August Sixth

Three important things happened today over the years. Other things happened. These things stand out.

Hiroshima

A nuclear bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945. We have since then debated if it was just to do so.

One analysis today suggests the Soviet Union's entering the war factored in. Experts still debating suggest that just maybe people in the midst of things acted reasonably. 

Not necessarily correctly. But 20/20 hindsight is easier than a decision in the middle of a world war. 

Voting Rights Act 

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a fundamental defense of basic republican values. Voting rights are still threatened today. Rick Hasen's right-to-vote amendment idea (and his book discussing it) is worthwhile. 

I think the current Constitution protects a right to vote, but it has not been adequately applied in recent years. An amendment could also address such things as people in territories not being able to vote for president. 

A new Voting Rights Act is a fundamental goal when sanity returns to the national government.  

Bin Laden 

Today was also the date of the infamous "Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US" presidential daily brief. 

The Bush Administration assured us no one would have expected something like that. See also, the chance Iraq II would go badly. No one expected that!

I am not going to say that President Gore would have stopped the attacks. There was reason to think Clinton/Gore were paying more attention to the overall threat of Bin Laden. But it assumes too much to think Gore would have stopped 9/11. 

It is more likely that the Gore Administration would have focused on Afghanistan and not invaded Iraq. How Gore would have handled Afghanistan -- it lingered on until the Biden Administration -- is also unclear. Some are a bit too cocksure about things. 

Here is a discussion on 9/11/21.