Posted on 09/02/2004 12:08:15 AM PDT by kattracks
September 2, 2004 -- THE first lady walked in, and the room erupted. Then the president walked in, and more than 100 New York City firefighters, everybody in the room wearing a dark blue polo/golf shirt with "NYC firefighters UFA Bush-Cheney '04" and the seal of the Fire Department, broke into the chant, "four more years."My lifelong pal Jimmy Boyle walked in with President Bush, along with UFA President Steve Cassidy, plus Karen Hughes, Condi Rice and many more.
I was already inside, along with Gov. Pataki and Rep. Vito Fossella. When the president got to me, he grabbed my shoulder and said, "Thanks, this was a great idea. These guys are the best, they're the best, the best."
Eventually, he made it to the middle of the room, and stood with Steve Cassidy, who started to talk, then lost his composure. The president put his arm around him.
Then Steve said it, "We're proud to endorse" President George Bush for re-election. He talked about Sept. 14, 2001, the president's visit to Ground Zero, and how much it meant to them, that day and afterward.
The president was pretty choked up, too, very emotional, as they presented him with a special firefighter's helmet with the words "UFA Commander-in-chief Bush."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
How often do the Police and Firefighters of NYC endorse a President?
I don't think the FDNY rank & file endorsed anyone in 2000.
" In all my three decades of politics, I have never seen anything come close to the electricity that was in the room. The symbolism and meaning of having these men, who on 9/11 fought the hardest and suffered the most in the first great battle of the 21st century, standing there with President Bush, could well be the defining moment in this year's presidential election. "
It is too bad. I heard that it wasn't the airplane that was late-but the T.V/satelite truck was late?!
Although too bad everyone couldn't see the firefighters support. Of course, the Dems would have just called it a photo-op using the blood of the 9/11 victims as a backdrop and how terrible it is to keep bringing up that 9/11 thing.
sKerry would NEVER do this.
When the president spoke, he kind of turned Steve Cassidy's words around: He said the firefighters will never realize or appreciate what they did for the whole country in those days and weeks — or "what they did for me." He said, "That day at Ground Zero has shaped my thinking forever."
He spotted Bob Beckwith, the firefighter with him in that famous photograph, and grabbed him to shake hands.
Heck, he shook hands with everybody in the place — twice. He posed for pictures with everybody — and kidded around, too.
When one guy couldn't get his camera to work, the president told him "Get that camera working — I'll wait here all night."
It couldn't have been more human. Condi told me, "You have no idea what this is going to mean to him — this revs him up so much."
I was glad to have my friend and neighbor Ken Haskell there. He lost two brothers — battalion chief Tom and firefighter Tim. He gave the prez a T-shirt that says "brothers in battle" — it shows two arms around the Twin Towers. After I introduced them, President Bush said to Ken, "Your poor mother, how is she doing? . . . Losing two sons, my God . . ."
An incredibly real moment.
BTTT
"Ballad of Mike Moran" BUMP!
Unknown firefighter: "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
Bush: "Well, I can hear YOU!"
"The WHOLE WORLD can hear you!"
"And pretty soon, the people who knocked down these towers will be hearing from ALL OF US!!"
If you read Bill Sammon's book, I think it's "Bush At War," Beckwith was not even supposed to be there that day---he was retired, and had to "sneak" past the police lines by claiming to be active. He is a Democrat, and had voted for Gore, and changed his opinion forever after that moment.
Unknown firefighter: "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
Bush: "Well, I can hear YOU!"
"The WHOLE WORLD can hear you!"
"And pretty soon, the people who knocked down these towers will be hearing from ALL OF US!!"
%%%%%%
And the antiBush people continue to claim that W is not articulate. When he speaks from the heart, he uses words we all remember!
Yes. "Osama, step right up and kiss my royal Irish *ss."
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