Here's the problem: this columnist repeats one of the myths about the timeline of the events on the morning of September 11. Specifically, he bungles the issue of "what did Bush know, and when did he know it?"
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The most indelible {scene in the film} is Bush's reaction to hearing on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, that the first plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.
Bush was reading to a grade-school class in Florida at that moment. Instead of jumping up and leaving, he instead sat in front of the class, with an unfortunate look of confusion, for nearly 11 minutes.
Moore obtained the footage from a teacher at the school who videotaped the morning program. There Bush sits, with no access to his advisers, while New York is being viciously attacked. I guarantee you that no one who sees this film forgets this episode.
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Yeah, but... that's not what happened. I urge you to head right now to one of the most astonishing pages on all the 'Net,
Complete 911 Timeline, especially
An Interesting Day: President Bush's Movements and Actions on 9/11. Go down to the section titled "When Did Bush First Learn of the Attacks?"
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... Official accounts, including the words of Bush himself, say Bush was first told of what was happening in New York City after he arrived at the school. {Telegraph, 12/16/01, CBS, 9/11/02} However, this statement does not stand up to scrutiny. There are at least four reports that Bush was told of the first crash before he arrived at the school.
Two accounts explicitly state Bush was told while in the motorcade. “The President was on Highway 301, just north of Main Street ...
he received the news that a plane had crashed in New York City.” {Sarasota Magazine, 11/01} (See adjacent map for the location where he is told.) Another account states, “Bush was driving to the school in a motorcade when the phone rang. An airline accident appeared to have happened. He pressed on with his visit.” {Observer, 9/16/01}
The first media reports of Flight 11's crash into the World Trade Center began around 8:48, two minutes after the crash happened. {New York Times, 9/15/01} CNN broke into its regular programming at that time {CNN, 9/11/01}, though other networks, such as ABC, took a few more minutes to begin reporting. {ABC, 9/14/02} So within minutes, millions were aware of the story, yet Bush supposedly remained unaware for about another ten minutes.
Claims of Bush's ignorance become harder to believe when one learns that others in his motorcade were immediately told of the attack. For instance, Kia Baskerville, a CBS News producer traveling with Bush that morning, received a message about a plane crash “as the presidential motorcade headed to President Bush's first event.” Baskerville said, “Fifteen minutes later I was standing in a second grade classroom {waiting for Bush's entrance}” —which means she got the news at about 8:47—right as the story was first being reported. {CBS, 8/19/02} A news photographer in the motorcade overheard a radio transmission that Press Secretary Ari Fleischer would be needed on arrival at the school to discuss reports of some sort of crash. {Christian Science Monitor, 9/17/01} Another account notes Fleischer got the news that the crash had occurred “just minutes before,” but notes that Bush was not in the same car as Fleischer. {CBS, 11/1/02} Senior presidential communications officer Thomas Herman said, “Just as we were arriving at the school, I received a notification from our operations center than an airliner had struck one of the towers....” {Marist College Magazine, Fall 2002}
Meanwhile, CIA Director George Tenet was told of the crash a few minutes after it happened.
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I've left out the hyperlinks here, but you can click on them at the Timeline website.