Michigoose: Ya know, I've always wondered about that "prevent a terrorist attack" question. I mean, really, how much impact does a president have on preventing folks from coming onto our turf and trying to do something to hurt us?

Ok, I'll bite:

1. You be respectful of other's countries/cultures. A deep resentment of America's policies in a populace in general will always lead to the possibility of extreme resenters turning pro.

2. You have a reputation for not backing down/letting wrong-doers go. There's gotta be consequences for fucking with America.

3. You don't act so much on your own as with the U.N. It gives you more credit than unilateral action will when there's a lot of backing (Here's where my personal politics most comes into play--I absolutely think it's stupid for America to be a policeman. I mean, we don't get paid for that shit.)

4. The obvious one: You try, again, to solve the Palestinian/Israeli(and Lebanon/Syrian/Jordan) conflict. This one's hard, but at least make a real effort. And we can't just act like Israel's our "51st state" (quote was from some Italians who got into an argument with me once).

5. Oil. How many petrodictatorships are we funding here? We gotta get our energy consumption/Independence thing done for real this time. There are studies showing that the higher oil prices go, the less freedom in the providing countries (take Russia for instance).

Ok, I'm done for now. Add your own. I'm just saying that how we look at problems can go a long way to stymieing terrorism.