Karen Hughes~"9/11 was not a tragedy but a shared experience"

[underpants]

A shared experience that changed America not only in foreign policy but in every way"

That is a close quote-no link yet. About an hour ago on the Today Show.

Katie Couric pretty much grilled her (taped interview) about the 9/11 images appearing in the first Bush ads. The Wolfen (Hughes) said that this was just the first round and looked quite PO'ed that someone dare question the positive message that the President is putting forward.

She then went onto blame 9/11 for pretty much everything and said that it was a definitive moment for a generation and how we deal with it will determine the course of the next ## years.

Couric asked why Iraq is not mentioned in the ads ~"Does he think he is vulnerable on Iraq?" Hughes responded that she had not been to Iraq but that she just got back from Afghanistan and she was sure that the people of Iraq feel much the same as the people of Afghanistan-they appreciate what we... er THE PRESIDENT that is has done for them.......... and then the interview was strangely cut short.

____

I am relaying what I heard while getting ready for work but I noticed two very distinct things in this surely tested message.

The "definitive moment for a generation" sounds like campaigning to the Boomers and perhaps laying the groundwork for asking for a sacrifice from them.....Social Security.

The original statement about 9/11 not being a tragedy tells me that they know they can't keep blaming "previous administrations" (Clinton) as people are sick of hearing the blame shift AND that people ( I have heard this) are no longer giving him as much benefit of the doubt as they did just after that day. They haven't seen anything really done about it and they HAVE seen 9/11 used as a reason for the War in Iraq. In making it a "shared experience" W&Co. seem (to me) to let any blame or lack of support wash off their backs and those raising such questions just AREN'T WITH IT, they are trouble makers-abnormal. This is the new stifling of dissent.

[heidiho]

1. She made the same lame speech on all networks today

With her well-rehearsed talking points.

Sorry, Karen, this experience wasn't shared as equally by all Americans. The widows and firefighters shared it a hell of a lot
more than anyone else did, especially your cowardly boss.

The bastard won't even testify before the entire 9/11 committee and is giving them an entire hours' visit. Let's put that in an ad!

[underpants]

3. NNNOLHI's thread in LBN- 9/11families already upset

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x398663

[central scrutinizer]

30. "2001 was a wonderful year for Laura and me"

Anybody else remember * making that incredibly insensitive comment?

[CityZen-X]

35. The Sacrificial Towers

Yes, and let us not forget his "Trifecta" statement.

[klook]

51. Trifecta

I guess I was under a rock when this happened, so I had to look it up:
http://www.davidcogswell.com/MediaRoulette/TrifectaJoke.html

Truly sick, but what else can we expect from *?

[jackstraw45]

52. Listen to it here

http://cronus.com/images/trifecta.mp3

[proud patriot]

49. Yes I remember that

:puke:

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. That will make a great ad.

Move on has a lot of work to do...Im going to contribute ASAP.

[Shopaholic]

4. Talk about Leadership. . .

Wasn't it Bush who took Air Force one in the opposite direction on 9/11? That needs to be in a Democratic Ad--prove the man ran like the scared little wimp he really is!

[Malva Zebrina]

5. Didn't look to me like Bush was sharing the experience

he was "getting out of harm's way" Karen. Remember? He was running away as buildings were collapsing in the greatest tragedy to ever hit this country--he ran away--no one knew where he ran to, but it sure was not "sharing" with all the people of NYC who were frantic and running in all the clouds of dust, or jumping out of windows

They can't stop lying. May that evil and serious character flaw, bring the Chimp down to his knees sobbing and crying about how he didn't mean it. May he get called on every lie and every attempt to blame his miserable failure for the past four years on a previous administration .

[adadem]

14. Isn't that the truth

I just about gag when they talk about shrub's leadership that day.
If one needs the definition of a chickenhawk he's it.

[Fovea]

6. I sincerely hope that they stay this far off track for the

rest of the campaign. 911 is not going to be an effective tool.
Iraq took that from them. Every time they say 'Terra' we say Baghdad and Kabul.

They say they brought democracy to Afghanistan, we say they brought more heroin to the US.

They can't say much about Iraq, but they will keep trying. They have to get out in front of Iraq as an issue, and they can't do that without jettisoning the parts of the adminstration that have proved unjettisonable. Why they let it leak that they were thinking of dumping Cheny is beyond me. It sets up far too many expectations that the adminstsration simply cannot delever on, if they want to stay out of jail.

We may be watching the beginning of the least effective media campaign in modern history.

[underpants]

7. Sorry but that last line made me laugh

How effective COULD it be if you can't talk about anything that is actually going on. Can't talk about your record IN office. You can only speak about possibilities and what if's. Yes very ineffective.

The elction is about YOU Bush not Kerry. It is a referendum on YOU and your administration.

[chelsea0011]

8. Karen is always PO'd and frowning

:evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown:

She's coming out....maybe she smells Rove about to go down with the CIA leak corruption story about to break? Naw! That story is as dead as dead can be.

[jackstraw45]

43. If you had to write Dubya's "auto"biography.....

you'd be PO'd too.

:)

[AlinPA]

9. My brother, a registered republican said "that's it- Kerry gets my vote"

after seeing the ad on CNN.

[adadem]

16. Way to go...

I was sick with the calls on C-Span. Bush boot-lickers would approve if he was convicted of rape.

[Stephanie]

33. Fantastic. That's what I like to hear.

Instant karma for BushCO.

[BiggJawn]

10. I won't "make the sacrifice"

OK, so 3,000 people are dead and a couple of very expensive buildings are make a lot of lawyers wealthy wrangling over the insurance settlements for said buildings. We used that as an excuse to run up a national debt like my ex-wife used to run up shopping bills and kill (brown) people and send our young to wasted deaths.

How is this a "definitive moment" worthy of asking me to eat cat food and live in the gutter in my "Golden Years"????

What is Ken Lay going to "sacrifice", besides a couple of his condos in Vale?

[underpants]

13. Yeah I didn't think that would sit to well with the boomers

W&Co seem to forget that the boomers have seen real sacrifice from their high school buddies and hometown people in Vietnam as well as being the first generation after WWII.

I put my opinion of what she meant by "sacrifice" just as my opinion. I was thinking about it on the way to work and it hit me. I could be wrong but having "generation" and "sacrifice" so close together (haven't we seen THAT before) lead me to that conclusion. There aren't a lot of people who are described as or relate to being called a "generation".

They really need to revamp their focus groups IMHO.

[smirkymonkey]

45. Your ex-wife used to kill

brown people and sent your kids to their wasted deaths? No wonder you divorced her!

Just kidding, I couldn't resist the opportunity. Seriously though, this makes me so angry I could spit nails! It wasn't a TRAGEDY????
Ask the families of those who lost loved ones or those who are maimed for life.

It was a SHARED experience?? What utter crap! Watching the planes crash into the buildings on television does not constitute sharing w/ those whose lives were irrevocably changed that day. What sickening right-wing crap.

Do these people have any conscience whatsoever??

[BiggJawn]

60. I write newspaper headlines on my off days....

But never anything as inane as "Shared experience"..My gawd, this isn't Woodstock or the last concert of CSN&Y we're talking about!

They have no conscience. No morals, either. If they did they'd come clean and commit Seppuku.

[soup]

11. A shared experience - a definitive moment

The following is an interview with the First Couple from the current issue of Ladies Home Journal (Oct. '03). They are asked about what September 11, 2001, was like for them personally, and, although over 3,000 people had just perished, George W. was able to find some humor by the end of that day:


Peggy Noonan (the interviewer): You were separated on September 11th. What was it like when you saw each other again?

Laura Bush: Well, we just hugged. I think there was a certain amount of security in being with each other than being apart.

George W. Bush: But the day ended on a relatively humorous note. The agents said, "you'll be sleeping downstairs. Washington's still a dangerous place." And I said no, I can't sleep down there, the bed didn't look comfortable. I was really tired, Laura was tired, we like our own bed. We like our own routine. You know, kind of a nester. I knew I had to deal with the issue the next day and provide strength and comfort to the country, and so I needed rest in order to be mentally prepared. So I told the agent we're going upstairs, and he reluctantly said okay. Laura wears contacts, and she was sound asleep. Barney was there. And the agent comes running up and says, "We're under attack. We need you downstairs," and so there we go. I'm in my running shorts and my T-shirt, and I'm barefooted. Got the dog in one hand, Laura had a cat, I'm holding Laura --

Laura Bush: I don't have my contacts in , and I'm in my fuzzy house slippers --

George W. Bush: And this guy's out of breath, and we're heading straight down to the basement because there's an incoming unidentified airplane, which is coming toward the White House. Then the guy says it's a friendly airplane. And we hustle all the way back up stairs and go to bed.

Mrs. Bush: ~LAUGHS~ And we just lay there thinking about the way we must have looked.

Peggy Noonan (interviewer): So the day starts in tragedy and ends in Marx Brothers.

George W. Bush: THAT'S RIGHT-- WE GOT A LAUGH OUT OF IT! (end)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iowaactivistcommunity/message/56

ha ha :grr:

[kayell]

12. Oh, aren't * and pickles just the cutest little self absorbed couple

:puke:

[Bunny]

32. That is absolutely sickening.

Words fail me...

[jackstraw45]

34. I don't remember laughing at ALL that day....

I was in DC living less than 3 miles from the Pentagon and saw the smoke from my apartment.

And this little anecdote is pathetic from the "leader" on a day the nation was attacked.

Could this guy make me ANY more sick?

[Missy Vixen]

59. Jackstraw, thank you

>I don't remember laughing at ALL that day....<

We are across the country (twenty-four miles east of Seattle,) and there sure wasn't any laughter at our house, either. My husband and I were in front of the television, dazed. I was crying.

It's nice to know that * and Pickles found some humor in their momentary discomfort while the loved ones of the 3000 we lost, the citizens of New York and Washington, DC, and the vast majority of Americans spent what must have been a tear-filled, sleepless night.

Julie

[kiahzero]

61. I don't remember laughing either

Maybe it's the fact that my father was IN THE PENTAGON, AND COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED.

I've never had less respect for Bush as I do right now, with regards to those ads.

[spanone]

15. Yea, F*ck you Karen. Go back to Texas and quit insulting America.

[robbedvoter]

17. No skin off their nose - some Gore voters and furriners bought it but

think of the pageantry! Chrch service, day of prayer, photo op in NYC 9where previously W couldn't show his face). That's why, by december W admitted: "This was a fabulous year for Laura and me"

[Grins]

54. The link..

Man...., I've been looking everywhere for that quote. Finally found it. You quote is inaccurate, but only as to the exact wording. Hard to believe I found it as far away from a "I hate Bush" site as you can get.

The context is, if you can believe it, Chimpy and Pickles showing off a new rug in the oval office. There is no description of who asks the questions, or the source of laughter (yeah, laughter).

Chimpy: "But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me. We're so grateful to be living in this compound (Compound???) and I'm grateful to be working in this office. It's a joy to walk in here every morning, realizing that I'm the President of the greatest country on the face of the Earth."

<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011221-2.html>

[democrank]

18. The only way Americans could possibly connect

with the Bush administration would be to wrap duct tape around their eyes and ears and put on a green uniform.

Karen Hughes should hang her head in shame. Nearly two and a half years after 9/11, we are still waiting for answers. That seems to matter less to Bush than does his unforgivable exploitation of victims and their surviving loved ones.

Please....Get this man off the world stage and send him back to Texas where he stores his environment-friendly chainsaw.

[underpants]

19. Don't forget about the photos they SOLD

http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/2002/09/06_Bush_911.html
A BuzzFlash Editorial

With September 11th approaching and the prospect of Bush using the anniversary events to make political gains for his ailing ratings, we thought it would be important to show how Bush has previously used the tragedy of 9-11 to advance his far-right political agenda and, most despicably, to make a quick buck for the GOP.

In May, Bush and the GOP started selling a three-photo collection of Bush's first year in office, which included a photo of "a telephone call from Air Force One to Vice President Cheney the afternoon of September 11."



http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/05/14/wh.fundraising.flap/
The Bush spokesman said all three pictures were provided by the media to a commercial photo vendor, Corbis.com, and the GOP committees purchased the photos from the commercial vendor.

Bill Press: Bush puts Sept. 11 up for sale

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/05/16/column.billpress/
Is nothing sacred anymore?

Apparently not — now that President Bush has put 9/11 up for sale to Republican donors.

For $150, donors will receive a framed set of three photos of President Bush in action: One, taking the oath of office. Two, addressing a joint session of Congress. Three, aboard Air Force One, talking on the phone to Dick Cheney on the morning of Sept. 11 (and probably asking Cheney's permission to return to Washington). The White House admits that President Bush gave the RNC permission to use all three photos as a pitch for campaign dough.

[OneTwentyoNine]

21. Yep,Bill Press quote---right as usual.

"If Republicans are not trying to exploit September 11, why don't they show a photo of Bush doing his job on September 9? Or August. 15? It's not hard to get a photograph of Bush talking on the phone. He's on the phone for hours every day. The truth is, they used that particular photo of Bush talking to Cheney from Air Force One on September 11 because they wanted to turn a national tragedy into cash."

[Mari333]

20. F*ck her!

Im not kidding..last night my husband and I watched that ad on CNN and we almost vomitted...its the same feeling we had when we watched Bu*sh standing in front of a hand picked group of soldiers to prop up re election numbers...WHILE KIDS DIE IN IRAQ ..
I wanted to kick in the TV both times, thinking about Michael standing over there in Baghdad , some kid terrified with a gun in his hands, and on the front lines of this quagmire and atrocity, and bu$h admin has the audacity to use soldiers as a backdrop made my Blood Boil! then to spit on the dead and wounded soldiers, the military families, and now the families of 9/11???!! The families of 9/11 will be joining the Military families at Ft Bragg and Dover AF base on March 14, and March 20th..they are all pissed.
I cant make it, no money, but I will be marching on March 20 in Kalamazoo, and we know a LOT of people will be there.
Ive had it up to my eyeballs with anger....Im on blood pressure meds Im always so mad.
Let the mothers of the soldiers and the mothers of the 9/11 victims have just ONE day in the Oval Office with the whole cabal
They would run, believe me, they would run like cockroaches.
More on the protests:
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[linazelle]

22. Would somebody tell the dead and widowed it wasnt a tragedy?

:eyes:

[DinahMoeHum]

23. Gee, Karen, just like the old joke about Californians and a head

of lettuce??

The joke goes like this:

Q. How many Californians does it take to pick a head of lettuce?
A. Six (or more). One to pick the head, the others to share in the experience.


:evilgrin:

[randr]

24. Changed the country for ever? In what way

we should ask. The oft repeated mantra "the world has changed" must sound wonderful to terrorists all around the world. It essentially states that "the terrorists have won".
The terrorists did no damage to our constitution.
The terrorists did not stop our resolve to live free.
The terrorists did not stop the "American Dream".
The terrorists did not stop us from helping to create a better world.
The terrorists DID cause human suffering on a scale we have not been wittiness to in our country.
These wounds will heal.
The constant opening of them by this administration reminds us once again that we have some very immature, inexperienced, inept men and women advising the fool on the throne.
They too shall pass!

[ignatius]

25. Glad to see that they are not "politicising" this "TRAGEDY." The

tragedy that someone in this administration allowed to happen.

Hey Karen, tell us who told the military to stand down that day. Share that experience with us why dontcha'?

[Flubadubya]

26. Master talking point... Democrats are angry, and that's bad.

You're damned right we're angry Ms. Hughes. You can claim that is a negative for us until the cows come home, but I guarantee it has been THE most unifying factor for democrats this year. You can screech all you want about how anger does no good. Well, I'll bet you a trip to Bagdhad in a basket that Democratic anger IS going to do some good. It is going to get your beloved "binky" (whose ass you suck daily) out of the White House.

How dare you and all these other Rethuglicans perpetrate every possible injustice and lie upon the American people (and democrats in particular), expect us to NOT be angry, and then try to brand us as vile and intolerant because of our anger. You're just smearing salt in the wound, dear, and it is about ready to backfire all over you and your ilk!

Well, get ready sister... you ain't seen nuthin' yet!! Hell Yeah I'm angry... and I'm not taking it anymore!!!! :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad::grr: :mad::grr: :mad::grr: :mad::grr: :mad::grr: :mad::grr: :mad::grr: :mad:

[underpants]

27. HEeeeeelllll YEAH!!!!!!!!

As they say around here.

They haven't seen anger yet. People are mighty PO'ed about this. We may be dumb but we ain't stupid and they are expecting people to be stooooopid.

People don't like being lied to,honey.

[stopbush]

28. "It was a shared experience, the culmination of months of planning

by the president and his staff. I know, I was there. You don't think events like 9/11 happen without a ton of hands-on planning, do you? Hell, look at the record. We had the PATRIOT Act ready to go well before 9/11. We had Ashcroft flying non-commercial flights. We had GW hiding out in Texas for most of 8/01. We had Condi and everyone else ignoring that al Qaeda threat report that Sandy Berger dumped on us.

"THAT'S what this president is all about - planning tragedies and letting the world share the experience."

OK, she didn't really say any of that...except for the shared experience part.

[KansDem]

29. Group sex is a "shared experience"

Sorry, Karen, this won't go... :eyes:

[gasperc]

31. backfire, backlash and back to crawford

go fuck yourself Karen

[Sparkle]

36. Let them run the ads.

It will only remind America that 9/11 is the fault of Bush* and his cronies. When you think of 9/11 you think of Bush.

[West Coast Democrat]

37. If the Press keeps up this grilling, Bush Inc. will certainly be TOAST

Now they're even out there on TV having to defend their "feel good" commercials! This is exactly what the Press should be doing right now.

[SEAburb]

47. All the Bush co. has to do is avoid Katie and Helen Thomas

The rest of them are Bush bootlickers.

[TNOE]

38. If You Care - Please Go Here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1193258

[grasswire]

39. I saw her....

........for a few minutes early this morning, and I thought she looked scared nearly out of her mind. She was stuttering and looking for words. I hope she's on every day, as much as I detest watching her. I think she drives up his negatives.

[underpants]

40. If you haven't seen it here is one of the images from the ad

[nannygoat]

41. Did anybody see her on Good Morning America this morning?

She actually said, "People have lost their jobs over this!" and I thought to myself, "Who are you talking about?" And "I know at least one person who needs to lose his job over this--your boss!"

[jackstraw45]

42. over the ad? Or due to 9/11

Tell me she wasn't lamenting the JOB losses from 9/11 with one hand and disrespecting the victim's families with the other.

[nannygoat]

53. Hey, Jack. She was talking about 9/11 not the campaign ads...

As far as I know, noone has lost their job over 9/11.

[symbolman]

44. Watch my flash film

showing the Coward reading a kids book that morning while KNOWING that we were under attack..

a split screen does wonders..

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/true911.html

Let it load and pass it around

[adriennel]

50. this one is great!

just wanted to say thanks, symbolman. Love your work.

[adriennel]

46. whaa??

shared experience my ass...I did not lose a loved one on 9/11 though I cried all day I would NEVER be so presumptuous to state I shared the same experience as someone who lost a loved one on 9/11.

Ms Hughes--I thought you resigned. Just can't resist all that Bush money, can ya?

oh, and Georgie giving his "acceptance speech" at Ground Zero is the most insulting, inappropriate, disrespectful act of politics I do believe I've ever seen.

so let this administration continue to degrade the TRAGEDY of 9/11 and let Americans see how truly "concerned" the President is (concerned with getting his photo op ASAP and concerned with getting the 9/11 investigation pushed into someone else's presidency.)

[smirkymonkey]

48. You know, this kind of

propaganda is going to look REALLY bad if and when LIHOP (or even MIHOP) comes out. Maybe Kerry can focus on the fact that W RAN AWAY after 9/11 with a clip from his "funny evening w/ Laura" in the Peggy Noonan interview.

I can't believe anyone can't see through this sham! :mad: :grr:

[jackstraw45]

55. Bush-9/11 Ad JUST aired here in southern California.....

Turned the channel to avoid incredible nausea.

[MrBenchley]

56. Except the rest of us didn't get to hide in a bunker in Nebraska

at the time...

[yellowcanine]

57. Smirk sure didn't think it was a tragedy. He thinks it is a meal ticket.

That is what it comes down to. Before 9-11 he was on his way to being a failed president. 9-11 made him a war president. So I can see why he doesn't think it is a tragedy. Bush, Hughes, and the rest of them just don't think the same way the rest of us do.

[lebkuchen]

58. Karen Hughes? I thought she had retired to quiet life in the country

to raise chickens, and drink Mai Tai's at noon, slipping coasters of drug-addled monarchs between her descending glass and the mahogany.

[adriennel]

62. Whitman's on the Bush payroll again too

so they can't work with the man, but they will work to get the man re-elected. I just don't get it....