Saturday, April 11, 2015

FDR's Sons on Dear Old Dad

"Hell, my father just about invented bugging. He had them spread all over, and thought nothing of it." John Roosevelt............."My father may have been the originator of the concept of employing the IRS as a weapon of political retribution." Elliot Roosevelt.............So, ya' still think that George W. Bush was the worst U.S. President on civil liberties?

11 comments:

dmarks said...

Good point.

GWB was worse than Clinton on such matters. And Obama is worse than GWB. (just like Obama is worse than GWB on such matters as the debt, foreign involvements, and the MIC).

At least since WW2, each President has gotten worse on such matters (with perhaps an exception made for Carter).

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

As long as you stipulated, since WW2, I will agree with that (Lincoln, Wilson, and FDR all being worse than Bush and Obama, I would assert).

Les Carpenter said...

Times have their defining characteristics and the characters that define the times.

Bush the mouthpiece and Cheney the definer exemplify the worst of modern times to date.

dmarks said...

"Bush the mouthpiece and Cheney the definer exemplify the worst of modern times to date."

In many ways (though not all) Obama is worse. And this is in the matter being discussed in this post. Its descendant is the NSA/etc situation. And Patriot, which Obama renewed and made his own.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Obama has certainly been horrible when it comes to press freedom and openness I would also posit.

dmarks said...

From commondreams .... most definitely not knee-jerk tea-party Obama critics:

"Bush-Era Spying 'Made Legal' Under Obama
...

Despite feigned outrage over the use of "illegal" surveillance techniques employed under the Bush administration, in the follow up to this week's news of a massive government surveillance system, revelations have come forth regarding President Obama's role in not only the expansion of existing surveillance methods but also of the codification of laws that permit the violation of Americans' civil liberties."

Singling out Cheney when Obama is by most accounts making matters worse on the domestic surveillance front doesn't match what has been going on, and getting worse.

Les Carpenter said...

I agree in some ways Obama is Bush light.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Jonathan Turley (also not a conservative - just ask George Bush) has also stated that Obama is worse.

dmarks said...

Or perhaps Bush was Obama Light?

Les Carpenter said...

Yeah, I know, he thinks GWB is responsible for war crimes.

Les Carpenter said...

Six of one half dozen of the other.