"Bush's Monica Moment" (Atlantic Monthly)

[hlthe2b]

Atlantic Unbound | June 23, 2004

Politics & Prose | by Jack Beatty

Bush's Monica Moment
......
Clinton's affair with Monica called his character into question; Bush's true colors emerged on 9/11 ....Next weekend, when Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 opens, we will see George W. Bush's Monica Lewinsky moment. Philip Shenon, who covered the hearings of the 9/11 commission, described that scene in an article on the film in Sunday's Times.

For the White House, the most devastating segment of Farenheit 9/11 may be the video of a befuddled-looking President Bush staying put for nearly seven minutes at a Florida elementary school on the morning of September 11, continuing to read a copy of My Pet Goat to schoolchildren even after an aide has told him that a second plane has struck the twin towers. --snip--

Leaders show what they are made of in a crisis. Bush hid in plain sight with those kids. Later, hiding twice over, he used them as an excuse, saying he did not want to frighten them by ending the reading before finishing the book. Later still, and repeatedly, he said he saw the first plane strike the tower that morning (in fact, no one saw that live; the film was not available until the evening) and that he remarked, "That's some bad pilot"—pure strut. As the Wall Street Journal reported, he also magnified his role in managing the crisis, claiming he gave orders others gave. Conflicting accounts of Bush's communications documented by the 9/11 Commission now raise doubts whether, as he and Cheney told the commissioners, he ordered Cheney to shoot down any hijacked planes still in the air, or whether Cheney, in the White House bunker, acted on his own. Maybe Cheney persuaded Bush to stay away from Washington that day less for Bush's safety than for the country's.

--MORE-- (chck it out)

http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/polipro/pp2004-06-23.htm

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. What a diss.

"Maybe Cheney persuaded Bush to stay away from Washington that day less for Bush's safety than for the country's."

Okay, Lesson 20034 in American History. A president who comes into office knowing that he isn't intelligent enough to run the country, and thinks he can make up for his weakness by surrounding himself by those he thinks are capable of doing so, will eventually look like the loser he is.

[hlthe2b]

2. kick

(Forgive the bump: next time I'll post in editorials, since GD drops lke a rock and so quickly I don't think anyone sees many of these posts)....

[Political_Junkie]

3. Good article, but he doesn't check his facts well.

For a Senior Editor that pretty piss poor journalism.
"Moore stipples his film with damning (and in some cases doubtful) statistics—for example, that Mr. Bush spent 42 percent of the first eight months of his presidency on vacation—and vituperation."-- This is very well documented.
Also, I believe that most, if not all, of our presidents have been related to Britain's royal family.

[hlthe2b]

4. Yes... the vacation piece was documented by the Wash Post

Moore says as much in the film....

[robbedvoter]

7. What's more. the percentage didn't change one year later

[GarySeven]

5. Those kids were a human shield

When the country was attacked, any prudent person would have concluded that the President of the United States was also a target for attack. By staying in the classroom and not retreating to a securable location, Bush was deliberately exposing those children to whatever threat might have existed against him that day -- bomb, gas, missle, whatever.

The people in his entourage had not read the memos he had been given (but not read); they may not have put two and two together. But he should have. The fact that he didn't and DELIBERATELY put children and his own aides in a potential line of fire says much about both this person's character and the character of his intellect.

[doni_georgia]

6. Thanks for posting this - kick

[hlthe2b]

8. kick