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I Was Wrong About Bush
OpinionJournal.com ^ | 09/25/2001 | Gerald Posner

Posted on 09/24/2001 9:18:38 PM PDT by Fury

Edited on 04/23/2004 12:03:33 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

What a difference 10 months make. Last November I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers when I got embroiled in the controversy over the presidential election and publicly supported Al Gore.

It was not just with friends that I passionately argued the election had been stolen and that Mr. Gore would be the better president. I was one of the signatories to the pompously titled "Emergency Committee of Concerned Citizens 2000," which took full-page ads in the New York Times demanding a revote in Palm Beach County, Fla. I wrote op-eds for Salon.com and the New York Daily News. On television talk shows from MSNBC to Fox News's popular "The O'Reilly Factor," I made the case for Mr. Gore. In thousands of e-mails, I urged voters to deluge Clay Roberts, director of Florida's Division of Elections, with appeals for a recount.


(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
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To: foreshadowed at waco, n.y.muggs, ken5050, OneidaM, Black Agnes, Doctor Raoul, ponz7, kattracks
ping
101 posted on 09/24/2001 10:26:16 PM PDT by nutmeg
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To: Fury
Maybe it's stuff like this that made the hostile hag and harridan Hitlery roll all three of her eyes in disgust during Bush's speech?
102 posted on 09/24/2001 10:29:05 PM PDT by wayne_shrugged
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To: nutmeg
Now only if CNN got with the program !
103 posted on 09/24/2001 10:29:17 PM PDT by america-rules
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Oh and don't call him Shirley.
104 posted on 09/24/2001 10:29:20 PM PDT by Bullish
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
I invited him:
Mr. Posner, we would be pleased if you would join us on freerepublic.com. Lurk for a while if you wish, but we feel that your joining would be mutually beneficial.
105 posted on 09/24/2001 10:30:19 PM PDT by Octar
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To: Fury
A leftie with character?
106 posted on 09/24/2001 10:33:06 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: america-rules
In the long run you'll be very glad that you didn't retire just before 11 September. One of my first thoughts on hearing the news was, "I wish I was still in the navy, so I could be doing something constructive."

At least I can still get back into the reserves. Paperwork should be complete by the end fo the week :)

107 posted on 09/24/2001 10:33:50 PM PDT by Britton J Wingfield
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Comment #108 Removed by Moderator

To: LADY J
Well said, Lady J, I don't trust sudden conversions unless they are followed thru.
109 posted on 09/24/2001 10:41:07 PM PDT by poet
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To: KC_Conspirator
Emerson
110 posted on 09/24/2001 10:41:09 PM PDT by Old Professer
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To: Britton J Wingfield
Good for you. I'm stuck watching the news because I'm too close to retirement and my job doesn't require deployment at this time. I had 18 years as a fire fighter as well and my gut gets kicked several times per day as I watch what is going on in NY. I still am a NY resident and next to the WTC attack hearing the Hildabeast won the senate seat was the second worst day I have had in a long time.
111 posted on 09/24/2001 10:44:21 PM PDT by america-rules
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To: KC_Conspirator
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do." --Ralph Waldo Emerson _Essays_ (1841) "Self Reliance"

A questionable premise, IMHO, but it was definitely Emerson. Consistency is only a problem if you're wrong to begin with.

112 posted on 09/24/2001 10:45:30 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
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To: KC_Conspirator
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do." --Ralph Waldo Emerson _Essays_ (1841) "Self Reliance"

A questionable premise, IMHO, but it was definitely Emerson. Consistency is only a problem if you're wrong to begin with.

113 posted on 09/24/2001 10:45:32 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
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To: okie01
"Someone should ping this to every patsie and libertarian."

You're kidding. Right?

They would only take Posner's epiphany as proof they were right...",

Actually, from personal experience Posner isn't the only former liberal Democrat who is eating his words. Just tonite we got off the phone with my lesbian/liberal/pro-abortion/pro-big government/new age-y SIL. She couldn't stop talking about how impressed she was with President Bush. She went on and on about how his speech made her "feel". Typical liberal, but at least she is seeing the light. Just wish she'd see the light on other matters as well.

114 posted on 09/24/2001 10:48:56 PM PDT by ChocChipCookie
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To: america-rules
Now only if CNN got with the program !

Yup, and ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC...

I'll really fall over when ultra-libs like Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin or Babs Streisand write an article like this! (I won't hold my breath over THAT one!)

115 posted on 09/24/2001 10:49:42 PM PDT by nutmeg
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To: Fury
What a difference 10 months make. Last November I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers when I got embroiled in the controversy over the presidential election and publicly supported Al Gore.

Big shock. This unwritten rule has been broken repeatedly for the past 40 years by 90 percent of the journalists out there.

116 posted on 09/24/2001 10:55:42 PM PDT by lowbridge
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To: moodyskeptic
I'm w/you, Moody. You said better than I ever could.
117 posted on 09/24/2001 11:01:21 PM PDT by Endeavor
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To: america-rules
Thanks for serving our country. I hope we have a strong military - and I surely hope our citizens have the resolve to support our wonderful country, no matter how long this war goes on.
118 posted on 09/24/2001 11:02:36 PM PDT by Gracey
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To: KC_Conspirator
Consistantcy is the hobgoblin of little minds. (Either Franklin, Thoreau or Emerson - can't remember which).

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson--1841

The word "foolish" is often left out, but without it, the entire meaning is changed.

119 posted on 09/24/2001 11:03:05 PM PDT by Excuse_Me
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To: KC_Conspirator
KC, the United States has been unusually blessed (excepting Wilson and LBJ) to somehow place the right individual in the Oval Office at crucial times in our history. Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan and now W. In times of peace and prosperity, we can afford jackasses and lesser lights like John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, Pierce, Grant, Cleveland, Taft, Harding, Ford, Carter, Clinton and the rest. The character and leadership of the individual holding the Executive Office is largely irrelevant in those times. As the British scholar James Bryce wrote in 1888, after observing the wisdom and beauty of the American political framework:

"Great men are not chosen president, firstly, because great men are rare in politics; secondly, because the method of choice does not bring them to the top; thirdly, because they are not, in quiet times, absolutely necessary."

The logical corollary to Bryce's observation is that in times of strife and trouble ... great men are absolutely necessary. IMO, George W. Bush is the perfect person to wage this war for the survival of our little American experiment. This campaign, this vital ongoing mission, will require methodical planning and execution; comprehensive detail to relentless political, economic and military engagements; the management of continually shifting diplomatic alliances; and the dedication, experience and talent of a wise, courageous and righteous leadership team that garners the complete trust of the American people. Bush. Powell. Cheney. Rumsfeld. Rice. Ridge. Ashcroft. Chertoff. George W. Bush is the only statesman on the American scene who can put a war team like this together, and have a chance to ensure that America emerges victorious from this mortal threat to our social and political foundation. I trust THIS group to wage an international AND DOMESTIC war for our political survival with the greatest honor and respect for the sanctity of our individual liberties.

The usual myopic simpletons here will continue to hysterically hyperbolize and rail against proposed domestic security measures that may be necessary to ensure our ongoing survival. If a National I.D. card will serve to ferret out illegal interlopers living among us and dedicated to our destruction - then let's do it. I need an ID card to get into Sam's Club for God's sake. A Cabinet Department dedicated to "Homeland Security" ... it's about damned time. As usual from these folks, the vitriol and angst is directed at Bush for what they envision he will do, not for what he proposes. There is a difference between our necessary vigilence to protect our Constitutional rights - and the unfounded paranoia that paralyzes one from acting to ensure one's survival.

120 posted on 09/24/2001 11:06:17 PM PDT by ArneFufkin
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