I'm going to have to read up on Woodrow Wilson. He gets a lot of flack and (so I understand) a lot of praise too..... The Trump White House might not be 'off-the-scale' bad but they have to be the worst administration in modern times - unless you can advise me differently (actually being there rather than 2K miles away like me).
That depends on where you want to say "modern times". Because Wilson was straight-up jailing people for dissent, not to mention greatly expanding the burden of the state on average people AND inflicting segregation on parts of the armed services. Trump is an unprofessional manchild, a jackass with bad taste in friends, decor, and followers, and someone with no sense of leadership at all. That said..people who regard him as some sort of Hitler figure as just as irrational and hysteric as the people who said Obama was the antichrist.
Yeah, the Schenck case, and the Eugene V. Debs are the first two that come to mind, Alien & Sedition Acts, and the US Supreme Court agreed, during times of war, the federal government can ignore Constitutional rights. Or something like that, I think.
Woodrow Wilson is easily one of the worst presidents ever. He was hugely racist, even for the time period he lived in. He re-segregated the government, and was vocal about defending the KKK. Makes sense in a gross kind of way, considering the fact that his family fought on the losing side during the Civil War. He was quoted in the movie, "Birth of a Nation" and even screened it at the White House. He's gross and horrible and I am glad I was not alive then.
Instead, we are lucky enough to have an overgrown-man-child-sexual-predator- who knows absolutely nothing about language, government, or leadership. Also vomit. Voters make some really stupid choices sometimes.
@ Stephen: Didn't the Eugenics based Immigration policy come into force in 1924 long after Wilson left office? Not that Eugenics was a particularly American issue back then. So called Racial Purity ideas where around across the world and not just in the West. I don't like the Hitler comparison at the best of times. It's too often a sign of lazy thinking. Likewise the other 'N word' (Nazi) has lost much of its meaning through over use. I can see what people mean though. It's pretty obvious (to me anyway) that Trump is a Fascist in the Italian style rather than the German one. He even has some of Mussolini's mannerisms! Just how *much* of a Fascist he is allowed to be or show will probably depend on the 2020 result.
@ V V: Just added a book on US Immigration to my Wish List (along with one on Japanese Internment because why not). It's always good to get some decent historical perspective on these things. These topics never seem to go away do they?
@ Sarah: As Stephen said - Democracy in action! They do say that we get the politicians we deserve...... One good thing is that it's certainly re-engaged a generation into the political process and you can't say the politics is dull any more!!
Regarding eugenics...I'd have to look into the timing of that, as to when it began properly. It was definitely an idée fixe in social planning circles until the death camps were exposed. Some people now lauded as heroes, like Margaret Sanger, were connected with it. I'd probably seek out a history of it if I didn't already hate the state.
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Lady Liberty was taken down by The State many years ago. :( Personally, I blame Wilson.
I'm going to have to read up on Woodrow Wilson. He gets a lot of flack and (so I understand) a lot of praise too..... The Trump White House might not be 'off-the-scale' bad but they have to be the worst administration in modern times - unless you can advise me differently (actually being there rather than 2K miles away like me).
That depends on where you want to say "modern times". Because Wilson was straight-up jailing people for dissent, not to mention greatly expanding the burden of the state on average people AND inflicting segregation on parts of the armed services. Trump is an unprofessional manchild, a jackass with bad taste in friends, decor, and followers, and someone with no sense of leadership at all. That said..people who regard him as some sort of Hitler figure as just as irrational and hysteric as the people who said Obama was the antichrist.
Yeah, the Schenck case, and the Eugene V. Debs are the first two that come to mind, Alien & Sedition Acts, and the US Supreme Court agreed, during times of war, the federal government can ignore Constitutional rights. Or something like that, I think.
Sorry, I was following up on what Stephen said.
Woodrow Wilson is easily one of the worst presidents ever. He was hugely racist, even for the time period he lived in. He re-segregated the government, and was vocal about defending the KKK. Makes sense in a gross kind of way, considering the fact that his family fought on the losing side during the Civil War. He was quoted in the movie, "Birth of a Nation" and even screened it at the White House. He's gross and horrible and I am glad I was not alive then.
Instead, we are lucky enough to have an overgrown-man-child-sexual-predator- who knows absolutely nothing about language, government, or leadership. Also vomit. Voters make some really stupid choices sometimes.
@Sarah That's democracy. The instant they gave women the vote, they banned beer. I haven't thought of democracy since, frankly... :p
@ Stephen: Didn't the Eugenics based Immigration policy come into force in 1924 long after Wilson left office? Not that Eugenics was a particularly American issue back then. So called Racial Purity ideas where around across the world and not just in the West. I don't like the Hitler comparison at the best of times. It's too often a sign of lazy thinking. Likewise the other 'N word' (Nazi) has lost much of its meaning through over use. I can see what people mean though. It's pretty obvious (to me anyway) that Trump is a Fascist in the Italian style rather than the German one. He even has some of Mussolini's mannerisms! Just how *much* of a Fascist he is allowed to be or show will probably depend on the 2020 result.
@ V V: Just added a book on US Immigration to my Wish List (along with one on Japanese Internment because why not). It's always good to get some decent historical perspective on these things. These topics never seem to go away do they?
@ Sarah: As Stephen said - Democracy in action! They do say that we get the politicians we deserve...... One good thing is that it's certainly re-engaged a generation into the political process and you can't say the politics is dull any more!!
Regarding eugenics...I'd have to look into the timing of that, as to when it began properly. It was definitely an idée fixe in social planning circles until the death camps were exposed. Some people now lauded as heroes, like Margaret Sanger, were connected with it. I'd probably seek out a history of it if I didn't already hate the state.
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