PRESIDENTIAL THOUGHTS, AND SOME NOT SO …
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, PRESIDENT’S DAY, 2016) — While we enjoy this contrived holiday, let THE PLANET weigh in briefly with some presidential thoughts.
GREATEST PRESIDENT: You’ll get arguments here for Lincoln (the consensus), FDR, and others. THE PLANET has a different idea. We choose Richard Nixon. Surprised? Nixon had greatness in him, and paradoxically, his internal faults rose to that height and sunk him in the process. Nixon inherited Vietnam from Johnson and ended the war in 1973. He opened the west to China. He wasn’t afraid of The Big Play. Sometimes it worked out, dramatically (his many resurrections; negotiating for the safe return of American POWs). Other times, it failed spectacularly (taking the U.S. dollar off of silver; Watergate). He had what Orioles manager Earl Weaver used to call “deep depth.”
BEST POTENTIAL PRESIDENT: Garfield. Sweet Baby James had nine years in the House of Representatives and election as a Senator when he became president in March 1881. Garfield supported a gold-backed currency, fought for civil rights in the chaotic post-Civil War Reconstruction era, and was such a gifted orator that his nomination speech for U.S. Treasury Secretary John Sherman at the 1880 Republican National Convention roused delegates to such an extent that they chose Garfield. In his brief presidency, Garfield built the U.S. Navy and went after corruption, notably in the post office. Unfortunately, an assassin gunned him down on in September. Garfield would have survived the bullet wounds, but finger-poking by doctors took his life via infection. These were the years before sterilization and medical hand washing. Garfield has a local tie: He graduated from Williams College in 1856.
WORST U.S. PRESIDENT — George W. Bush. “W” clearly had no business as commander-in-chief. When his own ineptness led to the 9-11 tragedy, he — at the advice of Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the other “adults” in the hawkish administration — invented the War on Terror. Four trillion utterly wasted dollars later, and we see Iraq in shambles, Afghanistan a mess, Pakistan a haven for mayhem, and the birth and insurgence of ISIS. Thank you, “W,” the “What, Me Worry?” president. An embarrassment all around.
ALMA MATER MEN — THE PLANET shares an alma mater with two presidents. Both Chester Arthur and Jimmy Carter attended Union College in Schenectady. Chet did so in the 1840s, Carter in the 1950s, and THE PLANET in the 1970s. “We all become brothers under the laws of Minerva.”
FAVORITE PRESIDENT — This is not to be confused with “Best.” This is the president who most inspired a generation, and of course, it has to be JFK. True, Kennedy got elected in a squeaker over Nixon in 1960 when father Joe Kennedy bought enough votes in Chicago to put Jack over in Illinois. Nonetheless, as president, Kennedy breathed new life into America, instilling an optimism and energy not seen since … since that awful day on Nov. 22, 1963. That’s when the screen changed from Technicolor to black and white. America’s happy dance became a funeral dirge. We havn’t been the same since. Jack had looks, charisma, and was just coming into his own policy wise. He nailed the Cuban Missile Crisis, literally avoiding an all-out nuclear war. Jack would have ended the Vietnam involvement in his second term and who knows what other good he would have gone on to do. Sure, he had women coming in the front door and leaving by the back, but that was then. This is now. It is always a mistake to lay on the mores of one era onto those of another. Finally, he knew his way around Pittsfield, Mass. How cool is that?
UGLIEST PRESIDENT — Honest Abe. He had a face that looked like a blocked punt, which teaches us all. Never judge by looks or a $5 bill.
MOST INSIGNIFICANT PRESIDENT — Millard Fillmore, the last Whig president. He enflamed the hatred between abolitionists and pro-slavery factions, then later went on to found the University of Buffalo. Need we say (Fill)more?
Do you have any presidential musings. If so, you can share then here. Happy faux holiday!
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“It is not strange to mistake change for progress.” — Millard Fillmore.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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I cannot put into words the disgust I feel towards George Bush. I am still hoping someone in the world pursues war crimes against him and that he goes to prison. And I don’t care if they put in in jail when he is 95. I also hope there is a special place in hell for him when he does die. He was a puppet politician and they are the worst kind.
You can see them locally in their formative stages.
Dan and Dusty,
While I agree with you both on Bush as the worst President, possibly even I’d toss in George H.W. Bush to be there right with his son, you cannot blame W on the “war on terror.” That honor and right would go to Bill Clinton.
In case you forgot, on 2/26/93, the World Trade Center was bombed and then on 8/7/98, the US Embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania. Who was behind these attacks, Al-Qaeda. What was William Jefferson Clinton’s tough response to these attacks? He lobbed a few cruise missiles into empty Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. That sure backed off Al-Qaeda from attacking the US, well until 9/11/01 of course. I wouldn’t give that blame to W. Now “weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,” yes, but the “war on terror,” no. Just my opinion.
On a side note, we watched Clinton’s wife in action against a terrorist group (ISIS) when they bombed and overran Benghazi and killed Americans. She was emailing her daughter about it on a private server and then lied about it. And people want her in office?
No way do I want Hillary in office.
Hillary had her chance. I will NOT be voting for her. We have no real choices. My vote goes to Trump and I hope you all do the same.
I totally agree with your take on Bill Clinton (in my opinion the 2nd worst president ever) who did nothing when it was obvious our country was in serious danger from terrorism from one attack after another. He left the problem for the next president to deal with so as not to get involved in any aggression.
Bill Clinton at least had the sense not to inflame localized terror. The Idiot Bush was reading a book on goats to kindergardeners when 9/11 happened. This happened under his rule no one else’s. He even ignored intelligence that all but told him attack was coming.
Oh yeah and Clinton wiped out debt and had a surplus when he left office. Idiot tore through that one as well.
Felix,
You might want to re-check your facts on Bill Clinton and “local terror.” Three things come to mind: Ruby Ridge, The Branch Davidians, and Timothy McVeigh (OKC Bombing). All happened in the early-mid 90’s Under Clinton’s watch).
I am sure that HW, the former CIA man, influenced W’s decisions.
Bush Derangement Syndrome: the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.
I hope you seek treatment dusty
Bush Denial Syndrome, the acute onset of defensiveness in blinded right wingers in reaction to the justified criticism of George W. Bush. No known treatment.
Justified criticism can be made about any president. But the level of hate of George Bush makes libs loose control of bladder and bowels as if they were given an enema by Bruce Collingwood.
Felix you are showing your self to have no logical points. Please stop
Wow!
My list:
Greatest president: Ronald Reagan. He was able to do what few presidents before or since have been able to do…bring Americans together. Also he had a real love for this country. To me that is what makes a great leader. Being able to bring people together and doing so in the name of love of your country.
Worst president: Barack Obama. He is a president who plays only to special interest groups. If you are a member of a special interest group, no doubt you love Obama. For everyone else, he has been a divider of people in the country and has done little to improve the job situation and the economy. He does things that make no sense like allowing ebola patients into the country and taking no precautions on allowing immigrants into the country. I could go on and on……..
Pat, I wish you understood how silly you sound. This area is struggling, granted, but the “job situation” or unemployment nationally is at very low levels, the stock market is MUCH higher than it was before Obama took over, we have all but recovered from the second-worst recession/depression in history and more people are covered for, and have access to healthcare than ever as well. Obama has certainly had some gaffes, as has any president, but the tired old Fox News saws you cite just are not true. I too could go on and on.
The stock market is higher because the
Fed continues to print funny money…….is the recent decline n the stock market 0bama’s fault or is it just when it rises that he was involved…….more people are covered with policies that cover less and have crazy deductables and companies are leaving the U.S. so they can still compete….they just can’t afford the additional burdens of 0baba care.
This so-called economic recovery is not built on a solid foundation and the whole house of cards could topple very easily. It is a fragile recovery at best. As we all know, or most of us do, the jobless numbers do not count those who are underemployed or working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet or have given up trying to find work or the number of people who continue to struggle to pay high energy costs and rising taxes. Another legacy of this administration is higher energy costs for all of us.
You’ve nailed it again Pat. What Washington did in leading this country pales when compared to Reagan’s accomplishments. Warren Harding would be canonized when matched with Obama.
How do you do it?
I get your sarcasm, but Washington was a president for a completely different time in history. Reagan was a man who could reach out to many different people and bring them to his side. He had that gift. We definitely need that type of leader now. Someone who can take this extremely divided country and bring us all back together with the common goal of doing what is best for all Americans not just the special interests.
Reagan was a good actor and a bad president. A light weight who could act the part. Ran up a huge deficit, traded arms for hostages, gave Iraq weapons when Saddam was our “friend” …
Felix you are really looking foolish. Reagan had the longest time of peacetime economic growth in history
Harding was a pretty fair POTUS especially when compared to zer0bama.
Worst President of the Pittsfield City Council……Melissa Mazzeo, it was 18 months before she ran a council meetings without a procedural error and that agenda only had 6 items on it.
Her biggest contribution to the city is when her and Teresa Bianchi teamed up and wasted $125,000 of taxpayer’s monies on the floors of city hall.
Floors that are now covered with runners from corner to corner and signs posted on all entrance of the building so that people don’t continue to fall.
I totally disagree about George W. Bush causing the rise of ISIS. This is just more of blaming everything under the sun on George. Even the Atlantic says that it was the 2011 removal of all troops from Iraq that created the opportunity to allow chaos in that country. We know who was in charge of the pullout of troops during a very critical time in that region. We also know who has been ignoring ISIS for the last 8 years. The idea of the creation of a caliphate has been in the works for quite a long time. According to the Atlantic, even destroying ISIS may not make the idea go away.
As luck would have it Millard Filmore’s mother was born in Pittsfield MA
Phoebe Fillmore (Millard)
Birthdate: August 12, 1781
Birthplace: Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States
Death: Died April 2, 1831 in Aurora, Cayuga County, New York, United States
Immediate Family:
Daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard and Tabitha Hopkins
Wife of Nathaniel Fillmore
Mother of Olive Armstrong Johnson; Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the USA; Cyrus Fillmore; Almon Hopkins Fillmore; Calvin Turner Fillmore and 4 others
Sister of Jesse Frederick Millard; Abiathar Millard; Tabitha Millard; Lydia Millard; Huldah Millard and 4 others
Its Fillmore, double L as in hell, the place Dusty hopes has a special place for W.
Thanks for pointing out the spelling oversight…..she really was born here.
TM , maybe W can move to Pittsfield next to dusty….then they’ed both get what they deserve.
22,000 Americans died after Nixon sabotaged the peace talks. That would make him the worst in my book, GW a close second.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/yes-nixon-scuttled-the-vietnam-peace-talks-107623
How many died when LBJ was running the show?
You need to read the article. The war was over in 1968. North Vietnam had been pressured to end the war by the LBJ’s bombings. Nixon sabotaged the talks to get himself elected. Treason, for sure.
Tell me again who committed treason?
not only did Nixon possibly commit treason, but LBJ knew about it and decided not to expose him in the closing days of an election that Nixon barely won.
“LBJ wanted to go public with Nixon’s treason. But Clark Clifford, an architect of the CIA and a pillar of the Washington establishment, talked Johnson out of it.
Clifford told LBJ that the country couldn’t handle the reality that its president was a certifiable traitor, eligible for legal execution.”
The Planet must be challenged on who was ugliest. Perhaps he should have a female weigh in on this. Compare him to John Adams, Taft and Van Buren most would consider Lincoln a hunk.
Plus Lincoln was tall lanky and had big feet… Prolly was hung like a Clydsdale horse! 😉
I am submitting a Citizens Petition to ask the City Council to
establish a date and time for City Of Pittsfield’s residents to have a
vote as to whether they agree with the building of a new THS or not. I
asked the City Council on many occassions to find some kind of
mechanism to give the taxpayer the right to weigh in on this issue. I
mentioned to the council that they would have a good opportunity to
ask the voters- at the scheduled march 1st Presedential primary-
whether they want the school project or not. This was a good common
sense approach that would cost the city practically nothing
financially . Of course there is very little common sense in the City
Of Pittsfield Government and It appears that to give the voter the
chance to weigh in will now cost the taxpayers approx. 22,000 dollars
to call for a special city election. IT should be noted that I tried
to get the council to use common sense and give the voter the chance
to vote at the scheduled March1st scheduled city election. Their
inability to use commlon sense will now cost the Taxpayer 22000
dollars. Please proceed with the next step to put this out in a
special election.
Somebody needs to get a hold of David Potts. He and his group were able to stop the Civic Authority and he might possibly lend some advice to the folks that want to stop Taconic. Did a good job back then, might still have it in him.
I’ll sign it.
The instrument is spelled out in the City Charter. you make a mistake asking elected officials to go out of their way to do anything.
Mr. Requested the above post and he had submitted it to the city clerk.
Mr. G requested the above info be posted…. Coffee not strong enough this morning
The alternative was Lothrop forPrez, so we really didn’t have a choice.
At least we’d have good conversatin’ with Slowthrop!
JLO looks like James Garfield.
More like Poop Deck Pappy
There is more than enough blood to go around. I served in the US Army active duty during Vietnam and have friends whose names appear on the Wall in DC. Fast forward….. I was serving in reserves when the Jackass started the first gulf war. I was recalled to active duty and served 1 1/2 years. I’ll take Nixon any day…he got us the hell out of VN. President Ford can kiss my white behind as he pardoned all the coward draft dodgers that ran to Canada like the pukes that they were.
At least Clinton left us with a surplus that Bush pissed away.
You need to read the article too!
” In 1968, as a presidential candidate, Nixon ordered Anna Chennault, his liaison to the South Vietnam government, to persuade them to refuse a cease-fire being brokered by President Lyndon Johnson.
Nixon’s interference with these negotiations violated President John Adams’s 1797 Logan Act, banning private citizens from intruding into official government negotiations with a foreign nation.
Nixon’s sabotage of the Vietnam peace talks was confirmed by transcripts of FBI wiretaps.
The treason came in 1968 as the Vietnam War reached a critical turning point. President Lyndon Johnson was desperate for a truce between North and South Vietnam.
Johnson had it all but wrapped it. With a combination of gentle and iron-fisted persuasion, he forced the leaders of South Vietnam into an all-but-final agreement with the North. A cease-fire was imminent, and Humphrey’s election seemed assured.
In the four years between the sabotage and what Kissinger termed “peace at hand” just prior to the 1972 election, more than 20,000 US troops died in Vietnam. More than 100,000 were wounded. More than a million Vietnamese were killed. “
Really! Read the article? You jackass.
Classy.
What article?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/yes-nixon-scuttled-the-vietnam-peace-talks-107623
Obama makes W Bush look good . 16 years of piss poor leadership .
There has never been a Mediterranean president. Spain, France, Monaco, Italy Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt etc. Not one of them could come up with a pres for us.
Liechtenstein, has never produced a president
More cookies for Thomas. Spiro Agnew would have been President had he not been a crook himself.
mi, here’s a tidbit…did you know Bank of America was formerly Bank of Italy? Cookie?
Henry Agard Wallace was probably the weirdest VP…….Care to guess who the only POTUS who claimed to see a UFO is?
I heard today that Tammy Ives is running for state senate. She has the endorsement of the scrap metal union. Watch out Adams Hines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On an earlier post. it was stated that Mr. G, the water wiz was planning on running for state senator or possibly opposing TFB and Connell for state rep. ???
Hines has the ketchup union
Carter?
Is she running? if not, go back to topix.
We have had 44 Presidents, and all have been flawed – some worse than others. We make our judgments’ based on recent history to come up with everyone from LBJ forward since we in fact were alive for these fiascos, all appearing in living color in our living rooms.
But, JFK was a drug addict who most likely got the wheels really spinning on Vietnam, many other presidents were self dealers to the first degree – even FDR, who appointed friends to high places so they could make serious bank.
Lincoln saved the Union, but in reality for anyone to believe he truly was against slavery would be incorrect. He was really against the nation tearing itself apart.
Perhaps the very worst President was in fact James Buchannan. The 15th President (much like Bill Clinton in 1993 after the first WTC bombing) ignored the threats swirling about him. In fact, by ignoring those threats and taking no action – the Civil War which started as Lincoln was inaugurated was guaranteed to take place.
The South was just as likely to win as the North – so in fact, his inaction, which allowed the nation to have been scarred in ways that still are not healed probably should line him up for the honor of “worst President” in the Nation’s history.
Lincoln was in the pocket of the railroads and canal interests….he cared little about the union and just wanted tax and tarriff money from the south to redistribute to his cronies. He didn’t give a shit about the union or slavery. Almost 1 million died brcause of his stupidity.
Who is Pittsfield’s worst Mayor?
Doyle without any doubt what so ever…..the good lord never created a dumber son of a sea cook
Allen H. Bagg
Bagg.!
Gerry Doyle was Pittsfield’s worst Mayor! He signed the fraudulent Consent Decree. He lost millions of public dollars that are still unaccounted for today. He sent Pittsfield into fiscal insolvency and state government receivership.
Jimmy Ruberto was Pittsfield’s 2nd worst Mayor! He oversaw Pittsfield’s worst recession in over 7 decades. Thousands of jobs were lost. Thousands of people moved away. Meanwhile, he spent tens of millions of dollars, including millions from GE’s economic development fund, on downtown revitalization via the arts and culture.
This year of 2016, the lovely Linda Tyer will oversee the loss of about 500 jobs when Sabic Plastics moves away. She will also oversee the financing of a new Taconic High School. She will also have to propose a new FY2017 municipal budget soon.
Pittsfield politics is on a downward spiral!
– Jonathan Melle
Jonathan, you certainly have Doyle summed up. There couldn’t have been a worse time to have a mayor the likes of him in office. He sure let GE take Pittsfield to the cleaners.
Like another poster says keep an eye on the FREE CASH?
There’s nothing free about that cash.
Thats the point joe, but that has been the standard for years, free cash bond for solid bondratings,and all the reason for bullshit spending that goes with it.
One bond to many. You know the funny part of beicoming the next mayor.? the next mayor always has the biggest budget in history.
Very Astute Bill..Mayor Tyer and the City Council with the help of the Pittsfield School Vomittee,will induce and sign off on the largest Budget, in Pittsfield’s History. The Largest!
Uh oh, then, because it will mean she and they will have Mr. Valenti to deal with!