Greetings, Harry
I
tried alaculating the costs incurred by the US in response to Sept 11, and had a
hard time. Many of the costs are being passed on to the states and localities,
and to companies the their customers. I hope somebody writes a book about it
someday. And I wasn't even trying to calculate the costs of lost time, or
the emotional costs of our own response.
I do
disagrree in part with your assessment of Bush: he went, as you say, from a
skilled negotiator to mythic crusader, and in the process lost those listening
and negotiating skills. His final decisoon against extraditing bin Laden was
when the shift took place. The impacts of this (IMO poor) decision were
monumental.
Lawry
(that's with a "w" <smile> )
Harry: The US is so rich, so powerful, has so many resources that we can do anything. Another $100 billion here, $50 billion there - we can spend any amount because we have it. Just think of how much the 911 terror has cost us since the event. I notice that they are stopping fighter protection now, because it's costing so much.
But, so did everything else cost a lot. From putting the National Guard at airports (what a potty idea) - to buying friendship around the world, the dollars are spewing out like a Las Vegas winning slot machine.
snipThe thing I most admired about George W. Bush was his ability to get along. He was a negotiator who would successfully go for the win-win result. He did it in Texas and he's doing it now in Washington.
However, a tax-spending Congress along with a tax spending President is likely to luge us into real financial trouble - as if we weren't already on the downhill.
George had to stop the nonsense and get his veto warmed up an ready to go.
However, he is President and Presidents like nothing better than to be loved. Would he be able to do the right things even though his popularity polls started showing 'teens?
