what would you think would be different?
Remember when they were all saying that Bush was the one to have in charge during 9/11, that Gore was too weak to be able to deal? Well guess what? We probably wouldn’t have had a 9/11 with Gore in office. Katrina would have been dealt with reasonably without a governor lamenting that she didn’t change parties so her state could get aid. We might have had a patriot act but not as offensive. No Brownie, no Gonzo, no Rove with his Machiavellian tricks, no going around FISA on Gore’s watch. We might have had judges that were sane, diplomacy in action, environmental safeguards, an economy that was fair and a first lady that would be a joy to listen to and first kids that didn’t embarrass us!
All of our scandals are based really on crony-gate. Abramoff, Rove, Gonzo, Griles, Randall, Noe, Nye, Delay have built their houses on “you scratch my back and I scratch yours” without any governing thought about morality, decency or ethics. Gore wouldn’t have bought into that, I don’t believe. He would, I believe, have invade Afghanistan if called upon to do so, but not Iraq. He definitely would not have singled out individual nations as “axis of evil”. He wouldn’t have vetted his campaign stops so only loyal Gorites (Goreans?) could attend. He wouldn’t have be totally unable to be curious, to be compassionate, to be committed, to be reflective as our current occupant is. He wouldn’t have laughed off Kyota, abrogated every treaty we ever made, lied to the American people every day in office.
What do you all think? Am I too kind to Gore? What is your alternative universe like?
I don’t know if 9/11 could have been prevented — it was a reaction to decades of US policy, not Bush in particular. On the other hand, I would expect a President Gore would have taken the warnings far more seriously, so perhaps it might have been.
I don’t even know that invading Afghanistan was absolutely necessary… the point was to hunt down Al-Qaeda, not change the Taliban regime (even as oppressive and theocratic as it was). Too many factors involved to predict, too many other potential paths history might have taken with a sane and intelligent man in the Oval Office.
We would certainly NOT have invaded Iraq. That means that nearly 700,000 people (Iraqis, Americans, and others) who are dead now might not be. We would have had an entirely different legislative agenda for the past 8 years. It might still be possible to declare bankruptcy without losing everything you own of any value first. We would still have Habeus Corpus and the right of privacy, and no need for discussions as what did and did not constitute torture under the Geneva Conventions. We would have had people in charge of the watchdog agencies who were competent, resourceful and hopefully not in the pockets of the industry they were supposed to be watching. Perhaps the levees in New Orleans might have been reinforced before Katrina hit; at least, the rescue and relief efforts for the entire Gulf coast region would have been TONS better for everyone, and I imagine the casualties would have been significantly less.
Al Gore probably wouldn’t have an Oscar on his mantle… but we might have lowered our carbon emissions considerably.
Sigh…. what a different world and outlook that would have been….
reasons:
Mr. Clark would not have been demoted and he was an experted with the threats.
Gore was a fortunate VP in that he and Clinton worked much more closely than have other teams in office, so my expectations of him would be that he, also, knew the threat of Al Queada.
If you recall, Rice, et al blew off warnings.
Gore had a much better grasp of diplomacy. Rice would have been nowhere near that machinery. There wouldn’t have been that arm wrestling match between NSA/State/Defense as we saw with Rummy, Powell and Rice. And there wouldn’t have been Cheney egging everybody on with some PNAC agenda.
If 9/11 had happened, the goodwill we received from all the other nations wouldn’t have been squandered!
I used to think it would have been so great with Al in office, but then I thought his environmental passion would have provoked big oil and bu$hco to get rid of him somehow and we’d have Joe Lieberman in charge. What would that have done for the Middle East?
I won’t say you’re too kind to anybody. Like Joni said “We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.”
Seems like Gore’s in the right place now. I’m trying to have faith that all is as it should be, even if I think it’s wrong.
If Gore had become presnit he might not have been able to advocate as well as he has done lately for environmental care.
Good evening, my fellow Americans. In 2000 when you overwhelmingly made the decision to elect me as your 43rd President, I knew the road ahead would be difficult. We have accomplished so much, yet challenges lie ahead.
In the last six years, we have been able to stop global warming. No one could have predicted the negative results of this. Glaciers that once were melting are now on the attack. As you know, these renegade glaciers have already captured parts of upper Michigan and northern Maine. But I assure you, we will not let the glaciers win.
Right now in the second week of May 2006, we are facing perhaps the worst gas crisis in history. We have way too much gasoline! Gas is down to nineteen cents a gallon and the oil companies are hurting. I know that I am partly to blame, by insisting that cars run on trash.
I am therefore proposing a Federal bail-out to our oil companies because hey, if it were the other way around, you know the oil companies would help us.
On a positive note, we worked hard to save welfare, fix Social Security, and of course, provide the universal health care we all enjoy today. But all this came at a high cost. As I speak, the gigantic National Budget Surplus is down to a perilously low 11 trillion dollars. And don’t get any ideas. That money is staying in the very successful lock box. We’re not touching it. Of course, we could give economic aid to China or lend money to the Saudis again, but right now we are already so loved by everyone in the world that American tourists can’t even go over to Europe anymore without getting hugged.
There are some of you would like to spend our money on some made-up war. To you I say, “what part of lockbox don’t you understand?” What if there’s a hurricane or a tornado? Unlikely I know, because of the anti-hurricane and tornado machine I was instrumental in helping to develop…but what if? What if the scientists are right and one of those giant glaciers hits Boston? That’s why we have the lockbox.
As for immigration, solving that came at a heavy cost, and I personally regret the loss of California. However, the new Mexifornian economy is strong and El Presidente Schwarzenegger is doing a great job.
There have been some setbacks. Unfortunately, the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Michael Moore was bitter and divisive. However, I could not be more proud of how the House and Senate pulled together to confirm the nomination of Chief Justice George Clooney.
Baseball, our national pastime, still lies under the shadow of steroid accusations. But I have faith in Baseball Commissioner George W. Bush when he says, “we will find the steroid users if we have to tap every phone in America.”
In 2001, when I came into office, our national security was the most important issue. The threat of terrorism was real. Who knew that six years later, Afghanistan would be the most popular spring break destination, or that Six Flags Tehran is the fastest growing amusement park in the Mideast, and the scariest thing we Americas have to fear is … Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night!
The world of 2007 would be a completely different place. The US would not be engaged in two open wars, numerous military actions, and pushing for a third war. The US would not be hated by nearly every other nation. The US would admit and begin confronting important problems like global warming, peak oil, poverty, and the gutting of the middle class.