It was refreshing to see in Marc Thiessen’s commentary (March 16) that even an ultra-conservative can’t bring himself to endorse Trump. As Thiessen points out, returning Trump to office would mean abandoning Ukraine to Putin, and a second term consumed with “seeking retribution” and “focused on revenge and retreat from the world.”
Where Thiessen loses all credibility, however, is in his statement that Biden is the worst president in his lifetime. I’m 8 years older than Thiessen, and there’s no doubt whatsoever that Trump holds that distinction. And that’s not just my opinion; a non-partisan group of historians just released their rankings of every US president, and Trump came in dead last. Even self-described conservative historians had him in their bottom five. Biden, on the other hand, came in 12th.
Some of the reason’s Thiessen cited for his low opinion of Biden are just ludicrous:
— “Worst inflation in four decades.” Yeah, there also happened to be the worst pandemic in ten decades. The US had much lower inflation than other advanced countries.
— “Highest gas prices ever recorded.” Nope. Adjusted for inflation, gas was higher in 1980, 2008, and 2011-2014. And the latest spike was the result of Trump’s 2020 deal with Saudi Arabia to cut production.
— “The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.” Another Trump special, the Doha Agreement, where he set the withdrawal date and agreed to release 5,000 Taliban fighters.
Thiessen is a partisan hack, but he’s right about one thing: there’s no good reason to vote for Trump.
— Scott Paulo, Chico
