Who was your favorite president?

[kidicarus20]

Do you think the US has ever had a good president? Or do you think it has had a president that was slightly better than the others?

I think Thomas Jefferson was a good man and he was probably the most intelligent president USA ever had. Differnt times back then, before the gilded age, before capitalist and right-wing christianity had really started to step in and destroy America's society, Jefferson was trying to get away from that nonsense and let people be free, here are some of my favorite quotes from him on Christianity, god, corporations, and other random equality things:

"I hope that we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson, 1816

"If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered." -- Thomas jefferson

"In questions of power let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution."
I think capitalists should be stipped of their power

"All authority belongs to the people."
--Thomas Jefferson

"War is as much a punishment to the punisher as to the sufferer." -Thomas jefferson

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."


blood of republicans (patriots) and tyrants (libertarians).

"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just"

And he's said other things like
"It is unjust to make a man pay for something in which he doesn't believe."

School vouchers (or choice as they like to call it now) are then out.

The declaration of independence is also a great document and Thomas Jefferson helped to set up a lot of freedom and a lot of basis for it while he was president, for instance "all men are created equal" probably was brought up by civil rights activists in the 50's when they were trying to get those civil rights into law.

""The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.""

" It is my principle that the will of the majority should always prevail."
--Thomas jefferson

That's not capitalism, in capitalism poor people ar etoo poor to vote with their dollars.

and finally my favorite jefferson quote:

" I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others." -- Thomas jefferson

No capitalism.

Brilliant, jefferson was a good man. Do some research on him on the internet and read some of his quotes, brilliant man.
Definitely the best, who was better?

[boadicea88]

My veryveryvery biased opinion is George Washington, coz we're first cousins, 9 times removed. But Jefferson sounds pretty decent.

[Nateddi]

Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, no doubt.

[anti machine]

Yeah, FDR was a good guy. OUr country was on the verge of socialism under his authority. He was close to a king to the american people. Yeah, a good guy.

[vox]

A good guy? FDR saved capitalism. There was no socialism involved. Massive government spending to prop up a failed private enterprise system is not socialism.

Too, he knew all about Hitler and the suffering of Jews and others but did nothing.

Good guy? Not in my book.

vox


(Edited by vox at 3:26 am on Sep. 3, 2002)

[Mazdak]

Chester A arthur. Seriously. I used to read up on him alot. He is pretty good. And garfield wasnt to bad either.

[Anonymous]

Ronald Reagan and Calvin Coolidge.

[Mazdak]

"the business of america is business". good job coolidge. He was interesting, but he was another coporate asshole. And he never spoke much.

And reagan should have died a long time ago. It is ashame he didnt.

[Anonymous]

Patton would have made a damn good president thats for sure.

[Anonymous]

Quote: from Mazdak on 9:41 am on Sep. 3, 2002


And reagan should have died a long time ago. It is ashame he didnt.


Same thing goes for Jim Jones.

[presidente]

Jefferson gets my vote.

"I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Quite the anti-authoritarian, huh?

[EndUsaLies]

id have to go with FDR. he was the best for the individual. but the sad thing is, would he have been good for the individual if the depression had never happened?

[marxistdisciple]

The best?

i) Reagan for ruining the economy and overinflating the government to prove a point

ii)Bush I for invading Iraq, to recapture weapons that the US sold them in the 80s and destorying many civil rights hard worked for.

iii)Bush II for generally being a useless, moronic patsy, puppet who knows less than I do about how to be a president (I would even be bold enough to say I could do a better job) and generally pulling out of anything which is good for the world. (kyoto, torture treaties, ignoring geneva convention etc)


If I was insane, and had lost the ability to reason, that is. :)

Seriously though, Jefferson looks good . Really, what is it that makes righties so rightous? :) Sanity is not statistical after all, and in my experience, lefies are almost always better read, and better informed than their conservative counterparts.

It all comes down to reason and cognitive ability though, and these are highly complicated philosophical arguments which overly confuse me. I don't want to argue about truth, I can see what it is....i sometimes wonder if most everyone else is confused.

I have a friend who tells me Thatcher was good for the UK....and I wonder where he grew up and if he actually paid attention to what was going on around him?

[Cassius Clay]

It has to be George W Bush. He has proven that any Illiterate, alcoholic, draft dodging, cracksmoking, cowboy can become the most powerful man in the world.

[Mazdak]

Well, considering most of us would like to see the US eimpire crubmle, people like Bush would probably be best as they are helping destroy their own empire.

[j]

Am I reading this right? Thomas Jefferson? While an advocate of freedom he was also a capitalist!!! He had complete faith in a free market without corporate monopolies and such. He also owned slaves. He was known to rape his females slaves!!! A great man, hardly!!!

FDR was by far the best president. The whole New Deal thing was a milestone for this country. (Most cappies don't like FDR's New Deal--broadened welfare).

In reality, though, all the prez's had their faults and were fucked up. If you are going for least evil, my vote is FDR. Most evil would be Reagan.

j

[kidicarus20]

" He had complete faith in a free market without corporate monopolies and such. He also owned slaves. He was known to rape his females slaves!!! A great man, hardly!!! "

Nonsense. You're listneing to libertarian rhetoric once again. Why would he say the thing he feared was the monied corporation which dares to challenge the LAWS of our country? why would he be for equality, why would he be for majority rule, when they had capitalism in mind they meant mom and pop businesses not large corpoartions.
I heard chomsky speaking once that jeffersno would have been outraged at today's corporate influence over the economy.

he wasn't an anarcho-capitalist or free-market supporter, libertaria nrhetoric.

They know that it was a jefferson that had sexual intercourse with a black slave, they dont know if it was him or not, probably not.

[man in the red suit]

Clinton, Jefferson or one of the Rossevelts

there was one Rossevelt who introduced the new deal aduring the depression as you all knowl. That one was the good one. I believ it was Franklin and not Teddy.

the other one, really didn't do anything important as far as I know personally. Nateddi seems to think otherwise so maybe he will let me in on a secret.

Clinton I liked for restoring the dept that Raegan created.

and Jefferson for all of the reasons said by everyone else.

[Mazdak]

I agree on clinton. He is way too underrated.

[man in the red suit]

Quote: from Mazdak on 2:36 am on Sep. 5, 2002
I agree on clinton. He is way too underrated.

absolutely..he doesn't get the rightful credit he deserves because of all of that bullshit media coverage of his sex scandal. Who gives a flying fuck? that was his business. But anyway. Clinton was a great prez in my opinion.

[Guest]

Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were the best in my opinion.