Reply #181: There are too many variables to answer your question. [View All]

"Maybe I should frame the hypothetical question a little more clearly: if one knew in 2000 that the U.S. would adopt an official policy of torture in the next 8 years, would it have been worth fighting a civil war to stop it? I can see arguments either way on this."

1. Is the United States capable of ending that official policy of torture without fighting a civil war and how long would that take?

2. Would a civil war create or foster far greater evils, ie: even more torture and/or genocide?

3. Who would win a civil war, the good guys or the bad guys?

4. Would a nation of even greater evil capability rise to global supremacy if the United States were weakened by civil war?

In 2000 I don't believe Al Gore believed Cheney/Bush would go to the extremes in which they did of promoting torture but he knew full well the dangers of civil war.

I also believe Gore believed that in spite of the injustice of the 2000 selection our democratic republic was capable of correcting itself, he still had faith in the American People and our institutions eventually doing the right thing.