One Last 9/11 Thought

I have long wondered whether it was a good or bad thing that Bush was President on 9/11.  Sure, he was an incredibly crappy president who got the US stuck in a war in Iraq, which ultimately made it harder to succeed in Afghanistan.  But I wondered what the Republicans would have done with a Democrat in the White House.  Would they have rallied around the flag, and supported Gore if he had only focused on Afghanistan and not Iraq?  Would they have tried to impeach him for failing to protect the US? 

I ponder this because the past two years has indicated to me, anyway, that the current GOP is much more interested in seeing Obama fail, even if it means that the US is diminished in the process.  Would the GOP have been so bitter back then as they are now? 

So, the question is whether the reality of Bush is better or worse than the hypothetical situation of a divided country in the aftermath of 9/11?