psoper

I have to say that I really think that Bill Maher is right about this:


By BILL MAHER

John Kerry has waded into an issue raised by Michael Moore in his film "Fahrenheit 9/11," namely, President Bush's sitting for seven minutes in a Florida classroom after being told "the country is under attack." Republicans are waxing indignant, of course. But the criticism is richly deserved.
The fact that Bush wasted 27 minutes that day - not only the seven minutes reading to kids but 20 more at a photo op afterward - was, in my view, the most outrageous thing a President has done since Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the Supreme Court.

Watergate was outrageous but it still did not carry the possibility of utter devastation, like a President's freezing at the very moment we needed his immediate focus on an attack on the United States.

This is an issue about the ultimate presidential duty, acting in an emergency. If nothing else in Washington is nonpartisan, this should be.

But it is not. Republicans are tying themselves in knots trying to defend Bush's actions that morning. The excuses they put forward are absurd:


He was "gathering his thoughts." This was a moment a President should have imagined a thousand times. There is no time in the nuclear age for a President to sit like Forrest Gump "gathering thoughts" after an attack has begun. Gathering information is what he should have been doing.

From the White House press secretary: "The President felt he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening." I agree that gaining a better understanding of what was happening should have been his goal. What I don't get is how that goal was reached by just sitting there instead of getting up and talking to people. Is he a psychic? Was he receiving the information telepathically?

"He didn't want to scare the children." Vice President Cheney has said of Kerry, "The senator from Massachusetts has given us ample reason to doubt the judgment he brings to vital issues of national security." So Kerry's judgment is suspect, but at a moment of national crisis, Bush's judgment was: Better not to scare 20 children momentarily than to react immediately to an attack on the country!
If he had just said, "Hey, kids, gotta go do some President business - be good to your moms and dads, bye!" my guess is the kids would have survived.

I cannot see how someone who considers himself a conservative can defend George Bush's inaction. Conservatives pride themselves on being clear-eyed and decisive. They don't do nuance, and they respect toughness.

But Bush choked at the most important moment a President could have. We're lucky Al Qaeda had done its worst by the time he pulled himself away from the photo op. Next time, it might not be that way.

HellaDumb

iTrader: (3)

Yep, he choked big time. As it turns out, it didn't end up making any difference.

I think the important question is, DO YOU THINK GW would react that way today?

I don't, but that's my opinion.

HellaDumb

iTrader: (3)

mmmmmm k

SUB-ZERO

My God, these damn liberals will say anything to try an overshadow Kerry's warped liberal character flaws in order to make seem he would be a better Commander-in-Chief.

Did Michael Moore also add the 3 minutes Bush took to take a $hit in the school bathroom? How about the 30 seconds he spent adjusting his nut sack after he was done reading to the kids?


Why doesn't he talk about the 3 Purple Hearts Kerry supposedly earned after his long 3 month tour in Vietnam. I bet he [Kerry] also tried to write himself up for a couple Silver stars and a Medal of Honor.

-SZ

SUB-ZERO

BTW, Michael Moore is a freakin Bastard. Even the Dems should be ashamed of this guy. He is nothing but a political slanderist that try's to push he messed views on ignorant people who don't bother researching the truth! Moore's book and his most recent movie are full of half truths and just plain crap.

-SZ

Salty

iTrader: (14)

I'm not supporting Bush's actions on 9/11 because i'd like to think I would have reacted differently, but what Maher and Moore suggest is a poor attempt for the smear campaign.

It's easy to say this after everything's calmed down, of course.

You can ask anyone what they were doing on the morning of Sept 11th and they can describe everything from the smells in the air to the couch they sat on. They can describe the disgust and panic that went through their minds and the exact people in the room with them as the planes hit the targets.

Bush was in a state of shock. What could he have possibly done? The planes were already in the air and there wasn't any intelligence of what would happen next.

To judge a person by what they've done in a state of panic is extremely petty. It's like wrongfully judging a person for panicking in a burning building when they've done the company fire drill a handful of times.

dr3d1zzl3

iTrader: (1)

poor attempt nothing,

THAT DAY ALONE WAS ENOUGH TO PROVE TO ME THAT BUSH IS NOTHING MORE THEN A PAWN


FOR GODS SAKE HE READ A NOTEPAD THAT TOLD HIM TO "SIT THERE".....


how the **** can you honestly say this man is a leader, when he is taking orders from a notepad from across a room during the worst attack on american soil EVER (simply because civlilans were the target and not a military instalation).


Please do explain away that for me.. .i would love to see what bullshti comes form you right wingers......

Let me guess, he didnt want to appear to hasty and leave before he could hold the book upside down and try to spit out "see spot run"

Dont mistake panic for confusion and lack of leadership abilities, of all people you sould know the difference

(and my remarks are aimed at EVERYONE)

dub2w

There is no excuse for such inaction. I dont think that a single one of us would have hesitated the way he did.

Jump on that sinking ship all you want, and drag as many red herrings across the real issues that you can muster (Oh yeah, well Kerry has a teenie weenie!)

Bush is no leader

dr3d1zzl3

iTrader: (1)

its not even the inaction that makes me mad

ITS THE FACT THAT THE SUPPSOED LEADER OF OUR COUNTRY IS TAKING ORDERS FROM SOME PUKIE WITH A NOTEPAD!!!!!!!!!!!

Unregistered

Just to add to this, when I heard about the attack first thing I did was look up information as soon as possible to make sure none of my family was in trouble. And it didn't take me some seven min's to do it either.

As a side note, if I had been president I would of gotten the hell out of that school asap. As the president you are a prime target, by staying there longer you put those children at risk of getting hurt. And find out as much information about it as possible. You are the president we the people in trust you with our safty. Their is no reason in the world that Jr. should of been in "shock". Bill Maher is right on this one.

Salty

iTrader: (14)

Blah blah blah blah blah blah Bush did this blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah i would have done this blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah i would have bench pressed 900lbs in that classroom blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah *sigh*

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