Here is a thoughtful series of articles from Slate that outline what we should do to repair the mess we have created both at home and in our foreign policy. You don't have to agree with every point, but the overall thrust is that we have let things go too far and we need to fix them.
* End the imperial presidency
* End the war on terror as a legal paradigm.
* Abolish military commissions.
* Withdraw all US troops from foreign countries.
* Restore oversight and transparency.
* Limit the scope of executive privilege.
* Restore the role of warrants in surveillance.
* Require default judgements for plaintiffs when the government invokes state secrets.
* Categorically renounce torture in any form.
http://www.slate.com/id/2187811/
* Boost trust and credibility
* Work with Congress
* Give the telecommunications carriers immunity.
* Close Guantanamo.
* Establish a national-security court.
* Work with allies to establish an international legal framework for terrorists.
http://www.slate.com/id/2187870/
* Travel to all the Middle East countries and leave behind a full-time envoy to the region.
* Iraq: Use the troops as leverage.
* Prevent Iraq's internal violence from spreading into neighboring countries.
* Open up talks with Iran with an eye toward negotiating a "grand bargain.
* Work toward new Pakistani alliances.
* Pursue public diplomacy.
http://www.slate.com/id/2187579/
* Overhaul the budget.
* Rejigger the military services.
* Fix the Army.
* Invest in people.
* Promote the right leaders.
* Spread the responsibilities around.
* Taxes.
http://www.slate.com/id/2187616/
papers counted the votes and say he won !
withdraw all troops? Yes, we can withdraw many , but that is naive . This is a small world - who will save the people of Darfur ?
Renounce torture ? We used waterboarding 3 times, and with it the mastermind of 911 fessed up . Our country is safer with it.
I read a very interesting article in Rolling Stone with a very good arguement for just how Ken Blackwell helped Bush steal the last election.
Personally I think he stole the first one to, with that whole mess in Florida.
Do you believe that because you heard it from the official press? I think waterboarding and other forms of coercive tactics were used much more than that. But, anyway, read the articles, which I don't think you have. Something has to change beyond "stay the course". That's getting old.