Sarasota principal defends Bush from "Fahrenheit 9/11" portrayal

[Mistress Quickly]

Have you guys seen this? I saw it on the jeeperscreepers site, they are salivating!

snip>>>

The Associated Press
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" criticizes President Bush for listening to Sarasota second-graders read a story for nearly seven minutes after learning the nation was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

But Gwendolyn Tose'-Rigell, the principal at Emma E. Booker Elementary School, says Bush handled himself properly.

"I don't think anyone could have handled it better," Tose'-Rigell told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in a story published Wednesday. "What would it have served if he had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"

snip>>>>

She said the video doesn't convey all that was going on in the classroom, but Bush's presence had a calming effect and "helped us get through a very difficult day."

link: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040623/APN/406230792





Anybody down that way know about this paper? I thought he sat there for longer than 7 minutes?

I want to :puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

[Bluebear]

1. HahahahaOOhhahhahahahaaa

"What would it have served if he had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"

Uh, maybe to do SOMETHING as our nation was under attack?

[jedicord]

15. At least 30 kids and a teacher felt better...

Maybe a fighter jet COULD have been called to stop a plane from hitting the Pentagon if he had jumped up and done something. So what? These kids were calmed!

As if they would have even had a CLUE as to why he jumped up. They probably would have thought he had to go to the bathroom!

[Bluebear]

18. Belated welcome to DU!

[jedicord]

28. Thanks!

Actually, I've been here for quite a while. Learned the difference between trolling and lurking yesterday as a matter of fact. Everyone here made me feel so much better, that I've gotten this sudden urge to POST!

Addiction #332...

[Bluebear]

29. Glad to have you. Post away! And I hear you on the addiction thing

nt

[hang a left]

2. Let's see if the rest of the country feels the same way after viewing.

" but Bush's presence had a calming effect and "helped us get through a very difficult day."

[Caution]

3. I'm so glad he calmed down one small classroom of kids

while the other 247,999,960 of us were wondering where the hell out damned president was and why he wasn't doing his job instead of participating in a damned photo-op!

[Killarney]

4. Figures. No matter what he does. Fucking Teflon.

He could have scrambled the fighter jets. He could have saved lives. People were burning alive and jumping out of the towers while he sat and read a goat book. That is the furthest from presidential.

As a matter of fact, I don't think it's "calm" either. I think he was shitting his pants scared and didn't know what to do, so he sat and read a fucking goat book.

A real president (one with, you know, a brain) would have calmly stood and walked out of the room and had one of his minions sit and read the goat book.

[stopbush]

13. You know, you may be right. Maybe * was physically paralyzed

and unable to stand. He may have literally froze.

[DoYouEverWonder]

38. Or maybe he had to kill a half hour

because all the planes didn't leave at the same time, and he had to pretend he didn't know what was going on, until DC got hit.

[fob]

39. I wonder if there are any comparable situations for Clinton?

It would take some research to find out Clinton's wherabouts/reaction upon hearing some of the major stories during his tenure;

OKC McVeigh
93 WTC
Can't think of other big ones right now

But I bet there is no instance of Clinton sitting on his ass, that's for sure!

[Killarney]

40. Good idea!

I agree, Clinton would have handled it much better.

Here's what Clinton would have done:

Panetta (or whoever) whispers in his ear. He nods, calmly stands, hands the goat book to someone else on his staff who replaces him while he goes in a back room to make calls and ACT LIKE A PRESIDENT!

He would not have sat and shat his pants for 7 minutes.

[prolesunited]

42. Anybody have Clinton's new book handy?

Does he discuss any of those things in it?

[goclark]

52. One of the pictures in the book

shows Big Dog at the funeral of Ron Brown. He has his head on Chelsea's shoulder and he appears that he was extremely sad and maybe crying.

He deserved to have those feelings at that moment. Ron Brown's body was in the ground and no one was depending on his leadership. In fact it showed the compassion of Bill Clinton!

Chimp on the other hand had millions of people depending on him on 911 and he was reading a story book.

[XNASA]

5. So he helped 100 or so people at the school............

get throught a difficult day. But he left nearly 300 million US citizens hangin'.

Love THAT rationale.

Of course, it's only her opinion. Do people actually think before they speak anymore?

[chookie]

31. The only 100 people who *didn't* know what was happening

But the little kiddies and others present did not know that the WTC was burning, and that several other aircraft were missing and presumed hijacked -- they may have been the ONLY people in the country who didn't know, because they were so insulated in that classroom.

So -- as they didn't know what was going on, what was there to be a "calming presence" about? I mean, it's not as though the little kiddies were shrieking in terror and peeing their pants about what was happening -- like tens of thousands in NYC and other parts of the fucking country! This stupid principal (in Katherine Harris's home town, BTW) is clearly re-writing history and offering a pathetic excuse for the inexcusable: the Commander in Chimp sitting PARALYZED as thousands of Americans were in the midst of a perilous attack.

As others have pointed out here, you would think that there was only two ways of reacting: either running out of the room screaming in fear (like, presumably Al Gore would have done, they'd have us think) or sitting there like a dumb rabbit pretending nothing happened. President Chookie, or President Gore, or President Franken, or President Clinton, etc etc etc would absolutely have calmly excused ourselves from the occasion, and gotten right down to handling the crisis immediamente. If I had known PRIOR to showing up at the school that the first tower had been hit, there is no way I would have bothered to show up: I would have told my ground team that there was at least a delay in my arrival....

I think it would be far less ridiculous if Bushistas would just admit that maybe he was a little off in some of the stuff he does, rather than tell these tall tales about how, in spite of how stupid he looks, that he is REALLY performing as a magificent leader.

[stinkeefresh]

6. right...

because running out of the room screaming or sitting there reading about the goat were the only two options.

I mean, what else could possibly have been done except running or sitting?

[Joanne98]

14. He could have been in Washington

Where he was supposed to be doing something like WORKING (shudder).

[yorgatron]

16. are you fucking kidding???

stand up,say "gotta go kids,presidential type stuff going on" and beat feet.it's that simple,too bad * is simpler...

[TreeHuggingLiberal]

27. Guys...this is obviously sarcastic...eom

[kiahzero]

7. Straw man & false dillema

His choices were more than just "Sit there and not do anything" and "Jump out of chair and run out of room." The principal in question is either a fool or a liar.

[Mistress Quickly]

11. Good point.

You are correct.

[nostamj]

20. or a foolish liar

but to the FACTS.

* was one of the few people in the country who KNEW a plane impacting the WTC was a TERRORIST ATTACK... that pesky PDB...

HE *could* have told NYC officials to EVACUATE the South Tower IMMEDIATELY.

instead, they were told to go back to their desks... to DIE.

[stopbush]

21. That principal makes *'s case for vouchers!!!! n/t

[stopbush]

8. One can grant that *'s presence may well have had "a calming effect"

on the people in the classroom, just as, say, Bill Clinton saying and doing certain things with Monica Lewinski may have had a positive effect on her.

Unfortunately, when you're the fucking POTUS, you need to have the capacity to think beyond what's happening 10 feet in front of you. The bush video shows a deer in the headlights whose concern was only for HIMSELF. The welfare of the country or, indeed, that classroom of kids, had little if anything to do with his reaction on that fateful day.

[Lex]

9. Such a typical idiot response. A "strawman" response.

The guy says "What would it have served if he had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"

AS IF that is the only way Bush could've handled the situation.

NO ONE is suggesting he had to act in a way to frighten the kids, but the way he DID handle the situation was a dereliction of duty.

[GumboYaYa]

10. Geez, I'll tell you what it would have served.

The seven minute gap that Bush sat there matches almost exactly the same time that planes sat on the ground at Langley on alert but with no orders to scramble and no orders to take down incoming civilian aircraft. It is also the same time that the Indianapolis Air Control center LOST the flight that ultimatley hit the Pentagon.

There is no question in my mind that if Bush had been engaged in real leadership for those seven minutes that he sat in the classroom like a fool, there is a substantial likeliehood that the plane could have been prevented from hitting the Pentagon and killing all those innocent people. the blood of the innocents who diesd at the Pentagon is clearly on GWBs hands.

[Joanne98]

24. Good point

And your being too kind. There's still always LIHOP. (let it happen on purpose) TINFOIL..............

[GumboYaYa]

26. We haven't even started to get into the motives for his

inaction. It seems, however, that the results are plainly clear.

[Beam Me Up]

12. With all the warnings of an impending attack, he should not have gone

into that room in the first place. It is CONCEIVABLE that, if he had been a REAL PRESIDENT instead of a neocon sock puppet, he could have SAVED LIVES! But I guess it has never occured to this principal that such is a real president's JOB.

:puke:

[Luminous Animal]

17. Doing nothing.

Why do Bush supporters try to claim that the only alternative to do doing nothing is jumping up and running?

Bush knew about the first plane before he even entered the classroom. Then he's told about the second one while he was in the classroom. Didn't it cross anyone's mind, including his, that he himself might be a target and that by sitting there he was putting a school full of children in danger?

Perhaps, in order to do the job for which he was elected, he should STAY AWAY FROM SCHOOL CHILDREN as they render him helpless.

[bossfish]

50. Shrub wouldn't have been a target.

If the 9/11 bunch wanted to hurt the USA, they knew leaving that asshole in charge was a good way to do it.

[DrBB]

19. Yeah. Kind of a "very difficult day" for a LOT of people.

Maybe he coulda, you know, worried about that a little more. But hey, I'm glad your kiddies weren't as upset as they maybe would have been if he'd politely excused himself and left the room.

[Bluebear]

25. Bush on 2001: "But all in all,it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me."

[zbird]

22. Did anybody else in that classroom know what happened in NY at that point?

I don't recall that the students were aware. It is possible that some of the adults (teachers, etc.) were aware, but I cannot remember hearing anything about that. Anybody remember?

[Longhorn]

51. I seem to remember reading that no one else knew

but that the press in the roomn started getting pages and such as the time went by. I'm sure I read it somewhere here -- where else do I spend all my free time? :)

[Mistress Quickly]

23. End the story and GO!

"And the goat lived happily ever after. The End.

"Thank you boys and girls, tell mommy and daddy to vote for me, George Dubya, have a good day, and god bless merka. Now, where's my macaroni art so I can go bomb me some brown people."

[KittyWampus]

30. Calming Effect? FOR WHAT? The Kids Didn't EVEN KNOW YET!!!

what a pantload

[Lisa]

32. one would think a grade-school principal would know how to leave a room

... without causing a big scene in front of a bunch of kids.

I'll bet she's gone off to deal with emergencies herself. Surely she must be joking, if she thinks the only way to act in a crisis is to freak out and run around. He could have whispered instructions to Andy. Or excused himself politely, promising to come back and read to the kids as soon as the situation allowed. Or -- if he wanted to delight the children and take their minds off a scary situation -- tell them "I have to go to the bathroom!" Guarantee, the kids would have been talking about "The Peeing President" for weeks.

[Robin Hood]

33. By continuing to stay in that school, He put all those children at risk.

IF my kid was in that classroom, I would be livid. The whole school should have been evacuated and he should have been escorted out so that he could have done his job.

Brave my ass. More like he was holding still so that he had an alibi.

[DrWeird]

34. How about when he ran around the country...

looking for deep enough bunkers to hide in?

Was that a calming effect?

[ThomWV]

35. How'd He Help Her Through Her Day?

When that little son of a bitch was hiding out in Oklahoma or Nebraska or some such place. That was his first real show of his cowardly nature.

[Malva Zebrina]

36. Obviously Gwendolyn

is a Bush ass kisser whose nose is totally covered with excrement from Bush's bottom.

She needs her job, She needs her salary, and she needs to defend her status in order to keep receiving that salary

The woman has indeed lost her soul and we have people like this in charge of teaching our children?

How corrupt. Says little about the teaching profession

[sendero]

37. Gee..

... you stupid bitch - I'm glad that your class getting through a difficult day is more important than taking action to save lives.

You are reprehensible.

[symbolman]

41. It wasn't any 7 minutes either

he was there for LONGER Than that.. once again, we're letting THEM frame the arguement..

watch my flash movie (link below) "Bush Knew - An American Requiem" and get the truth.

[soup]

43. A Calming Effect?!

For what? Why did they need calming? At the time they entered the classroom the only thing she knew was that one plane had hit the WTC.

Tose'-Rigell says she first knew something was amiss when Bush emerged from his car and was whisked into a special holding room to take a telephone call. Then she was summoned to the room to talk to the president.
http://www.28news.com/stories/archive/020911school.shtml

Nobody heard what Card whispered.

*dimson didn't move, but just kept on with his visit.

The kids didn't have a clue.

What's to calm?

The time to calm children would be after *frequentflyer made his quick little announcement (which had to scare the daylights out of those kids) and bravely bolted for the airport.

At 9:30 A.M. on September 11, 2001, (wasn't that the exact time he was scheduled to give a speech on education?) President George W. Bush slipped silently behind the podium and made the announcement to the nation and the world that there had been "an apparent terrorist attack on our country." I was standing behind the President when he made this now infamous statement, but I could see the gravity of his statements reflected in the faces of the children sitting in front of him. They silently stared at him, letting the reality of what he said seep in slowly. It was like watching a movie in slow motion.
http://www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/emma/9.11.01/essay.williams.html

A calming effect. Jeeze, what'll they come up with next?

[Lisa]

45. yep -- nothing to calm down a bunch of worried children ...

... like making them into a human backdrop while * talks about planes crashing into buildings and people dying.

That's another reason why I don't believe his "I didn't want to frighten the kiddies" excuse.

[Sterling]

44. Nice he could calm her, but seriously fuck her

She would have found away to deal, his responsibilities were elsewhere

[Delano]

46. She's obviously too starstruck by his post to be objective.

The PRESIDENT has more important things to do in a time of crisis than calm down a bunch of kids. The teacher can do that. Besides, as has been mentioned before, the kids didn't know what was going on.

Nobody's saying he should have run screaming out of the room. He should have politely announced: "I'm sorry but something very important has come up and I have to leave."

The ten seconds it would take to make such an announcement would have been better than the 7+ minutes he SAT there with his thumb up his ass.

[Misunderestimator]

47. And it's showing at a local 20 Cineplex AMC theater...

an hour north of Sarasota. Very conservative around here. Already bought my tickets for Friday night... can't wait.

7 minutes is a VERY long time, btw.

[Lisa]

49. 7 minutes is especially long ...

... if you already KNOW that there's been a major aviation disaster that day, and you've had more than a month's warning that somebody was planning to attack the country.

Seven minutes should allow most people in that situation to "connect the dots" and activate procedures you've worked out in advance (even something as simple as "alert the fighters").

[kerry-is-my-prez]

48. Sarasota is Republicanville. They voted Katherine Harris in as Senator.

Need I say more???

[goclark]

53. The Principal Was Paid Off

There is no way in hell that a Principal should think that way. Let's see how fast the Principal becomes the Supt. or takes a golden hand shake retirement.

Chimp was not thinking of the welfare of the school one bit! He couldn't have cared less.

In fact, I looked at it another way. Would he have remained sitting there if that was a class filled with the children of his rich,white, good old boys?!

[Cocoa]

54. well, that settles it

The Principal has spoken. :eyes:

[goclark]

55. The Chimp Principal Has Sold Out Big Time

[Monte Carlo]

56. ''What would it have served if he had jumped out of his chair and ran"...

... I don't know, serve as COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, perhaps!?

[ocean girl]

57. I know why he sat there for so long & it's just one word . . .

ALIBI

[Renew Deal]

58. Bullshit

They were worried about someone bombing the school. I am sure it was calming watching guys in black suits and sunglasses running around.

[devinsgram]

59. What, about if he just would have stood up slowly

said, "excuse me I have to leave." I don't think the kids would have thought anything of it. Pleeeeeeaaasssseeee! Sit, and time yourself for 7 minutes and see how long that really is. You don't need 7 minutes to help keep kids calm.