# "Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over" -Onion Jan '01. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206 "2001-10-03T16:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/1 "2001-10-03T16:07:34Z")
This is satire from the Onion, I think written last January before the Bush inauguration. How prophetic! Was Bush to blame for the 9/11 attacks? No, but this shows that a lot of people expected there would be a war during the Bush term, probably involving Arabs. [http://www.theonion.com/onion3701/bush\_nightmare.html](http://www.theonion.com/onion3701/bush_nightmare.html) “Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over” WASHINGTON, DC—Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that “our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over.” … During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years. ``` "You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said ``` Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. “Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?”… ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/2 "2001-10-03T16:21:03Z")
Well, **curious george** , [sub]pit[/sub] I’m sure that the the staff at The Onion are high-fiving each other over their little prophecy[sub]pit[/sub]. As everyone knew[sub]pit[/sub], George W. was bound to get us into a full-scale war at some point[sub]pit[/sub]. Had we known what you already knew in November[sub]pit[/sub], I’m sure the entire country would have voted differently[sub]pit[/sub]. Thank you so much[sub]pit[/sub] for being the voice of reason[sub]pit[/sub] during this period of conflict[sub]pit[/sub]. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/3 "2001-10-03T16:22:22Z")
> [@](#): > > No, but this shows that a lot of people expected there would be a war during the Bush term, probably involving Arabs. A better question might be “When was the last sustained period that we weren’t “at war” with Arabic nations?” You do know we’ve been sporadically bombing the crap out of Iraq for years now, don’t ya? And this really isn’t “a war” either. Unless it’s in the same sense as the “war on drugs,” the “war on poverty,” and the “war on AIDS.” I know everyone, the press, the Prez and myriad other figures public and private, have used this term with impunity, but technically, it just ain’t true. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/4 "2001-10-03T17:02:47Z")
And the Onion article doesn’t say we’ll get involved in a gulf war…it just says that we’ll get involved in a gulf-war sized conflict. ---
**Author:** ![kbutcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/db5fbb/32.png) [@kbutcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbutcher)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/5 "2001-10-03T17:26:25Z")
And since when do Onion articles mean that ‘many people’ think that way. Last I checked, the onion was a SATIRICAL weekly, not a gallup poll… ---
**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/6 "2001-10-03T20:41:25Z")
It’s a satirical weekly that reflects the thoughts of the many Americans who read it, especially sharp, astute ones. Let’s not quibble about what “many” means. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBeer \* > And this really isn’t “a war” either. Unless it’s in the same sense as the “war on drugs,” the “war on poverty,” and the “war on AIDS.” I know everyone, the press, the Prez and myriad other figures public and private, have used this term with impunity, but technically, it just ain’t true. Now that’s opening a can of worms. Let’s not go there. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/7 "2001-10-03T21:17:01Z")
Okay. ---
**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/8 "2001-10-04T16:07:30Z")
Strainger, are you saying this thread belongs in the pit? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-prosperity-is-finally-over-onion-jan-01/85206/9 "2001-10-05T22:25:39Z")
On my initial read, I misinterpreted this as another “Bush is reponsible for the WTC/Pentagon/PA attacks” thread ( It isn’t, not directly anyway. It doesn’t prove anything either, but then again, it is in MPSIMS.) With that in mind, I had anticipated a dog-pile on the OP, but instead people mostly ignored it, as I should have.