ABC Scandal: "Goat-gate": Pet Goat AWOL from TV drama!

[npincus]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003087654

Much like those missing 18 1/2 minutes on the Nixon Watergate Tapes, now we have "Goate-gate": the missing 7 minutes of Presidential eye-blinking while reading "The Pet Goat" to a classroom in Sarasota, Florida on the morning of September 11th, 2001. Missing from ABC's "Path to 9-11" mini-series, that is.

Has The Goat gone AWOL, much like our fearless leader did from the Texas Air National Guard in 1973?



"The Path to 9/11" ends with a long segment on the day of the attacks and top officials' response -- though we only see
President Bush in his speech to the nation, not in the Florida classroom with "The Pet Goat."

Here's a fascinating blow-by-blow of the Moron-in-Chief's non-reaction to the events on the morning of September 11th that probably didn't make it inot the ABC docu-drama:

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/essay.jsp?article=essayaninterestingday



Descriptions vary greatly as to how Bush responded to the news. It is said he “blanched” , “the color drained from the president’s face” , he “wore a bemused smile” , “because visibly tense and serious” , and so on. Watch the video and draw your own conclusions (the 11-minute video can be viewed at the Center for Cooperative Research, Buzzflash, Global Free Press, The Emperor’s New Clothes, or Liberty DYNU). Bush later recalled his own reaction: “I am very aware of the cameras. I’m trying to absorb that knowledge. I have nobody to talk to. I’m sitting in the midst of a classroom with little kids, listening to a children’s story and I realize I’m the Commander in Chief and the country has just come under attack.” Asked again what he thought after he heard the news, Bush said, “We’re at war and somebody has dared attack us and we’re going to do something about it. I realized I was in a unique setting to receive a message that somebody attacked us … t became evident that we were, you know, that the world had changed.”

So what did the Commander in Chief do with the knowledge that the United States was under attack?

He did nothing.

Bush did not say one word. He did not ask Card any questions. He did not give any orders. He did not know who (or which country) was attacking, whether there would be more attacks, what military plans had been taken, what military actions should be taken—indeed, he knew virtually nothing about what was going on outside the room. He just sat there. Bush later recalled: “There was no time for discussion or anything.” Even stranger, as one newspaper put it, although the nation was under terrorist attack, “for some reason, Secret Service agents not bustle him away.”

Military pilots must have “permission from the White House because only the president has the authority to order a civilian aircraft shot down.” But if retaliatory strikes needed to the authorized, Bush was not available. If one of the planes had to be shot down to save more lives on the ground, Bush was not available. Although several fighters had been dispatched to defend New York City, the pilot of one of the planes flying to catch Flight 175 later noted that it wouldn’t have mattered if he caught up with it, because only Bush could order a shootdown, and Bush could not be reached in the classroom.


<asnip>

The Photo-Op Goes On

After Card told Bush about the second plane and quickly left, the classroom was silent for about 30 seconds or so. The children were about to take turns reading from a story called The Pet Goat. Bush picked up the book and began to read with the children. In unison, the children read out loud, “The—Pet—Goat. A—girl—got—a—pet—goat. But—the—goat—did—some—things—that—made—the—girl’s—dad—mad.” Bush mostly listened, but occasionally asked the children a few questions to encourage them. At one point he said, “Really good readers, whew! ... These must be sixth-graders!”

Who was really in control? Certainly not Bush. In the back of the room, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer caught Bush’s eye and held up a pad of paper for him to see, with “DON’T SAY ANYTHING YET” written on it in big block letters. Some person or people had overruled the security who wanted Bush evacuated immediately, even as Vice President Cheney was taken from his White House office to a safe location. Bush’s security overruled Bush on security matters later in the day on Air Force One, but who overruled them that morning?

(on eidt: original DU thread on missing goat by sabra: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2061702)

[orpupilofnature57]

1. If they had their way Poppy would have been on the PT-109 ,and J.F.K.

bailing on his Friends to save his own ass ,it's the only thing their proficient at ,fucking up the facts.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. According to the Rovian spin,

Shrub didn't want to scare the kiddies by jumping up immediately and making a big deal of the fact that the USA was under attack. Hmmm, I wonder how scared the kiddies would have been if a 767 came in through the roof on top of their heads which, if the official conspiracy theory is assumed to be true that this attack was entirely out of the blue and they had no idea what the targets were that morning, had to be a deffinite possibility. Oh well, I guess it would have all been over so quickly they wouldn't have had time to be scared.

[Cha]

4. It was a stupid made up story

that rove had to come up with to cover the chimp's ass. Did anyone buy it but those insane godless creatures known as "fundies"?

[WinkyDink]

5. And of course, it wouldn't have totally IMPRESSED those children

had Bush stood up and said, "Class, I must leave and do some very important work now, so you be good and keep reading for your teacher."

Too bad Bush had NO IDEA OF WHAT TO DO, let alone SAY.

[petgoat]

15. It wasn't his fault. He couldn't do anything.

Flight 77 was behind schedule and he had to stall. If he'd left the
schoolroom at 9:10 he would have been expected to order fighter cover
over DC and authorize shootdowns of airliners showing hostile intent,
and then Flight 77 couldn't have hit the Pentagon at 9:37.

[QuestionAll...]

6. good grief I hope not many bought that old load of crap...

dont' want to scare the kiddies...

omg how transparently stupid.

"Excuse me, chillen, I have presidentin' to do. I hope to come back soon and visit again, but right now there's some hunking big shit coming down and the whole country needs me - hope I don't traumatize you too much by my exit"
is what a normal person would say.

[npincus]

13. a few dozen scared kiddies vs. a terified nation

let me ponder that...

[Lisa]

18. so instead, he had the kids as a backdrop as he talked about the attacks

... and planes crashing into buildings. Yeah, that's a great way to not scare children! I wonder how long it took the teachers and parents to calm them down afterward?

They should have taken the kids back to their classrooms -- or even evacuated them altogether, just to be on the safe side. Bush didn't need them standing there. He didn't even have to linger at the school -- he could have addressed the country from AF1. That would have been safer for him in any case (the plane is well-defended).

[Cha]

3. Firedoglake has this to say

about it..

"HIJACKING 9/11"

snip~

"What makes "The Path to 9/11" somewhat different is its claim to be based on the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission). Thomas Kean, the Republican co-chairman of the 9/11 commission, served as an advisor to the film, although Lee Hamilton, the commission’s Democratic co-chair, did not. ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson is claiming that its miniseries is a public service that goes beyond mere entertainment. "Some things you do for commerce and some things because they are the right thing to do," he told Variety magazine."


Much more..
http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/09/04/hijacking-911/

[gkhouston]

19. um, which public does McPherson think he's "servicing"? n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. Perhaps the 7 minutes of inaction could have been "composited"...

Maybe the filmaker could have shown Bush picking his nose, Cheney wanking off in an undisclosed restroom over a soldier of fortune magazine centerfold and Scooter Libby paying disturbingly rapt attention to the bear exhibit at the San Diego Zoo.

[Human Torch]

8. It was also absent from "On Native Soil"...

...shown by Court TV last week. Andy Card comes in and whispers in Bush's ear, then Kevin Costner does a voice-over about how Bush "didn't want to alarm anyone with a sudden exit," then the scene immediately cuts to Bush telling the class (and the TV cameras) that the World Trade Center had been hit. You'd never know he sat on his ass to hear how the story turned out.





:patriot:

[tjwash]

9. I heard that Bush...

...rips off his shirt in the movie, single handedly takes all the hijackers and blows them out the airlock of the airplane, and then lands the airplane while blindfolded and whistling the star spangled banner.

Hey. It sounds about as accurate as the rest of the movie probably is.

[arcane1]

10. Andrew Card's behaviour PROVES that they knew this was coming

IMO, anyway

think about it: he walks up to the Commander in Chief, and whispers into his ear: "America is under attack"

Now, if you just delivered that message to the commander of the U.S. military, wouldn't you at least expect some kind of response? Wouldn't you at least stand there right next to him, on the assumption that he will immediately give you orders of some kind?

Apparently, Card didn't. He delivered his message and walked away

If his message really was "news" to the President, why didn't he wait for a response????

[Efilroft Sul]

14. Card actually said, "Master, it is done. Mission accomplished."

Okay, I'm joking.

Card actually called Bush "Monkey."

[petgoat]

16. Card actually said "77 is delayed. Stall fifteen minutes." nt

[mhatrw]

11. Why didn't the Secret Service rush him out of there?

How did they know he wasn't a possible target of a terrorist attack?

Why risk all those kids' lives to proceed with a meaningless photo op during the worst attack on American soil since the Civil War?

[Olney Blue]

12. *'s failure: It was a feta-ccompli.

[npincus]

17. He's HERE! I found him!

He's in EYE-raq! Hiding in the Mobile Biological Weapons Labs!

[hedgehog]

20. According to the Graphic Version of the 9/11 Commission Report.

Bush knew before he ever entered the classroom that a commercial airliner had hit the WTC. He was so informed at 8:55 by Condi Rice. I myself thought at first that this was a terrible accident. But then, I wasn't the President of the United States! Supposedly,he also knew that Al Queda was planning to attack the US because people had been telling him that from Day 1 of his administration. Too bad he never listened. Even if it had been an accident, shouldn't he have assumed the worse and postponed or canceled the reading until he had more information? Even if it had been an accident, going into that classroom knowing the carnage in New York City was like, oh I don't know, playing air guitar as a major American City is hit by a hurricane?