I Told You So

Back in 2000, right before the presidential election, I sent out an unsolicited, not-well-received mass mailing to practically everybody I knew. It happened that I knew a lot of people who were planning to vote for Ralph Nader—remember him?—and I begged them to reconsider. I understood their desire to lodge a protest vote, but I didn’t think it was worth letting George W. Bush become president.

In my message, I raised three points. I said that Bush would be bad for the environment. As it turns out, he’s not just bad for the environment; he’s also bad for science. I predicted that John Ashcroft would turn out to be at least as scary as he seemed; anybody remember Operation TIPS? And I warned that the next president might have the chance to appoint one or even two Supreme Court justices, and that it would be frightening indeed if Bush was that president.

All I have to say now is, “I told you so.”