutely stupid, but many other things balance this - Nixon was perhaps an "average" President.

There is little to find positive about the Bush Administration; From "No Child Left Behind", to his handling of "9/11" to the iraq war, to all of his other foregn policy, to his handling of the economic crises. It is all pretty much disastrous. Bush is one of the worst, certainly the worst in the last 100 years. .

[realpolitic]

When Charlie Gibson interviewed Bush the other day he actually asked Bush if there were any "oh-oh moments where Bush may have felt he made a mistake." I mean, eight years into the Bush administration and people still treat him as if he were a little child. Bush, as a alcoholic, knows how to mainupulate people to enable him in this way by playing the hapless, confounded little boy. People then treat him accordingly and he is allowed to sow his destruction and not be held accountable. Bush is a grown man and the press should talk to him as an adult and ask him penetrating questions. If Bush wants to pretend to be a child, let him. It is an insult to the American people when the press treats Bush in this cuddling way after the destruction he has caused.

[deeoneakin]

Well for one thing, Nixon's legacy was domestically problematic but his foreign policy was essentially solid. Bush has been a disaster on both fronts.

[MBryant]

Nixon's public foreign policy was seemingly solid -
- out of Vietnam
- relations with China
However, we now know that Nixon and Kissinger were involved in many, many aggressive covert operations which have sowed a negative reputation for the U.S. in many countries.

I would argue that Nixon's domestic policies - which were in many ways a continuation of LBJ's and rather left/center - were very mixed and so was his foreign policy. On the whole Nixon was very aggressive in asserting Presidential authority - both overtly an covertly - perhaps on a par with LBJ and among the most aggressive between FDR and "W" Bush.

Again, the difference between Nixon and Bush? Nixon did some good and some bad with his powers and he got caught. Bush was almost uniformly disastrous and the codependent Dems in congress let him get away with everything he tried...

[TommyMcCarthy]

There's no comparison

For one thing...Nixon was a conservative......for another, he could define and SPELL it!
tm

[normathumb]

Nixon was a conservative only by the standards of his time. There would be no room for Nixon in today's Republican party. The political pendulum has swung so far to the right, none of the Republican leaders from the sixties and early seventies would be welcome. Even Barry Goldwater saw this.

[flyday611]

As Rove and Friends gather at the White House to rewrite Bush's Disgusting Legacy, all paid staffers are helping do the rewrite. Guess who Paying these staffers?? That's right...Us! the taxpayer. Excuse me ..ahhh!..while I take the last knife ...ahhhh! Bush just shoved in my Back as if the Wall Street Bailout sting was not enough as a parting gift.

[Vyvjala]

Bush's name is a curseword, thats his legacy.

[Indie2008]

Nixon was paranoid and insecure. Bush is impulsive and stubborn, but apparently not prone to introspection.