Bruce

Unfortunatly all of this has been going on way too long.

MrsSpringsteen

I didn't agree with comparing Bush to Hitler either. I just see this health care forum fiasco as some sort of bizarre way for certain people to grind their ax with President Obama about things that aren't even related to health care. I bet most of these people have no understanding of what his health care plan really is. I don't-but if I was going to protest it in any way I certainly would before I did.

It even happened at a health care forum in the town I live in-and nothing happens there. If they could only get so worked up about trying to fix the woes in their own party.

maycocksean

To be fair, he's right. There was this kind of talk coming from fringe elements on the left under the Bush Admin. But let me stress that it was FRINGE elements. I can safely say that the vast majority of the posters on this board would not have found a Bush/Hitler comparison accurate or fair. I certainly wouldn't, and I happen to think he was a horrible president.

The question is, are these protests just the work of a few fringe Far Right loonies or is there a good portion of otherwise sane folks who are being whipped into a fury by these kinds of comparisons.

Thoughts?

maycocksean

I don't know about that. My issue with the Republicans is less that they are wrong, and more the way in which most of them are approaching the issues. It's the level of discourse on the conservative side that I find appalling.

bigjohn2441

is that Madoff holding the sign?! How'd he get out?!

wow look at all the fat ignorant people. pretty much a representative crossection of this country.

Irvine511

which precisely proves the point that they have a problem attracting minorities.

good example.

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Bruce

I like to think that I'm about as conservative as they come and very very proud of it. I would like to think that these few fringe townhall loonies are not a clear representation of conservatives as a whole. While I agree with some of their views/ concerns this is clearly the wrong way of going about it.

Irvine511

while i disavow any Bush/Hitler comparisons, i think one fair distinction to make is that those comparisons were made when Bush manipulated intelligence to justify an illegal war that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Obama wants to give everyone health coverage.

reasonable people can debate how we go about providing health care, and i think that has gone on in other threads, but i think there's a big, big difference between invoking a wild historical comparison when a big fucking invasion is at stake, versus when you're debating health care.

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maycocksean

So in your opinion the whole Obama/Hitler comparisons and such does not reflect the opinion of most conservatives, and that these people are just a few fringe nutcakes whose voices are being magnified by the media?

MrsSpringsteen

But it's an invasion of their wallets .

Irvine511

even though, in many cases, these protesters would probably benefit most from genuine heath care reform.

it boggles the mind.

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Strongbow

Its a fact that while he was President, Lincoln was by far the most unpopular President this country has ever had. Ever President has issues that increase or decrease their popularity that are sometimes out of their control, but it does not change the facts about the Presidents popularity level at the time nor does it make such comparisons inaccurate.

First, if Bush's policies were "disastrous" for the country as you claim, Bush NEVER would have been re-elected President in 2004. Not only was Bush re-elected in 2004, but he was elected by the first popular(over 50%) majority since 1988! Republicans seats in both the House and the Senate increased, the first time since the 1950s that an incumbant President was able to increase the number of seats his party had in congress!

In Foreign Policy, the Bush administration removed the Taliban regime from Afghanistan and the Saddam regime from Iraq, two regimes that threatened the United States and the world. The administration pursued policies of economic, political and security development in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and while difficult, produced amazing success's in both countries.

Iraq which you claim should not be a country, does not have a government, and should be broken up into seperate states because it is in the middle of a "Civil War" continues to make great strides in developing the capacity needed to function on its own without the aid of the US military and other government agencies. Barack Obama has in fact adopted Bush administration policy on Iraq, even keeping Bush's Secretary Of Defense, a FIRST for a new administration of a different party.

In the United States, the Bush administration achieved the lowest average poverty rate of any administration since the 1970s. It also had an average unemployment rate and inflation rate equal to the Clinton administration. GDP growth was also similar. Although it will be hard to believe, the countries national debt level as a percentage of GDP under Bush on average was less than that under Clinton.

The average economic statistics posted by the Clinton and Bush administrations will be tough for Obama to follow. But years from now, its one of the things objective historians will be looking at.

zooropop40

To quote Jon Stewart:

"Yes, lincoln was the most unpopular president we ever had... it seems no matter what he did, half the country would hate him!"

I wonder why half of the country hated Lincoln?? hmm....

MrsSpringsteen

But Rush probably doesn't tell them that. Then again he doesn't even have to worry about paying what his insurance doesn't cover-that would be pocket money for him.

I don't think people want to even put in the effort to find out how it would benefit them. It's much easier to just stand there with a poster of Obama with a little Hitler mustache and/or a swastika.

Bruce

Yeah