Well, I don't think it's reasonable to suggest 9/11 wouldn't have happened. It was in planing for a long time, and recent Democratic administrations haven't been "acceptable" to these extremists either. 9/11 was about attacking Bush, it was about attacking America's history of foreign policy in the Middle East, with, I think, doses of intolerance to a tolerant society. Can you imagine what Osama thought of Clinton?!

I think that the 2000 election and subsequent events have done more to shape Gore's character than any other event in his adult life. He was always wishy-washy, but now he's speaking up and doing it loudly. Adversity does that to some folks, or maybe it's just that he has nothing else to lose. I think Gore wouild make a much better President now than he would have just 3 years ago.

But the French Revolution was inspired by the American Revolution.
But the American revolution was inspired by French philosophy. The French and the Americans share many basic ideals, and without each other I suspect we both would be very different countries today.