Both Bush Presidents Lash Out At Trump, GHW Confirms He Voted For Hillary

The fading Republican establishment remains unable to reconcile its ongoing collapse, and continues to scapegoat Donald Trump for all the GOP"s troubles instead of looking in the mirror.

Two weeks after an outraged George W. Bush lashed out at Trump, accusing him of emboldening "bigotry and white supremacy", on Saturday we learn just how deep the animosity toward Trump runs within the extended Bush household. In a new book to be released this month from historian Mark Updegrove, titled "The Last Republicans", and previewed on Saturday by the NYT and CNN, former President George H.W. Bush said he considers Trump a “blowhard,” only interested in feeding his own "ego." Meanwhile, his son, former President George W. Bush, thinks Trump fans public anger and came to office without any understanding of the job.

When asked about Donald Trump in May 2016, GHW Bush said: "I don"t like him ... I don"t know much about him, but I know he"s a blowhard. And I"m not too excited about him being a leader."

His son was just as vocal: “Wow, this guy doesn"t know what it means to be president,” the junior Bush said, indicating that a president should not “exploit the anger, incite it” but rather “come up with ideas to deal with it.”

Which, of course, is easy for the Bushes to say: after all they - together with the Clinton and Obama administrations - spent over two decades laying the groundwork and building up the "anger" which resulted from the greatest social and political polarization and wealth inequality the US has ever seen. Perhaps the reality - as the election one year ago showed - is that the status quo simply no longer works. Perhaps... the Republican party is broken precisely due to the work of the two Bush presidents.

In any case, both former Bush presidents are worried that Mr. Trump has blown up a Republican Party that they spent two lifetimes building; Dubya also told Updegrove: "I"m worried that I will be the last Republican president."

Ironically, author Updegrove told the NYT that "at the time, I think he was concerned that Hillary Clinton would win ... But if you look at his values and those shared by his father and Ronald Reagan, they are very much in contrast to the values of the Republican Party today, in particular the platform that Donald Trump ran on."

So what happened? Well, as CNN adds, "George H.W. Bush confirmed that he voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton." His son meanwhile voted for nobody:

"George W. Bush told Updegrove he left the top of the ballot blank. "I voted "None of the Above" for president, and Republican down ballot in 2016.""

In retrospect, Dubya may be correct: as Axios" Mike Allen writes, George W. Bush is probably right that he was "the last Republican president," as his family sees the party.

The "Republican Party" is now multiple ideological parties, awkwardly — and probably not sustainably — scrunched under one inadequate label.

Which, considering the previous "label" no longer meant anything to most Americans - except such figures as the Bushes, of course- is probably not a bad thing.

An Outraged George W. Bush Lashes Out At Trump: "Bigotry Seems Emboldened"

Former President George W. Bush came out swinging against the current administration on Thursday, and while he did not name President Castro, Dubya blasted that "bigotry seems emboldened" in the U.S., while urging the country to accept "globalization" - the same globalization which both the IMF, the BIS and even the Federal Reserve now agree and warn has led to record wealth inequality in the US - while rejecting "white supremacy."

"Bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed," Bush said.

Former Pres. George W Bush: "Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication." pic.twitter.com/KyQK5vul3j

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 19, 2017

Without explicitly naming Trump or any other politicians, Bush criticized the “governing class”, although it was not immediately clear if the president who invaded Iraq included himself in that grouping. 

"Discontent deepened and sharpened partisan conflicts in recent years", Bush said during a speech for the George W. Bush Institute, in which he also slammed conspiracy theories and Trump"s favorite topic, fake news: "Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seem more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication."

It is unclear if that statement was serious or sarcastic considering, well... it"s self-explanatory.

The former president was right in stating that public confidence in the country"s institutions has declined in recent decades, which of course would imply that other presidents, Trump"s predecessors are at fault.  "Our governing class has often been paralyzed in the face of obvious and pressing needs. The American dream of upward mobility seems out of reach for some who feel left behind in a changing economy," he said.

Making it obvious that he had Trump in mind during his speech, Bush warned against Russia’s attempts to meddle in the United States election, calling on the nation to confront “a new era of cyber threats.”

"The Russian government has made a project of turning Americans against each other" he said allegedly referring to the $100,000 reportedly spent by Russian "actors" both before and after the US election - something which Clinton"s own campaign chair mocked - and added that “America must harden its own defenses. Our country must show resolve and resilience in the face of external attacks on our democracy and that begins with confronting a new era of cyber threats,” Bush said during a forum for the George W. Bush Institute in New York City.

George W. Bush on Russian election interference: "This effort is broad, systemic, and stealthy...ultimately, this effort won"t succeed." pic.twitter.com/c8A0vtROoc

— ABC News (@ABC) October 19, 2017

Bush extended his critique to the ideological level, saying that there are signs that the intensity of support for democracy itself has waned and warned that support for socialism appears to be rising "especially among the young, who never experienced the galvanizing moral clarity of the Cold War or never focused on the ruin of entire nations by socialist central planning."

"Some have called this Democratic de-consolidation. Merely, it seems to be a combination of weariness, frayed tempers and forgetfulness," he said.

During his speech, Bush also warned that democracies face "new and serious threats" today. Economic, political and national security challenges proliferate "and they"re made worse by the tendency to turn inward. The health of the Democratic spirit itself is at issue and the renewal of that spirit is the urgent task at hand."

“We cannot wish globalization away,” he continued later, urging society to "adapt" to economic and social and change.

Surprisingly, W. had no introspective insight to explain how the collapse of democracy may have started with Trump"s predecessors, including both president Obama and, of course, Dubya himself, or what specific aspects of the US political process may have led to the general popular revulsion with "establishment" system , which - as much as Putin would love to take credit - started long before any alleged Russian inolvement.

Trump's Presidential Approval Rating In Context

Presidential job approval is a simple, yet powerful, measure of the public"s view of the president"s job performance at a particular time. Approval ratings for Presidents Obama and Trump shown in the Presidential Job Approval Center are based on weekly Gallup Daily tracking averages.

From Truman to Trump...

On day 212 in office, President Trump has a 37% approval rating.

President Truman holds the record for lowest approval rating (for now) at 22% on day 2499 in office.

President George "W" Bush holds the record for the highest approval rating at 89% on day 267 in office

5 Reasons Franklin D. Roosevelt was the WORST

Via The Daily Bell

Can you believe that there are at least three statues of Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington DC? There is one in South Dakota too, another in Virginia, and even more in London.

It appears all these places are overrun by racists and fascist sympathizers. How can people put up with revering a man who:

1. Literally Rounded Up 120,000 Japanese Americans, and Put them in Concentration Camps!

That was authorized by executive order 9066, which Roosevelt signed February 19, 1942.

How is this fact so often left out of any discussion about how “great” FDR was? These people were American citizens, and they were arrested for no reason other than their heritage.

He imprisoned an entire race. How is he not widely accepted as the biggest American racist of the last century? He was certainly the most effective racist.

Two reports which Roosevelt commissioned in the years prior found that Japanese Americans posed little to no risk to the government. Since FDR ignored the reports’ recommendations, it seems his violation of the rights of Japanese Americans was motivated by racism.

2. He Actually Outlawed Gold!

FDR had absolutely no respect for the people’s rights. He had no respect for the rule of law. He was a tyrant!

With Executive Order 6102, signed on April 5, 1933, everyone living in America was given 25 days to turn in their gold. Yes, their property was confiscated without due process. The government set the price they paid to about $20 per ounce. Three months later, the price miraculously jumped to $35 per ounce.

The law wasn’t repealed until 1974!

3. FDR was Pen Pals With Mussolini, Whom he Admired.

It was a mutual love between FDR and Mussolini. The book, Three New Deals, shows how similar the movements of the 1930’s were in America, Italy, and Germany. It recounts how Roosevelt said:

“‘I don’t mind telling you in confidence,’ FDR remarked to a White House correspondent, ‘that I am keeping in fairly close touch with that admirable Italian gentleman"”

And Mussolini reviewed FDR’s book Looking Forward.

“Reminiscent of Fascism is the principle that the state no longer leaves the economy to its own devices.… Without question, the mood accompanying this sea change resembles that of Fascism.”

4. The Roosevelt Administration was Infested with Russian Spies.

Diana West described in her book, American Betrayal, just how well the Soviet Union infiltrated the White House. Top officials close to the President were supportive of the Soviet Regime to the point of suspicion.

In one sketchy encounter, soldiers were told to stand down when they witnessed American secrets being smuggled out of America on a plane bound for Russia, guarded by Soviet soldiers. This may be how the Soviet Union was able to make nuclear weapons.

And other policies were directly influenced by socialist sympathizers and possibly outright spies in the government during FDR’s tenure. Soviet troops were given precedence for American supplies over American troops during World War Two!

5. FDR Hated the Press and Suppressed Them.

Reason Magazine describes FDR’s War Against the Press:

Roosevelt warned in 1938 that “our newspapers cannot be edited in the interests of the general public, from the counting room. And I wish we could have a national symposium on that question, particularly in relation to the freedom of the press. How many bogies are conjured up by invoking that greatly overworked phrase?”

Roosevelt started the FCC and limited licenses for radio to six months.

It did not take long for broadcasters to get the message. NBC, for example, announced that it was limiting broadcasts “contrary to the policies of the United States government.” CBS Vice President Henry A. Bellows said that “no broadcast would be permitted over the Columbia Broadcasting System that in any way was critical of any policy of the Administration.” He elaborated “that the Columbia system was at the disposal of President Roosevelt and his administration and they would permit no broadcast that did not have his approval.” Local station owners and network executives alike took it for granted, as Editor and Publisherobserved, that each station had “to dance to Government tunes because it is under Government license.”

FDR’s government illegally intercepted telegraphs and used the ill begotten information to subpoena journalists, chilling any decent, and drying up the flow of information to reporters. A law was even proposed to give prison sentences for anyone who knowingly published false information: fake news.

Tear down this racist, fascist’s statues!