Bush has done nothing so far to deter the next attack; he's made it more likely. But expecting him to deter the next attack also makes it more likely: sitting back and expecting someone else to be your daddy is as good as painting a target on your back. Protecting freedom is everyone's job.
Respectfully, you're getting caught up in your rhetoric, sir. Bush has done
nothing to deter the next attack?
NOTHING. He hasn't increased our border security, so it's as easy as ever for terrorists to get into the country. He hasn't done anything to harden targets inside the US, such as water facilities, power plants, etc. He has made airlines
less safe by federalizing airport security: it's already legendary how abysmal the TSA is at detecting simulated weapons and explosives (or, just hypothetically mind you, my pocket knife). He hasn't promoted the two things that
would help--namely, a free market in security and an armed populace. And finally, the
federal government itself has stated that Al Qaeda's operational capacity is roughly as great as it was on 9/11.
HE HAS DONE NOTHING to prevent another attack inside our borders.
Overthrowing the Taliban didn't make any difference; Bin Ladin and pals had to move, but they're still out there and operational. Invading Iraq didn't help; Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11
OR Al Qaeda. The organization "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is a completely distinct organization, that didn't even exist prior to 9/11. The radicals are still radical, but many more muslims hate us much more than before.
In every way conceivable, Bush has made things worse instead of better.
So no, it wasn't a slip of the tongue, and I wasn't carried away. I meant exactly what I said.
--Len.