Then again the same people call this guy "No Drama Obama" for his cool demeanor...
Posted on 07/29/2011 2:21:29 AM PDT by markomalley
George W Bush says his blank reaction to the first news of the Sept 11 attacks while US president was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis.
In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Mr Bush reflected on what was going through his mind when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York's World Trade Center.
Mr Bush was visiting a Florida classroom at the time, and the incident - which was caught by television cameras - has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently dazed response to the attack
"My first reaction was anger. Who the hell would do that to America? Then I immediately focused on the children, and the contrast between the attack and the innocence of children," Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush said he could see journalists at the back of the classroom getting the news on their own cellphones "and it was like watching a silent movie."
Mr Bush said he quickly realised that a lot of people beyond the room would be watching for his reaction.
"So I made the decision not to jump up immediately and leave the classroom. I didn't want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm," he said of his decision to remain seated and silent.
"I had been in enough crises to know that the first thing a leader has to do is to project calm," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
That cinches it for me. Next election I’m not going to vote for him. The left has got me to their side. /s
It would be hard to predict anyone’s reaction in such a position. The analysts would like to predict a reaction....but you just don’t have that ability. Eisenhower might have sat there for another hour and had full confidence in his people handling the overall situation. Bill Clinton might have stood up...asked about ten questions to be answered, and then gone back to the kids. Who knows what the ‘right’ reaction would even be?
Certainly you don't want to upset those around you, but there must also be a sense of urgency in his actions.
Whewee. I guess he had also been told that the machinery was in place and he didn’t have to start barking orders that instant. I wouldn’t be able to be that cool. I would have been like “Excuse me kids, there has been an emergency in New York” and up and out the door.
Baraq Sheik Obomba would have done a Snoopy dance and started handing out candy to the kids.
So, let me get this straight. Instead of Bush excusing yourself from the kiddies and tending to his country under attack, he put on a blank face and pretended that nothing had happened so as not to alarm them? This weak explanation years later will do little to rehabilitate Bush’s reputation.
oh please!!
This has always been a fabricated piece of propaganda for gullible imbeciles.
Ever since Michael Moore launched his scurrilous attacks fools have swallowed this nonsense.
Had it been a Democrat POTUS in that classroom we’d never have heard a peep about this, not even if the guy rushed out of the room trembling and whimpering uncontrollably.
“Blank” look is itself a pejorative and tendentious phrase.
President Bush did what any public leader should do in such a situation, maintain a calm outward demeanor while awaiting (for 8-9 MINUTES not hours) the reasonable opportunity to depart the scene.
There was nothing nothing nothing the POTUS could do in those first few minutes except wait for the Secret Service to organize his premature departure, which did not need to involve him dashing out of the room. Yes it was a national emergency, but as a wise POTUS he knew perfectly well that nothing would be benefitted by his hasty exit from that room.
Unlike Democrats, responsible conservatives don’t run around mindlessly like Chicken Little no matter how serious the crisis.
Thank you for a well reasoned solid response. I hope that other people will realize the truth of your comments
Then again the same people call this guy "No Drama Obama" for his cool demeanor...
There, that's better.
I teach high school and had to announce the atacks to my students. My reaction was quite similar to G.W.'s. Students take their cues from the adults in the room.
What would have been the benefit of him rushing from the room upsetting the children, only to wait for the agents to take him to safety. His was a well reasoned response that was made quickly. I had the time to brace myself before telling my students.
Its amazing that the very same critics ascribe “calm and cool” to a fire bombing rabble rouser like Obama.
Whew. Glad we got THAT straightened out.
I thought it was a good reaction, personally. Was he supposed to leap up, knock over a chair and run out of the room screaming?
He finished what he was doing, gave time for more information to come in, and mentally prepared himself for what was outside of the classroom. Seems good to me.
Yet Bush did not break the news to the kids. He instead pretended for a painfully long time that nothing was wrong — and for that period voluntarily keeping himself out of action as commander in chief.
I agree with your assessment. Thanks for verbalizing for me!
More likely its a reaction due to prior knowledge. Since he planned it and all. (Sarcasm off)
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