NYT 9/14/01: GHW Bush compelled to defend his son's actions on 9/11

[BurtWorm]

In today's NYT, an article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, even while highlighting the boobish, remote post-Katrina Bush, reinforces the image of George W Bush as the bullhorn holding wartime "president" of 9/11. But Bush has always been remote and boobish, especially in the wake of 9/11, as this excerpt of an article about GWH Bush's defense of his son suggests:


http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F60610F93A5C0C778DDDA00894D9404482

<Note: the article is available to Times Select readers, or for a fee from the Times archives.>

George H. W. Bush has on occasion allowed his paternal instincts to override his geopolitical judgment and suggest that the man in the Oval Office is still a boy in knickers, an unfortunate portrayal at a time when George W. Bush needs to stand tall. And so the former president was quick today to add that in their conversations, his son was not just seeking advice.

''It's not always about policy,'' the ex-president said. ''It's not, 'What do you think, Dad, I should be doing?' That kind of thing. It is more the relationship of a very close family staying in touch, one with the other.''

He added: ''I think -- I know -- that George is strong. I know that he has a fantastic national security team around him.''

The former president offered his personal and political assessments today to a group of software executives meeting in Boston. In his musings, he bristled protectively at what he perceived as unfair criticism of his son for allowing Air Force One to zigzag across the country on Tuesday instead of whisking him directly to Washington after terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

''I've got to confess to being a little annoyed at the attacks on him for following security procedures, not rushing right back to Washington,'' Mr. Bush said. ''But as you've seen in today's paper, there was some credible threats on the life of the president, indeed on the White House itself.'' He was referring to assertions by White House officials on Wednesday that Air Force One and the White House were intended targets of the terrorists.

''He does know what he's doing,'' the father assured his listeners.

[snappyturtle]

1. Oh. Now i feel better---whew!

:sarcasm:

[Crankie Avalon]

2. GW Bush kept his nerve in a crisis the same as GHW Bush did when he bailed

...on his crew during WWII. That's the kind of coolness under pressure that runs in that family.

[peekaloo]

3. Yet days later he really showed them terra-ists what freedom's all about.

He threw out the first pitch at the World Series. (no Freepers not the World Serious, the World Series).

[Philosoraptor]

4. oh well i feel so much better just knowing this

the curse of 41 and 43 is full upon us.

[tridim]

5. Did Bin Laden's brother tell him to say that

while they were meeting on the morning of 9/11?

[Generic Other]

6. ''He does know what he's doing.''

That's the scary part. Traitorous father/son tag team bastards.

[Supersedeas]

8. Is he trying to convince himself...or just the reporter

[DemInDistress]

7. what if Americans knew on Sept.14 2001 about that August 6 PDB

as king george stood atop a 150' pile of debris (WTC)"Osama determined to strike inside the USA" what kind of reception might he have received? It wasn't until May 15 2002 when word first leaked out to the NY Post in 3 inch type," Prez knew, bush was warned of terror threats before they happened" the whitehouse went into high spin mode but it wasn't until 2004 when we all got to see that sanitized version of the infamous PDB.

I was home that afternoon 4/10/04 when that PDB was put on camera. I saw 2 complete pages and on page 2 this omitted paragraph," weeks many many dead, very very big uproar, possibly using hijacked commercial jets as suicide weapons to be crashed into skyscrapers in New York City, Chicago and Washington D.C." that was followed by a closing paragraph which I didn't have time to read. I thought for sure other cable news would carry the same PDB I waited and when it did air again those last 2 paragraphs were deleted. We know why. That paragraph was damaging.