# John Kerry did nothing for 40 minutes on September 11th. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 8, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855 "2004-08-08T04:14:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/61 "2004-08-08T23:23:06Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > Yes. For those seven minutes, at that time in that place, yes. Better than asking what was going on? Seriously? When the rest of the country was starting to realize the country was under attack, it was better that the President do his photo-op with the schoolkids than - forget even getting information - start figuring out a way to address the nation? You know, _acting Presidential_? Or finding out if there was anything he could do? Asking who attacked us, or if there was further risk? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/62 "2004-08-08T23:40:35Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > Right. Because with the President of the United States standing right behind him the aides would have gotten the information much quicker. Yes his position on the other side of the wall was a major impediment. Got it. The point was that they would have gotten the info to BUSH quicker, the leader who is supposed to make decisions on that info. Not that they would have gotten it quicker to themselves. And no, I don’t think it made any difference, at least not in that emergency. But a better leader would have tried to get that info quicker, in case time was actually an issue. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/63 "2004-08-08T23:46:52Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > Imagine President Bush was in the oval office when the attacks happened. What would have been different? If he had been sitting in his office reading “My Pet Goat” rather than getting up to speed on the situation, then no, there would not have been any difference. The issue is not where he was, but rather that as Commander and Chief, he burried his head in the sand. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/64 "2004-08-08T23:56:20Z")
You know, it occurs to me that this is the ultimate partisan issue. Bush haters conflate this thing to demonize Bush into something evil or incompetent, and Bush supporters contort and twist to ignore the fact that he have could done better. Both extremes are silly. He simply could have done better, and had the misfortune of being on camera at the time. Making it worse than it is or somehow arguing he did the completely right thing are equally ridiculous. Haters, just admit that a few minutes didn’t make any difference. Bushies, stop denying that he couldn’t have been quicker to get on the situation. It really doesn’t have to be black and white, you know. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/65 "2004-08-08T23:56:43Z")
**pervert** : I kind of think you are being a bit purposely obtuse here. I think I made it pretty clear that I expected him to engage his brain to find out what was going on. He could have asked what was known about these planes that hit the buildings…Had they been hijacked and were there other planes that appeared to be hijacked? Were there any other likely targets that need to be evacuated? What are the plans for him from here on out…And what is the status of Dick Cheney and those on down the line of command for the Presidency? But, hell, he could have just gone into another room and asked them to turn on CNN so he could see what was being reported? When my friend, who was going to fly out to Europe that day to visit her grandmother called me and tearfully told me what was going on, I immediately left down the office and walked down the hall and stopped in some room that had a TV and watched for a few minutes, then walked out to my car and turned on NPR and listened to that for a while. Even though I couldn’t do anything, I had an immediate hunger to know what the hell was going on. And, I don’t go around telling anyone that I am a great leader and they should trust me in a crisis, so to be honest, I expect more from the President in such a situation than a do from myself. As I noted, I am more of the deliberative type who would want to be in the Senate or on the Supreme Court if I were in a political position of power. But, again, I don’t think that people would be making much of a deal about this if it weren’t so symbolic of what we see as a major character flaw in the President, as regards a lack of intellectual curiosity and attempt to seriously understand a situation. It is sort of analogous to the big deal that was made in regards to his father being amazed by supermarket checkout scanners. On a sort of intellectual level, we could understand that Bush Sr. was leading a necessarily sheltered existence in some ways being Vice President and all…After, all you can’t just walk into the neighborhood supermarket when you are Vice President. However, it was symbolic of the fact that he seemed so out-of-touch with the real world that people face. I mean, I remember how overjoyed I was when Clinton said the words “pre-existing condition”…It was just the fact that he was intellectually engaged with the problems that some ordinary Joe would face in dealing with health care that was absent in Bush Sr.'s Administration (which I nonetheless look back with quite a bit of nostalgia in comparison to Bush Jr’s). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/66 "2004-08-08T23:58:48Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Haters, just admit that a few minutes didn’t make any difference. A number of people have said that. It positively didn’t matter. As I’ve said earlier, he still shouldn’t have sat there. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/67 "2004-08-09T00:13:23Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > Please please please prove me wrong. Suggest 2 or 3 things (notice I’ve reduced it) that Bush could have done which would have made any difference. I’ll even lower the bar further. It doesn’t have to be orders (although that’s the only thing they might have **needed** him for). Let me know how he might have built a more accurate picture of the current events in those seven minutes by leaving the classroom. > > Anybody? He could have asked what the heck Card meant by “The nation is under attack.” He could have asked where the nearest TV was. He could have asked any number of questions. See, that’s the problem. He didn’t ask anyone anything. He had no curiousity about what was happening. > [@El Cid Viscoso](#): > > What if, while you looked on in horror at the ruins of a second tower, your TV also showed Picture-in-Picture, closed-circuit coverage of Your Candidate? How would you have reacted, while the seconds turned into minutes, if you could have watched him simply sit and blink at the news? Our candidate wasn’t Commander-in-Chief. Our candidate wasn’t in a position to do anything that would affect the country. Our candidate wasn’t sitting around doing something trivial and unrelated while all this was going on, after he knew it was going on. Our candidate was WATCHING TV TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON, like most of the rest of the country. I do wish Americans could have had a live Picture-in-Picture, to see what Bush was doing. > [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Now, the Republicans are not going to admit that George Bush did the best thing by keeping out of everyone’s way. Their claim, after all, is that he’s a _leader_. How can they admit that other people in government at all levels were making good decisions without ever consulting him? Why, that would be tantamount to admitting that maybe government is not the necessary evil that they believe it to be. Good post. They also can’t come out and admit that Bush has zero curiousity. Amazing. Btw, it was a lot more than 7 minutes Bush was in that classroom after finding out the second plane had hit. He stayed there until all the press had left. This is from [An Interesting Day](http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essayaninterestingday.html), an in-depth effort to try and account for Bush’s actions that day. > [@](#): > > Nearly every news account fails to mention when Bush left the classroom after being told America was under attack. Three mention 9:12 a.m. [New York Times, 9/16/01 (B), Telegraph, 12/16/01, Daily Mail, 9/8/02] Remaining in the classroom for approximately five to seven minutes is inexcusable, but **the video of Bush in the classroom suggests he stayed longer than that**. The video contains several edits and ends before Bush leaves the room, so it also doesn’t tell us exactly how long he stayed. One newspaper suggested he remained “for eight or nine minutes” - sometime between 9:13 and 9:16, since Card’s arrival is uncertain. [Tampa Tribune, 9/1/02] > > **When Bush finally did leave, he didn’t act like a man in a hurry**. In fact, he was described as \*\*“openly stretching out the moment.” \*\* [Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism - From Inside the Bush White House, by Bill Sammon, 10/02, p. 89] When the lesson was over, Bush said to the children: “Hoo! These are great readers. Very impressive! Thank you all so much for showing me your reading skills. I bet they practice too. Don’t you? Reading more than they watch TV? Anybody do that? Read more than you watch TV? [Hands go up] Oh that’s great! Very good. Very important to practice! Thanks for having me. Very impressed.” [Transcribed from Booker video, Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism - From Inside the Bush White House, by Bill Sammon, 10/02, pp. 89-90] **Bush still continued to talk** , advising the children to stay in school and be good citizens. [Tampa Tribune, 9/1/02, St. Petersburg Times, 9/8/02 (B)] One student asked Bush a question, and he gave a quick response on his education policy. [New York Post, 9/12/02] > > The only source to describe what happened next is Fighting Back by Bill Sammon. Publishers Weekly described Sammon’s book as an “inside account of the Bush administration’s reaction to 9-11 [and] a breathless, highly complimentary portrait of the president [showing] the great merit and unwavering moral vision of his inner circle.” [Publisher’s Weekly, 10/15/02] Sammon’s conservative perspective makes his account of Bush’s behavior at the end of the photo-op all the more surprising. \*\*Bush is described as smiling and chatting with the children “as if he didn’t have a care in the world” and “in the most relaxed manner imaginable.” \*\* White House aide Gordon Johndroe, then came in as he usually does at the end of press conferences, and said, “Thank you, press. If you could step out the door we came in, please.” A reporter then asked, “Mr. President, are you aware of the reports of the plane crash in New York? Is there anything…”, But Bush interrupted, and no doubt recalling his order, “DON’T SAY ANYTHING YET,” Bush responded, “I’ll talk about it later.” **But still the president did not leave.** “He stepped forward and shook hands with [classroom teacher] Daniels, slipping his left hand behind her in another photo-op pose. He was taking his good old time. … \*\*Bush lingered until the press was gone.” \*\* [Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism - From Inside the Bush White House, by Bill Sammon, 10/02, p. 90] > [@jshore](#): > > But, again, I don’t think that people would be making much of a deal about this if it weren’t so symbolic of what we see as a major character flaw in the President, as regards a lack of intellectual curiosity and attempt to seriously understand a situation. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/68 "2004-08-09T00:23:41Z")
> [@El Cid Viscoso](#): > > Well, while we’re imagining… > > Now that it’s coming from both major sides (and one almost indescribably puzzling side, thank you Aldebaran), I reckon I can ask this question: > > What if, while you looked on in horror at the ruins of a second tower, your TV also showed Picture-in-Picture, closed-circuit coverage of Your Candidate? How would you have reacted, while the seconds turned into minutes, if you could have watched him simply sit and blink at the news? Only one candidate had not only the ability but the _obligation_ to do anything. Whether Bush could have made a difference in that seven minutes is beside the point. He didn’t _know_ he couldn’t make a difference. He should have tried regardless. There was no good reason for him to sit there and every reason to get off his ass and leave. The Bush entourage had already set up a workroom in an adjoining classroom. Bush could have excused himself politely (and btw, who gives a crap if he would have scared the kids? Let 'em be scared. They’ll get over it) and walked a few feet into a room that was already equipped with telephines, computers, Secret Service and various, assorted Bush aides and babysitters. Wsa that two foot in the hallway from one room to another really such a desperate risk? If I may trivialize this with a baseball analogy, it’s like failing to hustle down to first base on a weak groundball to short. It probably won’t make any difference, but your _supposed_ to leg it out anyway. Every once in a while a fielder kicks the ball or sails it over the first baseman’s head. When the ball is in play, you _run_. The ball was in play and it took seven minutes for Bush to leave first base. He acted like the special ed kid who takes an at bat and then everybody has to keep telling him what base to go to. Oh…and pointing at Kerry is like pointing at the on deck guy and wondering why _he_ didn’t hustle to first. ---
**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 9, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/69 "2004-08-09T00:26:40Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > Since you guys have finally dragged me into this discussion, let me ask the question in another way. Imagine President Bush was in the oval office when the attacks happened. What would have been different? I realize that there are no particular orders he could have given to change any of the outcomes (I hope all of you do as well). But what would he have learned, what could he have known sooner. Perhaps he could have made inquiries that would have told him that another plane had been hijacked. According to the 9/11 Commission report, he did not know that any more than the first two planes had been hijacked as of the time that he eventually left the school (approximately 9:30 a.m.). Perhaps he might have communicated with the Pentagon, something which he did not do. Perhaps because of inquiries that he might have made, information about the other hijackings and directives to secure the cockpit would have made it to the crew of flight 93 more than the 2 minutes before the hijackers acted, as it did. I realize that this is the sheerest of speculation, but he could have issued an order that all flight crews be immediately informed about what had happened to other planes. From the 9/11 Commission Report, page 11 > [@](#): > > United’s first decisive action to notify its airborne aircraft to take defensive action did not come until 9:19, when a United flight dispatcher, Ed Ballinger, took the initiative to begin transmitting warnings to his 16 transcontinental flights: “Beware any cockpit intrusion— Two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center.” One of the flights that received the warning was United 93. Because Ballinger was still responsible for his other flights as well as Flight 175, his warning message was not transmitted to Flight 93 until 9:23.69 > By all accounts, the first 46 minutes of Flight 93’s cross-country trip proceeded routinely. Radio communications from the plane were normal. Heading, speed, and altitude ran according to plan. At 9:24, Ballinger’s warning to United 93 was received in the cockpit.Within two minutes, at 9:26, the pilot, Jason Dahl, responded with a note of puzzlement: “Ed, confirm latest mssg plz—Jason.”70 > The hijackers attacked at 9:28. Bush had been told that the country was under attack by hijacked airplanes 23 minutes sooner. Bush had been told about what was going on 14 minutes before a flight dispatcher took it upon himself to inform United planes about what was going on. What if the crew had even a “mere seven minutes,” or even more, to prepare themselves? I don’t blame Bush for not giving that specific order, but I do blame him for doing absolutely nothing but preparing a speech for half an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/70 "2004-08-09T00:40:35Z")
I reiterate that to claim that Bush “didn’t know” everything is begging the question. He didn’t _know_ what he didn’t know, and he made no attempt to find out. For those who would apologize for Bush, I would ask you this. If someone had come up to _you_ that day and said simply “Two airplanes have hit the World Trade Center. America is under attack,” would you simply shrug and be satisfied with that information. Would you finish your sandwich or watch the end of a Spongebob Squarepants episode before you you sought more information. Or would you say something more along the lines of “Who the fuck the what…?” Bush had no idea what was going on and didn’t ask a single question. Isn’t that exceedingly odd? By contrast, Kerry’s own “inactivity” such as it was, at least involved _watching the tube and finding out information._ He wanted to know what the hell was going on. That in itself is still more than Bush did. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/71 "2004-08-09T00:40:50Z")
Y’know, I rather would have liked the inert, blinking Bush. If only he could have spent the next year or so sitting and pondering goats, rather than slapping together a bunch of spurious intelligence and using the flimsy evidence as justification for invading a country that had no WMDs or Al Quaeda operatives in it. Moore has his priorities all wrong. A Bush governs best when he governs least. ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/72 "2004-08-09T00:55:59Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Better than asking what was going on? Seriously? When the rest of the country was starting to realize the country was under attack, it was better that the President do his photo-op with the schoolkids than - forget even getting information - start figuring out a way to address the nation? You know, _acting Presidential_? Or finding out if there was anything he could do? Asking who attacked us, or if there was further risk? In those first 7 minutes? Yes. Imagine the answers to those question in those first 7 minutes. Which one would have made any difference? Do you really think that a president moving from aide to aide asking “what do we know now?” would have been anything except an impediment? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/73 "2004-08-09T00:58:40Z")
> [@](#): > > **Airman Doors** : If Bush did that, well, how can I think that I have the standing to do so given what I did that day? I have not been one that has been quick to criticize Bush’s reaction. But watching those seven minutes played out in the movie did give me pause. Surely there was some general plan of action to take in the event that the United States came under attack. Although no one could foresee the specific nature of the attack, I would think that contingency plans of some sort would have been in place. I don’t think those plans would have included a photo op. That makes me wonder what the actual plans were. You and I have the right to remain frozen in place and I can even understand Bush’s initial reaction for a minute or two. But I can’t imagine for a moment that a John Kennedy, or a Bill Clinton or a Dwight Eisenhower wouldn’t have started asking lots of questions. They would have known what questions to ask. They would have been prepared for that by their intellects. George Bush did not come across as calm or confident that morning – not to me, anyway. He just looked frozen like the rest of us. I think that we have the right to expect that the Commander-in-Chief will have a better command of the situation than you or I. Is it true that he had to use a regular cell phone in the limo to communicate? ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/74 "2004-08-09T01:01:29Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > **pervert** : I kind of think you are being a bit purposely obtuse here. I think I made it pretty clear that I expected him to engage his brain to find out what was going on. And what would that have accomplished? Seriously. In those first 7 minutes, what could he have done to learn more than he had? > [@](#): > > He could have asked what was known about these planes that hit the buildings…Had they been hijacked and were there other planes that appeared to be hijacked? Were there any other likely targets that need to be evacuated? What are the plans for him from here on out…And what is the status of Dick Cheney and those on down the line of command for the Presidency? Yes, and during those 7 minutes, he could have been told “We don’t know just yet, we’re working on it.” > [@](#): > > But, hell, he could have just gone into another room and asked them to turn on CNN so he could see what was being reported? When my friend, who was going to fly out to Europe that day to visit her grandmother called me and tearfully told me what was going on, I immediately left down the office and walked down the hall and stopped in some room that had a TV and watched for a few minutes, then walked out to my car and turned on NPR and listened to that for a while. Even though I couldn’t do anything, I had an immediate hunger to know what the hell was going on. And, I don’t go around telling anyone that I am a great leader and they should trust me in a crisis, so to be honest, I expect more from the President in such a situation than a do from myself. As I noted, I am more of the deliberative type who would want to be in the Senate or on the Supreme Court if I were in a political position of power. But again, you were not the president. For you to stop what you were doing drop everything and panic (ok, not panic, but act fearful) had no consequences whatsoever. If you had been president you would have spent a few minutes gathering your thoughts. Most likely, you would have done so off camera. This, in the end, is the difference. > [@](#): > > But, again, I don’t think that people would be making much of a deal about this if it weren’t so symbolic of what we see as a major character flaw in the President, as regards a lack of intellectual curiosity and attempt to seriously understand a situation. Yes, but this is a characterization which you have added to the facts. It is not the biggest stretch in the world, but it is, in the end, more a criticism of Bush than a criticism of what happened. > [@](#): > > It is sort of analogous to the big deal that was made in regards to his father being amazed by supermarket checkout scanners. Yes, yes it is. And just as stupid, if you’ll excuse the language. ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/75 "2004-08-09T01:04:44Z")
> [@Jon the Geek](#): > > One order he should have issued: “Um, what? Can you please clarify that whole thing about America being under attack? Can you tell me what’s going on on the ground? If not, can you find out, please, so I can lead?” How would it have made a difference? Bush would have known what was going on. And again, I’ll ask you, what would the answers have been? What difference would the answers have made? Is there no room in your philosophy for letting people do their jobs? > [@](#): > > This isn’t an anti-Bush thing. No, not at all. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > The President should want to lead, and should be expected to lead. He sat there waiting for his people to figure out what to do next. Or, he sat there and allowed his people to find out what was going on. > [@](#): > > That is repulsive in a supposed commander-in-chief. Not only not repulsive, admirable. \ > [@](#): > > I don’t know that he could do anything that could have made a difference, but he should have wanted to try. Instead, he sat there for seven minutes, and then continued to not lead until someone got back to him to tell him what to do. Again, I’ll ask you, try what? What should he have wanted to try? ---
**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 9, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/76 "2004-08-09T01:05:09Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > In those first 7 minutes? Yes. Imagine the answers to those question in those first 7 minutes. Which one would have made any difference? Just to repeat myself, how about: Q: “Have all the planes in the air been informed about the situation?” A: “No.” ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/77 "2004-08-09T01:07:29Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > The point was that they would have gotten the info to BUSH quicker, the leader who is supposed to make decisions on that info. Not that they would have gotten it quicker to themselves. Yea, except they would not have. What info did they have that they did not get to the President? Info, mind you, not rumors or anything else. > [@](#): > > And no, I don’t think it made any difference, at least not in that emergency. But a better leader would have tried to get that info quicker, in case time was actually an issue. Really? A better leader would not have trusted his people enough to allow them 7 minutes to gather the necessary information that it could be presented in a coeherent manner? I’m not talking about waiting to build a power point brief, just a lousy 7 minutes. I’m not sure you could make 3 phone calls in that time. Not and get any decent information at that point in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/78 "2004-08-09T01:12:15Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > He could have asked what the heck Card meant by “The nation is under attack.” > > He could have asked where the nearest TV was. > > He could have asked any number of questions. > > See, that’s the problem. He didn’t ask anyone anything. He had no curiousity about what was happening. This last bit is an assumption that you guys make because he did not ask the question you would have wanted (with hindsight) him to ask. This, ladies and gentlemen is the problem with the whole argument. It is why the OP is funny. It is why your visceral reaction to the OP is funny. It is why you do not get the joke. > [@](#): > > Our candidate wasn’t Commander-in-Chief. Our candidate wasn’t in a position to do anything that would affect the country. Our candidate wasn’t sitting around doing something trivial and unrelated while all this was going on, after he knew it was going on. But this makes a difference in his “intellectual curiosity”? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/79 "2004-08-09T01:14:45Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > In those first 7 minutes? Yes. Imagine the answers to those question in those first 7 minutes. Which one would have made any difference? Do you really think that a president moving from aide to aide asking “what do we know now?” would have been anything except an impediment? Seriously? The job of the aides is to (dig this) AIDE the President. They are supposed to provide him with information. You’re telling me if he’d asked them to give him some information, he’d have been an impediment? How? They could have just turned on the radio, which woke me up damn quick with the news at 9:32, or they could have pointed him to a TV, which I bet is where I was by 9:33. Shit, I was just sitting at home and I immediately asked an aide [in this case my mother, who is unpaid for her work] ‘have you seen this?’ ‘what’s going on?’ ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855/80 "2004-08-09T01:15:22Z")
Things President Bush could have done when informed of the terrorist attacks: - Protected himself, the most important person in the chain of command, by leaving a public area, and heading to Air Force 1. - Asked questions of his advisers including: Are there other planes involved? Who’s doing this? Can we rescue any people in the WTC? What alert level are our armed forces at? Is the chain of command intact? Is Cheney OK? Are Laura and the kids OK? - Made orders to raise the level of readiness of the armed forces, including perhaps raising the Defcon level, ordering extra airport security, or scrambling fighter planes. - Made himself ready if someone should request that he make an order only the President could make, such as the order to shoot down a civilian aeroplane. All he would have to do would be to politely and calmly excuse himself from the classroom. Noone would think any less of him for cutting short an unimportant photo op. These steps probably wouldn’t have made a difference (apart from Hentor’s scenario), but he did not know this at the time. For all he knew, terrorists were about to crash a plane into the school where he was reading. He is the commander-in-chief, and he was unable to fulfil his duties while sitting in the classroom. What if he were the captain of a warship that had come under sudden attack? Would it be acceptable for the captain to remain in a routine meeting for another half-hour, or should he calmly but quickly head to the bridge to see what was going on? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry-did-nothing-for-40-minutes-on-september-11th/258855.md?page=5)