2001: A Timeline Of What Could Have Been

[givemebackmycountry]

Ever wonder how the last six-odd years might have gone, had all the votes been counted in 2000?



I'd like to think that they might have gone something like this…

December 1, 2000: After a night on the town and too much lobster in champagne sauce, Sandra Day O'Connor has a horrifically vivid dream of how the ascension of George W. Bush to the Oval Office would mean the destruction of the American economy, the senseless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, the loss of American prestige both at home and abroad, and — worst of all — the utter dissolution of her beloved Republican Party as, upon being deserted by even the corporate media, it suffers a series of definitive electoral ass-kickings in 2006, 2008, and 2010 before giving up the ghost. She goes on to provide the swing vote that allows the Florida count to continue, thus guaranteeing that Al Gore's election is confirmed. Media pundits attack O'Connor so viciously that she decides to retire three weeks later.

January 20, 2001: Albert Arnold Gore, Jr., is sworn in as the forty-third President of the United States of America. His election is widely condemned in the press as illegitimate despite his solid majorities in both the popular and electoral votes, and despite his high approval ratings.

January - February, 2001: Not wanting to waste time trying to get his nominees past a hostile Republican Congress, and not feeling the need for much housecleaning in any event, Gore leaves in place his cabinet, as well as the entire national security team he inherited from the previous administration. He also continues the submarine watch that his predecessor Bill Clinton had set to electronically monitor the terrorist activities of Osama bin Laden and his group Al-Qaeda in their base in Afghanistan.

Even though Al-Qaeda has been linked to the failed 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, most media outlets choose to ignore this fact, preferring to refer to bin Laden merely as a "Saudi Arabian financier". Media pundits mock Gore for what they as his paranoiac "wag the dog" efforts to distract attention from various alleged scandals from his tenure as Vice President.

February through April, 2001: The members of the Republican Congress, with the US corporate media backing them up, start a barrage of conservative legislation — tax cuts for the rich, gutting environmental laws, et cetera — that they plan to browbeat Gore into signing. President Gore vetoes each bill and the vetoes are sustained. He is called "obstructionist" by Tucker Carlson, Robert Novak, and the spokespersons of the Heritage Foundation, the Club for Growth, and the American Nazi Party.




Read the rest here: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/03/31/2001-a-timeline-of-what-could-have-been/

[Erika]

1. President Gore would care for the environment and peace

The GOP would screech into the belfry's.

[millsaps28]

2. Actually Gore would have had a Democratic Senate

Gore would have had a Democratic Senate because when the new congress started on January 3rd 2001 the Democrats were technically in control of the Senate because it was 50-50 split with Gore holding the tie-breaker as Vice President. If Gore had been certified the winner of the 2000 election, the Dems would have kept control because Lieberman would have assumed the VP spot as tie-breaker.

[adadem]

3. I have always believed

9/11 could have been prevented if Gore were President because of the report he did in 97. I KNOW he would not have ignored the warnings in the daily briefings and the airlines, airports & screeners would have been put on alert.

I can't stop thinking about how different the world would be today and how many lives have been unnecessarily lost. This entire administration and it's cohorts have blood dripping from their hands.

[trof]

4. if only

great read

[0xDEADBEEF]

5. 2001: A Timeline Of What Could Have Been

I like to think that Al Gore, who is not a friend of the Bin Laden family, would have had Osama Killed. "Screw the law, he's a terrorist. Go get him!"

I am truly disappointed that none of the Democratic candidates are talking about Bin Laden. I'm just waiting to hear one of them say that Iraq is not *their* Daddy's war, so we're going to concentrate on Bin Laden. I'd like to see a president who will walk into the Pentagon, ask for a show of hands of who was in the building on 9/11/2001, and ask *them* to lead an "Wrath of God"-style operation.

I will vote, both in the Democratic Primary, as well as the general election, for the candidate who truly promises to avenge 9/11.