03-13-2004, 06:00 PM
You'll note the President's "For us or against us" formulation is predated by 9/11 by quite some time, and a lot of very controversial actions...
Not at all. On 9/20/2001, President Bush made a speech to a special joint session of Congress that could probably be called the defining moment in his presidency thus far. In this speech, he revealed that the early indications suggested the Taliban was involved in the strike, and he layed how he would deal with the situation, from the local cleanup of New York to domestic policy to the global effort.
It was in this context that he said "And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." The full speech is archived here: http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript/
Everything about Bush that has been discussed in this thread revolves around this moment. This was not the agenda he brought to America during the 2000 campaign. It is the agenda he brought forth to a nation at war. If a leftist president had to face the same circumstances, the results would probably not be much different.
Not at all. On 9/20/2001, President Bush made a speech to a special joint session of Congress that could probably be called the defining moment in his presidency thus far. In this speech, he revealed that the early indications suggested the Taliban was involved in the strike, and he layed how he would deal with the situation, from the local cleanup of New York to domestic policy to the global effort.
It was in this context that he said "And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." The full speech is archived here: http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript/
Everything about Bush that has been discussed in this thread revolves around this moment. This was not the agenda he brought to America during the 2000 campaign. It is the agenda he brought forth to a nation at war. If a leftist president had to face the same circumstances, the results would probably not be much different.