AL GORE WEIGHS IN

Al Gore says the war in Iraq is the biggest mistake in the history of the United States. As usual, Al Gore is wrong. Aside from the Clinton/Gore Administration, there have been many, many much worse mistakes in the history of this country. Let's take a look at a few, shall we?

But first, here is what Gore said: the war in Iraq is "the worst strategic mistake in the entire history of the United States." The entire history? Entire? I thought man's creation of global warming was a huge mistake? What about that, Al? At any rate..here's a few mistakes that rate just a bit higher than the war in Iraq:

1. The Vietnam War. Spanning decades and several administrations, the war in Vietnam was a much worse disaster than the war in Iraq could ever be. Almost 60,000 American dead in vain....after which we wound up pulling the plug, handing the whole thing over to the enemy and walking away.
   
2. The Yalta Conference. The United States, led by Franklin Roosevelt, gave much of Eastern Europe to the butcher Joseph Stalin in the name of "stability." That was a strategic mistake.
   
3. The Clinton/Gore Administration. The most corrupt administration in our history, featuring the impeached Bill Clinton. Al Gore had his own share of scandals...such as fundraising at a Buddhist temple. The whole thing was an 8-year mistake.

There are other mistakes we've made that have been very damaging to our country, though I don't know that they come under the definition of "strategic" mistakes. Just a sampling.

1. The 17th Amendment. This is the amendment that provided for the popular election of U.S. Senators. The growth of the federal government and the weakening of state governments can be traced back to this event. Since the ratification of the 17th Amendment state governments have had no official representation in Washington. Nigeria has an official representative in DC. Nebraska does not.
   
2. The 16th Amendment. That's the one that brought us the income tax. Odd, isn't it, that the very income tax we suffer under in this country was called for in the Communist Manifesto? Soon after Marx and Engles wrote their manifesto the push was on in the US for an income tax.
   
3. The formation of our system of government schools. Did you know that some of the people who were deeply involved in the design of our government school system stated that the goal was to make sure we produce generations of graduates who will make good little government subjects?
   
4. Social Security. This is nothing but an income redistribution system designed to enable politicians to purchase votes with someone else's money. Social Security ushered in the era of government dependence. Tens of millions of Americans pay absolutely no attention to their retirement planning ... after all, the government is going to do it for you.

I could go on and on....but you get the idea. The war in Iraq may wind up being an expensive lesson, or perhaps an embarrassing mistake. But the worst strategic mistake in the entire history of the United States? Not even close.