Schoolchildren recall 9/11 with Bush

[RFKHumphreyObama]

SARASOTA, Fla. - Tyler Radkey and other second-graders at Emma E. Booker Elementary School didn't know what to think when an aide leaned in and whispered something to President Bush on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

"His face just started to turn red," said Tyler, now 13 and in seventh grade. "I thought, personally, he had to go to the bathroom."

For a puzzling seven minutes, the youngsters read aloud from the story "The Pet Goat" while the shaken president followed along in front of the class, trying to come to grips with what he had been told — that a second plane had just hit the World Trade Center and the nation was under terrorist attack.

"He looked like he was going to cry," said Natalia Jones-Pinkney, now 12.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060907/ap_on_re_us/sept11_elementary_school

[Warpy]

1. I love kids this age

and Tyler is my kind of kid. Stupid looking like had to go to the bathroom (or was going) is a pretty astute observation for an eight year old.

It lends credence to the theory that Stupid is incapable of acting on his own and relies wholly on completely orchestrated events, unable to deviate from them without specific instruction.

[missTheBigDog]

27. Warpy is so right

Anytime you deviate from the script (such as when a reporter asks Moron an impromptu question) it rattles him and he is unable to respond in a coherent (let alone intelligent) fashion.

[NEOBuckeye]

2. My Pet Goat, anyone? n/t

[JohnyCanuck]

3. Kid you're probably right. He likely did have to go to the bathroom.

His handlers probably gave him a clean pair of underwear as soon as he got back to AF 1.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Maybe that's why Booker Elementary deleted most of the pictures

of Bush from their 9-11 Photo Gallery of Bush's visit to the school?


http://www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/emma/9.11.01/9.11.01.index.html

[Bozvotros]

4. There's a profile in courage

At his defining moment, the president appeared to children as if he was soiling himself and about to cry.

[daleo]

6. Excellent point

Kids can be really good judges of character. It is reminiscent of "The Emperor's New Clothes".

[BootinUp]

11. yep, let them put this in the history books.

[fshrink]

18. Because that's exactly what it was.

[smirkymonkey]

22. Your quote should go down in history...

"At his defining moment, the president appeared to children as if he was soiling himself and about to cry"

I have to admit, I laughed out loud at that one! :rofl:

[laundry_queen]

23. Me too! LOL (for real!) n/t

[mitchum]

30. That is beautiful!

[Thor_MN]

34. I like the quote, but you are giving him too much credit.

I personally don't think he had any comprehension of what was occuring. He may have had a dim inkling that something was wrong, but unless his inner monologue was "Oh shit, what have I done", he was clueless. No one was telling him what to do, so he did nothing.

[elocs]

5. I was just wondering about those kids just the other day.

I wondered about how that now they are older they think and feel about that historical moment. Then when Bush finally leaped into action it was to run (fly rather) like a scared rabbit across country, too frightened to return to D.C. and actually look like a leader.

[Pachamama]

7. Summary: Kids thought * was going to cry & shit in his pants!

Bwah Ha ha ha ha :rofl:

"He looked like he was going to cry," said Natalia Jones-Pinkney, now 12.

"His face just started to turn red," said Tyler, now 13 and in seventh grade. "I thought, personally, he had to go to the bathroom."


You gotta love the honesty of kids....

[133724]

12. pissing his pants??????? n/t

[Pachamama]

19. No, not pissing....definitely sh*tting in his pants...

Note the comment from the kid about his face turning red....don't know about you, but most people only strain and get red when its something in particular they are working on.... :hi:

[AnneD]

21. Hey!

shitting your pants is hard work:rofl: This is why I love working with elementary age kids. They are quick to tell you how the cow ate the cabbage.

[Lisa]

8. how bad is he at "projecting calm" when even the kids saw through it?

Wasn't that his excuse for not reacting more quickly? He claimed he didn't want to let on to the kids, that something bad was happening.

Evidently his acting could use some work!

[mhatrw]

9. Why oh why did our President sit?

Why oh why did he sit?

[aaronbees]

10. Bravo, Tyler

True patriot, that kid. ;)

[Catfight]

13. Bush's defining moment will go down in history. A sit and do nothing

spoiled child who got to be king.

[Dem2theMax]

14. Poor Tyler. Somebody ought to explain to that child that * can't

go to the bathroom unless he asks Condi first. ;)

[0007]

15. Afterwords didn't Air Force One fly around undecidedly in circles

while the rumors flew that Air Force One was also a target?

[tanyev]

17. Didn't want to scare the children, eh?

Bush soon left the classroom and, after a briefing from aides, strode into the library where other pupils were awaiting an appearance by Bush and Education Secretary Rod Paige. The children were unaware of what was unfolding as Bush made a brief statement to the nation about the attacks.

In the news footage, Michael can be seen standing next to the president. He is so stunned he neglects to lower his head for the moment of silence.

"There I am, right there," said Michael, pointing to a boy on the television screen. "I'm trying to figure out what's happening."


Somebody made the decision to leave them in the library as a nice background for the photo-op when he spoke to the nation. Didn't give a rat's ass about their feelings then.

[laundry_queen]

24. I remember thinking that.

If he was so concerned about scaring the children, they why were they all there when he did his big speech to the nation about the US being attacked? Bet THAT was calming for them. :crazy:

[calimary]

25. And if he was concerned about being a target himself, WHY did he

hang around there? Wouldn't you think if he were REALLY concerned about scaring the children that he would have gotten up and excused himself and then gotten the hell out of there - so his presence wouldn't endanger the school?

[Lisa]

28. both excellent points!

The possibility about him being a target (and hence a danger to all those kids) -- and the fact that he kept them all standing there, listening to what must have been unsettling and downright frightening to hear -- I find it astonishing that the media haven't called him out.

Even I can see that there is something seriously wrong, with his having it both ways. He justifies all that flying around as "getting the Commander-in-Chief out of danger", or words to that effect -- although if that were the case, why didn't they follow the standard procedure of getting him into the air as soon as possible and doing the briefing from the airplane? Rove fed the press something about "Air Force One was a target", but it's still better-defended and safer than a publicized location on the ground, lacking a "hardened" shelter!

And of course, if trying to keep the kids from freaking out were tops in his mind, why didn't he just excuse himself from the room by saying he had to take a bathroom break? We know he can do this! The kids would have thought it was awesome ("The President said he had to pee!"), and they could have been taken back to their classrooms (or evacuated from the school, just in case), and they wouldn't have known about the attacks until their parents told them about it later, at home. (And kids that age DO know that a plane crash or building fire is bad news. Just because Bush chose to read them a book that was probably below the reading level for most of them, doesn't mean that they are completely clueless. A press conference with a bunch of tense adults, flash bulbs going off, and Bush looking like he was on the verge of panic or tears, is not the best place for children to be. I wouldn't want my kids to have to be in that situation.)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. I talked to my mother the ex-kindergarten teacher about this

Her opinion was that he should have just said, something like, "Excuse me, boys and girls, but something important has come up, and I have to leave."

[Lisa]

32. for sure!

It doesn't say much about his human relations, and organizational skills, if he took 7 minutes to figure out how to leave the room without making a big fuss! Especially since he was a parent himself once. Second-graders are certainly old enough to understand "urgent presidential stuff" and "I promise I'll finish the story later".

[StraightDope]

33. "The possibility about him being a target..."

This is precisely why I am an adherent of the LIHOP theory. The Secret Service would have gotten him out of there immediately unless they knew in advance what the targets were that day.

[Thor_MN]

35. I recall him saying "This will not stand" and thinking it was a dumbass

thing to say when buildings have been damaged. As it turned out, it was the only thing that he has said that turned out to be correct.

[Festivito]

20. But, but, but, the sound bites sound so PRO-BUSH at 6pm.

Our local news showed some of the students saying they'd like to go visit the 9/11 site. (As though any kid wouldn't want to go on a field trip to another city.) It sounded so pro *.

And that will be the last word our swing voters will hear about this.

[missTheBigDog]

26. It just continues to remind me...

how much I miss Bill. Think of how he would've handled it. The ultimate compassionate professional. He would've said things that would've made us feel a whole lot better as a nation, as best he could given the situation. He just wouldn't have sat there for 7 minutes waiting on his aides to tell him what to do.

[FiveGoodMen]

29. Bill wouldn't have planned it in the first place!