The similarities between Nixon’s and Trump’s administrations are impossible to miss. But who is a worse president? That’s the topic of this post.
Below is an image that was posted on Facebook today by a friend. The image is a newspaper front page clipping of Nixon calling the Watergate investigation a witch hunt. He fired a bunch of people one night until he could finally get someone to fire the special counsel who was investigating Watergate. This series of firings was called the Saturday Night Massacre.
Here’s the thread about the above image from my friend’s page:
Why is Trump Worse?
The current firing scenario looks exactly like Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre. Firing unelected officials doing the work of the judiciary branch, a separate power under our constitution, in order to get the results you want, smacks of obstruction of justice. Nixon and Trump have that in common. However, Trump is worse because at least Nixon passed some legislation that was valuable. He signed into law the Environmental Policy Act. He also started the EPA and signed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Endangered Species Act all into law. He was a stalwart republican, and he was one of the most environmentally-friendly presidents we ever had. All republicans used to be that way. They were about conservation… Literally the Conservative party. What the hell happened?
Without Nixon, we would still have dead rivers on fire from combustible factory effluents. (Yes, that happened.) We would have no more wetlands and almost every industry would be unregulated with regards to pollution. We would have no more sea otters. We would have no more alligators. Other important wildlife populations would probably have already failed. In case you didn’t realize, without a proper wildlife load, a lot of good things we like about our country begin to fail. I remember when our skies were gray — not blue. The world would be a much worse place to live in, and our grandchildren would have been given a terrible legacy. Nixon was a paranoid delusional president who succumbed the to idea that the office should serve him, but he established a lot of good things that protect our citizens and our environment to this day. Trump is actively attempting to dismantle all of them.
So Yes. Trump is definitely worse than Nixon. Trump will never pass any legislation that comes close to the significance of the things that Nixon passed. Trump’s main interest is in helping billionaires get richer at the long-term expense of American citizens. That’s why he’s actively dismantling all the things that keep our forests, rivers, water-tables and skies clean. If you get rid of regulation, business can pollute again. He doesn’t care about citizens. He only cares about how we can serve him. He’s a foolish child-man who doesn’t understand what serving as president actually means.
Want more? Here’s a short summary of unethical things Trump is guilty of:
- Failure to disclose his taxes.
- Failure to divest his financial holdings and his own companies.
- Asking for “Loyalty” from government workers who should provide checks and balances. They are loyal to the tenets our country — not a specific person.
- Requiring that people who work for him while he is president to sign a non-disclosure agreement that continues after his presidency ends.
- Nepotism. Having Jared and Ivanka in the White House with full security clearances is unprecedented.
- Entirely flouting the emoluments clause in our constitution.
- Benefiting financially by using his position as president to acquire wealth at the expense of our citizens for himself, his children and their spouses.
- Constant lying (He’s the best. Believe him…)
- Moral turpitude. Stormy Daniels and at least five other women are currently suing him.
- Dishonest business practices:
- racial discrimination.
- cheating his contractors.
- multiple bankruptcies to avoid paying his bills while keeping profits for himself.
- Attempting to break any legislation passed by his predecessor.
This guy is clearly in it for himself. He doesn’t serve the people. He has never volunteered to do anything like the Big Brother program, feeding the homeless, or volunteering for any of the social service endeavors we treasure. He never served in the peace corps or any branch of the military. He doesn’t know the price of bread or milk. He’s entirely out of touch with the people he’s supposed to represent.
By any measure, Nixon was better than Trump.