Just wondering what could have been

I do this a lot.  I spend time wondering how things would be different if things had or hadn't happened in the past.  Lately, I have been thinking about the George W. Bush presidency and what this country/world would look like if we had never suffered a nine-eleven.

Just think a minute about two of Bush's big initiatives before: Reform of our national education system through the No Child Left Behind and the commitment to the eradication of TB, Malaria, and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.  I mean, these were really admirable goals, goals that most Americans would support regardless of their political preferences.  Plans that got swept aside on Sep 12.  Sometimes we all forget that Bush took office in Jan of 2001 just 8 months before the attacks.

Now think about all that now divides us, things which come from those attacks and how the administration and congress responded.  Think of the countless number of lives cut short by the wars.  Or how our nation could better spend the trillion + dollars that the war on terror costs.  What about all the rights we have lost, maybe forever?  Would we even be having all this immigration tension? or would there be proposals for national ID cards or predator drones on American soil?

It's not that I or anyone knows how it would have been different, but we have to ask the questions.  Probably the saddest thing about it all is trying to explain to my youngest brother how things used to be different.  I just hope my generation doesn't forget.

Thanks for the read.