Nixon spoke to the pictures in the White House. He isn’t the only former Republican President to talk to inanmate objects:
President George W. Bush’s father accused the news media of “personal animosity” toward his son and said he found the criticism so unrelenting he sometimes talked back to his television set.
Ignoring the fact that Bush had a free ride from the press for well over four years despite how disasterous his policies were, Bush Sr. and his fellow Republicans are largely responsible for the current atmosphere. It was Bush Sr. who campaigned against “card carrying members of the ACLU” as if supporting civil liberties was a bad thing. (I quickly joined after this.) He also campaigned in flag factories fuel the absurd right wing claims that they are the more patriotic party, and resorted to the Willie Horton ads against Michael Dukakis. His son’s criticism is trivial compared to the hatred expressed towards Bill Clinton, even though Dubya’s sins are far more serious than an extramarital affair. Worst of all, it is the Bush administration which regularly accuses those who criticize it of being unpatriotic or of helping the terrorists. All in all, George W. Bush has received far less criticism than he deserves.
