On 9/11, I saw part of that video. The networks showed it several times.
I could never understand why Bush stayed at the school. I didn't
know he made a joke.
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"Once Lorie began surfing the Web, she couldn’t stop. She found a video of
President Bush’s reaction on the morning of Sept. 11. According to the official
timeline provided by his press secretary, the President arrived at an elementary
school in Sarasota, Fla., at 9 a.m. and was told in the hallway of the school that a
plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. This was 14 minutes after the first
attack. The President went into a private room and spoke by phone with his
National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, and glanced at a TV in the room.
"That’s some bad pilot," the President said. Bush then proceeded to a classroom,
where he drew up a little stool to listen to second graders read. At 9:04 a.m., his
chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered in his ear that a second plane had struck
the towers. "We are under attack," Mr. Card informed the President.
"Bush’s sunny countenance went grim," said the White House account. "After
Card’s whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the
second graders read and soon was smiling again. He joked that they read so well,
they must be sixth graders."
Lorie checked the Web site of the Federal Aviation Authority. The F.A.A. and the
Secret Service, which had an open phone connection, both knew at 8:20 a.m. that
two planes had been hijacked in the New York area and had their transponders
turned off. How could they have thought it was an accident when the first plane
slammed into the first tower 26 minutes later? How could the President have
dismissed this as merely an accident by a "bad pilot"? And how, after he had been
specifically told by his chief of staff that "We are under attack," could the
Commander in Chief continue sitting with second graders and make a joke? Lorie
ran the video over and over."
observer.com |
