Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] [POLITICS] what next?

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Thu, 1 Dec 2005, Michael wrote:

> > I've said before that I felt the election was essentially tie and it is 
> > not such a bad thing that it went to Bush, but that doesn't mean that I 
> > think Bush has been anywhere near as competent as Gore would have been.
>
> I think Gore would have wussed out when it came to doing something post 
> 911. As it is I think Bush has waffled a bit to much but mostly that's 
> an inability to control public opinion and not a lack of seeing to 
> actually finishing the war we started so that it hasn't been a wasted 
> effort.


I think Gore would have done something sensible in the international 
community to gain some real progress in controlling terrorism.  Bush has 
succeeded in appearing to not "be a wuss" by having many thousands of 
people killed, but not by making any real, discernable progress in 
controllilng terrorism.  (We saw how well "Homeland Security" was working 
when they handled the Katrina disaster -- that was their work we were 
watching.)  I think Bush's efforts have been severely misdirected and the 
result has been that our popularity in other nations is at a low. 
Terrorists are now doubly motivated to attack us.  Whether things have 
been improved in Iraq remains highly in doubt.  The cost, unfortunately, 
at least in dollars, is astronomical -- about $177 million per day.  We 
remain as vulnerable now as we ever were.

Whether 9/11 would have happened under Gore's watch is something we will 
never know.  I'm sure the conservatives on the list will now tell me that 
9/11 was Clinton's fault and that they know what would have happened if 
history had taken a different course and Gore had been elected.  Such 
thinking makes people feel better.  Of course, they don't know what would 
have happened -- we never know that.  We only know that on 9/11, Bush and 
his team failed to protect our country by preventing a massive terrorist 
attack.  Bush had not attended to the briefings and warnings of what was 
impending.  We do know that.

Mike

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