Here's how the UK Observer 'welcomed' President Bush into the White House on January 21, 2001 :
The Observer considers his election an affront to the democratic principle with incalculable consequences for America and the world.Mr Bush's inaugural attempt to assert his brand of one-nation, compassionate conservatism is bluster and hogwash.
...the Bush cabinet is neither centrist nor compassionate. In home affairs, it is brutalist and reactionary - for tax cuts overtly biased towards the rich, against the protection of consumers, workers and the environment. In overseas affairs, Mr Bush has appointed Cold War warriors from his father's era who do not appreciate the nuances of a transformed international environment.
...the Republicans retained control of the political, intellectual and cultural agenda and plotted their return to power. Their success is embodied in the nomination of John Ashcroft as attorney-general. Mr Ashcroft is a southern-based, anti-abortion, anti-gun control, anti-gay religious fundamentalist peddling a reactionary brand of free market economics and American unilateralism. He epitomises the new centre of gravity in American politics.
Britain and Europe will find doing business with this administration tense, oppositional and unproductive. It would be difficult enough had Mr Bush won a mandate. Without it, we are in for a very rough ride indeed.
Inauguration
