I think it’s telling that no-one wants to be out in front presenting the fake evidence this time around.

Al Qaeda, Iraq, Iran, none of them were ever even *close* to being an existential threat, except in the sense that they may cause the U.S. to commit suicide.

I remember watching Colin Powelll’s presentation for the case to invade Iraq on TV & thiniking that his *evidence* did not seem all that convincing. But I was also paying close attention to El Baradi, and well, he did make sense, in that they had not found convincing evidence that Saddam was capable of unleashing a nuclear or chemical nightmare on the US.

But even if Iraq had been in possession of chemical or nuclear weapons, it still did not make sense to go to war. After all, what nasty weapons they did have could not’ve held a candle to what the Soviets had held, and they were successfully held at bay with MADD (a Republican strategy btw).

Shorter version, you cannot convince me that Al Quaeda types are more of a military threat than the old Soviet Union was. Or even pre-WW II Japan, for that matter.

Ditto for shredding the Constitution: like Iraq and probably Iran, it’s something that was on the agenda all along, and 9/11 just made it possible for the crazies to finally realize their fever dreams.

And the “starve-the-beast” approach to taxes and government has been around for a lot longer than Bush’s presidency. I also share your concern about a Democratic president getting left holding the bag, and bearing the brunt of the national backlash against the unpopular policies that will be needed to put the country back together again.

The whole thing is, the gutting of the Constitution was on their agenda before 9/11, but not to target foreign terrorists but rather Americans. The whole terrorism thing is an excuse.

Does anyone remember, back when Bush became President, some claimed a “good idea” would be to run up the budget to the point that we HAD to cut back on social programs and enforcing civil rights and protecting the environment? I think the Bush admin has done a wonderful job of that. Just in time for a Democratic President comes the budget catastrophe requiring painful cuts in social programs.

quite obviously the whole plan since 9/11 has been to rachet up the tension, and wire down the dissent.

well, it’s obvious to me.