It seems like every country has had its worst leader,

[brazos121200]

and that the rule of these leaders have had, in addition to many dead or uprooted people and other tragic results, unintended positive results. For example, England had its King John, whose disastrous reign had an unintended result (along witrh other causes)of the drafting of the Magna Charta. Germany had its Adolf Hitler, and some of the unintended results of his reign was the establishment of Israel and the ending of European colonialism. Russia had Stalin and his forced industrialization of the country, which brought the country into the 20th century and also helped make possible Russia's ability to push back the German Wermacht in World War II, although these results may not have been so unintended. Spain had its Torquemada, Chile its Pinochet, etc.

Do you think the reign of Geo W Bush will have any unintended positive results in the future, or will his rule bring only negative results? If any positive results, what do you think they will be? Just curious.

[muntrv]

1. We thought things would change after Nixon and Watergate and they didn't.

[brazos121200]

5. The only thing I can think of is the ending of the military draft, although

I don't know if this was a direct result of Nixon's rule. It possibly made it harder for the next Repub president to spy on the opposition party. It probably just made the Repubs sharpen their skills in their illegal pursuits.

[etherealtruth]

2. I sure hope so ...

... though, for the life of me, I can't imagine what good can come from Chimpy's reign of terror.

[Kutjara]

3. Maybe it will motivate us to amend the Constitution...

...so that only mammals can become President.

[brazos121200]

8. I was thinking something of that sort, maybe making it harder for a

rogue president of the future from abridging our constitutional rights for specious reasons. I certainly hope something good comes out of all this.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. Actually, John was a better king than he's usually given credit for.

He was certainly far from the worst; if you want to know who the worst ruler England ever had was, look no further than Charles I (whose absolutism, abuses of royal power, and disregard of Parliament led to the Civil War and Cromwell). The consequences of the reign of Charles I were, after the Restoration, a greater role for Parliament in the governing of the country, leading ultimately to the idea of a constitutional monarchy (Charles II, in contrast to Charles I, is generally regarded as one of England's greatest kings, in part because of his masterful ability to work WITH Parliament, rather than in opposition).

[brazos121200]

6. I stand corrected. I was thinking of John's military ineptitude.

[Initech]

7. You're leaving someone out - Tony Blair

I don't even live in England and I despise that man. Him and GWB will go down in history as two of the worst pieces of shit ever to lead their respective countries.

[brazos121200]

10. You're right! Hitler had his Mussolini, and Bush has his

Tony Blair. I don't think Blair's future will be much to look forward to.

[whistle]

9. Yes, but the people of the United States never deserved George Dubya Bush

...as their leader. As for how Bush's term as president could ever result in anything positive. I doubt if it could as he has virtually squandered every opportunity to affect anything positive for the country beyond what he has deliberately set out to accomplish in pandering to the interests of an an extremely small circle of wealthy ultra-right wing people.

[Pyrzqxgl]

13. Yes They did because they were dumb enough to vote for him.

At least enough of them did so the Supreme Court could steal it for him.

[Poiuyt]

14. I'm embarrassed that history will show that we re-elected him

[Rydz777]

11. Unintended consequences

Bush has wrecked our miitary and deepened our debt. These two facts are likely to keep us out of any more stupid adventures (like Iraq) for at least the next two decades.

[mikelewis]

12. Sure... Bush will fuck up the Earth so bad, Humans will be forced into exploring outer space.

[Rageneau]

15. It will improve the reputations of Buchanan, Harding, Grant and Hoover.