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| Breaking tradition, former presidents sparring with Trump |
| 2017-10-21 |
| [AP] WASHINGTON (AP) ‐ Former presidents are shedding a traditional reluctance to criticize their successors, unleashing pointed attacks on the Trump White House and the commander in chief ‐ but without mentioning him by name. Remarks on the same day by former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama raise the prospect that more dissenters will follow in defiance of President Donald Trump and his policies. "What they are doing is laying down a marker for acceptable public discourse," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor of political communication and rhetorical theory at the University of Pennsylvania. "They’re saying, ’We don’t stand for that kind of language and behavior. These are our values, these are our principles.’" Bush and Obama themselves were preceded by other prominent figures. In recent weeks, Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Arizonans John McCain and Jeff Flake have taken swipes at a president who has pushed the limits of polite political discourse and has seemed to relish public fights over sensitive subjects, including nuclear war, race relations, immigrants and, this week, the war dead. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #9 Everyone is upset because the formers, left and right, have been shown to be weak, ineffectual and interested only in continuing their own dynasty. I only hope Trump keeps up the fight. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-10-21 14:15 |
| #8 Full Inner Party press. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2017-10-21 14:14 |
| #7 President Trump announces sale of California to Mexico. Border wall will cost significantly more. Perhaps this is why everyone is upset. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-10-21 10:15 |
| #6 'Low Energy Jeb' lost the election and pi**ed away $43m USD. Please get over it. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-10-21 10:04 |
| #5 GWB was a vast disappointment from the time he didn't name the enemy. I've always thought that the Bushes represented the concept of noblesse oblige as applied to the US. They were the all knowing aristocracy ruling the Plebs for the plebs own good. HW hasn't really dumped on Reagan but I'm sure he wanted to. Oh, they may want to consider just how wide they want to open the Overton window. Especially Obama. You think criminal prosecutions might rattle a few cages? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2017-10-21 10:00 |
| #4 Bush just publicly affirmed that he has more in common with Obama than with Trump. Let the ramifications of that sink in. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2017-10-21 09:55 |
| #3 Obama put us $20 trillion in debt. He also was the most divisive POTUS in recent memory. He participated in the Clinton's corruption by not doing anything to prevent it. He also weaponized the government against citizens. He made the worst deal in history with Iran--Maybe Neville Chamberlain vies for this honor. George W. kept mum for 8 years while Obama hammered him for everything; now he chooses to speak out against Trump. Moreover, the Patriot Act ends up taking away basic rights/freedoms of citizens. WTF? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2017-10-21 09:13 |
| #2 You know, I actually despise Bush II more than Obama - though I consider both to be monkeys. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-10-21 03:08 |
| #1 Who actually cares what butt-hurt former swamp denzians think. President Trump is succeeding where they failed. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-10-21 03:00 |