That’s bullshit. If you’re going to start arguing that Bush has some magical, perfect record when it comes to preventing terrorism, how can you justify leaving out 9-11 when considering that record?

I’ll try to explain this, where others have failed. By your own admission, Bush’s policies changed after 9/11. The claim was that there have been no terrorist attacks on US soil since the policies changed. Do you understand the meaning?

he apparently totally ignored a warning about Osama in a PDB a month before the attack

You’ve been called on this bit of nonsense before, so I’ll put it plainly: go find the PDB you mention, show us the exact wording of the warning, and tell us how it was actionable. Further, go find other PDBs from 2000, and see whether they say anything about OBL.

These ‘measures’ you mention are unaccountable, irresponsible, and blatant invasions of Americans’ privacy

Let’s see…Bush is at fault for not taking measures before 9/11, and he’s at fault for taking measures after 9/11. Anyone else see the logic here?

We’ve all heard the caterwauling from the likes of you over the semi-tough measures the Administration took after 9/11. I shudder to think how much louder and more obnoxious the screeching would have been if it had taken a similar approach before 9/11, even if it had had actionable intelligence at the time – which it didn’t, courtesy of the administration that was in power during most of the planning.

Can you point to anything that George Bush did about terrorism in his first nine months in office? Did he initiate any policies or appoint any specialists? Did he give any speeches or hold any press conferences on the topic? Or did he spend all summer golfing?

If there really is a ‘blame the previous administration’ window for new Presidents, how long is it open for? Nine months seems awfully generous, why hadn’t Bush’s anti-terrorism team hit the ground running at that point if Clinton’s had been so piss-poor?

These ‘measures’ you mention are unaccountable, irresponsible, and blatant invasions of Americans’ privacy, by the way, something conservatives at one time purported to oppose but have since discarded in the name of Bush, just like fiscal responsibility and the idea of small government. I thought conservatives were the ones that inherently mistrusted the government? You have enough confidence in George Bush to put that mistrust aside?

Speaks to your gullibility, I’d say.

Levi – What you are proving is that your reading skills suck. There is a five letter word “since” in the second line of the quote in your comment 53, reproduced here, which you ignore in your attempt to dishonestly restate the argument.

Why do you keep lying about the positions of others? Is it because your arguments are so weak on their own?

That’s bullshit. If you’re going to start arguing that Bush has some magical, perfect record when it comes to preventing terrorism, how can you justify leaving out 9-11 when considering that record? It’s all Clinton’s fault?

Bush didn’t hold a single Cabinet level meeting about terrorism in his first year in office, he apparently totally ignored a warning about Osama in a PDB a month before the attack, and in his first 9 months had taken more vacation time than any previous President in the same period (overall, he’s the most vacationed President we’ve ever had.) To put it mildly, he was asleep at the wheel.

Justify why he gets a pass for 9-11 if you’re going to defend such an assertion. Doesn’t seem very smart to afford Presidents such leeway. All Presidents get one free catastrophic terrorist attack? Is that what you’re saying?

9-11 happened on George Bush’s watch, didn’t it? Why exactly is 9-11 an exception? Explain that leap in reasoning, please.

We’ve all heard the caterwauling from the likes of you over the semi-tough measures the Administration took after 9/11. I shudder to think how much louder and more obnoxious the screeching would have been if it had taken a similar approach before 9/11, even if it had had actionable intelligence at the time – which it didn’t, courtesy of the administration that was in power during most of the planning.

Levi is just pissed that we hung the “fly-paper” in Baghdad, and not in Charleston, SC.

BDM!