after 9/11, did Bush do anything more outstanding than any other President

[patricia92243]

would have done?

If so what?

[PaDUer]

1. He was AWOL..n/t

[patricia92243]

5. Actually what I meant was more heroic. more patriotic, more of a leader.

[Warpy]

7. he SAT THERE

After he knew planes were hijacked, after he knew the WTC had been hit not once but twice and that more hijacked planes were in the air aimed at gawd knows what, he SAT THERE at a pointless photo op instead of excusing himself to go DO HIS JOB. After he had SAT THERE for half an hour, he allowed himself to be whisked to the airport and hustled off to a bunker in Nebraska.

I can think of no other president, not eve poor dim Reagan, who would have displayed this incometence, this inaction, this callousness and this degree of cowardice. Even Reagan in his last demented years would have been back to Washington immediately, perhaps on to New York thereafter.

Heroic? Displaying leadership? This bastard showed the typical degree of heroism that has marked his entire life, running away at the first sign of trouble and allowing other people to suffer the worst. Leadership? Are you crazy? His utter passivity was stunning.

[Zero Gravitas]

38. well said

I am mystified as to what Former Governor Bush did on or after 9/11 that the corporate media thinks we should be so impressed with.

[Galley_Queen]

44. I watched the Squatter very closely

on a film clip from the Canadian Broadcasting network on the night of 9/11. They had actual footage of Bush and his reaction to Andy Card whispering in his ear. I couldn't BELIEVE Chimpy's reaction. I spent the next few days scouring the net trying to get the clip from CBC. It did finally turn up but it's hard to really see.

What I saw, that night, was a terrified, frightened little boy who kept looking around the room waiting for someone, ANYONE, to tell him what to do. He sat there because HE WAS WAITING FOR ORDERS.

All the DNC has to do is play that clip over and over, while showing the flight path of AF One going AWOL.

[Michael Harrington]

2. Personally...

I can't see JFK, FDR or Truman sitting there and droning on with the kids (putting them in possible danger) and then running like a scared bunny to his plane and hiding his head in the sand until it was over.

But that's just me...

[htuttle]

3. Yes, he set a record

He squandered more international goodwill faster than anyone before in history.

I'm sure Babs is proud.

[Cocoa]

32. and goodwill from other Americans

his poll numbers skyrocketed, but that wasn't Bush's doing, that was the American people deciding to unite behind Bush.

Personally, I began hating him intensely in that period, but that wasn't the reaction of most people.

[bpilgrim]

4. he did something that NO ONE i know would have...

he DIDN'T REACT AT ALL weird...

i always tell folks i might not know how i would have or whoever might have reacted that day but i can bet we ALL would have at the very least REACTED@!



psst... pass the word ;->

peace

[Ksec]

6. Ive never understood why he got the kudos for this

He did nothing any Pres wouldnt have done. Really I see these RWers talking about how great he was during that time and Ive never seen a reason why .

[pacifictiger]

8. wasn't it 3 days

before he addressed the country? We didn't hear from the VP in his absense either. Before that the only talking and calming was from Guilliani.

[masshole]

11. the evening of 9-11

Around 8:00 I think, he addressed the nation... FINALLY.

As I recall the reason for his hiding out on AF1 was "credible threats" to the President... What were these threats? Anyone ever follow up on the nature of these threats?

[dennis4868]

29. It turns out....

that there never was any threat to AF1....It was a Ari Fleischer lie.....shocking isn't it?

[dennis4868]

28. well,....

on 911 the WH put out a taped speech by Bush from the rat hole he was hiding in....

[glarius]

9. My God...I've been waiting for someone to ask that!

Daily, I see the ridiculous praise heaped on Bush for how he "pulled the country together" in a terrible time in America....For God's sake, what did he do?...He (eventually) went to ground zero and put his arm around a fire fighter!....Big deal...Any president would have responded in a similar way....And yet the Republicans keep repeating the myth that Bush was such a tower of strength and kept the country from falling apart...He is getting way too much credit for leadership....Does anyone think Al Gore would have been less of a leader?

[masshole]

12. he talked tough

all the "this is war" and "no place to hide" stuff and so on.

He fired up all the armchair warriors who look at the whole thing like it's a football game.

[burrowowl]

10. He went flying around the county

instead of getting his a$$ back to Washington and addressing the people immediately.
I can't think of another president being more cowardly. Of course he is only the pResident.

[thebigidea]

23. what kills me is they actually made money on pics of that cowardice

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

13. There's a comedian named David Cross (I think that's his name)

and he has a great routine about all this. He said we need to stop acting like bush got "third place in the Special Olympics" just because he stood on some rubble wearing a hard hat and then sent troops to Afghanistan.

Honestly, I don't think what he did was all that heroic at all. He was president when it happened. He gave some speeches (well the first one was TWELVE HOURS after it happened because it took him that long to get back to DC!), he had some photo ops. He sent troops to Afghanistan.

And????

What I love is when bush supporters claim Gore wouldn't have done any of that stuff. The first thing I ask them is how they hell they know that? And the second question is, how do you know it would have happened at ALL?

Edited to add I am not a MIHOP person, but I am a LIHOP person and there's nothing saying Gore wouldn't have paid a hell of a lot more attention to the warnings than bush did.

[thebigidea]

14. I remember listening to that and saying: "Shit, he sounds just like us!"

I asked him about it a coupla months back: turns out he IS us, he contributes and reads DU.

Here's a goofy video I did with him:
http://www.terminalproduct.com/daviddespisesfreedom.rm

The current goofy video will be all about this 9/11 Bush Bullshit. Rough script:


FADE IN to small room, a man with his back to the camera watches a tv showing images of Bush and the 9/11 firemen/casket.

TV VOICE: "George Bush wants to run on 9/11, shamelessly pimping the dead for his political gain."

MAN watching TV turns to the camera.

MAN: "Ok, Mr. Bush - let's recap."

GRAPHIC: animated ONE over quick barrage of newspaper headlines, daily briefing title: "BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE US", etc)

MAN: "One. You were asleep at the wheel for the worst security failure in the history of this country, after dozens of warnings."

GRAPHIC: animated TWO over sequence of stills of Bush reading to children, Card whispering, etc.)

MAN: "Two. You read a book about goats for a photo op after the first plane hits."

GRAPHIC: animated THREE over stills of Scaredy-Bush & cell phone fundraiser photo.

MAN: "Three. You crisscoss the country making desperate phone calls to Dick Cheney after the the second plan hits... and then sell pictures of it."

GRAPHIC: animated FOUR over Osama pics, smiling Bush, newspaper headlines about Iraq.

MAN: "Four. You ground all planes - except those carrying Bin Laden's family, swear to smoke him out, lose interest, and invade Iraq instead."

camera pulls away from images on TV set, man address camera again.

MAN: "So sure, Mr. Bush - run on 9/11. Because we remember."

STILL of 9/11 image from Bush commercial.

BUSH: "Lucky me, I hit the trifecta."

(audience applause and laughter, Bush chuckles as the commercial FADES OUT.)

[bpilgrim]

16. minor nit

"MAN: "Two. You read a book about goats for a photo op after the first plane hits.""

if you are reffering to card whispering in his ear that was AFTER the 2nd plane hit...

and he told him we are 'UNDER ATTACK'...

how did he react? suprised, of course not, he didn't react at all, weird...

anyways, great work :toast:

peace

[thebigidea]

17. right, the script format makes it look a bit confused

Seeing as I'm mentioning the graphics before the narration...

then again, I'm a bit confused.

You know, I haven't looked at images from that day in quite a while - and its getting me pissed off all over again.

Ugh.

What a nightmare its been since that morning... I used to be completely apathetic about politics and never watched/read any news but film-oriented stuff. It sounds selfish, but I wish I could go back to that.

Curse you, Bush!

[bpilgrim]

22. the bush doctrine is certainly that ;->

i used to be a simple nerd who minded my own business tring to provide for my family and as long as i could keep programming i felt happy/satisfied with my lot always aware it could be worse.

but when these thugs stole the elecetion and i fliped on the teeVee see what everyone else thought about it the media had 'moved on' had a block buster shark attack summer leading up to 911. :argh:

i hear ya, bro. thats what we are fighting for... to go back to OUR lives :bounce:

:hi:

peace

[seabeyond]

27. i always hung out in politics

yet it wasnt close to so being a part of my life. i was thinking the same. it is like syaing geez if we dont have to start taking on the politics like an employeer. we hire these people to do this job, like i hire someone to clean my house so i can do otther things in my life.

we hire the politicians to do this work, run our economy, schools ect. that is all. no more. no hero. workers like you and me

time for them to get to it, so i can get back to my stuff

[Art_from_Ark]

24. That's another thing--

How long did Andy Card's message last? Two seconds? Three at the most. What did he really say during that very short time? And why did neither he nor bu$h show any sense of urgency during that most urgent of times?

[dennis4868]

30. according to published reports....

Card told Bush not to make any statement, just continue what you are doing, and that we are preparing a statement for you.

[kurtyboy]

20. Run it!

NT

[thebigidea]

21. wouldn't it be hilarious if some group did?

Alas, i'm just a poor lunatic with plenty of ideas but not a freakin' dime for airtime.

[Sterling]

51. Cool I see him here all the time at different bars

I always go up to him and ask if he is David Cross and he always says no. lol

[thebigidea]

52. bwhahahah!

Then again, it COULD be one of his assorted clones. "The David Cross Look" is pretty popular these days.

I remember telling him that I was vaguely frightened to approach him after watching his new DVD, afraid that he'd be hiding behind a wall of sarcasm and mocking me.

CROSS: "Oh no, man - not with normal people like you."

"NORMAL" people like me. Little did he know.

I wonder if he posts anything here, or just lurks...

[Jane Austin]

19. MIHOP and LIHOP

Edited to add I am not a MIHOP person, but I am a LIHOP person
and there's nothing saying Gore wouldn't have paid a hell of a
lot more attention to the warnings than bush did.

What do MIHOP and LIHOP stand for?

[nostamj]

26. regarding the 9/11 attacks

and bush's responsibility:

LIHOP = Let It Happen On Purpose
MIHOP = Made It Happen On Purpose

[Jane Austin]

47. Thanks

For explaining that.

Seems self-evident now, but I was wracking my brain before.

[NewJeffCT]

48. that is great

I think that is why the media often gives Bush a free pass – him putting a few sentences together competently is celebrated similarly. That is how he did so well in the debates with Gore – he and the media set the bar so low that a mouse go hurdle the bar and look like Edwin Moses.

I am not LIHOP or MIHOP. I just think it was the grossest incompetence in American history. His administration was well on its way to a one term disaster before 9/11. If there were no 9/11, I am guessing that Bush’s approval ratings would be in the low 30s and Bill Frist or Rudy Giuliani would be challenging him, or somebody out there on the right.

[KeepItReal]

15. A real President would have convicted *someone* of a crime by now...

Funny how the *only* person connected to the events of September 11 recently had his verdict thrown out because Bush & Co. would not allow his lawyers access to all the evidence and witnesses the US govt. had.

" German court on Thursday overturned the world's only conviction for the Sept. 11 attacks and ordered a retrial for a Moroccan found guilty last year of aiding the Hamburg cell of suicide hijackers.

Mounir el Motassadeq's conviction on more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization was flawed because the lower court failed to properly consider the absence of evidence from a key witness who is in U.S. custody, the Federal Criminal Court ruled"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/22/terror/main526452.shtml

[Jane Austin]

18. So glad you brought this up!

I've never thought he did anything after that tragedy except 
show up for a photo-op at ground zero, read a truly great
speech at the National Cathedral and bluster and threaten
about Wanted Posters.

If anything, the American people led HIM with our flags,
solidarity and prayers.

[spanone]

25. Yes, he destroyed our civil rights!

[GumboYaYa]

31. He did one thing right, he wasn't a Democrat.

Patriotic Dems rallied around the Republican president after 9/11. Dems who still believed he had stolen the office of the President did every thing they could to support the President and the nation at this time of great need.

If the tables were turned and the Dems were in power, it would have been a very different scene. The Repubs would have screaned for President Gore's head on a stake. There would have been congressional investigations of every act taken by Gore and Clinton prior to 9/11 and we probably would have been dragged through another impeachment charade.

You would never have seen the patriotism from Republicans that the Democrats displayed. The Republicans would have seen the event as a chance to grab political power, damn the nation in the process.

It's really a sad state of affairs in this country.

[seabeyond]

33. this is true

have looked at it from this angle. again something that needs to be said out loud for all to hear and see. yup to you

[dennis4868]

35. agreed!

If this had happned under Clinton or Gore we would be in a constitutional crisis right now....on top of that the repubs would not have approved a war in aghanistan and certianly not one in Iraq....we would be having impeachment hearings for the lies about Iraq's WMD! It would be a real mess....

[Spazito]

34. You hear the media pundits always say that Bush...

did the right thing on 9/11. What I don't hear is someone asking them what exactly did Bush do that was so great? I saw a man who admitted he ran like a scared rabbit down a hole, leaving the country with NO leadership for many hours and stayed away from New York for days.

[dennis4868]

36. and stayed away from New York for days.

he went to NYC when it was enviromentally safe to go....the first few days it was not safe (of course we all know that the EPA lied about this as well).

[thebigidea]

39. one journalist mentioned it after 9/11, and was fired immedeately

forget the name, but i'm sure google can dig it up somehow.

[DinahMoeHum]

37. As it is, former President Clinton got to NYC before * did. . .

and he travelled all way from Australia to do that.


:kick:

[Bandit]

40. Clinton was on the other side of the world and still got to New York

more than a day before Bush* managed to show up. And if you remember all the airlines were grounded and yet Clinton still managed to get back to be a support and comfort for the people of New York. Bush* didn't show up til day four and only because he was pressured into going there. People were beginning to ask "Where is Bush*?" "Come out Bush* it is over you can come out of your hole."

[ulTRAX]

41. I think...

I think it was Molly Ivans who said Bush didn't do anything any sheriff in Texas would have done. She may have made that comment before Bush became a war criminal by illegally invading Iraq.

[Aidoneus]

42. I think he has the mantle of most vacations took..

Not sure if anything else counts. He has yet to rack up Clinton's bodycount in Iraq, but I trust he'll fix that mistake in time.

[bobbieinok]

53. 'Clinton's body count'?!?!?!?!? what in the world does that mean????

...

[Aidoneus]

54. it speaks volumns..

that you're not even aware of what I was referring to. give me a bit to put something together..

[thebigidea]

55. See: Albright, M. Also See: Sanctions, Worth It

[City Lights]

56. Clinton's body count? Explain, please. n/t

[progressiverealist]

43. At his absolute BEST Bush as president amounts to a placeholder

At his best. I can see nothing that he did on or after 9/11 that merits ANY special Kudos. He made a couple of canned speeches and did some photo-ops. That's it.

[historian]

45. cuban missile crisis

Im old enough to remember that time and from the moment it began till the moment it end, Kennedy was in the White House taking care of his job, unlike shit who took the first flight anywhere so could hide his pointed head somewhere.

[lapislzi]

46. How does ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH sound to you?

That's what I would like everyone in America to think of when they think of Bush on 9/11.

Asleep at the switch.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

[Sparkle]

49. * didn't do anything different than any other president.

His right wing fans make it seem like he was just so heroic. We all know what really happened. And as far as Andy Card whipsering in junior's ear about the second plane, we all saw how he just sat there like he didn't know what to do next. The c-span callers and freepers all say that * didn't want to scare the children. Puhlease! All he had to do was kindly interrupt and say "I am sorry but something urgent has come up and I have to leave. I promise you all I will be back. Thank you for your time." That would have only taken about 10 seconds.

[sendero]

50. He did nothing...

... extraordinary, exceptional or even great. He did nothing the average man on the street wouldn't have done in the same circumstances, and yet he's lauded.

Same for Rudy Guiliani.

The heroes died in the towers trying to save lives. The heroes are dying in Iraq for no good reason. The scum politicians are not heroes to anyone but the stupid.

[LeinesRed]

57. YOU ARE ALL FORGETTING!

He told us to shop. Then he gave the rich people a tax-cut. Then he sent poor minorities off to war...because in his world, only poor minorities have to sacrifice in times of national crisis.