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Lies and History
Join the campaign to make the New York Times clarify which version of Bush's 9/11 morning is true.
Bushism, Bullshit or Both? An Example of the Truth Not Being True in Post-911 America
By Gil Jose Duran
San Pedro Independent (compiled from news and net reports, sources linked at bottom)
Most Americans remember where they were when those planes slammed into the Twin Towers, since the world changed and the war began, it was bigger than 12.07.41, etc. But does the President of the United States clearly recall that morning?
On December 4, in response to a third-grader’s question about his feelings on the morning that the WTC was attacked, Bush states that he saw the first plane hit the WTC while watching TV (which was “obviously on”) while he waited to read to elementary students in Florida. Discussion is lively on many an “underground” media and anti-Bush site . . . people want to know how the President of the United States got a live feed of that first plane hitting the tower, since to our collective knowledge the first plane hitting wasn’t carried live by any stations. And while conspiracy-tinged rumors of this kind might usually be chalked up to bitter hearted lefty paranoia, both White House and CNN transcripts have him telling this story, first in Sarasota:
Q: One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you've done for this country. And another thing is that, how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack? (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jordan. Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card -- actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident.
But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think about it. And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack."
And, Jordan, I wasn't sure what to think at first. You know, I grew up in a period of time where the idea of America being under attack never entered my mind -- just like your Daddy's and Mother's mind probably. And I started thinking hard in that very brief period of time about what it meant to be under attack. I knew that when I got all of the facts that we were under attack, there would be hell to pay for attacking America. (Applause.)
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.v.smil)
And the next day in Ontario, California (another young boy asked the same question):
“Anyway, I was sitting there, and my chief of staff -- well, first of all, when we walked in the classroom, I had seen this plane fly into the first building. There was a TV set on. And, you know, I thought it was pilot error. And I was amazed anybody could make such a terrible mistake. And, you know, something was wrong with the plane or, you know.
Anyway, sitting there listening to the briefing, and Andy Card came and said, "America is under attack."”
(see on web at: http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0201/05/se.02.html)
First of all, what kind of elementary school has a television playing live news coverage in the hallway? Second, how did this TV set get live feeds of the first plane hitting the tower? I encourage anyone out there who knows of such a broadcast to point it out and set the record straight. I think this duty falls squarely on the shoulders of the New York Times, since their version of how the President allegedly found out about the attack differs greatly from his:
"Mr. Bush was informed that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in a telephone conversation with Ms. (Condoleeza) Rice shortly before walking into a second-grade classroom at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla. White House officials said he knew only that it was a single aircraft and not necessarily a terrorist attack. The president did not appear preoccupied until a few moments later, around 9:05 a.m., when his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., entered the room and whispered into the president's ear about the second plane attack. At that moment Mr. Bush's face became visibly tense and serious." New York Times, 9/12/01.
Quite different from a scenario in which the POTUS first sees a plane crash into the WTC on live TV and thinks it’s a case of pilot error. Either Mr. Bush is lying (why?), or the New York Times is lying (why?), or was lied to (why?), or everyone is telling the truth and to suspect otherwise is darn unpatriotic (why?). Any way you look at it, this is just one example of how at least two versions of a truth are floating around out there.
My faith in the American journalism machine has been shot since day one of this cowardly new world. The stories produced from Bush’s speech in Sarasota cutely emphasized a joke Bush made about his mother’s cooking, but everyone seems to have missed the elephant in the corner—this strange tale of a TV set and a naive notion. Perhaps only a minor contradiction, a white lie . . . a strange slipup nonetheless. Only the Guardian (UK) and some more partisan sites have jumped on it. If only for the sake of historical accuracy, doesn’t someone (New York Times) need to clarify this?
What you can do: Write to nytnews [at] nytimes.com and ask the editors to run a correction of their 9.12 story, which relates a version of the President’s experience on this historical day that contradicts his own oral version. Their own ethical guidelines demand that such a correction be run, since the error is so glaring and unique. At the very least, they will have to consider the issue anew and maybe the oddness of the “first plane hitting” story will dawn on them.
some links that touch on this “issue” and first pointed me toward the transcripts:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,612354,00.html
http://www.bushwatch.org/911story.htm
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2001/12.04.2001/UnitedStates4.htm
http://indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=114794&group=webcast
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/05/politics/05BUSH.html
http://www.newsabuse.com
By Gil Jose Duran
San Pedro Independent (compiled from news and net reports, sources linked at bottom)
Most Americans remember where they were when those planes slammed into the Twin Towers, since the world changed and the war began, it was bigger than 12.07.41, etc. But does the President of the United States clearly recall that morning?
On December 4, in response to a third-grader’s question about his feelings on the morning that the WTC was attacked, Bush states that he saw the first plane hit the WTC while watching TV (which was “obviously on”) while he waited to read to elementary students in Florida. Discussion is lively on many an “underground” media and anti-Bush site . . . people want to know how the President of the United States got a live feed of that first plane hitting the tower, since to our collective knowledge the first plane hitting wasn’t carried live by any stations. And while conspiracy-tinged rumors of this kind might usually be chalked up to bitter hearted lefty paranoia, both White House and CNN transcripts have him telling this story, first in Sarasota:
Q: One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you've done for this country. And another thing is that, how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack? (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jordan. Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card -- actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident.
But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think about it. And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack."
And, Jordan, I wasn't sure what to think at first. You know, I grew up in a period of time where the idea of America being under attack never entered my mind -- just like your Daddy's and Mother's mind probably. And I started thinking hard in that very brief period of time about what it meant to be under attack. I knew that when I got all of the facts that we were under attack, there would be hell to pay for attacking America. (Applause.)
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.v.smil)
And the next day in Ontario, California (another young boy asked the same question):
“Anyway, I was sitting there, and my chief of staff -- well, first of all, when we walked in the classroom, I had seen this plane fly into the first building. There was a TV set on. And, you know, I thought it was pilot error. And I was amazed anybody could make such a terrible mistake. And, you know, something was wrong with the plane or, you know.
Anyway, sitting there listening to the briefing, and Andy Card came and said, "America is under attack."”
(see on web at: http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0201/05/se.02.html)
First of all, what kind of elementary school has a television playing live news coverage in the hallway? Second, how did this TV set get live feeds of the first plane hitting the tower? I encourage anyone out there who knows of such a broadcast to point it out and set the record straight. I think this duty falls squarely on the shoulders of the New York Times, since their version of how the President allegedly found out about the attack differs greatly from his:
"Mr. Bush was informed that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in a telephone conversation with Ms. (Condoleeza) Rice shortly before walking into a second-grade classroom at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla. White House officials said he knew only that it was a single aircraft and not necessarily a terrorist attack. The president did not appear preoccupied until a few moments later, around 9:05 a.m., when his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., entered the room and whispered into the president's ear about the second plane attack. At that moment Mr. Bush's face became visibly tense and serious." New York Times, 9/12/01.
Quite different from a scenario in which the POTUS first sees a plane crash into the WTC on live TV and thinks it’s a case of pilot error. Either Mr. Bush is lying (why?), or the New York Times is lying (why?), or was lied to (why?), or everyone is telling the truth and to suspect otherwise is darn unpatriotic (why?). Any way you look at it, this is just one example of how at least two versions of a truth are floating around out there.
My faith in the American journalism machine has been shot since day one of this cowardly new world. The stories produced from Bush’s speech in Sarasota cutely emphasized a joke Bush made about his mother’s cooking, but everyone seems to have missed the elephant in the corner—this strange tale of a TV set and a naive notion. Perhaps only a minor contradiction, a white lie . . . a strange slipup nonetheless. Only the Guardian (UK) and some more partisan sites have jumped on it. If only for the sake of historical accuracy, doesn’t someone (New York Times) need to clarify this?
What you can do: Write to nytnews [at] nytimes.com and ask the editors to run a correction of their 9.12 story, which relates a version of the President’s experience on this historical day that contradicts his own oral version. Their own ethical guidelines demand that such a correction be run, since the error is so glaring and unique. At the very least, they will have to consider the issue anew and maybe the oddness of the “first plane hitting” story will dawn on them.
some links that touch on this “issue” and first pointed me toward the transcripts:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,612354,00.html
http://www.bushwatch.org/911story.htm
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2001/12.04.2001/UnitedStates4.htm
http://indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=114794&group=webcast
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/05/politics/05BUSH.html
http://www.newsabuse.com
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