A question re: *'s behavior on 9/11

[eissa]

There has obviously been much discussion regarding *'s 7 minutes in the classroom, but not much of his behavior afterward. Didn't he spend a considerable amount of time flying around on Air Force 1 while planes were crashing around the country? To me, the hours(if I heard correctly) wasted flying around the country, too afraid to land anywhere, are worse than the 7 minutes spent listening to The Pet Goat.

[CO Liberal]

1. And Then...

...he landed at an Air Force Base in Nebraske where there just HAPPENED to be a meeting of business big-wigs taking place.

:tinfoilhat:

[Raven]

2. I could be wrong on this and,

if I am, someone here will certainly set me straight. I think the protocol may be to keep the President in the air during a crisis like 911 unless he can be evacuated to a secure location. That way, he isn't a target and, I believe Air Force One is equipped with all the necessary communications. I'm not as bothered by where he went after the attack as I am by what he was doing before and during.

[Warpy]

5. Personally, I can't imagine any other president following that

particular protocol. Clinton was in Australia, and he still managed to get to NYC before the Idiot did. Even poor dim Reagan would have insisted on flying back to the scene.

However, that he followed protocol and went to the bunker in Nebraska can't really be held against him. That the country now has such extreme protocols to protect a bunch of very replaceable men is the real problem.

That 7 minutes was only part of it. There were an additional 20 minutes at that photo op, Idiot schmoozing with the teacher and kiddies as though the country didn't have a care in the world. He wasted 27 minutes instead of doing his job, wasted it on a meaningless photo op, and that is unconscionable.

There are only two possibilities for this: either he's so utterly stupid that he's incapable of doing anything he isn't told to do, or he's the most callous, heartless, unfeeling SOB on the planet.

[Raven]

6. As to the two possibilities...Bush

is both, I'm afraid.

[JHB]

9. Protocol, schmotocol

HE's the guy in charge. He can be advised against it until the advisors are blue in the face, but if HE says to go somewhere, then that's where they go.

Nobody really expects him to put himself in danger, but neither was in necessary for him to spend practically the entire day "getting out of harms way".

[lutherj]

3. As I recall he spent most of the day flying around from one

airforce base to another.

Try putting any other president of the 20th century in his place, I can't imagine any acting as he did. FDR, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, etc. Not one of them would have sat there reading My Pet Goat. Okay, maybe Calvin Coolidge, but he wouldn't have been at the school in the first place.

[Stephanie]

4. Here's a timeline of Bush's day

From an old thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1199702

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings are burning.

+++

9:30 a.m.: President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."

+++

9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke. Evacuation begins immediately.

+++

9:57 a.m.: Bush departs from Florida.

+++

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack /

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At 12:39 word is that Bush has landed at a base near Shreveport, La. Incredibly, at 12:51, there is footage of a Taliban news conference by one Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel. It is difficult to absorb that Arafat and the Taliban have weighed in before Bush. Five minutes later ABC reports that in Shreveport "the president looked grim. His eyes were somewhat red." The only hard information is that there are no national security people traveling with the president. ABC's Peter Jennings, breaking protocol for news anchors, says forcefully that the country needs words from its president in Washington.

+++

1:08: More than three hours after the second tower collapsed. A taped message from President Bush. But the sound isn't transmitting, and the image is jerky. Then the image goes backwards. Then it goes off.

+++


2:35: Guiliani live again: "The number of casualties will be more than anyone can bear."

+++

3:30: Confirmation that Bush has landed at the Strategic Air Defense Command base near Omaha, Neb. ABC's Ann Compton, traveling with the president, is on the phone to Peter Jennings, whose inflection says it all: "Annie, can you hear me? What are you doing in Nebraska?"

When he asks where Bush is, she replies, "He disappeared down the rabbit hole, Peter."

+++

3:48: For the first time an administration official, White House counsel Karen Hughes, gives a live statement: "The president, vice-president, and speaker of the House are all safe." It is astonishing that this late in the day the White House has nothing more to say.

+++

At 6:41, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld gives a live press conference -- nearly nine hours after the towers collapsed, a cabinet-level official finally speaks.

+++

8:31: Nearly 12 hours after the attack began, 10 and a half after the towers collapsed, President George W. Bush reads a speech live from the Oval Office.

+++

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-10-05/cols_ventura.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[KurtNYC]

7. yes and inspite of all the talk about Kerry being potentially overshadowed

by other speakers at the convention, there has been almost nothing on having Giuliani speak at the RNC. The contrast between Giuliani's actions and visibility and Boosh's lack thereof is glaring. Will it be pointed out? Hmmmm.... nope.

[Stephanie]

8. That's right

You can hate Giuliani for what he did before and after 9/11, but New Yorkers will always remember what he did that day. In the absence of national leadership, Giuliani was there for us, all day long.

[JHB]

10. Yeah, it would have been nice to see more of Hero Rudy during his term...

...but no matter my other beefs with him, I'll give him the 72(?) hours where he acted right when the chips were down.

Then some Bozo had to suggest extending his term due to the emergency, and Il Duche-ani was back...

[jedicord]

11. Bush knew we were under attack after the FIRST plane hit...

I recently met a Fire Department Chaplain, who showed me a presentation he does for Critical Incidents Response. He was called to NY City 4 days after the attacks to counsel the firefighters.

He has a picture of the second plane crashing into the building. When he showed it, my co-worker responded with "that's when we knew we were under attack". The Chaplain then said that actually the President was told we were under attack after the first plane hit.

OK, I can't back this up with facts/links, as our fine Resident said he saw the first plane and thought there goes a bad pilot. But this Chaplain was in the thick of the aftermath, an obvious Bush lover, and I see no reason why he would lie about that.

[Inland]

12. after the seven minutes--Bush had a 20 minute photo op!

[Zero Gravitas]

13. coward

Bush is a coward. Most bullies are. He had no clue what to do when told that 'America was under attack' so he sat there like the useless waste of space that he is for 7 crucial minutes. Then he decided to run away and hide.

To be fair AF1 is equiped with all the communication equipment needed to run the country and and co-ordinate a military response, however, Cheney wasn't on the plane so that capability was wasted. I'm sure it was used to keep the Former Governor of Texas informed as to what Cheney was doing however.

[Vickers]

17. Bwahahahahahaha! Funniest line I've ever read on DU!

"To be fair AF1 is equiped with all the communication equipment needed to run the country and and co-ordinate a military response, however, Cheney wasn't on the plane so that capability was wasted.

Awesome!

:toast:

[Minstrel Boy]

14. Bush wasn't afraid to land; he wasn't afraid to fly without fighter escort

from Florida, when who knew what was coming next. Well, other than a few.

[Geo55]

15. We live in strange times..

when This Pretender of the Presidency's actions on one of the most pivotal events in this country's history are not more widely & closely examined.

BUSH READS....THE COUNTRY BLEEDS

[Old and In the Way]

16. Bush was AWOL on 9/11....why?

From a PR standpoint, this would seem to be a "no brainer". Get him in front of camera's early and often, making Presidential type proclimations and simple, powerful connections to the public. Instead, he makes himself scarce for the entire day. Why?

I think they had to rewrite the script for Bush. To do that, they first had to make sure that all unknowns were known...and they couldn't possibly have the press asking tough questions that would lead to extemperaneous comments that could have been incriminating evidence for this administration. On the surface, it seems cowardly, but I think they would rather pass on the PR than take a chance that Bush could incriminate himself.

Hell, he did that anyway when he said, "I saw the 1st plae hit on TV and I thought, that was one bad pilot"