[ActionNewsBill]

The Moore version: He was informed of the first attack, went into the room anyway, was informed of the second attack, and remained with the students until a staff member suggested that he leave

I've seen the video...Moore is right on this one.

[FrankR]

"I've seen the video...Moore is right on this one."

So...I'm guessing that Bush was supposed to have [rudely] jumped up and went into mass panic mode [a liberal], scared the schoolchildren beyond belief, and dashed out of the classroom, to the nearest phone booth, donned his tights and cape and flew to New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania [simultaneously, of course] and immediately rescued all the victims.

Better still, if the liberals and the 9/11 commission have their way, Bush should have done like Superman in the movie where he flew at super-speed around the world, therefore reversing time and arrested the terrorists before they even boarded the planes.

Even better, he should have switched partys and became a democRAT and THEN did all the heroics.

Ok...you got us here...moore was right...now your job is to stand in place for 20 minutes, and applaud.

I'm glad we got that straight.....

[Howlin]

Actually, you and Moore are wrong.



*(Between 8:55 - 9:00 a.m.) Just after Bush arrives at Booker Elementary School and is briefly told of the WTC crash, he is whisked into a holding room and updated on the situation via telephone by National Security Advisor Rice. [Christian Science Monitor, 9/17/01, Time, 9/12/01] Rice later claims, "He said, what a terrible, it sounds like a terrible accident. Keep me informed." [ABC News, 9/11/02] School principal Gwen Tose-Rigell is then summoned to a room to talk with the President: "He said a commercial plane has hit the World Trade Center, and we're going to go ahead and go on, we're going on to do the reading thing anyway." [AP, 8/19/02 (D)]

*(9:03 - 9:06 a.m.) Bush enters Sandra Kay Daniels' second-grade class for a photo-op to promote Bush's education policies. [Daily Mail, 9/8/02] Numerous reporters who travel with the president, as well as members of the local media, watch from the back of the room. [AP, 8/19/02 (D)] Altogether there about 150 people in the room, 16 of them the children in the class. He is introduced to the children and poses for a number of staged pictures. The teacher then leads the students through some reading exercises (video footage shows this lasts about three minutes). [Salon, 9/12/01 (B)] Bush later claims that while he is doing this lesson, he is thinking what he will say about the WTC crash. "I was concentrating on the program at this point, thinking about what I was going to say. Obviously, I felt it was an accident. I was concerned about it, but there were no alarm bells." [Washington Times, 10/7/02] The children are just getting their books from under their seats to read a story together when Chief of Staff Andrew Card comes in to tell Bush of the second WTC crash (see (9:06 a.m.)). [Daily Mail, 9/8/02] Eric Draper, who is in the room, note that Card comes in at the conclusion of the first half of the planned lesson, and "[seizes] a pause in the reading drill to walk up to Mr. Bush's seat." [Washington Times, 10/7/02, Washington Times, 10/8/02]

*(9:06 a.m.) Bush is in a Booker Elementary School second-grader classroom. His chief of staff, Andrew Card, enters the room and whispers into his ear, "A second plane hit the other tower, and America's under attack." [New York Times, 9/16/01 (B)] [9:05, New York Times, 9/16/01 (B), 9:05, Telegraph, 12/16/01, 9:05, Albuquerque Tribune, 9/10/02, 9:07, Washington Times, 10/8/02, ABC News reporter Ann Compton, who is in the room, says she is struck "So much so that I [write] it down in my reporter's notebook, by my watch, 9:07 a.m.," ABC News, 9/11/02]

*(9:16 a.m.) Bush leaves the Sarasota classroom where he has been since about 9:03.

*(Between 9:16 - 9:29 a.m.) Bush works with his staff to prepare a speech he will deliver at 9:29. He intermittently watches the television coverage in the room. [Albuquerque Tribune, 9/10/02] He also speaks on the phone to advisors, first calling National Security Advisor Rice, then Vice President Cheney, then New York Governor George Pataki. [Daily Mail, 9/8/02]

*9:29 a.m. Still inside Booker Elementary School, Bush gives a brief speech in front of about 200 students, plus many teachers and reporters. [Daily Mail, 9/8/02] He says, "Today we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country" (see the text of the speech here [Federal News Service, 9/11/01]).

[Dane]

I've seen the video...Moore is right on this one

I thought the official liberal out day on FR for those who hide behind the banner of "Libertarian" was supposed to be in the last week of October or didn't you get the e-mail, blast fax, or memo.

[IGOTMINE]

W's own account puts the lie to this...crap.

He was informed of the first plane strike, and commented that was "one lousy pilot". He did not know the size of the aircraft involved.

Card whispered in his ear that a second plane had struck and that "America is under attack". W took a few moments to collect himself while going along with the photo opportunity. Then he got up, got informed, and got on with kicking terrorist ass around the globe.

[keithtoo]

You are wrong. Bush was informed that A PLANE HAS CRASHED INTO ONE OF THE TWIN TOWERS!

NOBODY knew it was an attack!

Noone even knew if it was a civilian or a commercial plane. There was no 'official' 'attack' until more information came in.

Do you really want the president interrupted every time a plane crashed anywhere in the US?