-Al Gore was the Democratic candidate for president
-George W. Bush, Jr. was the Repubican candidate for president
-During the election Bush accused Gore of appealing to "class warfare"
-The Bush campaign raised $220 million while Gore's campaign raised $170 million
-Neither candidate had plans for free national health care, for extensive low-cost housing, or for dramatic changes in environmental controls
-Both candidates supported the death penalty and the growth of prisons
-They also favored large military establishment, the continued use of land mines, and the use of sanctions against the people of Cuba and Iraq
-Ralph Nader was the third-party candidate
-Nader's program emphasized health care, education, and the environment
-Nader was shut out of the nationally televised debates and could not raise enough money without the support of big businesses
-Gore won the popular vote
-Bush won the electoral vote after a very close election
-Voting came down to the state of Florida, whoever won Florida would win the election
-There was great controversy over votes being counted or not counted for that matter
-Bush had an edge in Florida with his brother Jeb Buh being governor and a republican Kathering Harris as the secretary of state
-A partial recounting occured leaving Bush ahead
-Although asked not to certify a winner due to a large number of disputed ballots, Harris declared Bush the winner
-The case was taken to the U.S Supreme Court
-Bush remained the winner
-When Bush took office he began taking action immediately
-tax cuts for the wealthy, opposed environmental regulations that would cost money for the business interest, and planned to "privatize" Social Security
-September 11, 2001
-Hijackers (19 men from the Middle East) flew three planes into the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C
-Bush declares a "war on terrorism"
-Bush declares for the apprehension of Osama bin Laden
-historical evidence that shows force would not defeat terrorism:
-British reacted to terrorist acts by the Irish Republican Army with military only to face more terrorism; Isrealis responded to Palestinian terrorism with military strikes which resulted in more Palestinian bombings; Clinton after the attack on the U.S embassies in Tanzania and Kenya bombed Afghanistan and the Sudan (September 11, shows this had not stopped terrorism)
-Pentagon claimed they were only bombing "military targets" but 1,000-4,000 Afghan civilians were killed by the bombing
-Zinn feels the U.S was acting in revenge; killing innocent people for the innocent Americans who had lost their lives
-American public was supportive of Bush's "war on terrorism"
-U.S bombed the largest television station in the Middle East and showed photos of the bombing
-"USA Patriot Act": gave the Department of Justice the power to detain noncitizens on suspicion and the Secretary of State could designate any group as "Terrorist"
-Zinn says the money used for the military and policies going on in Iraq would be better used to improve living conditions for Americans and people in other parts of the world.
-Zinn quotes Robert Bowman who says if we sent people to the Middle East to rebuild infrastructure, supply clean water, and feed starving children, rather then kill Arabs to get oil, other countries would not hate us.
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