Bush's explanation of his reaction on 9/11

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GWBs explains what he was thinking when told the 2nd tower was hit on 9/11.

10 years later we have his answer......

I have read that it was his lack of understanding how to lead that created his blank stare that day. I am no Bush supporter, but I never really found that type of comment to have any substance. Of course he had a ton of emotions and thoughts filtering through his mind. Personally, I think he did exactly what he should of done. Remained calm, blank face, not scaring the kids. If he did have a knee-jerk reaction, they would of mocked him for that as well. Lose-lose situation he was in I think.

 

Not that this is a can of worms I'm eager to reopen, but...

Bullsh*t.

He could have calmly stood up, said "excuse me, kids - thank you for having me, but I'm going to have to cut my visit short" and excused himself. There's not a kid in the room who would have thought a thing of it.

Look - he froze. He practically sh*t his pants, you could see it in his face. It's obvious, it's understandable - I mean my god, who wouldn't. But this is pathetic. Much like the former football team captain at his highschool reunion explaining why it's not really his fault that he blew the key play in the state championships all those years ago, Bush has had 10 years to come up with the most noble-sounding and face-saving explanation he can muster, long after such an explanation makes any meaningful difference.

Look, George - you choked. We get it, we forgive you, we've moved on. Inventing an alternate explanation to prop up your ego isn't going to rewrite anyone's memories.

"Didn't want to scare the kids." Sweet Jesus, that's lame.

 

Again, I am not a supporter or a Republican. But I don't understand how he choked? It's not like he was going to pickup the phone, make a call and stop the planes from hitting the towers... I'm sure anyone who could actually do something about it, as in military leaders, generals, etc.., already knew as well and were immediately giving orders to do whatever protocol demanded for this type of thing. What do you really think he could of done in that moment?

 

Stand up, excuse himself, and go off to act like the President of the United States does in a crisis.

That's what I expected him to do.

You don't honestly expect me to believe that his first impulse when he was just informed that thousands of Americans were burning alive in a pair of collapsing skyscrapers was "whoah, now - I better sit tight. Wouldn't wanna look like a candy-ass in front of two dozen 2nd graders. THEIR emotional state is what's really important for the next 7 minutes."

COME ON!!!!!!

I'm not saying you're a Republican or a supporter of his, and I'm not calling bullsh*t on you – I'm calling it on him. He offered this lame excuse up on his own, and it's as pathetic as it is thoroughly unbelievable.

He had no idea how to respond to the news he received. It never even crossed his mind that anything like that would happen on his watch or that he would have to deal with it. So he sat there, in shock, pretending to read, trying to figure out what he should do. For 7 minutes. That's why I said he choked. Because he did.

 

Not just for 2 dozen 2nd graders, as there was media in the room as well. He kept his calm for that reason. Do I think he should of excused himself with that calm demeanor? Probably. But he didn't. But I don't think his reaction was terrible either. Not FDR like, which is what we all expect.

 

Blades, come on. It's not like there were only two options - 1) sit there and project calm for the benefit of all in attendance, or 2) TOTALLY LOSE YOUR SH*T! OH MY GOD!! WHADDERWEGUNNADOOO!

There was also 3) stand up calmly, excuse yourself, go be a President.

The fact that there were press in attendance was all the more reason for him to get up and go immediately. It's not like the whole world wasn't getting the news about what was going on.

I really don't understand why anyone but a complete Republican sycophant would be making excuses for him on this. And I know you aren't one, Blades - at all - which is why I find this so perplexing.

 

He could just have spinned it that he was stunned, that despite being president and yadda yadda yadda he was still fairly new on the job and he got stunned by the monstrosity of the acts and the responsibility on his shoulders. That could have been a human reaction people could empathise with.

 

Ok gang, now it's time for the RIGHT (wing) answer!

Bush made a mistake that fateful day. In hindsight, there's a lot he could have done better. He locked up, thinking of probably about 200 factors that needed to be considered. Understandable, and not something he should even have to apologize for, but a mistake nonetheless. It's not as bad as that Douche of Douches Michael Moore made it out to be, not by a long shot. Moore and his ilk were having lunch on that for months and years afterward. They are a bunch of sleazy piranhas.

Now let's play my favorite game called "reverse the polarities". If Barack Obama were to do the exact same thing today, would Beck, Limbaugh, and this Michelle Bachman person cut him any slack? Anyone out there think that's likely? Rhetorical question, there, folks, we all know the answer. Just another genus of piranha.

My point is that at a time like that, no matter what you do (as Blades said) it's a lose lose situation -- SOMEBODY's gonna find fault with it in the post game analysis. Fair minded people will eventually come to a conclusion similar to that of my friend Death Rabbit -- you choked for a time, we get it, we've moved on sort of thing.

What boggles my mind is that after a decade he comes out with this? He had time to think about ut and advisers to lay out possible scenarios. I don't see this doing anything but harm to the GWB legacy. That's the really concerning screwup here.

 

Was his reaction good? No. But in the larger scheme of things, there was nothing that he could have done in that seven minute timeframe that would have changed the outcome in any meaningful way. The 3rd plane was already on its way to the Pentagon. The news was being broadcast around the world. His reaction wasn't good, but if we're arguing about his blank 7-minute stare, all I ask is what would have happened differently if he had done something - anything - else?

I'm surprised he opted to answer the question at all. I'm sure he got a list of questions prior to the interview to prepare his answers, and I'm sure he had the right to pick and chose which ones he'd respond to. If that's all you got George, why bother answering at all?

 

Maybe it's the truth. The explanation sounds plausable to me. Bush is not a complicated guy, and his reaction that day appeared, in following, rather simplistic.

I agree with Blades that people read way more into this than was likely ever there.

 

I can easily see a scenario where GWB was coached by his father "son, as President, in a crises situation, you must always remain calm." GWB internalizes his father's sage advice.

Then the 9/11 attacks occur. GWB realizes: uh-oh, this is definitely a crises. What did dad say to do? Oh yeah... remain calm. That's just what I'll do.

And that's what he did. Unfortunately he didn't realize that remaining calm wasn't the only thing he should have done in the situation. So I believe it's entirely possible that GWB is telling the truth, but that doesn't necessarily absolve him of the criticisms that are being directed at him.

That said, I might have went ahead and soiled my pants in his shoes... so he probably handled the situation about as well, if not somewhat better, than I would have. Then again, I have no designs on the most powerful position in the nation. And for that, we can all be grateful.

Wardrobe change please (and a throw in a shower while we're at it)!

 

People with an axe to grind against Bush will never let it go.

I personally never had a problem with his lack of reaction. I think the government handled the entire thing quite well. Like all good executives he relied on the people under him to do their jobs. I highly doubt in those few short minutes they needed him to make any "tough" decisions.

If he had done as DR suggested and excused himself, I also wouldn't have had a problem with that. However, when DR is suggesting he "go be President", my question to him is what did you want him to do? Should he have gone golfing?

 

I would have expected that he call his top aide and demand a full report. 2 planes crash into the towers? What do we know? What are we doing to get answers? Who do we need to wake up to get them on the case? Let's get jets in the air to make sure this doesn't happen again!

Etc, etc. Of course, all of that after excusing himself from the children and media.

I have no axe to grind with Bush, but a more responsive reaction, if nothing else, would have made him appear a much stronger leader.