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teddywolfI felt a need to do a month-by-month recounting of George W Bush's administration. While not intended to be comprehensive it is meant to show trends. This may get long, so it is cut for length.
January 2001 - GWB is sworn into office. Administration officials accuse departed Clinton administration of vandalizing the White House and offices before leaving. Accusations are reported as straight news. The fact that there was no such vandalism got very little press. He immediately reinstates the gag order regarding health providers getting Federal funds for family planning.
February 2001 - GWB states that the Star Wars missile defense program, which has never had a successful test run using anything remotely like real-time conditions, is important to the defense of the United States. He makes a speech to a joint session of Congress, outlining how education was his top priority. His speech even sounds reasonable in many places: more money for education, cutting the military, cutting waste, reducing foreign energy dependence, reducing pollution.
Bush cabinet members start discussing how to go after Saddam Hussein.
March 2001 - GWB pulls the USA out of the Kyoto treaty on global warming, claiming more study needed to be done. He offered an alternative plan that would reduce emissions, but only on a voluntary basis and only by a sixth of what Kyoto called for.
April 2001 - GWB states opposition to cloning of humans for any purpose, including medical research. Commonly stated premise is 'culture of life'.
May 2001 - GWB's Administration puts pressure to bear on Senator Jim Jeffords to conform to the Republican party line. Jeffords decides enough is enough and goes independent, changing the Senate from evenly split to very narrowly Democratic.
June 2001 - GWB signs a new tax bill into effect. Included in the bill are refunds to most income tax-paying Americans, a part of the bill he initially rejected when proffered by Congressional Democrats. Bush takes credit for that part of the bill.
July 2001 - Administration officials (Rice and Powell) declare that Saddam Hussein is a limited threat with little in conventional forces and no WMDs.
August 2001 - GWB mostly on vacation on ranch in Texas. As part of daily briefing on the 6th, gets memo entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States." Does not fly back to Washington.
September 2001 - On Sep 10, Administration proposes cutting counterterrorism budget, putting their money where their mouth is in showing how commited they are to counterterrorism. The day after, President Bush, after being informed that there was the first major attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor, decided that it was more important for those first several minutes to spend time with school children at a photo op than making apologies and working to control the situation. For whatever reason, the usual Air Force jets which should have been in the air in under ten minutes took over 40.
After the attacks, worldwide sympathy and sentiment was with the US. A resolution was introduced to Congress to declare War on Terror; said resolution passed with only a single opposing vote in one house.
Fifteen of the attackers were from Saudi Arabia. None were from Iraq.
January 2001 - GWB is sworn into office. Administration officials accuse departed Clinton administration of vandalizing the White House and offices before leaving. Accusations are reported as straight news. The fact that there was no such vandalism got very little press. He immediately reinstates the gag order regarding health providers getting Federal funds for family planning.
February 2001 - GWB states that the Star Wars missile defense program, which has never had a successful test run using anything remotely like real-time conditions, is important to the defense of the United States. He makes a speech to a joint session of Congress, outlining how education was his top priority. His speech even sounds reasonable in many places: more money for education, cutting the military, cutting waste, reducing foreign energy dependence, reducing pollution.
Bush cabinet members start discussing how to go after Saddam Hussein.
March 2001 - GWB pulls the USA out of the Kyoto treaty on global warming, claiming more study needed to be done. He offered an alternative plan that would reduce emissions, but only on a voluntary basis and only by a sixth of what Kyoto called for.
April 2001 - GWB states opposition to cloning of humans for any purpose, including medical research. Commonly stated premise is 'culture of life'.
May 2001 - GWB's Administration puts pressure to bear on Senator Jim Jeffords to conform to the Republican party line. Jeffords decides enough is enough and goes independent, changing the Senate from evenly split to very narrowly Democratic.
June 2001 - GWB signs a new tax bill into effect. Included in the bill are refunds to most income tax-paying Americans, a part of the bill he initially rejected when proffered by Congressional Democrats. Bush takes credit for that part of the bill.
July 2001 - Administration officials (Rice and Powell) declare that Saddam Hussein is a limited threat with little in conventional forces and no WMDs.
August 2001 - GWB mostly on vacation on ranch in Texas. As part of daily briefing on the 6th, gets memo entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States." Does not fly back to Washington.
September 2001 - On Sep 10, Administration proposes cutting counterterrorism budget, putting their money where their mouth is in showing how commited they are to counterterrorism. The day after, President Bush, after being informed that there was the first major attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor, decided that it was more important for those first several minutes to spend time with school children at a photo op than making apologies and working to control the situation. For whatever reason, the usual Air Force jets which should have been in the air in under ten minutes took over 40.
After the attacks, worldwide sympathy and sentiment was with the US. A resolution was introduced to Congress to declare War on Terror; said resolution passed with only a single opposing vote in one house.
Fifteen of the attackers were from Saudi Arabia. None were from Iraq.
