Well since no one wants to guess the answer is

Two, eleven years and two pieces of legislation.

Despite all these shortcomings prior to being elected, the man is now president. I would say that pretty much renders your point, pointless.

Despite all these shortcomings prior to being elected, the man is now vice president. I would say that pretty much renders your point, pointless.

You do mean selected, right?


Flame shield : I'm just joking around.

__________________
I'd rather argue against a hundred idiots, than have one agree with me. — Winston Churchill

Waaah!!! George you started it. Now the nuts are gonna fall outta the trees!

Well, since he is not "Vice President for Life Dick Cheney" and coincidentely is running for office right now I would say his past is somewhat relevent. Especially when he has called into question his opponants congressional records.

But thanks for playing.

Since taking office, isn't VPODUS on his 4th or 5th press secretary? Must be a rough job fielding the press from a secure undisclosed location.

I really wish you dems could get past this "elected" vs " selected". In ALL the recounts by the various new media, NO RECOUNT EVER CAME OUT WITH GORE AS THE WINNER.
The whole court battle was started by democrats, in the corrupt Florida courts. And NO ONE KNOWS who actually won the popular vote because so many are not counted i.e. absentee votes ( which generally favor republicans) are not counted when they cannot affect the outcome. Besides our system is the electoral college is the vote that counts; not the popular vote. Get over it already. I am sick of your whinning!!

Agreed, the election has long been certified and over, move on. With that said, you'd have to agree that the new administration could hardly claim that it was armed with any mandate by the good citizens and that it was more a call for moderate action by the White House.

I thought we were talking about their "records" or is that pointless as weel. Perhaps we should just have a coronation.

Your accusation of corruption by the Florida Supreme Court is disrespectful and misinformed, but you are right about Bush being elected. Two of the foundational elements of our system are the electoral college and the U.S. Supreme Court as the final arbiter of federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court said that the Florida recounts violated federal law. So, unless someone can show us a picture of a gun being held to the Justices' heads, that is the end of the discussion. The most unfortunate thing about the court case called Bush v. Gore, aside from W becoming President, is that it is a blatantly political decision. Because the Supreme Court has the final say, our system relies on the integrity of the individual justices. Fortunately, it is rare for the justices to act in such a partisan political manner as they did in Bush v. Gore. They probably reached the correct legal result, but the concurring opinion written by Rehnquist is shameful in its reasoning. History will not treat that case well.

I hated that the Supreme's got involved. I think elections are a political process and the courts should stay out as much as possible. In that case, it was entirely possible.

The constitution has a plan in-place for contested elections and the constitution should have been allowed to work as designed rather than having the Supremes usurp a state prerogative.

It burns my undies that the Republicans wear the clothing of federalism except when it is inconvenient, then they toss them aside and pull on the suit of centralized power over states rights.

It was wrong and a shame.

Bot

Agreed. The part that seems really stupid about it is that the Supremes might have been able to let the Florida process perk along a while longer before pulling the rug. That way, I bet they could have gotten the Republican president they wanted without staining the Court's reputation. I think panic set in.

Speaking of partisan Supreme Court justices, why haven't a few of the Republicans on the Court retired during Bush's first term? Didn't it occur to them that his first term might be his last? I'll bet a couple of them thought that 9/11 guaranteed four more years for W. Now they might have Kerry nominating their replacements.

THEY DISQUALIFIED THE BALLOTS OF 50,000 BLACK PEOPLE AND NO ONE EVER WENT TO JAIL FOR IT.

All ballots are counted, its the law. Gore won by 500,000 votes. If Bush had been an ethical ,man, he would have bowed to the will of the people and withdrawn.

McCain condemns anti-Kerry ad
Calls on White House to follow suit
Thursday, August 5, 2004 Posted: 1:35 PM EDT (1735 GMT)
event in Columbus, Ohio.


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called an ad criticizing John Kerry's military service "dishonest and dishonorable" and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well.

"It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me," McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to his bitter Republican primary fight with President Bush.

The 60-second ad features Vietnam veterans who accuse the Democratic presidential nominee of lying about his decorated Vietnam War record and betraying his fellow veterans by later opposing the conflict.

"When the chips were down, you could not count on John Kerry," one of the veterans, Larry Thurlow, says in the ad.

Thurlow didn't serve on Kerry's swiftboat, but says he witnessed the events that led to Kerry winning a Bronze Star and the last of his three Purple Hearts.

Kerry's crewmates support the candidate and call him a hero.

The ad, scheduled to air in a few markets in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin, was produced by Stevens, Reed, Curcio and Potham, the same team that produced McCain's ads in 2000.

"I wish they hadn't done it," McCain said of his former advisers. "I don't know if they knew all the facts."

Asked if the White House knew about the ad or helped find financing for it, McCain said, "I hope not, but I don't know. But I think the Bush campaign should specifically condemn the ad." (Special Report: America Votes 2004)

Later, McCain said the Bush campaign has denied any involvement and added, "I can't believe the president would pull such a cheap stunt."

The White House and Bush-Cheney campaign did not address McCain's call that they repudiate the spot, though a Bush spokesman said the campaign does not question Kerry's highly decorated war service. McCain is co-chair of Bush's campaign in Arizona.

'Old wounds'
In 2000, Bush's supporters sponsored a rumor campaign against McCain in the South Carolina primary, helping Bush win the primary and the nomination. McCain's supporters have never forgiven the Bush team.

McCain said that's all in the past to him, but he's speaking out against the anti-Kerry ad because "it reopens all the old wounds of the Vietnam War, which I spent the last 35 years trying to heal."

"I deplore this kind of politics," McCain said. "I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is, none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded. Many of his crew have testified to his courage under fire. I think John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. I think George Bush served honorably in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War."

McCain himself spent more than five years in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp. A bona fide war hero, McCain, like Kerry, used his war record as the foundation of his presidential campaign.

The Kerry campaign has denounced the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, saying none of the men in the ad served on the boat that Kerry commanded. Three veterans on Kerry's boat that day -- Jim Rassmann, who says Kerry saved his life, Gene Thorson and Del Sandusky, the driver on Kerry's boat, said the group was lying on all fronts.

They say Kerry was injured, and Rassmann called the group's account "pure fabrication."

The leader of the group, retired Adm. Roy Hoffmann, said none of the 13 veterans in the commercial served on Kerry's boat but rather were in other swiftboats within 50 yards of Kerry's. The group claims that there was no gunfire on the day Kerry pulled Rassmann from a muddy river in the Mekong Delta and that Kerry's arm was not wounded, as he has claimed.

"What we have is a fabrication that led to Kerry getting his Bronze Star and his last Purple Heart," said Thurlow, who said he commanded a swiftboat near Kerry's.