*'s first words on hearing of the WTC attack

[grasswire]

Q: What were the first words President George Bush spoke upon hearing that his nation was under attack?

A: "That's exactly right. These are great readers. Very impressive. Thank you all so much for showing me your reading skills. I bet they practice too, don't you. Reading more than they watch TV? You guys do that? Read more than you watch TV? Oh that's great. Very good. Very important to practice. Very impressive. Very impressive."

(Uttered five minutes after Andy Card whispered in his ear.)

[grasswire]

1. never...

....never never forget this moment of infamy.

[oblivious]

5. He didn't want to frighten the children by leaving early.

That's the only excuse I've ever heard for this, and it's been drilled into the masses so they parrot it whenever it comes up. Unbelievable, that they can't think it through, how absolutely absurd this sounds.

[Sparkly]

14. Kids have been scarred for life

by the words, "Oops, gotta run now -- your teacher will finish the story with you."

I don't know how anybody can even pretend it makes any sense!!

[boxster]

15. Well, I guess he wanted to "leave no child behind",

even during a terrorist attack.

:silly:

[jobendorfer]

19. I take it as self-evident

That if you can't figure out how to extract yourself
from a classroom full of 6-year olds in the event of
a national emergency, you probably shouldn't be
President.

But I am told I have high standards.

J.

[ComerPerro]

20. great!

LOL

:hi:

[boxster]

2. I've never understood this.

I will never understand why a terrorist attack on the US was met with such nonchalance.

I don't buy into the LIHOP conspiracy theories, but Bush either a) is a complete idiot, b) knew that someone else would deal with it, or c) knew it was going to happen.

None of those choices is acceptable. He's the POTUS, for God's sake. He should have had his ass on a plane and been "in charge" about five minutes after Card notified him.

[malatesta1137]

3. Bush knew the attacks were coming.

He knew before he entered the school. There's no question about it.

[Jane Austin]

4. Heck, even if it had been an accident, that's a huge thing

and you'd think he'd jump up to go look at the TV!

What I don't get is that he didn't even say to Andy Card "What did you say?", "Huh?", "You're kidding!" or any of the things a normal person would say upon being told some bad news.

I'll just never understand that.

[boxster]

11. Agreed. Maybe he was doped up....

Though, you'd have to be seriously out of it not to react to something as monumental as this.

[Zen Democrat]

6. The question remains .. Why wasn't NORAD notified?

All the regular protocol that automatically goes into gear when a plane alters its flight plan (as in the Payne Stewart plane) DID NOT HAPPEN ON 9/11. No one has yet explained this. The military jets weren't scrambled, NORAD wasn't notified for half an hour, everything that should have happened, didn't.

And Bush sat in the little chair and read about a little goat.

[boxster]

13. The Pentagon crash is the most inexplicable.

There's an AFB minutes away, and they had plenty of notice. Nothing happened.

And, we're supposed to believe that Bush was concerned about terrorism?

[whistle]

16. Okay, I had to look it up LIHOP...

... Let It Happen On Purpose Theory. Here's a link, I'm sure there are many more:


http://www.halexandria.org/dward250.htm

[SlavesandBulldozers]

7. it didn't matter

President Cheney was in Washington calling the shots.

[Zen Democrat]

8. No, Richard Clarke was.

[Jane Austin]

9. Well, actually, according to Richard Clarke's book

Clarke was calling the shots while Condi, Cheney and the Missus were hustled off to the White House bunker.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

10. But what would Bush gain by sitting back and letting this happen, he asked

Rove: Republicans Benefit from War Credentials
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/Rove_020118.html



"A U S T I N, Texas, Jan.18 — Using unusually pointed language, President Bush's chief political adviser Karl Rove suggested Republicans should run on the message that they are the party who can be trusted to successfully fight the war against terrorism."

"We can also go to the country on this issue because they trust the Republican Party to do a better job of protecting and strengthening America's military might and thereby protecting America," Rove said."

"Over a carb-heavy lunch at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting in Austin, Rove spelled out the GOP election message for November: "Win the war, protect the homeland, and revive the economy."

"By keeping the public prepared for a long war, the president keeps up the necessary emotional and practical support the effort requires, but it has a political benefit too, as Bush's popularity and war-time mantle can be extended into this election year and maybe into 2004, when Bush's respected national security team could serve as actual or virtual surrogates in a possible Bush re-election effort."

[mike_c]

12. even if it wasn't LIHOP...

...Bush was TOTALLY unprepared to assume command. He had a script to follow and no one had yet told him how to deviate from it, so he stuck to the script.

Bush's political campaigns have been lauded for their ability to "stay on message." In part I think this is simply because Bush is not capable of thinking outside of his script. Notice that whenever he's goaded into trying, he makes an utter fool of himself.

[Zen Democrat]

17. At the minimum a circumstantial case can be made for LIHOP

since it's now known that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, et al were plotting to go to war with Iraq from DAY ONE -- and as soon as 9/11 happened they ran with it, putting the emphasis on Saddam rather than Osama. Saddam was captured. Osama's still out there. Why?

[grasswire]

18. what's inexplicable is this...

...the Secret Service stood down from their normal protocol. They picked up Cheney and moved him, physically. Nobody moved a muscle to save George from attack. Nobody did a thing, despite the fact that his location was beamed live to the whole world.

[Digit]

21. Good point n/t