Leading Democrat: Bush 'the worst president we've ever had'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/01/04/art.reidbush0104.gi.jpg caption="Sen. Harry Reid, pictured here with Pres. Bush in an April 2008 file photo, stood by his persistent criticism of the 43rd president in an interview Sunday."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) – As the nation prepares for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, a leading Democrat is not letting up in his criticism of President George W. Bush.
“I really do believe President Bush is the worst president we’ve ever had,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Reid pointed to Bush’s failed plan to privatize the Social Security program and also said Bush “has done his very best to destroy Medicare” in order support his assessment of Bush’s presidency.
Asked by David Gregory if he had any regrets about his persistent criticism of Bush, Reid responded, “I am who I am.”
“I think you just have to call things the way you see them.”
As other people have said, it will take decades before history can truly judge if he is the worst ever. Is he the worst out of the presidents' terms that I lived through (Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2)? Most definitely. History goes back a little bit further than that though.
It would be an incredibly dumb comment for somebody who has to work with the president to make if Bush wasn't going to be out the door in a few weeks.
Too bad Bush-and the "Dick" can't be charged with war crimes. They made sure they covered that base before they left office. In the south we have saying it goes like this, – "Don't let the screen door hit you in the a__ on the way out!"
1000% CORRECT AND THE DUMBEST...HIS NEW SHOWS HE GOT LAST WEEK FOR FREE ARE A SIZE 10 SAME AS HIS IQ...
AGREE!! "W" is the worst. Just like the 0-16 Detroit Lions. The only differesnse is the Detroit Lions didn't take the whole country down with them.
That's a hot one coming from an idot like Reid. Didn't he declare the war was lost in Iraq? Anyone who calls Bush the "worst" clearly forgot or never lived through the Carter years. I declare Reid the worst Majority Leader of all time.
Harry Reid is an arrogant, self serving, man with no values or ethics. Bush seems to be the fall guy for everything wrong in the universe even as this Congress may well have been the most corrupt and incompetent in our history. Who is to blame for our problems...not GW or Harry, we all are for electing these bums.
Reid is a broken record.
Coming from a Democrat, that doesn't really mean anything!
No recent Democratic Presidents... especially the newly-elected one,
has the military's respect and confidence. That is VERY SAD for a Commander-in-Chief.
Alicia, your post is idiotic (what exactly were Cheney and hsi friends going to by in New Orleans?which leads me to believe that you are as well. Please just go away and don't come back until you grow some sense.
Reid is trying desperately to deflect his own performance. Typical Democrate. Whine and complain politics.
He is not just the worst president, He is the Biggest Terrorist in the world.
What a joke of a senator. Saying things like this while in office is incredible. Especially coming from someone who supports NATIONALIZED HEALTH CARE!! What a joke of a senator. As far as Bush's legacy, it's fine. I can't wait til we see how bad Barack blows this country up. We are safer now than we were under "willie", clearly.
Overstating the obvious gets kind of old after a while.
Only history will tell..really depends on Iraq in 20 years from now... but for the moment, I don't like him.
Buchanan may have been worse than Bush
He let the Southern States secede, supported ten-cent wages for laborers, hosted a corrupt administration and tried to convince Americans that slavery was something that could be lived with.
He also presided over the Financial Panic of 1857.
Well, okay, maybe a tie with Bush.
I CONCUR! THIS MAN HAS DROVE OUR COUNTRY INTO THE GROUND. WORLD LEADERS AND OHTER COUNTRIES NO LONGER RESPECT US AND REVERE US AS BULLIES. JANUARY 20TH CAN'T COME FAST ENOUGH FOR ME!
Two words – Jimmy Carter!
innappropriate and arrogant remark by Senator Reid
Ridiculous. I disagreed with President Bush on many things, but he provided inspiration for us after we were attacked on 9/11, he launched one of the most successful wars in history in Afghanistan, and despite repeated plans of fanatics around the world (150 plans of attacks in one year alone), we were never attacked after 9/11. Not even once. That is an amazing feat, and Bush will stand the test of time. He protected our country.
Has he forgotten Jimmy Carter?
Republicans had the House and Senate for the past 6 of 8 years, so you people complaining about the legislative branch being just as bad need to look at the common thread between it and the executive.
Conservatism is a joke and lets our country stagnate instead of moving forward with new and progressive ideas. Bigotry and stubbornness is so antiquated, I just wish we didn't have to wait for all of the old guard to die to fix all of their problems.
Reid has a lot of guts saying this, while Bush is still in office. I wish more politicians (both dems and reps) also had the guts to state what they REALLY feel about INEPT AND HARMFUL politicians, like Bush and McCain (the latter, for his stupid VP choice, a big threat to the country, creating an incompetent monster which seems will never go away). More people should say it out loud: Bush and McCain are the most stupid and incompetent politicians in the history of the US. And they are both republicans (coincidence or systemic problem?).
Bush is the Poster Child for the "Peter Principle" Book!
The Peter Principle is the principle that "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." The principle has real validity. It holds that in a hierarchy, members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their "level of incompetence"), and there they remain. Peter's Corollary states that "in time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out his duties" and adds that "work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence".
As much as I think George Bush is a terrible President, How much can Harry Reid ride the tide of someone else's incompetence. He is supposedly the "Leader" of the Senate Democrats which is a group that shifts blame everywhere and rarely holds themselves accountable. Mr. Reid is not only what we do but also that which we do not do by which we are accountable!
Reid is a communist tool