<< Micheal Moore has told you what to think about the President in this situation, and you choose to follow.>>
Actually i took my cues from William Safire who wrote this soon after 9-11:
Stopping air and rail transportation was necessary, and blocking access to national monuments and federal offices was prudent. New York's governor and mayor did their duty by sticking to their posts and reassuring their fellow New Yorkers live on television, recalling King George VI during London's blitz.
But the Secret Service took full charge of President Bush, who was in Florida, running him secretly around the country making a nervous tape. Even in the first horrified moments, this was never seen as a nuclear attack by a foreign power. Bush should have insisted on coming right back to the Washington area, broadcasting — live and calm — from some secure facility not far from the White House.
In the president's absence from the city, Vice President Dick Cheney hurried to the Situation Room. No Haigian "I'm in charge" was needed, but an earlier and more visible sense of steadiness would have helped. Despite the evacuation of executive and Congressional offices, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited his wounded Pentagon troops and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, remained in place.
Steve Dietrich |
