If I see one more headline like this
Foes warned off testing Obama I think I'll scream. I am sick of the fear-mongering of how all of America's enemies (both foreign and domestic) will attempt to test Obama soon after he is inaugurated in January. Really? A president will get tested after he takes office? You mean something horrific might take place, say, nine months after a president takes office? Hmmm, where have I heard of something like that happening before? The news media hasn't specifically pointed to such a thing before (unless you count them talking about Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs). Nope, where would they get the idea that terrorists might take advantage of a new president by doing something, hmm, what, what might they do? Oh, I don't know, fly planes into buildings or something? Nah, that couldn't happen. And, if it did, it certainly wouldn't be evidence that the nation's enemies are TESTING the new president months after taking office. Or is my math wrong? Let's see, the presidential elections are held every four years with the inauguration taking place the following January. We just had an election in 2008 which means we had one in 2004 and in 2000. Okay, that means inaugurations were held in 2005 and 2001. What major events happened in 2005 & 2001? Well, let's just list them out (just the ones that affect the US directly, we won't bother about car bombs in Madrid or political assassinations in other countries, we're Americans we don't care about that crap).
Oh, and I've decided to include natural disasters in this list based on the Religious Right's belief that God is punishing us for our bad behavior. (NOTE to the RR: Once you make a point, you have to deal with the fact that it can be used on both sides.)
2001January 20 - George W. Bush succeeds Bill Clinton; becoming the 43rd President of the United States.
February 16 - Iraq disarmament crisis: British and U.S. forces carry out bombing raids, attempting to disable Iraq's air defense network.
April 1 - U.S.-China Spy Plane Incident: A Chinese fighter jet bumps into a U.S. EP-3E surveillance aircraft which is forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan, China. The U.S. crew is detained for 10 days and the F-8 Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, goes missing and is presumed dead.
July 16 - The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation sign the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. (I included this because it's just creepy to think about.)
September 11 - Almost 3,000 are killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City, American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 crashes into a grassland in Pennsylvania.
September 18 - The 2001 anthrax attacks commence as letters containing anthrax spores are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey to ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post, and the National Enquirer.
October 4 - Federal officials announce the first anthrax attack in the U.S.
October 7 - The United States invades Afghanistan, with participation from other nations participating in Operation Enduring Freedom.
October 9 - The 2001 anthrax attacks continue as contaminated letters are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey, to U.S. Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
October 26 - U.S. president George W. Bush signs the USA PATRIOT Act into law.
November 13 - In the first such act since World War II, U.S. President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against any foreigners suspected of having connections to terrorist acts or planned acts against the United States.
December 13 - U.S. President George W. Bush announces the United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
December 22 - A Paris-Miami, Florida flight is diverted to Boston, Massachusetts after passenger Richard Reid attempts to set his shoe, filled with explosives, on fire.
2005January 20 - George W. Bush is inaugurated in Washington, D.C. for his second term as the 43rd President of the United States.
February 16 - The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, without the support of the United States and Australia.
May 10 - A hand grenade ostensibly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 100 feet (30 m) from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate.
August 29 - At least 1,836 are killed, and severe damage is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes coastal areas from Louisiana to Alabama, and travels up the entire state of Mississippi (flooding coast 31 feet/10 m), affecting most of eastern North America.
September 1 - Oil prices rise sharply following the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.
September 24 - Hurricane Rita hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, devastating areas near Beaumont, TX and Lake Charles, LA. The New Orleans's 9th Ward re-floods since Katrina, and Mississippi and Alabama are also affected.
September 24 - Worldwide protests occur against the Iraq War, with over 150,000 protestors in Washington DC. See Opposition to the Iraq War.
October 26 - The U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000.
December 1 - South Africa becomes the 5th country in the world where same-sex marriages are recognized. (I've included this since it seems ridiculous to me that South Africa, once the worst of the worst in terms of human rights, is now more progressive than the US in this regard.)
In this list I've also included Bush's response to the events as well as the world (and economic) responses to the events. I figure it's only fair to see the results of the "tests" as well as the tests themselves.
How'd our last President do? In response to major crises Bush effectively reduced our civil liberties, failed to properly protect the citizens under his charge, broke away from other nations who were previously our allies, caused our former enemies (and potential future enemies) to team up together, and maybe even caused nations who were once thought "beneath" the status of the US to rise up a few notches in the eyes of the world (the result, of course, being that the US has gone down quite a few notches.)
And how will Obama be tested? That remains to be seen. I can assure you, however, that assuming he doesn't decide to declare himself messiah and enslave the US population, Obama can only improve the situation that Bush has either created or allowed to fester over the last eight years. I have only one request of the media and the politicians: Please stop peddling fear to the sheeple of this once great nation. Yes, Obama will be tested, but you know what? So will you. The American People are getting a little tired of hearing doom and gloom every day. We are feeling the downturn of the economy sharply enough without having to also worry about terrorist attacks that might happen. And shame on you defense secretary Gates for issuing what appears to be a challenge to terrorists to 'just see what will happen if you try something'. Did Bush put you up to that? (And by Bush, of course, I mean Cheney.)
It will be an interesting 2009. Of that I am certain. Let's all start building our bomb shelters now, to avoid the post-inaugural rush. Even if no terrorist attack occurs, we can always live in the bomb shelters when the bank forecloses on our houses. (See, there's always a silver lining. Or is that the lead-lined sheetrock of our new bomb shelters? It's difficult to tell.)
