Yahoo: The Students with Bush on 9/11: The Interrupted Reading

[SkinsHokieFan]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110504/us_time/08599206932700

There has rarely been a starker juxtaposition of evil and innocence than the moment President George W. Bush received the news about 9/11 while reading The Pet Goat with second-graders in Sarasota, Fla.

Seven-year-olds can't understand what Islamic terrorism is all about. But they know when an adult's face is telling them something is wrong - and none of the students sitting in Sandra Kay Daniels' class at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning can forget the devastating change in Bush's expression when White House chief of staff Andrew Card whispered the terrible news of the al-Qaeda attack. Lazaro Dubrocq's heart started racing because he assumed they were all in trouble - with no less than the Commander in Chief - but he wasn't sure why. "In a heartbeat, he leaned back and he looked flabbergasted, shocked, horrified," recalls Dubrocq, now 17. "I was baffled. I mean, did we read something wrong? Was he mad or disappointed in us?"

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[Dan T.]

Good article. The stricken look on Bush's face as Andrew Card whispers in his ear was a chilling memory from that day. And I always thought the criticism of Bush for lingering in that classroom those few extra minutes was pointless and unfair.

[Predicto]

Good article. The stricken look on Bush's face as Andrew Card whispers in his hear was a chilling memory from that day. And I always thought the criticism of Bush for lingering in that classroom those few extra minutes was pointless and unfair.

Me too. And pretty much every liberal I know feels the same way.

But we have our haters on the left, and some of them went off on Bush that day, no doubt.

[Teller]

Me too. And pretty much every liberal I know feels the same way.

But we have our haters on the left, and some of them went off on Bush that day, no doubt.

Yeah, wingnuticism has no party boundaries. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of us, on both sides, are far closer to the center than we are to the loons.

I'm by no means a Bush apologist, but I believe that he handled that situation as well as he was able.

[TimmySmith]

I always thought Bush was a bit hung out to dry by his staff. They should have calmly gotten him out of the room first, then told him. Instead they told him in front of 25 kids and 30 cameras. I am sure they regret the order of things.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

And I always thought the criticism of Bush for lingering in that classroom those few extra minutes was pointless and unfair.

The criticism is/was total bull****. Beyond petty.

[MattFancy]

Good article. The stricken look on Bush's face as Andrew Card whispers in his hear was a chilling memory from that day. And I always thought the criticism of Bush for lingering in that classroom those few extra minutes was pointless and unfair.

I mean what was he supposed to do? Rush out of the school and try and hold the buildings up himself? I was never a huge GWB fan, but I thought he did a hell of a job in handling the events of 9/11.

[PCS]

Well according to two of those students,they were very glad he stuck around. Good read and that face is one I'll never forget. Imagine having someone come in to the classroom and whispering that news in to your hear. Especially in that environment. Yikes.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Me too. And pretty much every liberal I know feels the same way.

But we have our haters on the left, and some of them went off on Bush that day, no doubt.

I didn't think he should have rushed out of there in a huff. But I always found it odd that he stayed for ten more minutes. I think he could have politely excused himself after a minute or two without traumatizing anyone.

My father made an interesting point this week. He was a principal for 35 years and he started a new job on 9/11. I still have the email he sent me that morning with his new phone number. It was something like "Here's the new work number. Having a busy day."

Anyway, the point was, his fifth graders on that day are juniors in college now. So, they were the peers of the kids who were cheering in front of the White House on Sunday night. Fifth Grade is around the time you first start to form an opinion on the wider world and the first image in most of those ex-students heads is that day. Bin Laden was their Bogeyman. And how often do you find out that the Bogeyman is dead?

---------- Post added May-4th-2011 at 01:54 PM ----------

I always thought Bush was a bit hung out to dry by his staff. They should have calmly gotten him out of the room first, then told him. Instead they told him in front of 25 kids and 30 cameras. I am sure they regret the order of things.

There is some truth in that.

I thought Bush handled the days following 9/11 beautifully. I think there was something to be desired for the first 12 hours or so. But that is more likely criticism for his staff than for him.

I did always think he had the right temperment for the days after 9/11 though. Giuliani had a leadership style perfect for the day of the event. But as we got farther away from 9/11, Guiuliani seemed to shrink while Bush grew into the role.

Bush's staff had a history of always being slightly overwhelmed by events until they got their feet underneath them. Then, they became a machine. Obama's staff seems to handle immediate issues well and then slowly lose control of the narrative of those issues over time.

[Mad Mike]

I thought Bush handled the days following 9/11 beautifully. I think there was something to be desired for the first 12 hours or so. But that is more likely criticism for his staff than for him.

I did always think he had the right temperment for the days after 9/11 though. Giuliani had a leadership style perfect for the day of the event. But as we got farther away from 9/11' date=' Guiuliani seemed to shrink while Bush grew into the role. [/quote']

I agree and I'll take it a step farther.

I'm sure most of you here will disagree with me, but I think Bush was the right man for the next 8 years. I support the things he did if not always the way he did them. It may well be that Iraq was an over reaction and if so I say GOOD. The world and anyone who would like to step up to fill bin Laden's shoes to attack us again should understand just how pissed off we can get. That said I'll take it yet another step further...

Obama was the right man to step in after Bush to mend the fences and heal the wounds without giving up on the progress we made with what Bush started.

[MattFancy]

I agree and I'll take it a step farther.

I'm sure most of you here will disagree with me, but I think Bush was the right man for the next 8 years. I support the things he did if not always the way he did them. It may well be that Iraq was an over reaction and if so I say GOOD. The world and anyone who would like to step up to fill bin Laden's shoes to attack us again should understand just how pissed off we can get. That said I'll take it yet another step further...

Obama was the right man to step in after Bush to mend the fences and heal the wounds without giving up on the progress we made with what Bush started.

I can agree with that. I voted for Kerry that year, but it didn't bother me that Bush won. Mainly because I think he deserved to finish what he started, even though he didn't. The time after 9/11, I don't think anyone could've handled it better than Bush.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I agree and I'll take it a step farther.

I'm sure most of you here will disagree with me, but I think Bush was the right man for the next 8 years. I support the things he did if not always the way he did them. It may well be that Iraq was an over reaction and if so I say GOOD. The world and anyone who would like to step up to fill bin Laden's shoes to attack us again should understand just how pissed off we can get. That said I'll take it yet another step further...

Obama was the right man to step in after Bush to mend the fences and heal the wounds without giving up on the progress we made with what Bush started.

I certainly don't agree with pretty much anything in that paragraph. Iraq was not an over-reaction. Iraq was a test to see if the hare-brained neocon worldview was correct. (A far more cynical part of me believes it was a money grab for the Administrations's top supporters as well).

Obama was chosen because Bush bankrupted the country.

[jnhay]

Yeah, I'm not going to say Bush was a good president, but I don't fault him that much in this specific instance. The Iraq war never should have happened. I don't think it was an overreaction as much as it was making the most of an opportunity.

[GhostofSparta]

I can't imagine being in those kids' shoes. I mean, you talk about being in the right/wrong (depending on your POV) place when history happens? I can't imagine being in a classroom with the POTUS when something like 9/11 happens. As for my uninformed opinion on why he lingered an extra 10 minutes or so: 1. He honestly was shocked and wasn't sure how to react. I think he just went back to what he had been doing a minute ago to let more information come in and organize his thoughts, and 2. I think he really did not want to freak out the kids by leaving right away. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe it wasn't, but I think deep down he knew that doing anything out of the ordinary once he re-established his poker face would cause the kids to freak out.

As an aside, I want to smack that smartass idiot who first photoshopped the book upside down in Bush's hands. There were/are plenty of ways to make him look stupid, that just seems like a low blow.

[Boss_Hogg]

Good article. The stricken look on Bush's face as Andrew Card whispers in his ear was a chilling memory from that day. And I always thought the criticism of Bush for lingering in that classroom those few extra minutes was pointless and unfair.

Totally agree. The Michael Moore movie from 2004 made it all that much worse.

[Seabee1973]

I certainly don't agree with pretty much anything in that paragraph. Iraq was not an over-reaction. Iraq was a test to see if the hare-brained neocon worldview was correct. (A far more cynical part of me believes it was a money grab for the Administrations's top supporters as well).

Obama was chosen because Bush bankrupted the country.

How is it we were bankrupt under Bush but now the feeling is wer can keep printing more money to solve are problems and never really be bankrupt

[December90]

How is it we were bankrupt under Bush but now the feeling is wer can keep printing more money to solve are problems and never really be bankrupt

stop using logic to deflate a liberal. most libs cannot understand basic logic anyway...

[zoony]

Me too. And pretty much every liberal I know feels the same way.

But we have our haters on the left, and some of them went off on Bush that day, no doubt.

I think it was more than just a few haters. It was pretty much every champion of the left at the time, wasn't it?

[Burgold]

I think there are two sides to this coin. I think within each of us resides an innocent child that thinks the President is Superman and when something horrible happens that he will take off his glasses and whisk into action. 9/11 was about as horrible as you can get. That image of him doing nothing therefore was startling and disheartening. For some the response to that was honest, illogical, and emotion driven. It was also unfair. At the same time, or within a fairly short time there was also a cynical effort to score political points by using those moment and creating a fiction of incompetence or even worse Presidential apathy.

I don't blame people who are honestly frustrated by this image of Bush. In one of the worst moments in our lives and U.S. history the President was no more than the rest of us. A helpless witness.

I doubt I'm coming across as I intend because I don't blame or even think badly of Bush for what he chose to do and I agree with most that those who capitalized on this should be ashamed, but I do sympathize with that initial moment of disillusionment of seeing the President not leaping into action, not getting on the phones, not climbing into a helicopter...

Part of me wanted Harrison Ford, but what we got was reality. Reality disappoints often

[Sticksboi05]

Geez, reading this thread is the epitome is why this country is so screwed up and never gets crap done.

[Bang]

Good article. The stricken look on Bush's face as Andrew Card whispers in his ear was a chilling memory from that day. And I always thought the criticism of Bush for lingering in that classroom those few extra minutes was pointless and unfair.

That criticism simply showed me who was an idiot with no grasp of reality. As easily dismissed as the homeless guy on the corner complaining there are aliens in his hair.

When the attack happened, I think they expected Bush to charge into the phone booth, slip into his Superman suit and go off and fight the terrorists on his own or something.

The fact is there's a procedure to secure the president, get the airborne command post ready, secure the route to the airfield, lots of contingencies and details need to be addressed in short order.

And to have all this ready in 20 minutes was excellent, considering nothing like it had ever happened before.

~Bang

[zoony]

That criticism simply showed me who was an idiot with no grasp of reality. As easily dismissed as the homeless guy on the corner complaining there are aliens in his hair.

~Bang

Michael Moore, arianna huffington, bill maher, keith olbermann

[Bang]

For all of Bush's mistakes, those first few days after 9-11 he stood strong, was a good leader, and he helped stabilize us, because the whole country felt like it was in shock. That's how he got such a huge approval rating in those early days.

~Bang

[Burgold]

For all of Bush's mistakes, those first few days after 9-11 he stood strong, was a good leader, and he helped stabilize us, because the whole country felt like it was in shock. That's how he got such a huge approval rating in those early days.

~Bang

Agreed. That rallying moment he had at Ground Zero was about as good a Presidential moment as I've seen in my life. He recognized a need and switched gears from consoling to inspirational and helped bring us all out of a funk.

Several have argued with me that anyone could have done that it wasn't a big or skillful deal, but I disagree. I think the people who think Bush didn't have an extraordinary moment are the same ones who dismiss the courage and role Obama had in taking down Bin Laden. Imperfect as they might be they were two great and important moments where each in turn rose to the occassion demanded of them.