Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I've never really understood the beef about this, other than MM's ability to play it for shock value.
Bush is at a children's event. Card tells him what they know. The job of his aides is to figure out WTF is going on, which no one really knew. Until they have a better idea, what's teh point in interrupting the event. 7 minutes is a pretty minimal amount of time to come up with a plan, let alone a reaction to a serious plan.
I seriously doubt Kerry or Clinton would have done anything materially different. IF they had, it would have been to go stand somewhere off camera and say "WTF is going on" for 7 minutes, and then go get into a motorcade and drive somewhere as well.
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It has shock value because when the President learns that the nation is being attacked by terrorists, his first reaction shouldn't be to continue to read a children's book. He should be out of his seat and finding out what's going on. To the extent that it means something it belies the myth about Bush's leadership in the wake of 9/11. His instinct, apparently, was to sit still in a kindergarten classroom and wait for his aides to come up with something.
It would be a mistake to make too much of this, but then I'm not the one here calling Kerry a "psychopath" for using the incident to attack Bush. When you stop and recall that Cheney apparently issued an order to shoot down Flight 93, and only later checked with Bush, and that Bush spent the day flying from Air Force base to Air Force base before returning to Washington, what you get is a picture of less-than-decisive leadership under fire. Since Bush wants to be re-elected on the basis of his handling of 9/11, all of this is fair play, to say the least.
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