A few days ago, I was blogging about composite characters, here. Axios was telling us that some Democrats thought they need "a unifying Republican foil not named Donald Trump," and Senator Mazie Hirono was quoted saying, "I wish that we could just find one face that we could point to, such as with Donald Trump... maybe a composite."
That got me talking about the phenomenon of the composite character, and I ended with: "How many Republicans would you have to merge into a composite character as useful to demonize as Donald Trump?"
So I was delighted to see that Trump, in his performance on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show — audio and transcript, here — used the idea of the composite character twice. Not that I think Trump reads my blog. That would be weird. And maybe annoying. I just like the thematic resonance.
Here are Trump's 2 composites. First:
"I don’t think our country has ever been so low. You can take the five worst presidents in the history of our country and put ’em together; I don’t think they’ve done the damage that this administration has done."
Second:
"I hope [Biden] does great for the country. I think it’s too late because I don’t think he can do great for the country. There’s been so much damage done that I think if he turned out to be George Washington and Abraham Lincoln combined, I think the net result is so bad, I just don’t think he can do it."
For the composite Best President, Trump used just 2, and they're the 2 people always cited as first and second. The order varies, but they're first and second.
For the composite Worst President, he only states the idea in the abstract, perhaps because he knows that he himself is on many of the Worst President, lists. But maybe — if he'd planned ahead — he'd have named the 5 that The Heritage Foundation names: Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Woodrow Wilson, James Buchanan, and Warren G. Harding.
I'm picturing something hydra-headed, like this:
Posts
53 comments:
5 worst presidents??
Wilson, Johnson, Carter, Obama (divided us by race, gender, religion and class, and made RACISM worse than it was in the 60's) and Biden who doens't even know where the hell he is.
Trump is one of the most momentous presidents of all time. He'll go down in history as the scab-ripper-in-chief, regardless if this is considered "good" or "bad." All kinds of odd practices came to light, and he aggressively rocked a lot of boats that had never left backyard swimming pools.
As those in power aggressively seek to keep power, this may have either a positive or negative outcome. But, Trump indeed marked the end of an era.
President Donald Trump combines the intelligence of Eisenhower, the popularity of Reagan and the brashness of Sinatra. Two were president. One was Chairman of the Board. What a remarkable composite of characters.
The best GOP guy that is pre demonized would be Giuliani. He was the bearer of truth and a damn good trial lawyer back in the “impeach Trump” years. But since he’s still has the documents the are just pretending he is a mentally I’ll figure of ridicule.
That leaves Alex Jones and the new comer to the ultra right fame named Joe Rogan. Note “ ultra right wing ” means speaking truth on real issues to a large audience. But those 2 would make a great enemy to attack 24/7 as only the CIA Propaganda State can do.
Is this helpful?
The other day on this blog, we were talking about composite characters.
According to Axios, Democrats needed "a unifying Republican foil not named Donald Trump," and Senator Mazie Hirono was quoted saying: "I wish that we could just find one face that we could point to, such as with Donald Trump... maybe a composite."
I ended my remarks with: "How many Republicans would you have to merge into a composite character as useful to demonize as Donald Trump?"
So I was delighted to hear Donald Trump using composite characters in his performance on yesterday's Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show (audio and transcript, here).
I'm not suggesting DT reads this blog. That would be weird. And perhaps annoying. I'm just into the absurdity of composite characters.
Trump seems to be into it too, because he did it twice. First:
"This is a disaster what’s going on, whether it’s Ukraine or the Afghanistan pullout, which I think is the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.... You can take the five worst presidents in the history of our country and put ’em together; I don’t think they’ve done the damage that this administration has done."
Second:
"I hope [Biden] does great for the country. I think it’s too late because I don’t think he can do great for the country. There’s been so much damage done that I think if he turned out to be George Washington and Abraham Lincoln combined, I think the net result is so bad, I just don’t think he can do it."
***
Trump named the 2 best Presidents — the 2 that are always named as 1 and 2.
But who are the 5 worst President? This varies depending on where you look, and in a lot of places, Trump himself is in the top 5. To look at The Heritage Foundation, it's Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Woodrow Wilson, James Buchanan, and Warren G. Harding.
I'm picturing something hydra-headed, like this:
Posted by Ann Althouse at 8:51 AM 2
It was there for little bit, then disappeared.
Trump said he sent a white flag to former Chancellor Angela Merkel after she failed to live up to her defense obligations under the NATO treaty.
He said, "She said, ‘What is this?’ I said, ‘It’s a flag of surrender so you don’t have to go out and buy a new one.’"
He is such a generous man
The five worst working together, he must mean. It's not obvious how you combine the five worst though, so no composite character.
He's worse than the five worst working together plus a pedophile, would be a composite character.
You can take the five worst presidents in the history of our country and put ’em together; I don’t think they’ve done the damage that this administration has done."
This is wrong.
I think if you add up Buchannan, Wilson, Roosevelt you get internment camps, the UN, a Civil War.
Just off the top of my head.
But it has only been a year. Biden fully intends to do to the US what Trudeau is trying to do to Canada. If you give Biden a full four years he might be right.
But Biden is not going to be in office that long.
Abraham Lincoln and George Washington are not always the top 2, often it’s Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. I see Jimmy Carter has been given Herbert Hoover’s usual place on the Heritage Foundation’s worst Presidents list. If Hoover’s position can improve with the passage of time, so will Carter’s. Donald Trump is angling for two slots in the all-time-worst Presidents list. But in the long run, he’ll probably just be remembered as a buffoon.
Biden as the Hydra -- nine heads and not a trace of healthy brain matter in any of them.
"Hey! Why did this publish without the text?"
It's a red flag that the deep state is on to you. They are monitoring your every move. It may be wise to blog about non-political topics for awhile. Just post sunset photos. But be aware that the strangers you meet at the lake may be deep state agents.
Not that I think Trump reads my blog. That would be weird. And maybe annoying.
It’s a free country (for now, anyway). If he wants to read your blog, there’s not a whole lot you could do to stop it that wouldn’t simultaneously drive away a large part of your readership.
Why might it be annoying if Trump read your blog?
The last time Munich was used to fragment a sovereign country to appease a totalitarian thug, the heads of government presented themselves in person to plot their infamy. This time the nation-state on the butcher block can feel slighted as well as betrayed.
hybrid
[ˈhīˌbrid]
NOUN
biology
the offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties, such as a mule (a hybrid of a donkey and a horse).
I think that we don't need any more mules.
Harding does not deserve the "worst" designation. He was the one who ended the depression at the end of WWI and ended Wilson's fascist policies. He also freed imprisoned Socialist leader Eugene V Debs who had been imprisoned by Wilson. There were scandals in his administration but none involved him in wrong doing.
The worst composite president was Warren G. Hardie® Plank.
what a great cartoon. My composite of the worst US presidents would be:
1. Buchanan
2. FDR
3. Ford
4. LBJ
5. McKinley
FDR should be on the list as one of the worst presidents.His economic idiocy prolonged the Great Depression by at least seven years. His moving the fleet to Pearl Harbor and cutting off oil to
Japan and not taking both the Japanese and Germans seriously as naval threats were also catastrophic failures.
Axios was telling us that some Democrats thought they need "a unifying Republican foil not named Donald Trump," and Senator Mazie Hirono was quoted saying, "I wish that we could just find one face that we could point to, such as with Donald Trump... maybe a composite."
The Democrats won't find a composite to substitute for Trump and the Republicans have theirs in the form of Biden-Harris and the progs.
I think Obama was the worst full two-term President - although there's a good case for Woodrow Wilson. The others on Heritage's list, plus the first Johnson, were all elected at most once. They are a little hard on Herbert Hoover, who shouldn't be that low.
Interesting to see, with regard to presidential bestness and worstness that Grant is out of the cellar, replaced (at least for the Heritage Foundation, if not necessarily historians and political scientists) by Woodrow Wilson. Can't help but notice that the two reevaluations seem to be rooted most strongly in the two presidents' views and policies regarding race. Grant gets points for trying to enforce Reconstruction and protect the freed slaves. Wilson loses points for re-segregating the US civil service and praising "Birth of a Nation."
Trump Trump Trumpity Trump.
He's running again, isn't he?
What's the difference between a composite character and a bigoted stereotype?
The hydra might taunt: Hercules has tiny feet and wears a skirt.
Why wierd for Trump to read your blog? He's just a regular citizen if more monied and celebritied. He was a citizen before he became President, he was a citizen while he was President and still after he left the office President. He has never been a professional politician. He never made money off the position. A modern day Harry Truman if you will. Can you imagine Harry T with a Twitter account?!
For the composite Worst President, he only states the idea in the abstract, perhaps because he knows that he himself is on many of the Worst President, lists
Yes, but seeing him on someone's Worst Presidents list mainly tells us that the person making the list is either a moron, or such a partisan hack that they're functionally a moron.
Best economy in a long time before Covid, and a Covid response that was far better than his successor's
Althouse, why would it be weird and maybe annoying if Trump read your blog? Would you say the same about others like Clinton and Obama? Why or why not?
I find it weird that you would find it weird.
I can agree with Washington, but Lincoln is in no way second. He was President when they system failed, and was part of that failed system. He owns it. No better than 10th in my book.
The amazing thing is, Jimmy Carter got to live to see himself replaced as the worst
President in history! I never thought he would be replaced!
Thanks PJ!
He copied what I had originally published before I did something that deleted all but the headline.
If you compare what PJ put up to what I have there now, you will see how well or badly I reconstructed it from memory.
I’m sure the deletion was my fault. I probably had the post open in 2 windows, then composed it in one place and published, then saw the other one, which was empty, and hit publish for that.
“ Althouse, why would it be weird and maybe annoying if Trump read your blog? Would you say the same about others like Clinton and Obama? Why or why not?”
It’s the awkwardness of talking about someone who turns out to be listening. I’m in a zone of conspicuous inconspicuousness, and that’s a weird place.
He is of course welcome to read!
Quaestor said...
Biden as the Hydra -- nine heads and not a trace of healthy brain matter in any of them.
The Hydra would be inverted.
Instead of heads coming out of the body, you would have a myriad of hands shoved up Biden's ass moving his mouth.
From all the books that I have read, General Winfield Scott was even more cantankerous a Presidential Candidate than Biden and McCain put together.
Narayanan said...
Trump said he sent a white flag to former Chancellor Angela Merkel after she failed to live up to her defense obligations under the NATO treaty.
He said, "She said, ‘What is this?’ I said, ‘It’s a flag of surrender so you don’t have to go out and buy a new one.’"
He is such a generous man
That's awesome, not just generous.
The only problem with that story is he should have done it much more publicly
Mazie Hirono.
Good to see that Axios has direct access to the braintrust of the current Democratic Party.
It’s the awkwardness of talking about someone who turns out to be listening. I’m in a zone of conspicuous inconspicuousness, and that’s a weird place.
=========
so was it awkward for Obama to roast Trump with malice and forethought
The only problem with that story is he should have done it much more publicly
===========
publicly === if humiliating Merkel was the goal ; not if he was trying to change her thinking!
stutefish said...
What's the difference between a composite character and a bigoted stereotype?
The Aristocracy and their servants use composite characters,
Their enemies are bigoted composite characters that use bigoted stereotypes.
cubanbob said...
FDR should be on the list as one of the worst presidents.His economic idiocy prolonged the Great Depression by at least seven years. His moving the fleet to Pearl Harbor and cutting off oil to Japan and not taking both the Japanese and Germans seriously as naval threats were also catastrophic failures.
_______________________
This is very much distorted. Roosevelt’s economic policies were bad, but so were all the alternatives on view. No one grasped that the money supply and the price level had to be adjusted to each other, and no one was willing to follow either of the policies necessary to make that happen.
FDR DID very much take the German and Japanese threats seriously, and did so before almost anyone else. Roosevelt started expanding the Navy in 1934, and stepped up the pace in 1938 and again in 1940. The 1940 “Two-Ocean” Naval Expansion Act looked to double the size of the Fleet. The problem was that the anti-military sentiment of the pre-war years had put a damper on building new ships, and both parties supported that nonsense till Hitler invaded Poland. The result in 1940 and ’41 was that “I don’t have enough Navy to go around.” He played for time, but ran out of it.
Concerning the oil cutoff, that was done without his knowledge and against his wishes, while he was out of Washington. He possibly made a mistake in not reversing it, but the Japanese had already decided to move south and seize the Dutch East Indies.
As for Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt did screw up there, but the professional military screwed up far worse. Contrary to myth, no one in the military establishment at Pearl Harbor took the Japanese seriously as a threat, and they consciously refused to take any precautions against air attack. The error was compounded by the War and Navy Departments, who didn’t bother to find out exactly what precautions had been taken at Pearl (answer: precautions against sabotage and submarine attack, but nothing against an air raid).
Roosevelt was not the demi-god his left wing admirers want to make him out to be, and was a fool regarding the USSR and domestic communists, but he was above average as president, and a decent war leader. And I write this as an intense conservative.
Tim said...
I can agree with Washington, but Lincoln is in no way second. He was President when they system failed, and was part of that failed system. He owns it. No better than 10th in my book.
________________
Apparently, you believe the “system” was “working” when the Deep South states proclaimed themselves out of the Union. Do please expand on this.
Tim said...
I can agree with Washington, but Lincoln is in no way second. He was President when they system failed, and was part of that failed system. He owns it. No better than 10th in my book.
________________
Apparently, you believe the “system” was “working” when the Deep South states proclaimed themselves out of the Union. Do please expand on this.
Tim said...
I can agree with Washington, but Lincoln is in no way second. He was President when they system failed, and was part of that failed system. He owns it. No better than 10th in my book.
________________
Apparently, you believe the “system” was “working” when the Deep South states proclaimed themselves out of the Union. Do please expand on this.
"I don’t think our country has ever been so low. You can take the five worst presidents in the history of our country and put ’em together; I don’t think they’ve done the damage that this administration has done."
Trump, with a chuckle, eye roll, and a smirk, should've said:
"I don’t think we’ve done the damage"
If JoBiden lifts up his shirt, do we see Kuato?
Hi Ann! I read your blog! Great stuff! Best blonde blogger ever!
- President Trump, aka "Andrew"
I can agree with Washington, but Lincoln is in no way second. He was President when they system failed, and was part of that failed system. He owns it. No better than 10th in my book.
What was Lincoln's failure? Winning an election? Seven states had already left and formed the Confederacy before he took the oath of office. (His name did not even appear on the ballot the previous November in any of those states) That rock should be thrown at Buchanan, and is a major part of the reason he is the absolute worst president we ever had.
I have no great love for Lincoln, he had his warts. But he is in my top five. He did end slavery and restore the Union.
Are those the five worst listed in any particular order? I'm wondering which one Biden is going to knock off the list.
Stephen St. Onge said (3 times) that I apparently believed the system was working when South Carolina withdrew from the Union, firing on a tariff fort in the process. No, Lincoln's rhetoric told the deep South what was coming, and they realized that the North was going to continue to grind them into the dirt with tariffs. There were not enough plantation and slave owner's in the South to fight the Civil War. And they were not the ones suffering from the Morill tariff. The rich people maybe bought less luxuries. The poor people went without necessities. They were willing to fight to keep their families fed. So yes, Lincoln owns it. Just like Biden owns the current price of gas and the unpleasantness in Ukraine. Rhetoric matters when you are president, and if you tell Putin you are going to stand and watch while he carves out small portions of Ukraine, then do not be surprised when he does just that. I hope Taiwan has quietly built a nuclear arsenal, because Biden will happily see them subjugated by the Red Chinese.
Jonathan Swift stated "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him". In my lifetime I am reminded of Ronald Reagan and Trump. Both were ridiculed. And years later Reagan ranks as a top 10 president. His detractors were proven to be dunces. And when Trump won, all those people who laughed about him becoming president certified themselves as dunces when he won. Stephanopoulos, George Clooney, Pelosi, Obama, Hanks, etc.
Perhaps Trump is a genius.
Post a Comment