The changes of the last four years, domestically and internationally, socially and economically, have been so wrenching, and mostly for the worst, that many Americans feel they are living in a different country from the one they knew before. Some of these changes were inevitable results of the events of September 11, 2001, but others flow from the Bush administration's reaction to that terrible day.
As the world looked on approvingly, the White House invaded Afghanistan, routed the Taliban and pursued al-Qaida, the terrorist organization headed by Osama bin Laden that hijacked the planes and sent them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Then, with the job unfinished, the White House turned its attention to Iraq, and the downward spiral began.

For the first time in its history, the U.S. launched a pre-emptive strike, in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist, and on the basis of a connection between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein that didn't exist either. Toppling Mr. Hussein was easy enough, but White House theorists with grand designs on Middle East dominance had no plan and too few troops for dealing with the inevitable insurgency that followed. Today, with more than 1,000 American soldiers dead, Iraq is in chaos, al-Qaida and its allies are strengthened by a growing hatred of America -- a hatred escalated by the Abu Ghraib prison scandal -- and the U.S. is as vulnerable if not more vulnerable to terrorism than it was before September 11.

Domestically, September 11 prompted passage of the Patriot Act, which in the name of fighting terrorism threatens many of those civil liberties terrorists would take from us. President Bush, the first president in U.S. history to cut taxes while the nation is at war, has driven the country into the worst deficit in its history, squandering the surplus built by President Clinton.

This is where we are as the election approaches, and the nation chooses between President Bush and his Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

The Democratic Party hierarchy backed Mr. Kerry in the primary season because of his perceived "electability," but the senator came with considerable baggage. His congressional record is undistinguished on domestic issues, particularly in nitty-gritty areas like health care and employment and education, where he has taken a back seat to Massachusetts' senior senator, Edward Kennedy. Mr. Kerry's instincts too often send him in search of a mushy middle, an example of which is his ill-considered vote in favor of the Iraq war resolution, prompting tortured explanations of his later opposition to the war. The Bush campaign has gone to the well too often in painting Mr. Kerry as a "flip-flopper," but the description is not entirely without merit.

In contrast, the president refuses to change any of his stands, domestic or international, even when evidence reveals them to be failures. Mr. Bush's refusal to acknowledge obvious mistakes, a dangerous trait in a chief executive, means that his second term will represent a continuation of the first. The essential argument for Mr. Kerry's election is that he will not continue the failed policies of the Bush administration, will undo many of them, and will embrace policies that benefit a majority of Americans, not just the privileged few.

In Iraq, Mr. Kerry as president will be able to enlist the aid of former allies in Europe and the United Nations who are reluctant to assist an administration that has adopted a go-it-alone policy. Mr. Kerry will refocus the nation's efforts on fighting terrorists, not pursuing misguided theories of empire-building.

Domestically, by rolling back tax cuts for the very wealthiest of Americans, Mr. Kerry will save billions to help fund health care and education. Mr. Bush's purely partisan domestic policies will burden future generations with mammoth debts while leaving Social Security, education and health care plans to unravel through inattention. Mr. Kerry has realistic plans to deal with these issues while President Bush can only resort to vague privatization programs that would barely begin to address the problems his White House has ignored for four years.

We expect Mr. Kerry to repeal the worst sections of the Patriot Act, some of which have been found unconstitutional. We believe Mr. Kerry will end the social wars the president has begun in opposition to traditional conservative principles, the restrictions on stem cell research which offers hope to millions suffering from debilitating injuries or illnesses, and the attempts to tinker with the Constitution to deny civil rights to gays or any other Americans. With openings certain to emerge on the Supreme Court, Mr. Kerry's appointees will be more likely to protect America's basic rights than will those of Mr. Bush, whose appointment of far right judges to federal courts reveals what his approach will be to filling Supreme Court vacancies.

Mr. Kerry's solid environmental record indicates that when he is in charge, environmental policy will no longer be written by the energy industry, and regulations whose loss weakened the Clean Air Act and watered down water quality standards will be restored. A President Kerry would sign the Kyoto Treaty and the U.S. would join the effort to find an answer to global warming.

In terms of Massachusetts, there is no downside to having a native son in the White House and there is a considerable upside. The nation's focus would shift to the Bay State, which could provide a considerable economic boost we hope will extend to the Berkshires.

President Kerry would also appeal to Americans' better nature, restoring some of the optimism that has vanished during the Bush years. Not wishing to call attention to its abysmal record of failure at home and abroad, the Bush administration's campaign strategy has been to prey on America's fears of the world and of change. America has long been a source of hope to the world, and if it is once again, it will find that it has allies in the hard fight against the forces of terror. A Kerry administration would give us a proud America untainted by the arrogance of the Bush White House.

There is no underestimating the importance of this election, given what President Bush has put America through for four years and the perils that lie ahead in a second Bush administration. John Kerry will restore America to the right track, domestically and internationally, and The Eagle endorses him for president of the United States.