Presidencies. How many have you been through?

originally posted by: Plotus
"Many of you only know what you read, watch and listen to."


Well this brings me to a curious question...? How else..? Devine intervention...? Learning is watching re-runs of life, day after day as events unfold.

I worded it like that because as you will remember... We had no media to speak of in those early years... it was in the newspapers or on one of 3-4 tv channels. No computers, social media, internet, cell phones... Zip. NADA.

Black and white tv, (which also shut off each night) with a waving American flag... Mono single side radio.... He'll!... Even FM radio wasnt widespread til the later '60's.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Too many. Not enough. No joke. Do the math.

Amen, amen. Gotta work.... so have an extra for me! Thanks!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Boy, wouldn't it be great if we could eliminate cell phones now!

Probably the greatest technological scourge ever perpetuated on mankind!

originally posted by: 727Sky
I remember when Dwight Eisenhower was being criticized for being a do nothing president; no kidding !

Every president who has ever sat in the office has pissed someone off. Some more than others.

Forget the disparaging words and instead look at the state of the nation and how many have jobs. It sucks no matter where you are if you can not work or have money for important stuff like food and shelter.

I concur with your interpretation. And Eisenhower was OK as a military leader.... but as Prez, he was in over his head.

He smiled a lot and nodded... many times looking like a deer in headlights. Appreciate your commenting! MS

originally posted by: putnam6
a reply to: 727Sky

Born 64

So really the first president that I really remember was Nixon. Even though my parents weren't political, the news was always on in the morning and the evening considering we had one tv that was what you watched. Remember Nixon getting on the helicopter flying off after he resigned and asking my Dad what does that mean for us LOL, he said not a damn thing tomorrow you will go to school, Ill go to work and life continues on.

And as Nixon turned and waved goodbye getting on Marine 1...the "The American people won't have Dick Nixon to push around anymore"(paraphrasing) and then "I am not a crook! " prez... slithered away in disgrace and the reality of the truth.

Thank you Putman6...best to you... MS

originally posted by: Bigburgh

originally posted by: Bluntone22
My first election I could vote in was 92.
The one where Ross Perot elected bill Clinton

With Bluntone22 on this. I was a Nixon baby. But Harry Reid and gang pressured me on voting for Clinton out of highschool.. been traumatized........ To Be Continued.

Edit: and poof I turned out decent.

Thank for the response...

originally posted by: carewemust
I've been through a few Presidents and Presidents-to-be.

-Stormy

Yep, myself as well. Looking back on some... and ahead to others.. 'don't know how we got thru some of those admins and chaos hey created for us... or if we are going to see more moving forward...I suspect we will

Thank you.

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: mysterioustranger

I was born during Reagan’s last year. Wasn’t old enough to vote till Bush jr. was running for his second term. So ya I still have some learning to do but I am certainly not naive enough to just devote myself to just one party and ignore facts. Something that most my age seem to have done.

Personally? That's how I feel. Once a Dem, then a Republican, then an Independent, a liberal... and finally just a plain AMERICAN. I ended up being a mutt as all of them...

Truth be known... No party is perfect... nor have all the answers. Hell. Most don't even know what the questions are!

Your reply appreciated....

originally posted by: putnam6

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: mysterioustranger

I was born during Reagan’s last year. Wasn’t old enough to vote till Bush jr. was running for his second term. So ya I still have some learning to do but I am certainly not naive enough to just devote myself to just one party and ignore facts. Something that most my age seem to have done.

It is really the issue you learn from you experiences. After Nixon we get Carter who is an honest decent man but wasnt prepared for the back channel dealings and corruption of Washington DC. Reagan comes in and you get Iran Contra and the CIA all over Central and South America in shady partnerships with drug cartels behind the scenes, while everything seems peachy keen compared to the last 2 presidents.

You're expressing my point in the O. P. exactly....

originally posted by: Damla
i was born in '74. I think us presidents usually come for two terms.

Not usually... But sometimes twice elected. Even a 3rd. term is possible by an Act of Congress ...

Best, MS

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: putnam6


In regards to Carter I really wish I was around and old enough to live through it. He seems like a good man but like you said maybe not experienced or knew how to deal with certain aspects of being the president. I personally think that even if you supported him or not that the time was a great learning experience that I wish I was apart of.

With Carter, think of it psychologically... He was a farmer and knew how to grow things... Yet intelligent enough to be degreed in Nuclear Physics...

And at least he tried to rescue all the American hostages held by Iran.... Even tho the mission failed as 1 plane crashed and American Special Forces were killed and he had to order the mission aborted...

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: Sillyolme

My first political memories are of John Kennedy or King Kennedy as he was known in our house. He had a little girl just a year older than me. Political identity. Lol. The tragic loss of his life was compounded in my household as my grandmother who lived with us passed away within days of his assassination. My world was shattered. I was six.

It always saddens me to see politicians hold such high regard in families house holds.

Kids should know how things work, but I don't think they should really have opinions of them until they are older and truly understand the nuances.

I just hate hearing about a kids life being rained on because of politics, they have nothing to do with the process. They have no effect on politics, so why should politics have any effect on them?

And they had us get under or desks in school to protect us against nuclear annihilation..!!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: mysterioustranger

JFK onward.

BTW, Carter did not have a degree in nuclear physics. He had a general BS from the Naval Academy. He didn't get into anything physics until several years later, and that was just a naval technical school.

Duly noted FGD.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: mysterioustranger

Boy, wouldn't it be great if we could eliminate cell phones now!

Probably the greatest technological scourge ever perpetuated on mankind!

Took my niece out to see a pay phone in a phonebooth. She came back and said "You have to put MONEY in first? Where is the screen to text on? And see Facebook? I can't get it to do nuthin'"....

Thnx agin' FCD!

I was born in 1979. Imo, Trump is the only person worth voting for in my lifetime. I was optimistic for Obama but did not vote for him. At the end of Obama's 1st term I realized he was just a con artist & was against America & pro-islamist.

This is how I see modern U.S. politics. In 1913 the private owned Federal Resrve Bank was established with a 100 year contract. This was the beginning of fascist rule in the U.S.. a fed member named Prescott Bush even helped fund Hitler's/Nazi Germany's rise to power. In 1933 FDR suspended the constitution through special war powers (known as the NDAA today). We've been in perpetual war since then & the constitution has remained suspended since 1933. This gave rise to all the unconstitutional alphabet agencies, which presume guilt of individuals. Due-process no longer exists & one is now considered guilty until proven innocent instead of being presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the constitution. In 1971 the U.S. went bankrupt & Nixon took us of the gold standard. Since 1971 the U.S. dollar has lost @ 90% of its value. Every dollar one makes today is worth less tomorrow. Every economic downturn and war since 1933 has been caused be the Federal Reserve Bank.

All I want to see is limited government, the restoration of our constitution & an end put to government racketeering through federal social/welfare programs. For the cost of all current federal social/welfare programs, each U.S. citizen who is over 18 & who doesn't receive a federal pension, could receive a Universal Basic Income of @ $20K per year, regardless if they have a job or not. One could use their UBI on basic needs like food, housing, health insurance & education in the free market. The minimum wage & student loans could also be eliminated with a UBI which replaces all government social/welfare racketeering programs. This can be done under current tax brackets without touching military expenditures. Intricacies will have to be worked out, like if one doesn't use their UBi for basic needs like health insurance, they don't get next year's UBI.

JFK was President when I was born... and I didn't care. My parents did, especially when he was shot, but even then I thought it was a big to-do over nothing. I "came of age" during the Nixon years... I still remember watching the Watergate fiasco. I wasn't sure what he did, but I figured it must have been pretty bad for him to pull the stunt he pulled: First Spiro Agnew resigned as VP and Nixon pardoned him, then Nixon appointed Ford and resigned, and Ford pardoned him. Talk about corruption in the public eye!

In hindsight, he wasn't that bad a President, just got caught doing what everyone else was doing... and a lot of that was because of the death of J. Edgar Hoover.

Carter was a great man, a humanitarian and as close to a practicing Christian as I have ever seen in a national office. But he made a lousy President. He wasn't mean enough, to put it bluntly, and the gas lines and crazy (for the time) gas prices combined with the Iranian Hostage Crisis just destroyed him politically. The running joke was that we elected the wrong brother... Billy would have been better, and had beer! OK, sorta beer... kinda...

Reagan was the Trump of that time... he rode in on the failures of Carter proclaiming strength and power. It worked. He got the economy turned back around. Iran-Contra was his downfall, but like Watergate I'm still wondering what such a big deal it all was.

Big George rode in on Reagan's coattails. He tried to just maintain the course Reagan set, but the Democrats trapped him with that infamous "read my lips" comment. He was backed into a corner on the tax increase, then that very tax increase was used to destroy him. Of course, that could have been a good thing overall... he had a lot of skeletons in his CIA closet.

Then came Clinton... Slick Willy from Arkansas, with his cohorts the evil Hillary and the clueless Al Gore. I think most people knew about his sidekicks, but the man was so damn charismatic! Looking back, ol' Billy boy didn't do a bad job... he (along with Newt Gingrich) balanced the budget, he kept the economy running fine, and he did have a couple ideas that I never would have thought would work, that worked. With the exception of the stained dress scandal, all of the scandals I remember centered around one of the two tag-alongs, and I really, really cannot imagine an existence where I would care any less about what he did with who under the desk. I had two complaints over that: he shouldn't have lied about it (he's married to Hillary! We understand Bill!), and I didn't think the news needed to give the nation a sexual blow-by-blow description (pun intended) every night.

Somebody brought up Perot... I never agreed he split the Republican party. It was already fracturing under its own idiocy. Perot just showed everyone the crack.

Li'l George I had high hopes for. After 4 years, I had hopes of him going away. Major disappointment, but the incentive I guess I needed to start looking at third parties.

Obama, despite being the best pick out of the two choices, was absolutely the worst President in my memory. Li'l George may have collapsed the economy, but Obama seemed hell-bent on making sure it stayed that way. Then, after I was out of work and thus uninsured, after paying insurance for the majority of my life, and I have sudden unexpected medical bills I can't pay, he then proposes a plan for me to be forced to help pay for everyone else's insurance! No...!

That of course brings us to Trump. I'm not going to comment on him, because the full story hasn't been written yet. Get back with me on that in 2025.

TheRedneck

a reply to: mysterioustranger

So if people aren't as old as you are they can't possibly deduce good and bad?

And book learning isnt a valid means of education?

a reply to: mysterioustranger


Born in '46 , so Truman to Trump ? I was in high school , when Kennedy was killed......the beginning of my conspiratorial thinking ! I voted fro George Mcgovern vs. Nixon after tours in Viet Nam and then never voted again til , maybe Reagan ? As I've gotten older , with more time on my hands, the rabbit hole has been more compelling.

originally posted by: TerryMcGuire
Truman on.

ditto

Harry S Truman
1945-1953- (I arrived in America during November 1950 under children refugee program)

(2 years after JFK murder in Nov '63...i was an Army clerk typist serving in W Germany for 3 years)

(struggled Under-the-Thumb of the Elites ever since...)

a reply to: DanDanDat

So if people aren't as old as you are they can't possibly deduce good and bad?

To a degree. Someone who is older than I am has more life experience than I do. That's just simply self-evident.

I feel a big part of what's wrong with our society today is a growing lack of respect for elders. Other social structures are based on the wisdom of the aged; ours seems obsessed with the relative ignorance of youth. I know you don't like hearing this... few young-uns do... but it's true. You've never been as old as your elders, but every one of them has been as young as you.

And book learning isnt a valid means of education?

Valid? Yes. Independently sufficient? No, not really.

TheRedneck