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"My first reaction was anger. Who the hell would do that to America? Then I immediately focused on the children, and the contrast between the attack and the innocence of children," Bush says in an excerpt of the interview shown to television writers on Thursday.
Bush said he could see the news media at the back of the classroom getting the news on their own cellphones "and it was like watching a silent movie."
Bush said he quickly realized that a lot of people beyond the classroom would be watching for his reaction.
"So I made the decision not to jump up immediately and leave the classroom. I didn't want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm," he said of his decision to remain seated and silent.
"I had been in enough crises to know that the first thing a leader has to do is to project calm," he added.
Originally posted by LazyGuy
Bush's being at Booker Elementary at the exact time that the attacks began has bothered me for a while. I figured that I may as well put what I'm thinking to the group and hopefully get some resolution.
If you could choose an alibi to cover your butt while committing the biggest act of treason ever committed what would you come up with?
Originally posted by irishskeptic
i always thought what was first said to him was mr president a plane just crashed into the twin towers
if he was just told we are under attack and nothing else it seems strange that he would just sit there not knowing what kind of attack was happening
Originally posted by GoodOlDave
Originally posted by LazyGuy
Bush's being at Booker Elementary at the exact time that the attacks began has bothered me for a while. I figured that I may as well put what I'm thinking to the group and hopefully get some resolution.
If you could choose an alibi to cover your butt while committing the biggest act of treason ever committed what would you come up with?
Let's be honest here. Bush could have been at the elementary school, at his desk at the White House, or playing frisbee. If you're of a mind to imagine Bush is cooking up these sinister secret plots to take over the world.
If you want to imagine you're finding patterns of sinister secret plots to take over the world out of randomly occurring events that have to relationship to each other, go right ahead, but you need to know this isn't a search for the facts. This is a Rorschach test that only reveals what you have cooking inside your own head.
Originally posted by hooper
reply to post by LazyGuy
I'm confused. Alibi for what? In case he was accused of flying one of the planes? He is being accused of plotting 9/11, not carrying out 9/11. How could being in an elementary school on the day of the crime clear him of planning the crime? The whole premise is just mind boggling.
And what do you expect the President of the United States to do in this instance? Get up an call 911?
Originally posted by LazyGuy
Yes, he could have been taking a dump at the time but he wasn't. If he had been simply at the White house, or playing Frisbee, or jogging with the Secret Service then it wouldn't have established a good alibi much less one that also had a positive spin on his political career.
Reading between the lines isn't a Rorschach test.
The plan could have came apart.
The conspiracy could have came to light early on.
There was probably a contingency plan to blame someone for what happened.
A patsy was chosen.
Maybe it would have been John O'Neill.
TPTB would have loved it have been him.
Originally posted by Darkwing01
reply to post by hooper
And what do you expect the President of the United States to do in this instance? Get up an call 911?
Perhaps not, but is "get up" really too much too ask?
Originally posted by irishskeptic
reply to post by hooper
if he was just told we were under attack and no other details given to him i would expect him to do a lot more then just sit in a classroom full of kids
The last thing anyone wants to see is the President of the United States jump up and start running.
So with that knowledge, and with his chief of staff saying those words, yes - I'd like to see the President jump up and start running. An active response is needed. A sense of leadership is important. To sit and do nothing for seven minutes when the nation had just been attacked was, and is, inexplicable and inexcusable.
Originally posted by Varemia
reply to post by magicrat
I think that would amount to the type of opinion generally reserved for a spot on TV with the mass media. Deciding what is right and proper to do in an emergency is not any of our jobs. Sure, he could have jumped up and left, but we know he was terrible with words, so he might have said something stupid and made the country look really weak. Instead, he waited until he was briefed with what to say that would not throw people into a panic. That's my opinion, of course.