# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/101 "2011-07-30T04:46:35Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > LOL. Speak for yourself. From the moment I heard about the second plane on the radio I knew it was a terrorist attack, and probably Al Qaeda. Of course, I’d been doing research on international terrorism for my job, so I was better informed at that point than most Americans. But I certainly wasn’t better informed than the President. Well, aren’t you special! > [@DT](#): > > Yes, how terrible it is not to be an uncaring monster. Why, mass murder and torture actually bother me! How tragic! I’m not talking about anyone other than you. You are filled with hate, and present yourself as a miserable, pathetic human being. That would be sad if you weren’t so smug. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/102 "2011-07-30T08:01:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Says one of the board’s pet bigots. Tell it to Manson. You’re joke, dude, a joke. Not even people on your own side of an issue want you on it. You generate roll-eyes among everyone, probably even more so from those on the left who just pray you would shut the fuck up. Like I said, it’s like performance art, except it’s not art, it’s real. And we’re all stuck with the notion that there is someone out there as hateful and pathetic as you. And that your on our side of the bars. Yikes! But keep it comin’ bubb. You act as a healthy reminder on this left leaning board that both sides have their embarrassments. Me, I get to chuckle. so, wanna have some brain stew for dinner? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/103 "2011-07-30T08:38:53Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Yes, how _terrible_ it is not to be an uncaring monster. Why, mass murder and torture actually _bother_ me! How _tragic!_ Just reminding you that you said the first thing you’d do with hypothetical super powers would be to kill all of the US servicemen in Iraq. Mass murdering monster, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/104 "2011-07-30T14:08:52Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, aren’t you special! Not particularly. **User\_hostile** had the same reaction. For someone who happened to be paying attention to global terrorism at the time, the 9-11 attacks were not amazing mysteries, no matter how hard the “no one could have anticipated” excuse was spun by those who didn’t do their jobs properly. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/105 "2011-07-30T14:11:14Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Not even people on your own side of an issue want you on it. You generate roll-eyes among everyone, probably even more so from those on the left who just pray you would shut the fuck up. Not me. I agree with **Der Trihs** more than I disagree with him. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/106 "2011-07-30T16:48:54Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Except the OP and innumerable critics who have mocked Bush for his “hang fire” on that morning have not ever referred to the color of his tie. They _have_ referred innumerable times to the title of the book he continued reading, and from a quick Googling, most of them in error. > > Do you really want your argument to die on this literary hill? If your continual near-decade mocking of Bush is threatened over a fact like I ever-so-inconveniently and pedantically introduced, then how solid could it have been in the first place? Substance, my dove, substance! The exact title of the goat tome is of no real consequence. Why do you think it is? If we didn’t even know the title of the book, would that change anything? And just as I said, if GeeDubya had simply copped to a perfectly human reaction of shock and dismay, I’d most likely shrug it off. Because, just as I said, I might very well have the same reaction. So, what if we just write it off? Give him a total pass on this episode, and that will only leave nitwit, warmonger, and fraud. Quite enough for criticism, don’t you think? Or don’t you? ---
**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:** [July 30, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/107 "2011-07-30T19:34:06Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Just reminding you that you said the first thing you’d do with hypothetical super powers would be to kill all of the US servicemen in Iraq. Because they are an invading, conquering army. Destroying an invading or occupying army isn’t mass murder. Unless you want to claim that soldiers are only not murderers if they avoid shooting other soldiers and shoot only civilians? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/108 "2011-07-30T21:36:15Z")
Can we stop spreading misinformation and lies about Bush, please? The title of the book is _The Pet Goat_. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/109 "2011-07-30T21:45:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Substance, my dove, substance! The exact title of the goat tome is of no real consequence. Why do you think it is? If we didn’t even know the title of the book, would that change anything? No, but it’s the _Straight Dope_, and I get irritated by the mangled fact. > [@](#): > > So, what if we just write it off? Give him a total pass on this episode, and that will only leave nitwit, warmonger, and fraud. Quite enough for criticism, don’t you think? Or don’t you? No one need feel they can give him a pass on the episode. I sure don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/110 "2011-07-30T21:51:31Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > A silly comparison. If FDR had invaded Canada . . . He did annually since infancy, leading to FDR Jr. being a natural born Canadian, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/111 "2011-07-30T21:54:07Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Then the goat sees somebody trying to steal a car, headbutts him, and is a hero for stopping the car thief. Goat . . . see . . . butt . . . The words you hid in your thread go a long way to explaining Shrub. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/112 "2011-07-30T22:24:57Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > According to [Wikipedia’s timeline](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_for_the_day_of_the_September_11_attacks), Flight 93 took off last, approx. 25 minutes after Flight 11 had been hijacked, and just minutes before Flight 175 was hijacked. > > What boggles when examining the timeline, was that Flight 11 had been crashed into WTC1, and two other flights had been hijacked, **prior to Bush beginning his photo op**. And no one thought this might be important enough for the POTUS to deal with directly? Exactly. I always mis-remember and think that the **first** plane hit while he was with the kids, reading the book, the guy comes in and tells him the country is under attack. But no, there was a hijacked plane in the air, two stuck inside towers of the WTC, and general chaos. I was certainly no fan of the guy, like most on this board. I don’t know what else any president would have decided to do, or could have done in those seven minutes. But I still remain surprised that he was _allowed_ to sit there with the kids, that the guy wasn’t hustled out of the room immediately. You’ve got hijacked commercial planes and a country under attack and you don’t get the leader of the country into a secure place as soon as possible? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/113 "2011-07-30T22:36:59Z")
> [@beartato](#): > > Exactly. I always mis-remember and think that the **first** plane hit while he was with the kids, reading the book, the guy comes in and tells him the country is under attack. But no, there was a hijacked plane in the air, two stuck inside towers of the WTC, and general chaos. > > I was certainly no fan of the guy, like most on this board. I don’t know what else any president would have decided to do, or could have done in those seven minutes. But I still remain surprised that he was _allowed_ to sit there with the kids, that the guy wasn’t hustled out of the room immediately. You’ve got hijacked commercial planes and a country under attack and you don’t get the leader of the country into a secure place as soon as possible? The secret service knows where the president is and if he needs to be moved, they move him. At the same time this was going on they reportedly showed up in Cheney’s office, picked him up by the arms and carried him to a secure bunker under the white house. There were reports that one plane was headed to the white house and another may be at large. They wanted Bush to stay exactly where he was or he wouldn’t have been there. That is a non-partisan decision made by them and not the president. Any time he may be under direct attack they take over, and the president defers to their instructions. ---
**Author:** ![SherwoodAnderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@SherwoodAnderson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SherwoodAnderson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/114 "2011-07-30T22:43:27Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The secret service knows where the president is and if he needs to be moved, they move him. > > At the same time this was going on they reportedly showed up in Cheney’s office, picked him up by the arms and carried him to a secure bunker under the white house. There were reports that one plane was headed to the white house and another may be at large. They wanted Bush to stay exactly where he was or he wouldn’t have been there. That is a non-partisan decision made by them and not the president. Any time he may be under direct attack they take over, and the president defers to their instructions. If the request comes for permission to take out UA93 - what do they do? It’s heading for the capitol, ETA 2 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/115 "2011-07-30T22:45:22Z")
> [@SherwoodAnderson](#): > > If the request comes for permission to take out UA93 - what do they do? It’s heading for the capitol, ETA 2 minutes. Cheney was at the red phone in the bunker under the white house. ---
**Author:** ![SherwoodAnderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@SherwoodAnderson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SherwoodAnderson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/116 "2011-07-30T22:52:07Z")
[QUOTE=CrazyHorse] At the same time this was going on they reportedly showed up in Cheney’s office, picked him up by the arms and carried him to a secure bunker under the white house. [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Cheney was at the red phone in the bunker under the white house. The CiC could have been in a Limo on a conference call in one minute. Is this the right time for the VP to fill in, when a request may come to shoot down and kill ~100 american civilians in cold blood? ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/117 "2011-07-30T23:11:07Z")
> [@SherwoodAnderson](#): > > The CiC could have been in a Limo on a conference call in one minute. Is this the right time for the VP to fill in, when a request may come to shoot down and kill ~100 american civilians in cold blood? Yeah, this is along the lines of what I’m thinking. It’s not like Bush would have the only one making the decision, there obviously a lot of advisors, etc.; his being on the conference call or not wouldn’t change anything. But isn’t that the kind of decision you at least want the president there for, instead of in a classroom of children? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/118 "2011-07-30T23:14:54Z")
> [@SherwoodAnderson](#): > > The CiC could have been in a Limo on a conference call in one minute. Is this the right time for the VP to fill in, when a request may come to shoot down and kill ~100 american civilians in cold blood? My point isn’t that it was the best policy, or even necessarily one that makes any sense, but that it was the case and Bush wasn’t making any decisions about his immediate travel plans once it became clear hijacked planes were over Washington. I’m sure the school was considered a likely target since he was there and making a pre-planned appearance, and they were watching the radar and swarming around the outsides of that building in every direction while they tried to understand what was happening and ensure it was safe for him to go out to the limo. The way I understand it Rumsfeld actually should have been the second in command as far as military authorization to shoot down civilian planes. But he was reportedly at lunch… so Cheney took the wheel from a secure bunker in the white house and gave the authorization but it was never used. ---
**Author:** ![SherwoodAnderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@SherwoodAnderson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SherwoodAnderson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/119 "2011-07-30T23:16:44Z")
beartato: Exactly. That’s a 3 AM call if there ever was one. (For better or worse) you wouldn’t hear a Presidential Candidate promise that his staff will handle that… ---
**Author:** ![SherwoodAnderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@SherwoodAnderson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SherwoodAnderson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-bush-was-only-thinking-of-the-children-on-the-morning-of-9-11/590696/120 "2011-07-30T23:25:25Z")
Crazyhorse, hindsight is 20/20 and obviously we should expect imperfections in the handling of a chaotic situation with developing events and fog of war. But these are valid questions, they haven’t been hashed out in the public discourse, and fact is that Bush himself yesterday said that he stayed in that chair to project calm and control (implying that it was his decision to make). What I’m saying is that “Pet Goat” is _not_ an example of how some people just can’t give Dubya a break on anything - it’s an example of how he was given a pass for three years after 9/11 and to some extent he’s still being given a pass. Had it been Obama you could count on that these questions would have been asked in bold type as headlines on the frontpage of [FoxNews.com](http://FoxNews.com). [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=5) [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=7)