NYT 9/13/01: Bushists Stung at Criticism Bush Did Not Inspire Confidence

[BurtWorm]

Lest we forget, the post-Katrina Bush was previewed in the days after 9/11:

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00B10FD3B5C0C708DDDA00894D9404482

<NB: This article available from Times Select or purchase from archives.>



Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's adviser, said in an interview this morning that Mr. Bush had twice on Tuesday -- in the morning and in the early afternoon -- argued strenuously that he should return immediately to the capital. Mr. Rove reported that the Secret Service insisted that the situation here was ''too dangerous, too unstable'' for the president to come to Washington.

''We are talking about specific and credible intelligence,'' Mr. Rove said, ''not vague suspicions.''

But neither Mr. Rove nor other officials explained why this information was not made public on Tuesday. Partly because it was not, Mr. Bush was criticized for spending the day traveling a zigzag route from Sarasota, Fla.; to Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, La.; then to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha; then back to Washington. He did not land at the White House until 7 p.m., almost exactly 10 hours after he learned of the first attack.

In addition, much remained unclear about the sequence of events. Some officials suggested that airplanes other than the four known to have been hijacked had in some unspecified way jeopardized the safety of President Bush.

On television, in newspapers and in animated discussions in offices across the country, Mr. Bush's conduct was compared unfavorably with that of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, who went to the scene of the attacks in Lower Manhattan; to John F. Kennedy, who stayed in Washington throughout the Cuban missile crisis of 1963, when many feared that nuclear war was imminent, and to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who remained at the Pentagon after it was hit and for a time helped in the evacuation of the dead and wounded.

The president's conduct, said an article this morning in the staunchly conservative Boston Herald, ''did not inspire confidence.''

[warrens]

1. Memory hole

The govt got the tape of the panicky, ashen-faced Smirk babbling from Louisiana on a stopover on his way to his hidey hole in Nebraska. I saw it live, and it perhaps the worst he has ever looked or acted. He was a total mess. The whole video disappeared, as far as I know. I never saw it again. If anyone got it on tape, YouTube was MADE for this kind of stuff.

[yellerpup]

2. All day long that day I kept wondering why we weren't hearing from

the pResident. The second passenger jet flew by my window (overlooking the Hudson River) as I was turning on my TV set to see what the news was on the first plane crashing into the WTC. After the third jet crashed into the Pentagon, I remember thinking, This is War! Whoever it is has hit military targets and are are engaging the USA in War! Where is the pResident? Staying safe and out of harms way. Lucky stiff. What an option! He deserves no respect. He is a cut and run coward. FUGWB!

[saltpoint]

3. Guy smacks a hornet's nest with a ball bat and declares befuddlement

that the bees don't like it.

The Bush administration gave up integrity and clarity years ago by all counts. Dubya wanted the job. He cheated to get it. He has to live with the historians' assessment of his demonstrably failed presidency.

Boo hoo hoo.

[Ian David]

4. It should have been his Greg Stillson moment. n/t

[kurth]

5. "Revisionist historians is what I like to call them."

- George W. Bush, June 16, 2003

[Hamlette]

6. why did "the decider" let the secret service decide for him that day?

although I had mostly forgotten this, I'm not sure it was the same as Katrina. With Katrina he was just not interested. Here, he acted scared.

When the whole history is written, I don't think it will be kind to Bush.

[rzemanfl]

7. When he did open his stupid yap it was to say: "We are going

to get the FOLKS that did this." Like someone had keyed a car in the parking lot. Moron then moron now.

[BurtWorm]

8. And he never has gotten them, has he?

Heck of a job, Bushie.

[subterranean]

9. This doesn't jibe with his initial actions (or lack thereof)

If the Secret Service was so concerned about Bush's safety, why did they let him stay in that elementary school for 20 minutes after the second plane hit? The country was under attack, and the president was in a known location. Why didn't they hustle him out of there right away? And Washington was too dangerous for Bush to return to, but safe enough for Rumsfeld and Cheney? The story just doesn't add up.

[GeorgeGist]

10. The evidence is clear...

Shrub hid among schoolchildren until the coast was clear.

[Bandit]

11. Bill Clinton was in Australia at the time and all air traffic had been

Halted. He still managed to get to New York City before Bush*...Hillary and Schumer were at ground center the entire time but it is Rudy that got the attention.. :shrug: The only reason Rudy was hailed so was by comparrison to Bush* who hid and aquired the name "bunnypants" for his cowardly actions..