# George W Bush Was Only Thinking Of The Children On The Morning Of 9/11. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 29, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696 "2011-07-29T03:36:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/201 "2011-08-03T19:15:06Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > **MaxTheVool** , I think the suggestion that the President is incurious about an attack on home soil is outrageous and just too silly to consider. It seems like the plainest explanation for his actions that does not involve elaborate conspiracies. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/202 "2011-08-03T19:24:03Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > To repeat myself for the umpteenth time, the question is not, in hindsight, whether 7 minutes of the president’s time (and as other’s have pointed out, it’s not just the 7 minutes of reading, it’s also the additional time spent hanging around and the school) And giving a speech from the school. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/203 "2011-08-03T19:52:33Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > **Hentor** , I don’t doubt that there are moves Bush could have made. I just believe it is reasonable to assume that every president ever, when faced with a huge event like this, sacrifices some precious moments before springing into action. I suppose there is very little way for us to know if this is true or not. I for one cannot believe that it would be at all typical for presidents to not start asking questions nearly immediately. Who? How? What steps have you already taken? What are you working on now? And, painfully, “Have we sent out warning messages to all the other planes in the air?” I think it’s actually not reasonable to assume that every president would sit doing nearly nothing for 7 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/204 "2011-08-03T19:54:35Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Did you live through the same Bush Administration I did? Bush and his friends are vindictive, sadistic and have zero respect for life. If America was less powerful they’d have been tried as war criminals. > > And I find it just fascinating that thinking Bush is a bad person makes me the equivalent of a terrorist. And how it’s apparently sociopathic and irrational to attribute evil motives to a man with the body count and history Bush does, while it’s perfectly all right to claim that I’m some sort of monster despite my having a grand total of zero deaths to my credit. Just for my curiosity, do you honestly think Bush would have celebrated a nuclear detonation in New York, or was that just hyperbole? Honestly, I have a hard time imagining you as an actual person without assuming you’re exaggerating in every political post you make. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/205 "2011-08-03T19:58:13Z")
The obvious reason why dubbya looked like a deer in the headlights and froze for 7 minutes is because he didn’t know what to do. It was a terribly un-presidential reaction, which he should be ashamed and embarrassed for. He just wasn’t a strong enough leader or person to keep his head straight during a catastrophe. You can see the same reactions when he’s asked difficult questions on the record, for example. The man just can’t think in crisis. In the real world, he’d have a hard time at job interviews. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/206 "2011-08-03T20:24:51Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Just for my curiosity, do you honestly think Bush would have celebrated a nuclear detonation in New York, or was that just hyperbole? Yes, I believe that he and quite a few of his fellow rightists would love it. Just as they’d love it if California really did sink into the ocean. Bush is sadistic, vengeful, amoral, and cares _nothing_ for anyone outside his little subculture of ultrarich rightwingers. He wouldn’t care about dead New Yorkers any more than he cared about dead Iraqis. And given NY’s liberal reputation, he’d be positively happy over the idea of dead liberals, people who didn’t support him and are therefore mortal enemies of both Bush and God. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/207 "2011-08-03T20:36:38Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > So do I. And I can’t help noticing that very few of the righties posting here are making any effort to refute DT’s opinion that Bush (the guy who as a boy enjoyed stuffing firecrackers up frog’s asses and blowing them up, and went on to amuse himself as a fratboy by branding, personally, the bare butts of pledges with a hot iron, who mocked a woman he was about to execute), isn’t a sadistic psychopath. > > Keep it up, Der. There are more of us on your side than the tightyrightys like to think. Shit. The retards are breeding. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/208 "2011-08-03T20:44:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Just as they’d love it if California really did sink into the ocean. Your delusions are starting to contradict each other and are getting the better of you. You claim rebulicans only care about money and their big business buddies. Now you claim that they would love it if California fell into the ocean. Californias economy was 13% of the US’s GDP in 2008. > [@](#): > > As of 2008, the gross state product (GSP) is about $1.85 trillion, which is 13% of the United States gross domestic product (GDP). > **[Economy of California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_California)** > > The economy of the State of California is the largest in the United States, with a $4.103 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2024. It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If California was an independent nation, it would rank as the fourth largest economy in the world in nominal terms, behind Germany and ahead of Japan. > Additionally, California's Silicon Valley is home to some of the world's most valuable technology companies, including Apple, Alphabet, and Nvidia. In tot As ... So you really think that Bush and the republicans would be delighted if the country lost 13%? Retard. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/209 "2011-08-03T20:44:54Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Yes, I believe that he and quite a few of his fellow rightists would love it. On the one hand, I have to take these words at face value, since I can’t read minds. On the other, my mind refuses to accept that someone actually believes that any President of the U.S. would welcome the death of millions of citizens in the U.S. I feel like a robot on ST:TOS caught in a logic loop started by Kirk. “Logic is a little tweeting bird. Logic is a bouquet of pretty follows, which smell _bad_.” ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/210 "2011-08-03T20:50:33Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > So do I. And I can’t help noticing that very few of the righties posting here are making any effort to refute DT’s opinion that Bush (the guy who as a boy enjoyed stuffing firecrackers up frog’s asses and blowing them up, and went on to amuse himself as a fratboy by branding, personally, the bare butts of pledges with a hot iron, who mocked a woman he was about to execute), isn’t a sadistic psychopath. > Instead it’s all third grade insults like “There’s drool running down your chin” and “Nobody likes you”. > > Keep it up, Der. There are more of us on your side than the tightyrightys like to think. Well, I’d like to think I kept my posts above the third-grade level, at least. But rather than drag out the hijack, I’ve continued the discussion [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=618875). ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/211 "2011-08-03T20:50:48Z")
:smack: “flowers” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/212 "2011-08-03T21:30:41Z")
Well, a rows by any other name would still stink. ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/213 "2011-08-03T21:34:27Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Shit. The retards are breeding. An excellent illustration of my last post. “Instead it’s all third grade insults” ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/214 "2011-08-03T22:09:08Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > ]" Just as I constantly heard from people before and during the Iraq debacle; " These people that you kept hearing… are they outside of your head or inside? ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/215 "2011-08-03T22:43:23Z")
> [@cedman](#): > > > [@Der Trihs](#): > > > > ]" Just as I constantly heard from people before and during the Iraq debacle; " > > These people that you kept hearing… are they outside of your head or inside? I can’t believe I’m doing this. . . \ If you wouldn’t have taken that phrase out of context, it’s not so outlandish in and of itself - I daresay it’s one of the only reasonable things he’s said in this thread (or, like, ever): > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Just as I constantly heard from people before and during the Iraq debacle; “oh, surely they wouldn’t lie about the WMDs, surely they aren’t killing innocent people, surely they aren’t torturing people, they’d never do that!” I know **I** heard those very same things from a lot of people, until the claims of WMD were disproven; Wikileaks video came out; the Abu Ghraib and waterboarding scandals broke. We still hear weak protestations from the right when those topics come up, despite pretty damning evidence that they at least let this happen on their watch, and at worst were complicit. So of all the things **Der Trihs** has said in this thread, you pick **that** , and give some halfassed schoolyard jab implying he’s a loon? Maybe you could have picked one of the half-dozen better examples; or better yet, keep the jibes implying mental illness out of it and use your wits. I guess I should just stay the hell out of the Pit - it seems I’m expecting too fucking much from this crowd. ::hangs head:: ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/216 "2011-08-03T23:20:00Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The Fuhrer’s bodyguard came from the Shutzstaffel, yes? > > The Sicherheitsdeinst looks like it dealt with counter-intelligence and other field work. > > Like all other things Nazi, it’s confusing to me, as there appears to be confusing overlap between these (and other) organisations. > > Short answer: “Shutzstaffel” is the page that came up when I searched for “SS” on wiki. I hope you realize that was a joke? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/217 "2011-08-03T23:31:04Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@gonzomax](#): > > > > Bush stole the kids lunch money before he took off. > > Which would make a better parody of my position if Republicans didn’t have a history of fighting against government funded school lunches. “Hungry kids learn better!” They are that petty. Which would be a good parody, if it wasn’t for the fact that you are responding to a leftwing loon, by being even more of a leftwing loon. **Gonzo** is **sane** compared to you, dude. You are nuts. You are as nutty as it gets. We are all frightened that people like you exist. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/218 "2011-08-04T01:33:57Z")
Well the good thing is that loons with Der Trihs’ particular brand of crazy are more of the ranting type and less of the take action to fix the problem type. Actually, now that I think about it, Der Trihs is the only one I know with his particular brand of crazy, so I guess I have no idea whether he would ever actually act on his belief. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/219 "2011-08-04T04:07:18Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > On the other, my mind refuses to accept that someone actually believes that any President of the U.S. would welcome the death of millions of citizens in the U.S. Why? Haven’t you been paying attention? The Republicans do not care what happens to this country. We just watched them threaten the country with disaster to get their way. And Bush himself is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Not only do I not consider it ridiculous to assume he’d welcome the deaths of people he considers his enemy (especially if it profited him), I consider it unreasonable to assume that he would care. When has he ever shown this concern for human life he seem so sure he has? A lack of concern for other people is a hallmark of the Republican party. > [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > So of all the things **Der Trihs** has said in this thread, you pick **that** , and give some halfassed schoolyard jab implying he’s a loon? Maybe you could have picked one of the half-dozen better examples; or better yet, keep the jibes implying mental illness out of it and use your wits. He and the rest can’t because they are trying to defend the indefensible. Bush is practically a parody of the lazy, greedy, amoral, pampered, incompetent aristocrat. An overprivileged and arrogant fool who has been handed one undeserved award after another throughout his entire life, and ruined everything he’s touched. Willfully ignorant. Dishonest, corrupt and cowardly. He mocks the condemned and tortures small animals. Plus of course he is responsible for torture, economic disaster and hundreds of thousands of dead. Support for him and his actions is indefensible. But if they can jump up and down and call me insane and make this thread all about me then they don’t have to defend him at all. > [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Which would be a good parody, if it wasn’t for the fact that you are responding to a leftwing loon, by being even more of a leftwing loon. **Gonzo** is **sane** compared to you, dude. You are nuts. You are as nutty as it gets. We are all frightened that people like you exist. :rolleyes: Yeah, sure you are. I’m sooo crazy and sooo scary - and conveniently, that means you don’t have to defend a torturing mass murderer like Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/220 "2011-08-04T11:07:38Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > This works as sound bite but fails in real life. Look; I realize Jack Bauer sometimes holds the nation in his grasp with a matter of sheer moments to act, but the real world doesn’t work that way. Jack Bauer is (i’ll confess I haven’t seen any 24) an intelligence services guy. The President of the United States is the President of the United States. His job is to hold the nation in his grasp - not every so often, but constantly. Presidents of the United States have decided to bring the U.S. into World Wars. Set the tone of command during games of nuclear brinkmanship - and used nuclear weapons. It “fails in real life”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696.md?page=12)