I guess as a columnist Steyn has to find clever ways of deriding idiots. But I don't. Truthers are scum. They think the whole thing is a game to show other people how intelligently contrarian they are. They deserve a dressing-down, in public, whenever the opportunity arises.

I think the "Bush knew" case would be a lot flimsier if he hadn't been the laziest, least articulate most divisive and therefore theworst president of the USA; if not in living memory, than ever.

The "Bush knew" case couldn't get any flimsier than it is. This is the kind of idiocy I'm talking about. Do you have any idea how many people would have had to know before it got to the president's desk? And they all kept quiet, before and after? Exactly how much sense does it make for Bush to have found out and to have done nothing?

Really, even if Bush were the sort of person who is capable of something like that (and he isn't), it just makes no sense, and there's no evidence at all to support it. I suppose little green men from Mars knew about it - why don't you theorize about them instead?

bryan, you are a fool if you give any credence to this kind of garbage. Just because you don't like Bush doesn't make him responsible for everything bad that happens.

I think the "Bush knew" case would be a lot flimsier if he hadn't been the laziest, least articulate most divisive and therefore theworst president of the USA; if not in living memory, than ever.

Yet Herbert Hoover refused to provide benefits to World War I Veterans and presided over the beginning of the Great Depression. Ulysses Grant was a fine general, but a lousy president; his presidency was riddled with scandal.

Andrew Jackson? He did nothing special...except displace thousands of Native Americans from their homelands. I think all Taft did was get stuck in the bathtub.

I don't think Bush 43 has been the best in my lifetime, but to call him the worst president ever is to forgo just a bit of history.

IMHO, of course.

In any event Bush would have to get a lot worse before he was as bad as Carter.

Shawn and Eric, Did any of those Presidents ever take ONE EIGHTH of their presidency (and counting) off as vacation during a supposed time of war?
Did any of them stumble over their sentences and speeches like W?
Did any of them suck up so sickeningly to the most reprehensible dictators and tyrants (China, Russia and Saudi Arabia to name three)?
Scandal means nothing; after all, Reagan did deals with the devil to fund illegal war in El Salvador, and can still be regarded as a landmark president even by those who hated him.
Personally, I don't hate or like GWB, I just think he's poor at his job and a lot of unnecessary shit has been done to the USA and by the USA "on his watch" (as Reagan was at least able to admit) and in his name. A Pesident should have a bit more backbone IMHO, and then at least you can respect him a bit more, like him or not. BTW Clinton was not a lot better.

Heheheh, thought you could sneak one in, could you?

I'll just ignore the obvious cherrypicking of character flaws here and go straight up:

Did any of those Presidents ever take ONE EIGHTH of their presidency (and counting) off as vacation during a supposed time of war?

First, here did you get 1/8? Second, I'd like a comparison to that vaunted Democratic Congress in terms of time taken off divided by time since election.

Did any of them stumble over their sentences and speeches like W?

It's hard to say with Grant, Jackson or Taft. A quick search says to me that presidents weren't recorded until the '20s or so. I suppose there might be a recording of Hoover out there somewhere, but I haven't heard it.

Did any of them suck up so sickeningly to the most reprehensible dictators and tyrants (China, Russia and Saudi Arabia to name three)?

Not that I can tell.

Scandal means nothing; after all, Reagan did deals with the devil to fund illegal war in El Salvador, and can still be regarded as a landmark president even by those who hated him.

Ok, so I won't bring up Jackson's overuse of the spoils system or Taft having to prop up a Conservative president in Nicaragua.

Personally, I don't hate or like GWB, I just think he's poor at his job

Agreed, in fact I said so. I just don't see him as the worst president in history.

Type in Presidential vacation days. Reagan had 436, Bush is on about 419 and counting... It could get nearer the 20% mark. Reagan hadn't got that many troops deployed overseas.
He took 5 weeks off last year when Katrina happened. And this in a country whose citizenry rarely take all of their vacation days, so the articles say.
You don't or can't dispute the rest so I won't mention them.
I also think that I am happier with a person who would say "I've made a mistake" (not mistakes were made" - too lawyerly), than one who cannot admit fault.

"Mandelas Dead". Did Carter, Jackson, Grant or Taft ever say such embarrassing dumb shit?