When I imagine it, I feel sick.

[Pryderi]

Sick because of how much better the world would be today.

[FirstLight]

1. ...

seriously...think about the energy, infrastructure and planetary implications...
can't go back, but oh!... how I wish we could....

[EC]

2. Or even if they'd just let this President lead.

If some of what he's wanted ever passed we'd be much better off. The way it is we'll be so far behind in everything compared to most other countries. We've become old and decayed. We're falling apart like empires on the decline.


It absolutely makes me sick that borrowing money to do what has to be done would cost us nothing...there is no interest on loans now ...and we are wasting it.

[freshwest]

13. +1

[BlancheSplanchnik]

77. yep. you're so right.

[Rex]

3. Yeah our first Liberal POTUS.

No wonder they cheated, lied and did everything else to keep him out of office. Sadly some in his own party could not wait for him to give up and let the BFEE fuck us all over for 8 years. He also won the vote...but the SCOTUS made sure he could never claim the presidency.

[whistler162]

46. Yup FDR and Truman where Conservatives!

[marions ghost]

4. The S/election of 2000

a sad day for this country.

[redqueen]

5. for the world

Thinking of Iraq, Afghanistan, all the countries impacted by the right's disastrous policies...

[marions ghost]

6. thank you

yes, a sad day for the world as well.

[RoccoR5955]

15. It wasn't an election, it was a coup.

They then had their Supremes Court appoint the bass turd as president.

[marions ghost]

22. I said

"Selection" not election.

Yes the P/resident was not elected.

[RoccoR5955]

24. I stand corrected.

You are correct. Bush was selected by The Supremes. Even though Diana Ross left the group years ago.

[marions ghost]

51. And we live with the results of that theft

for a long time.

Democracy in America--how can anyone think it's alive and well after what we saw?

[RoccoR5955]

63. who said that there is

democracy in America? There can be no democracy as long as corporations have the same rights as people, and money is speech.

[marions ghost]

71. not directed at you

the comment was rhetorical--a general statement agreeing with you.

[hamsterjill]

7. Don't I know it!!

WAY ahead of his time!

[felix_numinous]

8. I was shocked

that the whole country didn't hit the streets. Amazed, sickened, and dreading what was to come....

[Brigid]

19. In a lot of countries . . .

That is exactly what would have happened. We just had no way of knowing how bad things would get.

[deutsey]

49. A sad, tragic time in our history

I have grave doubts we'll ever truly recover as a nation.

[mrdmk]

60. This Website (DU) was started because of that selection

Also there were people on the street and boy, were they pissed. Of course the Media was patting themselves on the back with Mr. Bush Jr.'s coronation!

BTW: Most Presidents walk to the Inauguration. Not Shrub, he was driven to the event...

[bvar22]

86. I "hit the streets".

I was joined by one other guy.
Where was everybody else?

This photo was taken the day after Bush v Gore
in which the Supreme Court STOPPED the Counting of VOTES in Florida.
The sign on my back says:

[center]SELECTED
by corrupt
Supreme Court
NOT
ELECTED
by The People

"One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."
--Justice John Paul Stevens dissent on Bush v Gore

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. Imagine how it felt to want this....

And end up with this:

[LuckyLib]

12. Indeed. A heartbreaker if there ever was one. We knew the shit that was on the

horizon, but never imagined that Tricky Dick would bring himself down with his paranoia.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. It was heart breaking for the younger generation...

We were the ones who grew up in the 60s and dreamed of the United Nations bringing world peace and an end to war and what it felt like what we got was cops cracking down on the youth of America for being too damn free and open minded.

[RoccoR5955]

16. I know the feeling EXACTLY!

Some think that King and Kennedy's (both of them) were an inside job.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. The fear was the Kennedy's were going to be a dynasty...

...and a way of getting around term limits to give America another Liberal FDR Era and the Conservatives couldn't handle that.

[villager]

28. some of us indeed do

...since all those "coincidental" assassinations kept benefiting the exact same political actors, over and over again.

Just like the Selection.

[Laelth]

17. RFK would have been an awesome President, I think. n/t

-Laelth

[Spitfire of ATJ]

23. Conservatives STILL point to the cops cracking skulls in police riots as a failure of Liberalism.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

29. For one thing, the moon landings wouldn't have ended....

Nixon considered all that "moon stuff" to be a "Kennedy thing" and he killed it out of spite.

[PinkTiger]

65. And yet, Stephen King's book 11/22/63

indicates we might have been surprised.
Not sure how I felt about his dystopic vision of if Kennedy had lived and his brother had become his successor.

[Rex]

18. Organized crime could work with Nixon, he was a crook

and Robert Kennedy would not relent on the mob. One of the saddest periods in modern times imo.

[RVN VET]

25. What a major fup-uck 1968

We had Gene McArthy, Bobby Kennedy, and Hubert Humphrey -- all serious contenders at one point or another -- and I think even George McGovern was in the running. 4 really strong and exciting Liberals -- and in one of the bitterest ironies of American history, the American voter put Nixon in the White House.

In 2000, it was Al Gore, a Vietnam veteran who actually volunteered and went to Vietnam, versus little drunk-punk Bush who squeezed into the National Guard to avoid Vietnam and ran away from his mandatory physical because it included a drug test. But it wasn't irony or the American voter who put that little butt-wart in the White House. It was the Supremes, casting an obviously political vote for an obviously incompetent little snake.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

32. I say let's see the big long list of right wingers who have been assassinated by the "radical left".

[navarth]

84. yup. nt

[wandy]

43. And to think, "that" was the most honorable republican president in our adult lifetimes........

It would be hard to describe "that" without using words not found in the bible.
Still, as despicable as Nixon was the republican party has managed to just go down hill from there.

[calimary]

44. Now THAT one really hurts!

And I remember it painfully well.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

45. What REALLY hurt was to see him win in a landslide,...

...and realize the older generation was voting for him to discipline their kids.

[Mr.Bill]

10. I could think of a few buildings

in New York that might still be standing.

[Cooley Hurd]

27. Hart Rudman report would've been paid attention to...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Commission_on_National_Security/21st_Century

That might've been enough to stop 9/11.

[CBHagman]

38. There would have been a different strategy on counterterrorism, certainly.

While even I wouldn't go far enough to say 9/11 might have been prevented, at least we wouldn't have had the reinvent-the-wheel mindset of the Bush administration, the dismissal of Richard Clarke's concerns, plus the truly wretched knowledge that when the August 6th Presidential Daily Brief announced that bin Laden was intent on attacking in the U.S., GWB simply stayed on his August vacation.

The September 11th edition of The New York Times contained a front-page story on planned cuts to counterterrorism programs, too.

[Ready4Change]

88. He would have listened to the outgoing Clinton adminstrations suggestions.

The outgoing Clinton administration recommended that the incoming Bush administration make AQ a top priority. They said that either you make AQ your top priority, or AQ will make themselves your top priority.

Bush administration threw away those recommendations outright. This was in the age of 'thank god the adults are back in control.' They ignored AQ, started dismantling the programs put in place to track and contain AQ, and ignored intelligence briefings about AQ actions.

Basically, the Bush administration asked for it, and AQ delivered on 9/11.

I think there's a very good chance that, had Gore won office, his administration would have continued the pursuit of AQ, 9/11 wouldn't have occurred, and today the right wing would be trying to win elections by saying how horrible the corporate tax rates are in a time period when the economy has been booming like gangbusters due to continued budget surplus.

Bah.

[PotatoChip]

11. Even this sad kitteh agrees w/you...

(credit for video goes to Tony FLADEM in the Pet's Group)

[SunSeeker]

37. LOL!

[RVN VET]

21. Maybe, just maybe

But it's just too painful to think about. Al and Bobby both had their flaws, but compared to the winners in those elections, they were saints. Al and Bobby were the future of America. Bush and Nixon were it's end. Obama can't turn it around because the corporations have effectively seized control of the House forever and anon. And the House is bent on destruction through obstruction.

Maybe 2014 will see a turn around. But if it doesn't see a turnaround, it may well mark the beginning of the ineluctable end.

[ReRe]

30. Maybe, just maybe...

... a Revolution can be averted in 2014, by sweeping Democrats into offices across this land and booting the Dinos to the curb once and for all. Talk about people in the streets! Block parties in the streets of America and all over the world, for that matter!
I'm Irish. Let me dream and work my fingers to the bone to make it happen.

[mountain grammy]

75. Go ahead and dream. I'm dreaming right along with you..

2014: the end of conservatism and corporatism in America. A victory for the people. Scalia, Thomas: Impeached! Honest judges appointed to all federal courts. Mike Papantonio for Attorney General! Ok, now I'm really dreaming, but yesterday should have been JFK's 97th birthday and I remember thinking we could change the world. The world had other plans and here we are blogging about how screwed up our country is and wondering if we can ever recapture the hope.

[freshwest]

26. I had a TBI a couple years later, so the doc asked that series of questions...

To see if you are in sync with reality.

"Who is the President of the United States?" he asked.

"Al Gore," I sneered, rolling my eyes.

He was thinking about it, so I said to him:

"I'm injured, not stupid."

He decided I was in my right mind.

[WinkyDink]

33. Awesome post!

[ReRe]

35. Tee hee hee

... I remember those questions... Scared me to death that they were asking me such things! I thought "Boy, I must have gotten a bump on the head. Am I really alright?" Now, if they ask me those questions, I just answer and smile.

[roamer65]

47. Yeah. You were definitely in your right mind.

[tridim]

34. President Lieberman?

Yikes.

[ReRe]

36. Nooooooooooo!

[Mr Samuel Hain]

69. Just what I was thinking

Neocons with guns.

[cilla4progress]

39. Ok, well,

at least we now have this

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&authuser=0&biw=1440&bih=815&tbm=isch&tbnid=-at0gOQ31vC-7M:&imgrefurl=http://www.biography.com/people/barack-obama-12782369&docid=6tgw8rrWywCq_M&imgurl=&w=402&h=402&ei=ZIOmUb3nGuWTiALZjoH4Dg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:3,s:0,i:171&iact=rc&dur=580&page=1&tbnh=179&tbnw=164&start=0&ndsp=20&tx=54&ty=67

and maybe next we'll have


http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&authuser=0&biw=1440&bih=815&tbm=isch&tbnid=vYu6a_l1zooxHM:&imgrefurl=http://essentialnewsmarbella.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/hillary-clinton-hospitalized/&docid=Pt41FjDGdURPSM&imgurl=&w=1471&h=2098&ei=g4OmUbySDKH7igKooYHAAQ&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:8,s:0,i:183&iact=rc&dur=374&page=1&tbnh=175&tbnw=137&start=0&ndsp=24&tx=67&ty=53

this.

[calimary]

42. MMMMmmmmm... nice opals!

Her birthstone if I'm not mistaken.

[Nye Bevan]

40. I bet Barack Obama would not be president today.

Of course Gore should have been inaugurated in 2001. Probably no 9/11 attacks, no Afghanistan and Iraq wars. I have no idea about whether the housing bubble and ensuing financial crisis would have happened or would have been as severe; a lot would depend on whether he had kept Greenspan at the Fed.

But what really counted in Obama's favor in the primaries was his vote against the Iraq War Resolution. With no such resolution he would not have jumped to prominence so quickly. He might well have assumed the presidency one day, but may well not even have run in 2008.

I find alternate history fascinating.

[Mr.Bill]

53. Although Obama spoke out against going to war with Iraq,

He was not a member of Congress and could not officially vote against the Iraq War Resolution.

It should also be noted that Hillary Clinton voted for it, which was probably her biggest negative in the presidential primaries. Without that hanging on her, she probably would have been the nominee.

[Spike89]

81. Correct, Obama even admitted that he probably would have voted for it

Under the circumstances and with the information being presented to congress. There was a lot of pressure on congress, lots of false intelligence being thrown at them, and unfortunately, a huge record of Democrats being punished for appearing "weak" on defense issues. It really was only after we went into Iraq that public sentiment began to shift and the "facts" used by the administration were debunked publicly.

It was wrong and those who voted for the war resolution were wrong. I marched against the escalation to war--I didn't believe or trust the administration--but at the time, it wasn't nearly as obvious as hindsight makes it seem. I really don't know what I would have done if I'd been a Senator and had been told by a series of "experts" that the situation in Iraq was much more dangerous than it was.

[calimary]

41. Yeah. Me too.

Sure wouldn't have alito and roberts to kick around anymore.

[The Wizard]

48. I always refer to him

as President Gore.

[deutsey]

50. This Is Not America

[LongTomH]

52. The media never let us see the real Al Gore

The media fed us crap about the emotionless "Android Al," and repeated, ad infinitum the big lie about Gore claiming to "have invented the internet!"

We didn't get to see the Al Gore who attended Johnny Cash's 70th birthday party and gave a eulogy at his funeral. We didn't get to hear the dry humor he was capable of, unless we visited sources other than the mainstream media.

Even people on DU complained, when we heard fiery speeches from Al Gore after the election: "Why didn't we hear this in the campaign?" Because, dammit, we weren't allowed to!

[nikto]

54. I make no assumptions, other than...

The GOP would probably have impeached him for letting 9-11 happen.

[nikto]

55. Just a little reminder about Al Gore...

He was right about the Social Security "Lock-Box".

Oh dear Lord, was he ever right.

[Nye Bevan]

56. Do you understand exactly how the "lockbox" would have worked?

Because after a lot of Googling, I don't. Can anyone help me with this?

[Samantha]

58. Al Gore came out two years before the end of the Clinton Presidency and made an announcement

He said for the remaining two years, the government would not spend social security funds. They would be put in a different "pocket" and held safe from government spending. He said over the years, that had not been the case, especially in times of need. But now that the economy was expected to start running a surplus, the policy would be changed. The government should not have been spending those funds to begin with (words to this effect) but they had to be preserved for the purpose for which they were intended.

When he made the "lockbox" remark during the campaign, I assumed he was promising a continuation of the new policy.

Sam

[Nye Bevan]

59. But my question is, what would those "locked off" funds been invested in?

Gold? Stocks? Foreign currency? Because investing them in Treasuries is essentially the same as what we do today.

[Samantha]

73. I never heard these details discussed

and am sad to say I guess we will never know. But one thing is for sure: we would have been better off with Al Gore making these decisions with lawmakers than Bush*.

Sam

[LondonReign2]

82. Treated no differently from an investment standpoint

As I understood it, it wasn't that the money collected for SS would be invested any differently, it was that suplus kicked off from SS (because collections + invetsment returns > pay outs) would continue to build up the SS fund rather than being used to offset the current deficit year year, therefore making SS solvent for much much longer.

[H2O Man]

57. That requires the assumption

that 9/11 would have -- and indeed, could have -- happened if Al Gore had been allowed to hold the office that he won in the 2000 presidential election. I do not think that is a certainty, by any stretch of the imagination.

[Bonobo]

61. For all we know...

He could have died in office, then Joe Lieberman led the country -starting a war with Iran or Syria...

You just don't know.

It's too bad he picked the worst possible Democrat in order to let everyone know that he wasn't going to really be a Progressive. He was trying to show he was more conservative than Clinton! Imagine that!

[OnyxCollie]

64. +1. nt

[Martin Eden]

62. President Gore Recaps his Presidency on SNL

Alas, that it was not so:
http://www.spike.com/video-clips/zfwna5/president-al-gore

[B Stieg]

66. Please,...

...Don't remind me.

[blkmusclmachine]

67. Turncoat LIEberman would have been VP, tho.

Wonder how THAT would have worked out..

[LeftishBrit]

68. Wouldn't have affected things that much IMO

To some extent, Bush was Cheney's puppet; but most presidents aren't their VPs' puppets.

[LeftishBrit]

70. Yes. And to think that he would have been (at least the first term) if Bush's brother had not been

governor of Florida, and if one Supreme Court judge had voted the other way. I understand that Sandra O'Connor now feels guilty about her vote; and so she should.

As regards the general effects on the world, it might of course also have helped if Tony Blair had not been the disgusting scumbag that he is.

[stlsaxman]

72. the point of no return...

the moment democracy died-

[mountain grammy]

76. This is what a coup looks like in Amerika!

[datasuspect]

74. was never going to happen

we had a corporate coup in 2000.

it hasn't ended.

[tularetom]

78. Yeah, but imagine how bad it would be if he were inaugurated and then died in office

Maybe not as bad as it was but I can't believe it would have been much better.

[Javaman]

79. What could have been. nt

[GoCubsGo]

80. My life would sure be completely different.

I'd still have my old job, health insurance, my life savings... Instead, it's all gone, along with ten years off of my life from all the stress it has caused. I hope every last fucking fucker that is responsible for this travesty gets to experience the bloody hell they have caused me and millions of others. That goes not only for the whores in the Supreme Court, but also every waste of human flesh imbecile that voted to give that Shit-for-Brains sack of garbage two terms.

[lark]

83. I will never get over this theft.

I will never get over the Supreme court r's putting shrub in the WH to fit their own desires, fuck the voters.
I will never get over the riot in Miami from r's flown in from AK just to disrupt the process. I was there and saw it and msm just totally denied it.
I will never get over shrub allowing 9/11 and then starting a war based on lies.

The day they made shrub the resident was the worst day in American history. Tens of thousands of people from our country and Iraq (if not more) have died because of that one sick, disgusting fact.

[LongTomH]

85. Neither will I, my friend; neither will I!!!!!!

[kimbutgar]

87. I still have a hard time dealing with what they did to Carter

He was advocating for solar energy at the end of the 1970's, Marijuana laws were just starting to loosen. Just think where we would be if alternative energy was allowed to grow with the government backing it. Reagan came in and just shut it down for his oil companies buddies and increased penalties for all drugs. So much money wasted on drug enforcement. We lost innovations in the 1980's got it back in the 1990's and lost it again when the reich wing supreme court appointed bush our President our democracy was lost after that. And seeing what they are doing to President Obama is downright criminal and they stand a good chance and taking back both houses in 2014 because of the gerrymandering and red state hate for the President. When ignorant people started to believe stupid evil people we all end up getting screwed. And don't get me started on the rewriting of history by the reich wing.