I've got to agree on Colin Powell, but when I say that some people seem to
be taking advantage of this situation to further themselves, I specifically
mean George W. Bush. And it's not just because my mother called me
Wednesday to bitch about what a bad speaker he is. Here's why:
Tuesday, GWB flew around the country protecting his butt. I don't actually
have a problem with that; he is a president and a symbol of America and was
a legitimate target blah blah blah. His speeches were extremely short and
read entirely off cue cards. That was my mother's problem with him. "All
over the world, people are speaking from the heart but our president can't
be trusted to do that so he has to read everything off notecards. I want to
know what he would have said if he had spoken from the heart." He was
completely unemotional Tuesday. Granted, he might have been in shock, but
I'll get to that later.
Tuesday night, Peter Jennings ripped George W. Bush a new a**hole on
national TV. I missed it. I want to see that footage. Apparently he bitched
about Bush's reaction repeatedly for hours. Here were his complaints: Bush
did not show any emotion at a time when the overwhelming tragedy should
have made him cry, like it made other leaders cry, even leaders of foreign
countries; he did not extend sympathy to the victims of this tragedy; Bush
flew around the country protecting his butt like a big old chicken instead
of returning to Washington DC where he could lead the country and give them
a good example of strength and bravery.
What did GWB do? Got on an airplane for Washington. What did his camp do?
Made statements that the President's movements were justified, that they
had information which made a clear connection that he was a target, and
that he was a moving target while in the air. Then they said that the
president wanted to go to Washington but the secret service wouldn't let
him. Then he finally said "Damn the secret service" and went against their
advice. OK, so we're dealing with civilian aircraft being used as a bomb.
We have a guy in a military airplane with defensive weapons and fighter
plane escorts. He flies to a military base, but that apparently isn't safe
enough. He gets back on the plane and fly to a second military base to be
holed up in a nuclear bunker. At what point was there inadequate protection
against unarmed civilian aircraft? He was a target while in the air? Yeah,
those fighter planes would totally miss a jumbo jet headed for them,
especially since all the rest of the jumbo jets were out of the sky. That
doesn't make any sense. And to top if off, if he really wanted to go to
Washington and had the power to ignore the advice of the secret service to
go back to Washington that night, why didn't he have the power to do that
earlier in the day?
The next day, GWB gave another speech, in which he cried and stated "I am a
loving guy." That statement was in direct response to the media allegations
that he was unemotional. What other purpose is there for that statement? It
doesn't say "I really feel for the victims" or "I'm really upset about
this." It is trying to cover his butt. Well, that doesn't give much
credence to his crying. When I saw footage of Clinton, he had huge bags
under his eyes like he'd been crying for hours. Bush looked like someone
shoved cayenne pepper up his nose just before he went on TV.
Then he said "I'm going to New York tomorrow to hug the victims and cry
with them." Why would you make a point that you plan to cry with the
victims? What does that accomplish except to say that you have sympathy for
them. I mean, if you are going to manipulate an audience, you could do a
more convincing job than this.
Then there was the prayer ceremony in Washington, just before he left for
NYC. Here's a still from it:
http://a388.g.akamai.net/f/388/21/1d/www.cnn.com/images/0109/top.pres.bush.laura.2.jpg
They are smiling.
Unfortunately, the accompanying article has been moved since the photos
were posted to the site. The other photo showed him scowling and her with
an extremely strange expression looking at the camera. They were wearing
the same clothes, were at the same angle, and had the same people behind
them, so yes, the photo was clearly from that ceremony. It was like "Honey,
frown for the camera."
But what really made me laugh was when Cheney was sent to be holed up in a
safe location without the president. I mean, we all know which one of them
is more important to the Presidential duties. ;)
At 03:31 PM 9/17/2001 +0100, you wrote:
>Speaking as a Brit, the guy that has really impressed me over this whole
>crisis is Colin Powell.
>
>My opinion of G.W.B has also improved somewhat, but still has a little way
>to go.
>
>Craig.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>Sent: 17 September 2001 06:45
>To: CF-Community
>Subject: George W. Bush
>
>
>Those who have read some of my political rants prior to 9/11 know that I've
>been no fan of George W.
>
>But I must say, I'm reasonably impressed with his conduct for most of this
>week. Sure, he's no FDR, but he's risen to the occasion, I think. On the
>first day, he had that "deer caught in the headlights" look, like he had the
>day he was declared the winner of Florida. But since then he has been a
>forceful and confident leader, which is what we need at this time. I was
>most impressed with his largely impromptu remarks before the rescue workers
>in New York. I know I've never seen him speak so eloquently outside of
>prepared remarks, and I don't believe I ever heard his dad speak as well
>either.
>
>Of course, I support our president simply because he is our president, but I
>wanted to remark on what I see is a degree of growth on his part.
>
>H.
>
>
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