One story is starting to take form after todays talk shows....

[kentuck]

Nobody was to blame. It was everyone's fault. It was an "act of God" - as stated on the Chris Matthews show.

It wasn't Bush's fault. It wasn't Clinton's fault. But, everyone could have done more. No one could have stopped 9/11.

Since the truth is starting to see a little light, it is time to throw a blanket over it because, we can't handle the truth.

The truth being that we had no al Qaeda attacks in our country for 8 1/2 years under Clinton. Yet, just 8 months into Bush's term, al Qaeda attacks us. We are to assume that it would have happened no matter if Gore had been elected. I am not personally ready to accept that assumption, because in those first 8 months of the Bush regime he did things to promote terrorism and hate for our country that Al Gore would not have done. George Bush's actions and inactions impacted the way our country was viewed by the Middle East countries, as well as the rest of the world, which were very much different from what would have been the actions or inactions of a President Gore. I refuse to accept their premise.

(edited to say no al qaeda attacks in our country)

[wryter2000]

1. If Gore had been in office

He wouldn't have been on vacation for all of August 2001.

[Katherine2]

9. I have never accepted

that we would have been attacked if Gore was elected (oops, I mean if Gore was president), either.

[Cocoa]

2. I'm expecting that to be the Commission's conclusion

they'll work hard to give the impression that they are conducting a good-faith investigation, and to appease the families and the others that are paying attention, but their ultimate conclusion will be that no one should be held accountable. They've given hints that they don't intend to hold anyone accountable. If they do, I will be very surprised.

[Crachet2004]

5. Sure, they are going to let Bush off the hook...or try to.

The fact is, he KNEW-and he was president. It happened on his watch. And the whole vendetta goes back to Asshole Bush one, not Clinton. Clinton was just a sort of a passerby...time stood practically still during his term in office.

They can spin it however they want to, but the truth is out, and Bush can't blame Clinton...although you can bet he, and the corporate press will try.

[Kira]

3. Matthews showed a great clip

of Bush on Aug 7, 2001. He was on a golf cart I think, obviously on vacation, and he was talking about the threats to the US and all he could talk about was Iraq. It was very telling although no one on the show really made a good point about it.

[PsN2Wind]

7. Pass the picture around

captioned "George Bush, golf cart warrior"

[buycitgo]

22. photoshop it to put his AC flight suit on him, then have a banner

saying

Mission Accomplished: Three Thousand Dead--Approval Rating, 90%!

[buycitgo]

10. I saw that......he changed the subject immediately after Fineman

started in about how DAMAGING all this vacation stuff is going to be for the chimpass.

don't want to get into THAT, do we?

[Gloria]

4. And how will Kerry react to such a gloss over explain away...

This is a critical question. Is he going to be a leader against Bush...or try to ride it all out and hope Bush self-destructs????

[buycitgo]

11. this is a key point........the pugs LOVE to nail him on not having a plan

and when/if he DOES speak out, they'll say it's pure politics, and try to smear his patriotism, for DARING to speak out against our brave war president

When are the dems going to wise up and remind the public that we GOT the fuck RID of LBJ at the height of the furor over Vietnam.

he resigned less than TWO MONTHS after Tet, when his particular suit of emperor wear was stripped from him: that being the cloak Vietnam success

try these books. see the parallels

The Making of a Quagmire

The Best and the Brightests

The Bright Shining Lie

pretty ironic titles, and very applicable

I particlularly love the fun one can have contrasting the cast of Best and Brightest with the buffoons littering the current fetid WH landscape

[playahata1]

17. LBJ did not resign.

He simply said that he would not seek a second term as President.

[kentuck]

6. They want you to believe in fate...it would have happened no matter..

who was in charge and no matter what different policies they may have initiated or what different diplomatic strategies may have been put in place etc...It was fate...it was written in the stars...we were going to be attacked no matter who was in the White House. I don't buy it.

[RC]

13. Don't forget the preserved in amber project of Star wars.

[patricia92243]

23. If it didn't matter then who was in the WH, it shouldn't matter now. No..

sense in keeping Bush in office - we CAN changes in mid-stream.

[salinen]

8. All of a sudden

thugs are trying to hide under Clinton's "skirt".

[Tatiana]

12. I have noticed this exact same thing!

Actually, it started after Condi's testimony. They immediately began spinning. How COULD she have known? There were so many threats coming across her desk... It was HUMAN ERROR. Hindsight is always 20-20. BS. If the roles were reversed, they would be nailing Sandy Berger's hide against the wall!

One thing I've realized... this administration, across the board, suffers from diminished expectations. We give Bush a pass, we let Cheney subvert our traditional policy of transparent government, we let Condi get away with not doing her job because of "human error." She is in charge of coordinating National Security. That's her job. It's obvious, like everyone in this administration, that she was not qualified for the position.

[LittleApple81]

14. WE NEED AIR AMERICA TV. No AirAm transmissions on weekend

and couch potatoes too lazy to think.

[americanstranger]

18. We could do that!

Yo, Air America, ya listening? Me and Sym could do a Sunday show to refute the shreiking heads!!

Just sayin'.

-as

[Feanorcurufinwe]

15. Clinton averted the Millenium attacks, the LA airport bombing

and others

[welshTerrier2]

16. preventing 9/11 not the right standard

the "it was due to structural problems" throughout our government is a distraction ... the 9/11 commission will no doubt report on all sorts of "process" problems in the FBI, the CIA, foreign intelligence, the Congress and the white house probably going all the way back to jimmy carter ... all good things to analyze ... and all good things to correct ...

but none of this has even a morsel to do with whether bush demonstrated any leadership whatsoever when he was given the briefings he received ...

you'll hear the right-wing spinners out there day after day talking about how this is "not about blame" ... well, that's fine ... the 9/11 commission has a much broader role than just commenting on whether bush failed the U.S. ... it is not the primary focus of their investigation ...

but the importance of assessing bush's total failure of leadership is not to be hidden away in the massive compilation of failures throughout the rest of the government ... bush's failure to do anything at all in response to numerous memos like the August 6 memo is a central point that voters must consider this year ... it is absurd for the right to argue that "this" is not "about blame" ... "this" is making an honest assessment of what bush did and didn't do regarding information about terrorism ... whether Clinton did something or didn't do something is not the issue this year ... if Clinton was a miserable failure on terrorism, then don't vote for him this year ... Clinton's shortcomings do not excuse bush's failures ...

so, the right standard is NOT whether 9/11 could have been prevented ... it is NOT about whether the problems with information existed in many other administrations ... it is NOT about whether our intelligence agencies failed us ... those are all good factors to consider in assessing what went wrong and what improvements need to be made ... but THE STANDARD in assessing bush's role regarding terrorism is whether he did all he could to protect this country ...

the fact is, that after receiving the August 6 memo, bush remained on vacation ... he did not return to washington ... he did not call in the FBI director ... he did not demand that details of bin Laden's plan be researched ... he did not ask for an analysis of how credible the threat was compared to information contained in other memos ... he just did not do anything ... and that's the only standard voters need to focus on ...

[FDRrocks]

19. 9/11 was an act of god?

Why aren't we launching a war to overthrow the leadership of heaven?

[LittleApple81]

20. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY YOU REPUG WIMPS!!!!

Commissioner Thompson said: the memo “didn’t call for anything to be done"
YOU WERE IN CHARGE. YOU MUST DETERMINE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. IT IS YOUR JOB!!!! IT IS NOT FOR SOMEBODY ELSE TO TELL YOU WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE !!!!!!!

[Malva Zebrina]

21. yes, that was pretty obvious from the beginning of the 9-11 hearings

and that is how the media is going to play it to the people who get their news from CNN and the nightly news on the broadcast stations

. I wish Clinton would be a little more verbal and in the spotlight and would come out to defend himself on this. Carter has been and is not afraid, apparently to break that "ex-president' tradition of not saying a thing. Neither is the first Bush. So why doesn't Clinton just come out with his gloves on and throw one down at the feet of this Awol, stupid prick who is wont to blame everything he has done to mess up this country and further invade a country on lies he made up, on Clinton?

[Elidor]

24. I find myself quoting Josh Marshall a lot lately...

I'll paraphrase him: it's not so much that they didn't stop 9-11; it's that they didn't even TRY. They ignored the warnings and downgraded anti-terrorism efforts. They are framing the debate on the most favorable terms for themselves. But it's the wrong debate. It's not about "could it have been prevented?" which is the way they're framing it. It's about "why the HELL did they do NOTHING?!"

[JohnOneillsMemory]

25. Exxon Valdez captain: "Hey, c'mon! This is a hard job!"