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Yet according to Sami Al-Arian, the meeting with Bush was to occur in the White House at 11:00 AM. The timeline doesn't fit.

Ari Fleischer gave a press briefing on September 7, in which, among other things, he detailed the President's schedule for that week. Notice what's supposed to be happening on Tuesday:

Q Ari, can you tell us about -- preview education week for us?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, let me get you the week ahead. I promise not to use the words "OMB" or "CBO" on the entire week ahead.
The President will launch an initiative beginning tonight and it will continue into next week that is a reminder of the importance of reading throughout America. He and Mrs. Bush will give a series of remarks and will also, in the case of the President, remind the Congress of the importance of sending the education package to the White House so that we can improve our public schools.
Specifically -- and now let me give you the entire events for the week -- the President on Sunday will participate in a coin toss to kick off the NFL season. That will take place in the Rose Garden on Sunday afternoon.
On Monday, the President will go to the Navy Yard with the Prime Minister of Australia for an event and he'll have a working lunch and a meeting with the Prime Minister in the White House. In the afternoon on Monday, the President will continue his focus on reading and education when he travels to Jacksonville, Florida, and then on to Sarasota, Florida.
He'll return to the White House on Tuesday afternoon, where he will host, in the evening, the Congressional Barbecue on the South Lawn. Also on Tuesday, Mrs. Bush will make remarks on early child cognitive development to Senator Kennedy's committee.
On Thursday, President and Mrs. Bush will make remarks at the White House Assembly on Reading at the Library of Congress. And on Friday, the President will help dedicate the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and he'll host a reception in honor of Diez y Seis before departing for Camp David.
Q The Sunday Rose Garden event, is that open for coverage?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, it is.
Q Thank you.
Source (scroll down to the end)

And that's the end of the briefing. Al-Arian says "At 3:30 the president would have announced the end of secret evidence" - there's supposed to be some sort of "announcement" at 3:30, and yet the President's own press secretary doesn't bother to mention it to...the press, who would presumably be interested in covering any such public event with the President. Why? If you're making an announcement, ostensibly for public consumption, isn't it the press secretary's job to, you know, get the press involved by giving them a heads-up? Why doesn't the record reflect any such public event scheduled on that day, that Al-Arian claims was supposed to happen?

I don't take the one word "announce" as necessarily implying a public announcement, still less a scheduled one. For what it's worth, I took the paragraph when I initially read it to mean that Bush was expected to promise this during the meeting, and 3:30 PM was the time when the meeting was scheduled either to begin or to end. Since that was my initial reading, I think that's at least a possible interpretation of the word.

And that's the end of the briefing. Al-Arian says "At 3:30 the president would have announced the end of secret evidence" - there's supposed to be some sort of "announcement" at 3:30, and yet the President's own press secretary doesn't bother to mention it to...the press, who would presumably be interested in covering any such public event with the President. Why? If you're making an announcement, ostensibly for public consumption, isn't it the press secretary's job to, you know, get the press involved by giving them a heads-up? Why doesn't the record reflect any such public event scheduled on that day, that Al-Arian claims was supposed to happen?\\

1. The sequencing questions were answered yesterday.
2. The Press secy hardly ever give a full account, even a half account of the next press con, esp on an issue that they know will be controversial. But anyway, all that is beside the point, Not all "announcements" are made by the PS or to the press. If the WH decides to agree to support an interest group's plan they meet with the group in some cramped room, and tell them so. That is more likely what Sami meant by "announcement." Esepcially as they were about the only group asking for this, and all of law enforcement opposed it.
3) As explained and obvious, the groups are regularly told the President, Vp, First Lady NSC advisor, etc., will come, do, announce, or whatever, in the WH or around the town or country, never intending or prossing , or alternately intending or hoping but supplanted by events, they then send someone else. Also initiatives sometimes jsut get killed or postpone in a day's time.
4) The fact and issue is that this is what the Muslim groups beleived and came to town for and, in the event, met with WH Muslim outreach staffer Suheil Khan, later that day (a very messed up and confusing day here to be sure), at Grover and Gaffney's conference room. No point trying to decipher the shadows on the wall clock. We are talking about the advancing of the "Secret Evidence" issue and a White House meeeting that perforce had to be relocated 5 blocks away. OK?