Wednesday, January 21, 2009

If I Could Turn Back Time

I've had a couple of different things floating around in my head that I wanted to talk about but can never recall them when I actually get to a computer, plus, everything I keep considering writing about is all negative and depressing. 

So, I decided to pose a question that came up this afternoon while chatting with the Queen... What do you think George W. Bush's presidency would have been like if we could turn back time and had not had the terrorist attack on 9/11? 

And in this same time-themed post, have any of you watched the Discovery Channel show Time Warp? I would recommend it if you have a chance. It is a really wacky show where these guys film all sorts of things in slow motion and then reply them back to see how things work. If any of you have little (or big) boys out there this might be really fun to watch. 

Just a little recommendation and thought-provoking question from your friendly ABBA

8 comments:

Paula said...

Honestly, I dont think his presidency would have been vastly different. I think Katrina would've still been botched, and he still would've gone to war with Iraq. So really, the only diff would be that we wouldn't be "at war" in Aphganistan too.

Queen B said...

First, I am SHOCKED that ABBA has opened this topic up :) Are you sure you don't want to delete the post? It might get uglier than Cher in a body stocking :)

I have to disagree with Paula. I think his presidency would have been vastly different. I am definitely not going to start out saying that he would have been the best Prez ever, or even in the top tier. But I definitely don't think he'd be at the bottom, which I think is where all would agree he finds himself.

I say this for a few reasons...#1 because I do not believe we would have entered into war. I know there are those who will say that the whole Iraq war was revenge for Bush Sr. or whatever, but hopefully everyone remembers that Congress agreed to the war. There is no way Congress agrees without the premise of "war on terror." I just don't see it happening. And I think that Bush found himself stuck in this terrible war. He definitely had some problems with the people he chose as his supporting cast, too.

Anyways...I say I don't think he would be at the bottom because he had a good reputation in Texas when he was governor of being bipartisan and doing what was good for the people. I think he could/would have continued that on in Washington.

It really is hard to imagine life at all without 9/11 having happened.

Sam said...

I opened up this post last night late , saw the topic and was shocked too:-) but then ABBA and I had a conversation yesterday regarding how upset she was by the fact that some people booed Bush at the inauguration so I have a feeling the "Bush presidency" was on her mind. Although I do not condone the behavior and would not have acted that way either, i also can understand it given the last eight years. Thus, no an annoyance during the inauguration proceedings, by no way did it ruin it for me ( I was just too happy!)nor did I am sure upset anyone in another country. Probably made them feel closer to us:-) as indicated by my conversations via email with friends in europe. However,I had issues with Bush long before 9/11:-) as anyone who knows me well would not be surprised by:-) Whatever good will we had in the world immediately after 9/111 was squandered by Bush and his cronies. Don't even get me started on Cheney or the shameful fact of GITMO. But then my legal background makes me cringe at the thought of no due process. Even if 9/11 had not occurred, I would bet that his adminsistration given the players he had on his team would have still botched things up. Point given by Paula to the example of Katrina. And there is the example of the disgraceful behavior of the attorney general and actions taken against judges who did not toe the line. As a friend said on facebook yesterday... thank god texas has him back. I hope for texas's sake that he just retires quietly to his ranch. jmho.

Andrea said...

Agent Dragonfly - FINALLY!! Somebody else hears Cher in their head!!!

That is all I really, really wanted... somebody else to acknowledge Cher!! (Besides The Queen and she referred to it only because I brought that up to her!)

Ruth Anne said...

The war was one of the most splitting items in his presidency. Either you were for it or against it.

Andrea said...

I think given Bush's reputation for bipartisanship as governor, he definitely would have had a different presidency. Although I disagree with some of the decisions he made, I think that history will look much more kindly on his presidency than current popular opinion shows.

As far as Katrina... I would almost guarantee that if it had happened under Clinton, Obama, etc the outcome would have been EXACTLY the same. I lived in New Orleans for almost six years and the problems encountered were from the bottom up.

I, too was distressed at the booing at the inauguration. Although I did not vote for Obama, I am excited that our country has passed this milestone. And for our country's sake, I hope he does a fantastic job. And if not, thanks to our democracy, the people will speak and put someone else in for the job.

Wow, this is the longest comment I have ever posted! (But not as long as Queen B's!)

Kim Thomas said...

I agree with Andrea and Queen B's comments entirely.

I also think that Clinton, Obama or anybody else would have invaded IRAQ given the intelligence we received.

Jane said...

I am in awe at the length of the responses.

9/11 changed us all, Bush included. He became an order taker instead of having the opportunity to become a visionary