Did you think I posted this to try to convince anyone of the position? Your minds won't be changed, and mine won't either. We have different opinions, and, contrary to the people who are calling for apology, this article does not prove anything regarding my point--my point concerns the time frame after 11:00. At that time, DC was safe and the entourage was flying around the country, making it look to all GWB's opponents, most neutral observers, and some of his supporters as if there was total confusion, chaos, and cowardice. Sorry, but that's the way I saw it and still see it. Confusion and chaos are understandable. Cowardice is not.
To Tennessean4Bush First, I have admitted on this forum when it was demonstrated I was wrong--once yesterday. After GWB's speech, I not only admitted I was wrong about his "cowardice" (my term), but posted an apology. I don't think he was a coward--I think the SS made him look that way to reasonable observers. And I said that in the post you responded to. The website name is definitely a mischaracterization and cheap shot at my character. It would be much more reasonable to name a website "upgwbsass.com" and ask you to be webmaster.
To babble-on, what can I say? We weren't discussing the feelings of people at the W.H. Besides, you must have been talking to the janitors--your spelling of "conceivable" indicates that an educated person wouldn't talk with you, other than to flip you a quarter at the door.
He would only look like a coward to an observer who thinks it is a good idea to put the President and the Vice President in the same location during a time of national crisis. This is exactly what you do not want to do. When the country is under attack, the President's primary duty is to preserve National Command Authority and to begin to plan for the counterattack. This is what GWB was doing.
GWB lost political capital, because he did not appear within the hour in the Oval Office to institute a big national group-hug. That would have bee a smart political move for him, but it would have been a dereliction of his duty. With this particular President, I think you can be sure that duty comes first.
We all know what Slick would have done. But GWB is not Slick, for which we should all be eternally grateful.
Just joking with you, just a gentle jab.