The most important thing about the 7 minutes

[KelleyKramer]

Here is something everyone on our side seems to miss about the importance of the 7 minutes Bush sat in a stupor after being told the US was under attack.

The third plane struck the Pentagon about an hour after Bush was told of the second WTC plane... So, the clock was ticking.

When the country is under attack from hijacked planes in the air, time is imminent!

The president of the US can order the shoot-down of a hijacked plane.

There is an Air Force base that could have had fighter planes to the Pentagon in 5 minutes.

So Bush sitting on his ass for the first 7 minutes is well within the margin of error.

Its very possible that those 7 minutes of in-action from Bush could have cost the lives of hundreds of Americans.

[Bucky]

1. How many were killed at the Pentagon? I thought it was under 100

Anyone know the actual loss of life there (not counting the passenger/hostages; they would've been lost in a shoot-down.

[sandnsea]

5. 124

64 on the plane.

[Placebo]

2. He had this look on his face like...

damn, i knew a hijacking was coming but i didn't know it was going to be THIS bad. oh shit, what do i do, do i sit here and stare ahead while holding this book and endangering the lives of the children because of the mere proximity of the highest priority target in the US, me, the president, to the kiddies! DAMN, what do i do, damn i hope bandar bush isn't involved!

[ParisFrance]

4. I wonder if Bush's vist to the school was released to the public

I don't wish of this , but the highjackers could have flown a plane into the school and the longer Bush sat there, he endangered his life and the children's.

[athena]

9. I don't think Bush is capable of such complicated thoughts

as endangering the lives of children by being near them. I think he was just thinking, "Damn, when I ran for president, I didn't think I'd have to handle situations like this. What do I do, what do I do? Maybe if I sit here long enough, it'll go away."

Most Americans didn't think he'd have to handle such situations, either. I remember that people voting for Nader were saying, "It'll be OK if Bush wins. No big deal. Just four years. And he did promise to be bipartisan and not mess with abortion rights ...."

[KelleyKramer]

13. Maybe the Aug 6 PDB??

Maybe he was thinking about the Aug 6 security report that said 'Bin Laden determined to attack in the US'

And then the dumb ass went golfing and fishing for the next full month!

[K-W]

3. No, you cant prove that he could have stopped anything.

The real point of the 7 minutes that has legs is simply that he wasnt being a leader. Yes its simple, but its the strongest point we can come out of that with.

[reggaehead]

21. He had stopped being a leader long before the 7 minutes

Like about 4 months before. When he started his unprecedented "Vacation". My take on the 7 minutes:
Reading the "fast way" is not Bush's forte. He was enthralled with the story line in "My Pet Goat". But he couldn't keep up with the kids. This was a read he could not put down.

[UdoKier]

6. I think that the important thing is to clarify that it was over 20 minutes

7 minutes refers to the length of the video. Bush had his thumb up his arse much longer after the camera was shut off.

[KelleyKramer]

17. Good point

I was just using the 7 minutes number because that’s what we have definite proof up

[cidliz2004]

7. Not 7 minutes, over 40 minutes...

He knew before he went into the classroom, while he sat in the classroom, and then again sat in the school for another 20 minutes or so when he left the classroom.

[KelleyKramer]

12. You and UdoKier make excellent points

I was just using the 7 minutes because that’s what we have absolute proof of (ever notice how they require us to be perfect and Bush gets a pass on everything *sigh*)

But your point illustrates that he should not have put himself in that position to begin with.

Then once he did, the sod just sat there in a daze.

Oh, then after that, he runs like a scared rabbit all over the country.

[UdoKier]

18. I always object to the "7 minutes" for this reason.

It's crucial to point out that the actual time was much longer because the right will repeat 7 minutes so that people will believe that's all it was, and it's not so bad (like 20 or 40 minutes).

It's the same as the SOTU speech where Bush lied about the Yellowcake and the news media kept repeating how there were "16 words" in the speech that were a lie, when the entire speech was CHOCKABLOCK with HUGE lies.

I think we have to be cautious about allowing the right to redefine THEIR scandals into innnocuous little incidents.

[Bleacher Creature]

8. BINGO!

Exactly. Anybody who points out Kerry's comment that he sat in shock for 40 minutes is not getting it. The President -- and only the President -- has the responsibility and authority to make a decision. Hence, the term "executive decision."

If nothing else, * should have immediately asked whether there were other planes in the sky, whether the threat was contained, whether we had any suspects yet, etc. etc. etc. These are not exactly far-fetched questions considering there were TWO other planes out there while the idiot just sat there.

[gatorboy]

11. On a more personal level,

he had a family. Even if I was President, they would probably be on my mind more then anything and yet, he wasn't even worried about that.
While America was under attack, who isn't to say his family weren't targets. How could he know for sure? I would've at least left to make sure my family was safe, but once again...he sat there....

[sandnsea]

14. He didn't say that

He said he was in a meeting and they couldn't think... about the friggin' meeting. Geesh, where'd you come up with him being in shock for 40 minutes? With friends like these...

[Bleacher Creature]

15. Huh?!?

You're missing the point. Do you seriously think I was doing anything other than repeating the lie the right uses in response to questions about *'s seven minute "period of reflection."

I know what Kerry said. I also know how the Repukes are trying to spin it. My point was that people shouldn't fall into the trap of debating what Kerry did or did not do on 9/11--which you do quite nicely. On 9/11 only the Chimp's actions mattered, and he froze. Period.

Parsing my words in the middle of the night isn't going to get you --or anybody else -- anywhere. Eyes on the prize people.

[sandnsea]

16. Eyes on the prize exactly

You said "he sat in shock for 40 minutes". DO NOT say shit like that. It's not what Kerry said on Larry King and you'd be amazed at the people right here on DU who love to pick up crap like that to bash Kerry with. Keep your eyes on the prize and watch the words you put out there. It really does matter. That's all.

[barb162]

19. where's my mommy!

he was probably wanting to call daddy Cheney and mommy Condi to find
out what he should do next. He was absolutely clueless... as he always is. He could very calmly have excused himself and not upset the kids (though who cares if a bunch of kids were upset with this going on) and started honking on the horn to Rummie /the airforce to get some planes up.

[Old and In the Way]

10. Could have been 50 planes attacking us.

Seemed pretty non-chalent considering what he didn't know about the situation.

But he was ontime for the 9:30 photo-op that was on his itinerary.

And his non-action could have cost lives at the Pentagon.

[DulceDecorum]

20. Bush was supposed to go to the Pentagon helipad later that day

If they had waited a little while longer....
CHENEY MIGHT BE RUNNING THINGS.

[skypilot]

22. A number of posters have beat me to it...

...but I think it's important to drop this whole "7 minutes" thing and focus on (and repeat) the fact that Bush was in that school for at least 30 minutes after hearing about the second attack. I've posted about this several times but I think it needs to be repeated again and again (just like the wingnuts repeat stuff, only their stuff is lies)until people are finally saying "Bush was in that school for 30 MINUTES after learning about the second attack" instead of "Bush sat on his butt for 7 minutes". In fact, I would love to see the words "7 minutes" disappear from this board.