Over the years in his treatment of presidents, Oliphant cut them some slack in the beginning. Then at some point in their terms he let loose with magnum force at their perceived failings. He has always been an equal opportunity lampooner-cartooner. That’s the job of a good editorial artist..I took great interest in his Nixon caricatures, clipped them all from the newspaper and kept them for years. It seemed to me that each of his Nixon representations was slightly different. Nixon had something twisted in his psyche that was disturbing and scary, especially at the end of his terms. He took politics way too personally and it ate him up. The man basically self-destructed in public view, not-so-spontaneous combustion..Why does a person want to be president, anyway? It’s like being in a pressure chamber, and they all seem to age twice the normal rate while in office.. And who was the last president that did more good than harm? It seems to me that within each administration in the last 50 years, the power and positive influence of the U.S. has ratcheted down at least a bit. That’s what happened when the promise of affluence became our main export, not hope of freedom (I reiterate).
“If Obama wants to keep from being as tarnished as Nixon & Reagan he’d better clean it up now. Open and above board.”I remember reading something about how power corrupts. I think it’s too late for Obama.Too bad we don’t have a Congress that wanted to work on legislating actual transparency, rather than engaging in political circuses.
“Reagan had more people than anyone, even Nixon and Warren G. Harding!”Try getting the liberal, lamestream media to report that!…. oh. Nevermind. The media will continue portraying Reagan & Thatcher as the helmet haired warriors they truly were.
The President is only a part in the machine, and a small one at that. He’s an easy target for mudslinging, and it begins to appear that that is his primary function.
Congress … doing something about Congress, where the problem lies, is kind of like herding cats. If we are going to do something, reforming the nomination procedures at all levels of government would be a good place to start.
lol! What an astute observation: "Conservatives here seem to have not an ounce of respect.."
But Clinton was impeached. He was acquitted, however, and I think the reason that people generally don’t want to accept that is that only a few people who have a rabid interest in the sex lives of others cared. He wasn’t impeached for anything connected to government, it was a personal issue.
And … it was all they could get on him. That’s pretty sad, when you think of it.
As nearly as I can tell, the worst thing he has actually done was to appoint Cass Sunstein to his cabinet. However, I suspect that he doesn’t know enough about agriculture to understand what the risks were on that score – in other ways, Sunstein seemed no worse than any other appointee.
I haven’t yet heard any other valid criticism of him. The president just doens’t have the kind of control over government that so many people believe he has.
The president in this country has become a national scapegoat, no more, no less.
I usually read the comments if I’m going to comment myself, but not that many. And this is only the first day. My God, Oliphant must be pissed First yesterday’s cartoon, which I said then could be directed at Hillary rather than O. Now this. You probably realize that the ONLY criticism Oliphant has ever made of Obama here is not being forceful enough. You may not all realize that Oliphant despises Nixon, has never and will never forgive him for anything. To put O and Nixon together like this is unimaginable. Nixon incidentally only talked about using the IRS against his adversaries; Clinton had stacks of IRS info sent to the WH, but apparently never used it. O’s IRS went further than either, but what I’ve heard so far belongs to the “They all do it” level of abuse of power.
Not that this has anything to do with the toon, but with some comments on this thread:
One thing not mentioned in the discussion of Iran/Contra is how it was financed. The Borland Amendment was specifically passed to keep the Reagan administration from using taxpayer money to help the Sandinistas.
So, they hatched a scheme to get different money. Look up a pilot by the name Eugene Hasenfus. His plane crashed, and at first the press made a big deal because he was a loyal patriotic American who crashed in Central America; oh, what bad things might happen to him?
The press stopped talking about him when it became known that he was running cocaine from Panama. The cocaine was to be sold to gain the money to pay the Sandanistas directly. Why do you think we went after Noriega when we did? He’d been a despot for years, but he knew too much about this operation, and needed to be silenced.
And Reagan happened to be president when the Soviet Union collapsed. I will give him credit for speeding up the demise by spending so much on a military buildup that the Soviets ran out of money trying to keep up. The economic effects of that are still being felt today, as a result of deficit spending.
The Soviet Union’s demise, as is almost anything in diplomacy, is like tending a garden. You manipulate news, try to make enemies become friends, convince friends to turn against other friends, etc. It’s a big chess game, and it takes years. The Soviet Union would have fallen whether Reagan had been elected president or not. He did hasten it, but he did not cause it. To believe this is to not give credit to the many presidents and diplomats who worked behind the scenes to create it.
Marine commanders told Reagan, and his people they couldn’t properly defend their men in Beirut, and wanted them moved, or at least split up Reagan refused because he was “making a statement”, which was far worse than the error in Benghazi. But “The Acting President” never got touched by it.
My dad was in business with “Tricky Dick’s” brother for a while. Nixon was a really “creepy” guy, and a crook. Don was a much nicer guy. Obama can’t begin to match Nixon, Reagan, or the “Bush boys” when it comes to lies and incompetence. Certainly don’t approve of all his moves, but still not even close.
Trilobyte Premium Member almost 11 years ago
I certainly hope this isn’t Nixonian. Biden my time waiting to see what’s next.
ConserveGov almost 11 years ago
OUCH!
Very well done.
ConserveGov almost 11 years ago
“Tarnished as Nixon and Reagan”?
Sorry kiddo, but Reagan is not and never will be considered a tarnished President by anybody with an ounce of intelligence.
Maybe you meant Clinton, that other impeached president?
The Old Wolf almost 11 years ago
Having lived through the Nixon era, this gave me the screaming willies.
edclectic almost 11 years ago
Nah, just call him dick.
cdward almost 11 years ago
He has to change course real fast – this stuff is beneath the office.
Darsan54 Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Not even close to Nixon’s record of misdeeds !!!
SwimsWithSharks almost 11 years ago
I don’t remember them investigating Reagan’s decision to send 250+ Marines to their doom, unprotected, in Beirut.
I guess it was just an “Ooops!”
emptc12 almost 11 years ago
Over the years in his treatment of presidents, Oliphant cut them some slack in the beginning. Then at some point in their terms he let loose with magnum force at their perceived failings. He has always been an equal opportunity lampooner-cartooner. That’s the job of a good editorial artist..I took great interest in his Nixon caricatures, clipped them all from the newspaper and kept them for years. It seemed to me that each of his Nixon representations was slightly different. Nixon had something twisted in his psyche that was disturbing and scary, especially at the end of his terms. He took politics way too personally and it ate him up. The man basically self-destructed in public view, not-so-spontaneous combustion..Why does a person want to be president, anyway? It’s like being in a pressure chamber, and they all seem to age twice the normal rate while in office.. And who was the last president that did more good than harm? It seems to me that within each administration in the last 50 years, the power and positive influence of the U.S. has ratcheted down at least a bit. That’s what happened when the promise of affluence became our main export, not hope of freedom (I reiterate).
William Bednar Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Can’t be Nixon, Nixon would NOT be calling Obama “Son”, he’d be calling him “Boy”! But, I think we all know that, right?
Uncle Joe Premium Member almost 11 years ago
“If Obama wants to keep from being as tarnished as Nixon & Reagan he’d better clean it up now. Open and above board.”I remember reading something about how power corrupts. I think it’s too late for Obama.Too bad we don’t have a Congress that wanted to work on legislating actual transparency, rather than engaging in political circuses.
Uncle Joe Premium Member almost 11 years ago
“Reagan had more people than anyone, even Nixon and Warren G. Harding!”Try getting the liberal, lamestream media to report that!…. oh. Nevermind. The media will continue portraying Reagan & Thatcher as the helmet haired warriors they truly were.
Gary Williams Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Oh, Please ongrard what Republican brought down Nixon. They defended him to the last and you know it.
Gary Williams Premium Member almost 11 years ago
You guys always twist and distort the truth. i don’t think you know what truth is.
SHAKENDOWNVILLE almost 11 years ago
Those Agnew novelty wristwatches are great collector’s pieces.
Dr Lou Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Obama’s been supremely stupid….but not outright criminal. There is a difference.
Hawthorne almost 11 years ago
The President is only a part in the machine, and a small one at that. He’s an easy target for mudslinging, and it begins to appear that that is his primary function.
Congress … doing something about Congress, where the problem lies, is kind of like herding cats. If we are going to do something, reforming the nomination procedures at all levels of government would be a good place to start.
We’ve got to quit electing their nominees.
Hawthorne almost 11 years ago
lol! What an astute observation: "Conservatives here seem to have not an ounce of respect.."
But Clinton was impeached. He was acquitted, however, and I think the reason that people generally don’t want to accept that is that only a few people who have a rabid interest in the sex lives of others cared. He wasn’t impeached for anything connected to government, it was a personal issue.
And … it was all they could get on him. That’s pretty sad, when you think of it.
Hawthorne almost 11 years ago
As nearly as I can tell, the worst thing he has actually done was to appoint Cass Sunstein to his cabinet. However, I suspect that he doesn’t know enough about agriculture to understand what the risks were on that score – in other ways, Sunstein seemed no worse than any other appointee.
I haven’t yet heard any other valid criticism of him. The president just doens’t have the kind of control over government that so many people believe he has.
The president in this country has become a national scapegoat, no more, no less.
Hawthorne almost 11 years ago
And he was acquitted.
Endit.
Hawthorne almost 11 years ago
Thank you for saying that. It’s right on the money.
pirate227 almost 11 years ago
Evidence of POTUS involved in a coverup? Zero.
dennis17 almost 11 years ago
I usually read the comments if I’m going to comment myself, but not that many. And this is only the first day. My God, Oliphant must be pissed First yesterday’s cartoon, which I said then could be directed at Hillary rather than O. Now this. You probably realize that the ONLY criticism Oliphant has ever made of Obama here is not being forceful enough. You may not all realize that Oliphant despises Nixon, has never and will never forgive him for anything. To put O and Nixon together like this is unimaginable. Nixon incidentally only talked about using the IRS against his adversaries; Clinton had stacks of IRS info sent to the WH, but apparently never used it. O’s IRS went further than either, but what I’ve heard so far belongs to the “They all do it” level of abuse of power.
I Play One On TV almost 11 years ago
Not that this has anything to do with the toon, but with some comments on this thread:
One thing not mentioned in the discussion of Iran/Contra is how it was financed. The Borland Amendment was specifically passed to keep the Reagan administration from using taxpayer money to help the Sandinistas.
So, they hatched a scheme to get different money. Look up a pilot by the name Eugene Hasenfus. His plane crashed, and at first the press made a big deal because he was a loyal patriotic American who crashed in Central America; oh, what bad things might happen to him?
The press stopped talking about him when it became known that he was running cocaine from Panama. The cocaine was to be sold to gain the money to pay the Sandanistas directly. Why do you think we went after Noriega when we did? He’d been a despot for years, but he knew too much about this operation, and needed to be silenced.
And Reagan happened to be president when the Soviet Union collapsed. I will give him credit for speeding up the demise by spending so much on a military buildup that the Soviets ran out of money trying to keep up. The economic effects of that are still being felt today, as a result of deficit spending.
The Soviet Union’s demise, as is almost anything in diplomacy, is like tending a garden. You manipulate news, try to make enemies become friends, convince friends to turn against other friends, etc. It’s a big chess game, and it takes years. The Soviet Union would have fallen whether Reagan had been elected president or not. He did hasten it, but he did not cause it. To believe this is to not give credit to the many presidents and diplomats who worked behind the scenes to create it.
Dtroutma almost 11 years ago
Marine commanders told Reagan, and his people they couldn’t properly defend their men in Beirut, and wanted them moved, or at least split up Reagan refused because he was “making a statement”, which was far worse than the error in Benghazi. But “The Acting President” never got touched by it.
My dad was in business with “Tricky Dick’s” brother for a while. Nixon was a really “creepy” guy, and a crook. Don was a much nicer guy. Obama can’t begin to match Nixon, Reagan, or the “Bush boys” when it comes to lies and incompetence. Certainly don’t approve of all his moves, but still not even close.