Posted on 01/17/2004 8:02:01 PM PST by The Wizard
As I listen to the jabberings of the misc. democrats who are attacking the President, those who were in the services, et al, I always remember one sight I will never forget the rest of my life......
A few days after 9-11 when no one knew what was happening and who was behind it, and no one was really sure if it was over, I watched George Bush, all alone, walk out to the mound at Yankee Stadium, in front of 55 thousand people and as clean a target as ever existed, show the world that America, (at least this American) wasn't going to be intimidated.....and there, all alone, no SS, no NYPD, nothing, he threw out that first ball.......
You could hear America stop breathing until he was off the field.......
That took more guts than anything any of these pathetic weasels ever did in their lives.......
I will never forget that.....ever......
It's very important to dispell illusions about figures of national importance, regardless of party or affiliation. No sugar-coating, no building up of a faux mythos, no pedestals.
I look for unvarnished truth where ever it may take me, including at this website.
If you don't have the sense to understand that, the more's the pity.
In regards to the specific circumstances that we're discussing, I see no evidence of that.
If you don't have the sense to understand that, the more's the pity.
I have the sense not to jump to conclusions.
To someone of your persuasion, we may be dense, but even we know that security was very tight at that ballpark and there was a CAP flying overhead. But we also know that NO security in a public place is foolproof.
And we know something else that perhaps you can't quite perceive from the heights of your lofty skepticism. We know that the eyes of a seared city and wounded nation were on that lone figure that night. We know that his effort to throw a perfect pitch, which even included practicing beforehand, and to personify defiance on behalf of New Yorkers and all of the American people took a kind of uncommon courage rarely seen in world leaders. His desire to go out in public and do something so quintessentially American — and to do it with such dignity — was the personification of hope for a shaken people.
Perhaps you do not have the kind of heart that lets you understand what I'm saying. But on behalf of those who do, I say again, take your skepticism elsewhere. Leave them in peace to enjoy this thread.
It is obvious that the Islamacists want to kill the President. Just days after 9/11, he decides to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. In addition to the capacity crowd, who were of course checked for weapons but NOT for explosives in body cavities, biological elements secreted in innocuous containers, chemical weapons disguised as concession equipment and the like, no one knew if there were nuclear devices, chemical weapons, etc. on the outskirts of the stadium. NO ONE KNEW.
Now, in the face of this, he chose to appear alone on that field, a target for guns, missiles, and bombs. I couldn't have done it. I don't think YOU could have done it.
It's all well and good to look at things in hindsight, but I am remembering how frightened we all were in those first weeks after 9/11.
You are indeed being cynical.
You 'see no evidence' that the leader of the free world, and the leader of this great nation which was under attack had the courage to show the American people that life could and would continue as normally as possible by leading by his own example??
You 'see no evidence' that his very presence in the city of New York with the threats against his life took courage??
Every time George W. Bush goes out into the public eye he is in danger because we are at WAR.
Or do you 'see no evidence' of THAT either?
Your response to my post:
You can be assured that his security people were likely incredibly displeased that he had the notion to do this at all.
Why were "his security people...likely incredibly displeased" if there were no threat to the President's safety?
Who appointed you The Great Opinion Corrector?
Correct.
You 'see no evidence' that the leader of the free world, and the leader of this great nation which was under attack had the courage to show the American people that life could and would continue as normally as possible by leading by his own example??
Correct.
You 'see no evidence' that his very presence in the city of New York with the threats against his life took courage??
Correct.
Every time George W. Bush goes out into the public eye he is in danger because we are at WAR.
If that were the case, then doing what he did in NYC was, by definition, not particularly noteworthy for courage.
Or do you 'see no evidence' of THAT either?
We are indeed at war.
Me, too. I don't like his spending, but I'd rather fight them over there than here.
Carolyn
Any time that a president, or any high-profile public figure, for that matter, decides to go out in public in front of such a crowd, his security detail(s) will be displeased, as the variables which cannot be accounted for increase.
Who appointed you The Great Opinion Corrector?
No one. Someone gave his/her opinion. I gave mine. No 'correction' is needed anywhere.
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