# What Would Gore Have Done? September 11 mini-rant (long). **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 7, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788 "2002-06-07T04:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/1 "2002-06-07T04:00:05Z")
If the following statements offend any of the people that actually like the grinning homunculus that we have as a leader (aka known as George W Bush), I guess that would just be a crying shame. I have to say that having this freak representing my nation has caused me to rethink my general good opinion of people. I mean, after all, leaving aside any election theft questions, the awful fact remains that a whole lot of fucking people voted for this man! Crap, the fact that he won the primary is astonishing! In any event, I was surfing around and found [this site](http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/). Among the interesting things that I read was this: > [@](#): > > Some skeptical readers have written in to ask us, in effect, what Gore would have done any differently than Dubya in advance of the terrorist atrocities of September 11. “You keep saying that since Bush knew so much he should have acted,” one critic writes. “Well, just what should he have done?” > > Fair questions – questions that we imagine many MWO readers are either asking or having asked of them. > > So here is a brief pocket guide to just a few of the things that President Gore would almost certainly have done differently than George W. Bush did. > > – President Gore would not have appointed John Ashcroft as Attorney-General – the man who backed off from the Clinton Administration’s counter-terrorist efforts right up until September 10, preferring small-time efforts like his crusade against the medical use of marijuana. The same Ashcroft who, when warned by outgoing F.B.I. chief Louis Freeh about the terrorist threat, brushed him off. > > – President Gore would not have appointed Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense – the man who, before September 11, actually called for slighting counter-terrorism spending in favor of his pet project, the discredited updated Star Wars program. > > – President Gore would not have appointed Condoleezza Rice as chief of the National Security Agency – the woman who Sandy Berger told would be spending most of her time dealing with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, but who failed to follow up. > > – President Gore would have tried to implement the recommendations of the 1996-97 commission on airline security that he himself chaired, but which the Bush White House and the G.O.P., heavily funded by the airline industry, dissed and dismissed. Had those recommendations been followed up, it is highly unlikely that the attacks of 9/11 could have occurred. > > – President Gore would not have been on vacation for the whole month of August 2001. > > – President Gore’s foreign policy would not have been geared to placating the oil families in Saudi Arabia (including the old Bush family friends and business partners, the bin Ladens). Nor would it have envisaged securing an oil-line to the Caspian Sea as the major American policy priority in the Afghanistan region. > > – President Gore, a veteran of an Administration that tried to kill Osama bin Laden, would have continued Predator drone tracking of bin Laden, which the Bush regime abandoned. > > – President Gore, a veteran of an Administration that tried to kill Osama bin Laden, would have immediately understood the importance of the August 9 C.I.A. briefing entitled ‘‘Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.’’ and would have ordered an urgent intelligence review and coordination of all current leads and materials on bin Laden and Al Qaeda operations in the United States. Under a continuation of Clinton-Gore policy, such a review and coordination would have been automatic. Based on what we know now the F.B.I. and other federal officials knew, this would have led to the prompt apprehension of the September 11 terrorists (or at least their ringleaders) – roughly a month BEFORE they were to strike. > > – Members of President Gore’s Administration would not have lied shamefacedly – as Condi Rice and others in the Bush Administration have lied – about what their boss knew and didn’t know before September 11. Why? They, unlike the Bush Administration, would have had nothing to hide. > > And that’s just for starters. > > What has become clearer and clearer is that events never should have reached the pass that the United States was as vulnerable as it proved to be. And while many hands were responsible for this horror, Bush’s attempts to palm off responsibility and play the hapless victim are, well, outrageously irresponsible. > > Without question, President Gore would have been far more active than Bush was in protecting the national interest from Al Qaeda terrorism. And although, thanks to the Scalia 5, we will never know with absolute certainty whether his Administration could have prevented the terrorist attacks of September 11, or some other similar enormity, it is perfectly clear that, under President Gore, the success of those attacks would have been far less certain than they proved to be. So I have to ask; why did people vote for this man? Did they really have no idea how earth-shatteringly stupid he is? Did they not realize that the people that he was going to surround himself with were likely to be evil, corrupt and set our international opinion back decades? Do people want to be represented on the world stage this slimy piece of worm ridden daddy’s coattail riding waste of skin? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/2 "2002-06-07T04:37:30Z")
Using Sept. 11 to question “why did people vote for this man” ? That’s just too fucked for words, but I’ll give it a shot, anyway: _People who voted for Bush in November of 2000 weren’t thinking “gee if we elect this guy, how will he respond to that multiple plane hijacking/terrorist attack which we all know is coming 10 months from now?”_ Dude, you’re seriously fucked up. But you may have a point. People will really regret voting for Bush when he fumbles the Frankfurt Summit, leading to nuclear confict in Asia on July 10, 2003. Don’t ask me how I know the exact date; it’s classified. P.S. If I was American, I’d have voted for Gore, mainly because his views on the environment and technology mesh with my own. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/3 "2002-06-07T04:38:55Z")
> [@](#): > > And that’s just for starters. Actually, as one who generally thinks very little of Dubya, I only found one point in there (that being the remark on Ashcroft) that is not either open to interpretation or based on conflicting views of what actually happened. (And even the Ashcroft comment probably overstates the actual nature of Ashcroft’s deeds or failures.) This is the **Pit** , of course, and I really have no love (and little respect) for the pres, but that list is hardly a clear-cut case of incompetence or stupidity for Bush and his people. The Rumsfeld comment is inaccurate. The first Condy Rice comment is speculation. The airline comment is double speculation–both as to what Gore would have done and whether it would have made a difference (even IF it could have been implemented by September). The vacation crack is irrelevant (and probably inaccurate–most presidents take off the same month that Congress is gone). The Saudi connection had no bearing on bin Laden (whom the Saudis hate) and the Caspian Sea scenario has been pretty well discredited. The results of the August 9 CIA memo are pure speculation–as is the notion that trying to act on that vague information would have effectively stopped the attacks. There is no evidence that the Bush people have been lying about who knew what: there is ample room for confusion regarding what was _known_ to be important. This is good campaign fodder (meaning it can rile people up without having to be accurate), but it isn’t sufficiently accurate to be used to raise out collective blood pressure at this time. ---
**Author:** ![Com2Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Com2Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Com2Kid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/4 "2002-06-07T04:58:09Z")
Can’t guess at rewriting history; sorry; not allowed. Invalid argument. Pluses to Gore: No ashcroft. ashcroft scares me, seriously. There are very few things in this world which downright scare the bezeezus out of me, ashcroft is one of them. (I refuse to capitalize his name, capitalization is a sign of respect, of which I have none for him.) Minuses: Pro-censorship VP instead. VP has less power then Attorney General, but still. . . . that was a scary old fart. Err, what was his name again? I can NEVER remember the name of VPs, heh. Or in this case a potential VP. Liberal’s shouldn’t be conservatives and even conservatives shouldn’t be such dickheads. . . . Oh, and I belong to a firmly democratic state, have been for some time now, yaah! 🙂 We elected Maria Cantwell, one of the few darn honest politicians left. Actually I think she might be the last one. 😃 😃 😃 😃 (not true, there is a Democrat from one other state who is doing The Right Thing on a regular basis in maintaining citizen’s rights, and even a republican from some place or another if I recall correctly. . . .) ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/5 "2002-06-07T04:58:12Z")
OK, just a point or two of clarification before this gets out of hand. [ul] [li]The quote that I posted and the link are from an obviously biased source, had it not been so chances are that this thread may have wound up in Great Debates.[/li][li]How this is “using September 11 to question why people voted for this man” is not 100% clear to me. My sense is that this is an _example_ of his inattentiveness, and poor decision making and, as such, worth talking about.[/li][/ul] Hellfire, I know that we are all still hurting here. At least I am. That said, I am frightened by the way that we seem to be so quick to support this man. Seems like there is a lot of funky shit going on, and not enough questions being asked. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/6 "2002-06-07T05:22:21Z")
The interesting thing to me is the bit about not enough questions being asked. Which also goes into the whole question of media bias. The media basically let Reagan fuck them up the ass about Iran-Contra, never going that deep into investigating the whole mess, letting Lawrence Walsh do all of that and then when Walsh wrote his book Firewall, the press said, “Gee, that’s really boring and no one cares. NEXT.” But Clinton gets his dick sucked and all you see 24/7 on the news is Clinton this/Clinton that. Now, granted, when something like Sept. 11 happens, it is logical to rally around and show support for the President. But that does not mean following blindly whatever he says and not questioning his policies regarding terrorism. The exact opposite in fact. One “problem” is that many of “Shrubs” staff are very old Washington insiders, like Rumsfeld and Cheney. This is Rumsfeld’s 2nd go around as Defense Secretary, so he knows ALL of the ins & outs. Also, the admin was lucky that they had the whole economy in the toilet thing as well as Enron to draw attention away from what exactly they were doing for the War on Terror. ---
**Author:** ![Sinyster1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sinyster1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinyster1)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/7 "2002-06-07T05:47:56Z")
This is the most fucked up thing I have ever heard. Maybe not fucked up but definitely ignorant. Who in the hell thought that terrorists were gonna crash into the WTC and the Pentagon. How many “hints” or “leads” do you think the CIA or FBI gets a day. I’m sure it numbers in the hundreds if not thousands. Second, what in the hell could “Dubya” do? Was he supposed to bomb everyplane that came close to New York or DC. And what in the hell would have Gore done differently besides the appointments of different people. Democrats are seriously pissing me off talking shit about Bush. He handled things I think better than anyone since his father, Hint hint. He didn’t let anyone push us around, he didn’t just talk crap. He showed the world what happens when you fuck with us. What did Clinton do when the WTC was bombed in the early 90’s? What did Clinton do when the USS Cole was attacked? He didn’t think with his biggest head that’s for damn sure. All Bush did was look out for the best of our country. And the damn Democrats are talking shit about the way he handled it. Probably the greatest tragedy our country has ever had to endure (Pearl Harbor being a close second or even first). Bush said what he was gonna do and did it to the best of his abilities, **NOBODY** could have done better, and in the hands of Gore I believe things would have been worse. People need to respect what our government does for us and to at the very least give credit where credit is due. If not… **GET THE FUCK OUT AND STAY OUT YOU COMMIE BASTARDS!!!** ---
**Author:** ![JDM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90db22/32.png) [@JDM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDM)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/8 "2002-06-07T06:05:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sinyster1 \* > \*\*This is the most fucked up thing I have ever heard. Maybe not fucked up but definitely ignorant. Who in the hell thought that terrorists were gonna crash into the WTC and the Pentagon. > > How many “hints” or “leads” do you think the CIA or FBI gets a day. I’m sure it numbers in the hundreds if not thousands. > > Second, what in the hell could “Dubya” do? Was he supposed to bomb everyplane that came close to New York or DC. And what in the hell would have Gore done differently besides the appointments of different people. > > Democrats are seriously pissing me off talking shit about Bush. He handled things I think better than anyone since his father, Hint hint. He didn’t let anyone push us around, he didn’t just talk crap. He showed the world what happens when you fuck with us. > > What did Clinton do when the WTC was bombed in the early 90’s? > > What did Clinton do when the USS Cole was attacked? He didn’t think with his biggest head that’s for damn sure. > > All Bush did was look out for the best of our country. And the damn Democrats are talking shit about the way he handled it. Probably the greatest tragedy our country has ever had to endure (Pearl Harbor being a close second or even first). Bush said what he was gonna do and did it to the best of his abilities, **NOBODY** could have done better, and in the hands of Gore I believe things would have been worse. People need to respect what our government does for us and to at the very least give credit where credit is due. If not… **GET THE FUCK OUT AND STAY OUT YOU COMMIE BASTARDS!!!** \*\* LOL- you had me right up 'til the end. Very nice subtle touches now that I reread it- “All Bush did was look out for the best of our country.”- is really nice- JDM ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/9 "2002-06-07T06:27:53Z")
As comforting as it might be to fantasize about what might have happened had Gore won rather than Bush (whoops, had Gore become president), I gotta say that it’s mostly useless speculation. We just can’t know. It ranks up there with “What if Hitler had had the Death Star?” However, if you want to find out what Gore will do to balance security with civil rights, there’s an easy way to find out: Vote for him in 2004, and that goes for you fuckface Nadar supporters. Oh, and Sinyster, may I remind you that dissent is not un-American, but suggesting that anyone who disagrees with you and the Fox news channel should be deported most certainly is un-American. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/10 "2002-06-07T06:48:53Z")
Yeah, if Gore had made _HIS_ appointments, Bin Laden would surely have rethought his attack stratagy…give me fucking break. I’m democrat. I do not like Bush. But there is nothing he could have done at the time to prevent this. And I approve of his response. Aschcroft is still a putz, though. It’s pretty fucking easy to sit around and play monday morning quarterback. > [@](#): > > President Gore, a veteran of an Administration that tried to kill Osama bin Laden That didn’t work out too well, now did it? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/11 "2002-06-07T06:51:19Z")
Hmmm… the thread title is “What **Would** Gore have done”, and we’re presented with a list of things Gore **wouldn’t** do. Not quite clear on this “fighting ignorance” thing, are we? Are there cites for any of these claims? Any “lie” by administration? Any explanation for how these people know that Gore, who has extensive ties with foreign oil companies, would not be interested in a Caspian oil pipeline? ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/12 "2002-06-07T06:55:46Z")
> [@](#): > > P.S. If I was American, I’d have voted for Gore, mainly because his views on the environment and technology mesh with my own. [\*\*Ahem! :eek: \*\*](http://www.commondreams.org/views/050500-103.htm) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/13 "2002-06-07T07:23:54Z")
As a dyed-in-the-wool Dubya-drubber, I will say that there’s one _big_ advantage to having George in the White House instead of Al – the Congressional Republicans don’t _dare_ to play obstructionist politics against the White House’s antiterrorism proposals. Can you just imagine the ruckus we’d be getting from the GOP if President Gore wanted to bomb Afghanistan? Or if it was Gore proposing the new “Homeland Defense” Cabinet office and the ensuing growth in government? (Of course, Al would have floated that balloon six months earlier, but that’s a different matter). And I’m sure we would have gotten more mind-boggling press spin along the lines of “We can support our troops without supporting the President.” :rolleyes: I’m not saying watching John Ashcroft shred the Constitution is worth all this, but in an administration full of dark clouds, watching the Repubs in Congress holding themselves back from their usual uncooperative efforts is a silver lining of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/14 "2002-06-07T07:42:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \* > \*\*Hmmm… the thread title is “What **Would** Gore have done”, and we’re presented with a list of things Gore **wouldn’t** do. Not quite clear on this “fighting ignorance” thing, are we? > > Are there cites for any of these claims? Any “lie” by administration? Any explanation for how these people know that Gore, who has extensive ties with foreign oil companies, would not be interested in a Caspian oil pipeline? \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Binarydrone \* > \*\*OK, just a point or two of clarification before this gets out of hand. > > [ul] > [li]The quote that I posted and the link are from an obviously biased source, had it not been so chances are that this thread may have wound up in Great Debates.[/li][/ul] \*\* Dumbass :wally And by the way: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \*\*\* > …Any explanation for how these people know that Gore, who has extensive ties with foreign oil companies, would not be interested in a Caspian oil pipeline? \*\* CITE??? ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/15 "2002-06-07T10:43:35Z")
Gore’s oil ties: [http://www.public-i.org/story\_01\_011100.htm](http://www.public-i.org/story_01_011100.htm) [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/5\_08/2.html](http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/5_08/2.html) [http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/30/gore.html](http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/30/gore.html) [http://www.ran.org/ran\_campaigns/beyond\_oil/oxy/nyt\_goread.pdf](http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/beyond_oil/oxy/nyt_goread.pdf) [http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/08/14/occidental/](http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/08/14/occidental/) [http://past.thenation.com/cgi-bin/framizer.cgi?url=http://past.thenation.com/issue/000522/0522silverstein.shtml](http://past.thenation.com/cgi-bin/framizer.cgi?url=http://past.thenation.com/issue/000522/0522silverstein.shtml) Some of those are pretty liberal sources. Tough to watch your sacred cows fall, ain’t it? BTW: [What Would President Tom Daschle Do?](http://images.ucomics.com/comics/td/2002/td020601.gif) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/16 "2002-06-07T10:58:33Z")
Without getting into the rest of it (and I hate Dubya as much as the next person) I just have to comment on this: _aka known as George W Bush_ … also known as known as George W Bush? ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/17 "2002-06-07T10:58:52Z")
You know, in an alternate universe, somebody is ripping **december** a knew one right about now for posting: “\*\*What Would Bush Have Done? September 11 mini-rant (long). \*\*” dead0man ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/18 "2002-06-07T11:31:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > **Can you just imagine the ruckus we’d be getting from the GOP if President Gore wanted to bomb Afghanistan?** Yeah, because Republicans would have completely ignored three thousand dead people and two smoldering piles of rubble just so they could attack a Democrat. \*\* > [@](#): > > Or if it was Gore proposing the new “Homeland Defense” Cabinet office and the ensuing growth in government? (Of course, Al would have floated that balloon six months earlier, but that’s a different matter).\*\* What in the nine worlds gives you the slightest idea that Al Gore would have wanted to create a brand-new Cabinet department with no appreciable use (at the time) two months into his presidency? Were the words “homeland” and “defense” ever uttered in the same sentence by Al Gore before September 11th? Or am I merely blind to the fact that Al Gore is psychic and would have seen September 11th coming? And then he would have fought the terrorists hand-to-hand and kicked their asses! I think you’re thinking of President Miss Cleo or President Harrison Ford. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/19 "2002-06-07T12:04:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > Or if it was Gore proposing the new “Homeland Defense” Cabinet office and the ensuing growth in government? (Of course, Al would have floated that balloon six months earlier, but that’s a different matter). > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stankow \* > What in the nine worlds gives you the slightest idea that Al Gore would have wanted to create a brand-new Cabinet department with no appreciable use (at the time) two months into his presidency? Proposals to elevate “Homeland Defense” to a cabinet position have been seriously floated only recently. June 2002 - six months = December 2001. Whether or not **rjung** ’s assertion that Al Gore would have proposed a new cabinet position at that time is, of course, debatable, but he’d have had no need for psychic powers at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788/20 "2002-06-07T15:35:36Z")
\ Oh my sacred cows are falling! The Wound! The Wound! Now pardon me, but I gotta go pack to move off to Texas, buy a gun, become a Fundie and give up my vegetarian commie pinko fag ways. I have truly seen the light! Dubya is NOT an international embarrassment. Nor is he an over promoted sack of crap! The scales have fallen from my eyes. Anyway, I am off to coat my car in flag decals and then wipe my ass with the Bill of Rights. On a less sarcastic note, you may have noticed that I have stated earlier that what I posted was biased. I think that it makes for interesting _speculation_. Now then, please fight my ignorance (those of you that seem to support Bush). Please explain how this is possible. Keep in mind that I am not saying that Gore would have not been (for lack of a better word and to keep the analogy consistent) evil, but I am stating that he would have been dramatically the lesser evil. Is it because Bush has labeled himself a Republican and (because the ideology of that political party is closer to yours) you feel compelled to support him until something better comes along? Do you consider Bush the lesser evil, and if so why? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-gore-have-done-september-11-mini-rant-long/112788.md?page=2)