Gag order on the EPA

[Eric the Green]

Bush 43 was the worst president before Trump, easily. He censored the scientists on climate change. He started a war of choice for no reason in Iraq, which gave birth to the IS. He failed to wage the war on Al Qaeda that he declared, which meant that it continues today. Many thousands were killed in these wars. He carried out torture and rendition on prisoners (many of them innocent folks grabbed off the street), locked dissenters in jail without trial, and set up NSA spying on Americans. He made illegal Executive Orders. He let hundreds of people die in New Orleans by not acting in time about Katrina. He failed to regulate finance companies, allowing the great recession, and did not hold Wall Street accountable but just bailed out the criminals. He failed to support international treaties on climate change, and allowed more pollution in our rivers. He provided no incentives or subsidies for alternative energy, but instead supported massive breaks for fossil fuel companies given by congress. His Supreme Court nominees were atrocious movement conservatives like Alito who support big money in politics and environmental destruction, among other outrages.

Liberals who opposed Bush were not "far Left." This was mainstream intelligent opinion. The anti-Bush literature was very extensive and you can't label all of that "far Left." Most historians agree with the assessment that he was one of the worst presidents. But Trump is already on the road to surpassing him in that department.

As a liberal I have taken many questionnaires about which candidates are compatible with my views. Democrats typically score about 67% agreement with me; higher on some smaller tests. Greens at 90% or above. Bush scored in single digits. Most Republican candidates score between 0 and about 30%; Libertarians about 20-25%. From my point of view, Bush 43 is far right.