No Joe Scum I will not thank George Bush for keeping us safe

[malaise]

9/11 happened on his watch - so it hasn't happened again but it had never happened before that bunch of neo-cons ignored the warnings.

Fuck you Joe Scum! Keep these people away from the WH. They did not keep anyone safe - they changed everything.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Joe is their used car salesman, Too much sun booth to tell..

the truth.

[Firebrand Gary]

2. This "tip of the hat" to Guilani is plain disgusting!

Give us a break! This card has been played so many times, we are sick of it! Quit patting yourself and all these fellow politicians for how great you think that they are.

The people who were truly great that day were the ones risking and giving their lives to save other people.

[Victor_c3]

42. word

Kurt Vonnegut, in his book "God bless You Mr. Rosewater" made it clear that the two groups of people he most respects are Volunteer Firefighters and Infantrymen. I don't know if I'd place an Infantryman at the top of the heap of most respected, but the Firemen and Policemen have my absolute respect for how they reacted to the events of September 11th. The people who went into the buildings of the WTC complex without any regard for themselves are to be absolutely admired.

We should be building monuments to people like these and not to people like me who fought in wars. Building monuments to wars, in my opinion, builds a false premise that there is glory to be achieved in combat - which there isn't. However we should admire pure selflessness and service of the firefighters and police officers who died that day.

[Mike Daniels]

3. The fool goes on to lament the collapse of the post-9/11 unity

without placing blame on his party and people like Beck, Limbaugh, and Coulter who started the whole "with us or against us" crap

[eShirl]

4. that's exactly what he means, though

"with us or against us" under Republican rule = the "post-9/11 unity"

[Cosmocat]

22. Forget that ...

1) He let it happen, and if it were a D, it would have immediately made that president a one term president. Somehow, by the perverse nature of history according to republicans, Bush "KEPT US SAFE!" Maybe it happens otherwise, but he and his people were absolutely cavalier about the threat and he did not take it seriously prior to 9-10-01. Also, they were something other than steady and sure when it happened.

2) They used it MERCILESSLY to political advantage. If they wanted to deregulate the use of pesticides on farms, any opposition was decried as ENABLING TERRORISTS IN A TIME OF WAR! I still am very bitter, as a no body, having been so enraged that I could have killed OBL with my own hands, that I was by extension labeled weak and in league with terrorists because I did not support the endless string of nonsense these jagoffs advanced.

There were GOOD people who got ran out by the politicization of 9-11. Max Cleeland, a vet who lost three of four limbs in battle, ran out of the senate by some chickenhawk POS who said he was soft on terrorists ... Unbelievable.

3) 9-11 was a true tragedy, but this president doubled down on it. Any other president worth his or her salt would have used the good will of the moment to unite the country in an Apollo style project to alter our energy policy and use. THAT WAS THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to get business and the people on board with transitioning to a more energy effecient country and also to develop the energy sources of the future. After putting OBLs head on a stake, THAT should have been the focus. Instead this president literally told the country to "go shopping" then lied us into the worst war/foreign policy disaster we have engaged in.

4) If he was a D, he would be the most hated and condemned president we have seen. That people just don't want to talk about him is giving him a free pass.

[cling2reality]

36. Thank you for that summary

That is why I hate 9/11 and all the bs associated with the memorial services.
Dont get me wrong, I feed really bad for the families and those who were killed. I see it as a celebration of the real start of totally false patriotism and that you are unpatriotic if you do not agree with us mentality.
It makes me sick.

[Cosmocat]

65. I would very much like to engage in memoralizing it

but I can't because of what they did with it.

It was perverse and shameful.

[rock]

40. "4) If he was a D, he would be the most hated and condemned president we have seen."

How true. Only a Republican can get away with such ineptitude (by his own kind). The Dems would have called a Dem on this (just as we did a Repub).

[PCIntern]

5. what a transparent asshole...

howzabout a 'tip of the hat' to the Medical Examiner who was just arrested, Joey?

[malaise]

6. I'd love to see what Joe Scum has been 'googling'

since that arrest

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

7. That's like thanking the Captain of the Titanic for a lovely cruise...

you know, if you just ignore the whole iceberg thingy. It was going really well up until then.

[lunatica]

9. That's a very good analogy

[malaise]

17. Freaking perfect

[HughBeaumont]

45. Sharing that one . . .

"Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

[uponit7771]

47. LOL!! POTD or the month!!

[joeybee12]

8. George W Bush is the only president who DIDN'T keep us safe...

What an asshat.

[irisblue]

10. nearly 2900 went to work

and they didn't come home that night. He didn't keep them safe. Bush changed this country.

[DemzRock]

11. If they had kept us "safe..."

Last edited Tue Sep 11, 2012, 08:08 AM - Edit history (1)

...then 911 wouldn't have happened and we would not have wasted so much money (and so many lives!) on an illegal war against the wrong country.

[southernyankeebelle]

12. I heard him say we need to thank Bush and Obama for doing a good job keeping us safe.

I couldn't believe it. No Bush didn't keep us safe. Somehow republicans love to rewrite history.

[malaise]

13. He isn't fooling anyone

Fuck him.

[southernyankeebelle]

63. Your right. Only the delusional right would believe him. Oh by the way he isn't worth fing.

[NewJeffCT]

14. Not just 9/11

the anthrax killer
the DC Sniper
monthly bombings at family planning clinics

[RandiFan1290]

15. We also had the anthrax attack

Sent to democrats and people in the media. A nice little "message" to STFU and play the game.

[truebluegreen]

32. Yes, and how odd that the anthrax was sent

to Democratic leaders in Congress....before the authorization of what? Oh yeah, the so-called Patriot Act.



edit for emphasis

[Egalitarian Thug]

62. Another unsolvable mystery...

God, we are so fucking dumb...

[frylock]

64. that is one of the most overlooked and compelling pieces of evidence for LIHOP imho

[pamela]

16. To be fair, a few minutes before that, he SLAMMED Bush.

He was praising Guiliani for stepping up to the plate when W was looking scared and was largely absent that day. I've never heard a Repub admit how completely worthless W was on the one day in our history when we most needed a strong leader.

[CTyankee]

49. Later in the show, Joe talked about how scary Bush looked and sounded when he first learned

of the attack on 9/11. And how unsettling it made Joe feel. That was the only flash of insight he had to offer that was close to reality in that whole show...

[AnnieK401]

18. There is an article in the NYT today

accusing the Bush administration of even greater negligence than we were lead to believe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html

[malaise]

19. Thanks - saw it earlier

Glad you linked it here.

[CBHagman]

20. Kurt Eichenwald was on NPR this morning too.

Audio will be here at 9:00 a.m. EDT:

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/11/160924602/the-deafness-before-the-sept-11-attacks

[RoccoR5955]

34. "Truthers" were telling us about this back in 2002! n/t

[HughBeaumont]

48. Eichenwald also had a great article slamming the modern GOP . . .

http://kurteichenwald.com/2012/09/the-five-reasons-why-romneyryan-must-be-defeated-in-2012-and-why-conservatives-should-hope-they-are/

[geckosfeet]

21. Two wars of choice, billions of tax $$'s up in smoke, economy ruined for rgenerations.

What a joke. No - it's a tragedy. The biggest human and cultural tragedy I have experienced in my lifetime. I think WWII was worse, but the bUsh/chainy era did more damage to our country than Korea and Viet Nam together.

[LynneSin]

23. Oh hell no - not after I wake up to this on the front page of Huff Post from the NY Times....

The Deafness Before the Storm

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html

On Aug. 6, 2001, President George W. Bush received a classified review of the threats posed by Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, Al Qaeda. That morning’s “presidential daily brief” — the top-secret document prepared by America’s intelligence agencies — featured the now-infamous heading: “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” A few weeks later, on 9/11, Al Qaeda accomplished that goal.

On April 10, 2004, the Bush White House declassified that daily brief — and only that daily brief — in response to pressure from the 9/11 Commission, which was investigating the events leading to the attack. Administration officials dismissed the document’s significance, saying that, despite the jaw-dropping headline, it was only an assessment of Al Qaeda’s history, not a warning of the impending attack. While some critics considered that claim absurd, a close reading of the brief showed that the argument had some validity.

That is, unless it was read in conjunction with the daily briefs preceding Aug. 6, the ones the Bush administration would not release. While those documents are still not public, I have read excerpts from many of them, along with other recently declassified records, and come to an inescapable conclusion: the administration’s reaction to what Mr. Bush was told in the weeks before that infamous briefing reflected significantly more negligence than has been disclosed. In other words, the Aug. 6 document, for all of the controversy it provoked, is not nearly as shocking as the briefs that came before it.

The direct warnings to Mr. Bush about the possibility of a Qaeda attack began in the spring of 2001. By May 1, the Central Intelligence Agency told the White House of a report that “a group presently in the United States” was planning a terrorist operation. Weeks later, on June 22, the daily brief reported that Qaeda strikes could be “imminent,” although intelligence suggested the time frame was flexible.

[zinnisking]

24. Hasn't every president SINCE OUR BIRTH "kept us safe"?

Yeah.

So how many presidents have protected you?

5 presidents and one Big Brother, George Bush, The Great Protector have protected me.

A Sept. 11 victim who was my age was protected by 7 presidents.

[leftyohiolib]

25. stop watching

[KharmaTrain]

26. Joey's Being Very Pentulant...

He's like a 6 year old who is being told that there's no Santa. He's gonna kick and scream and make all sorts of noise until you agree that there is a Santa. Pataki was just as bad...the bastard held up rebuilding the site so his buddies could get some sweetheart deals. Thank goodness that hack is out of office.

For those who lost their jobs, savings and homes due to boooooooooosh's kleptocracy that led to the market crash as he was walking out the door (handing the mess to the "colored fella&quot ...they sure aren't "thankful" for booooosh.

For the thousands of families who lost someone or now have to deal with a disabled loved one due to the neo-con and boooooosh's war for profits sure aren't "thankful"...

To me 9/11 will always be a reminder of yet another boooooosh regime failure and the start of this country's downhill slide into stupidity.

[global1]

27. And Now They Want Us To Re-Elect The Party Of 9/11......nt

[Atman]

28. I had to change the channel

The 8:00 hour is mostly a repeat, and while I missed it the first time, as soon as Joe started his genuflecting to Bush I began to get ill. I don't understand this logic. HE WAS COMMANDER IN CHIEF WHEN IT HAPPENED! He kept us safe from NOTHING!

[E-Z-B]

29. "Bin Laden Determined to Attack the United States"

His administration was too busy enjoying their summer to pay attention to this.

[catbyte]

30. That's what drives me INSANE about these GOP Bush apologists

If 9/11 had happened under a Democrat's watch, that president would have been so vilified we wouldn't have been able to elect another Democrat for 20 years. Although I doubt that 9/11 would have happened under a Gore presidency. He would have taken the warnings seriously instead of just blowing off Clinton's national security staff the way Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft and the rest of those cretins did.

Arrgh.

[zinnisking]

31. Scum's colleague

Chris Mathews never lets republicans get away with that kind of praise for George Bush (The Great Protector). I know some people here don't like Mathews but at least he's not a pacifist on this.

[YellaDog1950]

33. I thought George Pataki was going to blow a gasket on Morning Joe.

It was the perfect picture of a Repugnant denying history and refusing to accept facts. I am always in awe of their ability to instantly meltdown when presented with facts about the Bush years. The anger, the rage results in a loss of subject and a complete loss of discussion. The only thing I remember Pataki saying is that he hadn't read Eichenwald's book nor did he intend to read it, and his insult that someone like Eichenwald would pick and choose quotes to make Bush look bad. His temper tantrum destroyed any point he had to make. On the other hand, Eichenwald presented so much information that he put his book on my 'to read' list. We were warned, we failed to act. Instead of looking at a terrorist organization that hated us, we wanted to know what country was behind it. And to this day, the Repugnant Party still has that mindset. What country can we attack next.....just give us something we can turn into a reason. Pathetic.

[malaise]

41. Pataki went all the way back to FDR and still didn't make any

fugging sense

[Ganja Ninja]

35. I wonder if this is why Joe has a bug up his ass.

The Deafness Before the Storm

On Aug. 6, 2001, President George W. Bush received a classified review of the threats posed by Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, Al Qaeda. That morning’s “presidential daily brief” — the top-secret document prepared by America’s intelligence agencies — featured the now-infamous heading: “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” A few weeks later, on 9/11, Al Qaeda accomplished that goal.

On April 10, 2004, the Bush White House declassified that daily brief — and only that daily brief — in response to pressure from the 9/11 Commission, which was investigating the events leading to the attack. Administration officials dismissed the document’s significance, saying that, despite the jaw-dropping headline, it was only an assessment of Al Qaeda’s history, not a warning of the impending attack. While some critics considered that claim absurd, a close reading of the brief showed that the argument had some validity.

That is, unless it was read in conjunction with the daily briefs preceding Aug. 6, the ones the Bush administration would not release. While those documents are still not public, I have read excerpts from many of them, along with other recently declassified records, and come to an inescapable conclusion: the administration’s reaction to what Mr. Bush was told in the weeks before that infamous briefing reflected significantly more negligence than has been disclosed. In other words, the Aug. 6 document, for all of the controversy it provoked, is not nearly as shocking as the briefs that came before it.

Full Article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html

[Graybeard]

37. "I have no idea and really don't care."

"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I have no
idea and really don't care. It's not that important.
It's not our priority." GW Bush 3/13/02

[Enrique]

38. was he talking about the new revelations?

if not, did anyone bring it up?

[Arkansas Granny]

39. It's like they are blind to what really happened. They live in an alternate reality.

[sellitman]

43. They didn't keep Joe's Intern safe

[NRaleighLiberal]

44. Anthrax. So much for keeping us safe post 911. Joe Scum indeed.

[riverbendviewgal]

46. No One has mentioned Richard A. Clark

I believe he gives a good accounting of what happened before, during and after 9/11
in his book Against All Enemies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_All_Enemies

The book focused much of its criticism on President George W. Bush, charging that he failed to take sufficient action to protect the country in the elevated-threat period before the September 11 attacks and for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which Clarke feels greatly hampered the War on Terrorism.
Clarke argues that he made numerous urgent requests for a meeting about dealing with terrorism, had CIA Director George Tenet include numerous details about Al-Qaeda in daily briefings, found an unprecedented level of terrorist "chatter" before September 11.

Soon after 9/11, he says that defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld wanted to bomb Iraq, even though there was no evidence of their involvement, because they had more "good targets" than Afghanistan, which was actually involved.

Clarke also says that on September 12, 2001, President Bush asked him to try to find evidence that Saddam Hussein was connected to the terrorist attacks. In response he wrote a report stating there was absolutely no evidence of Iraqi involvement and got it signed by all relevant agencies (the FBI, the CIA, etc.). The paper was quickly returned by a deputy with a note saying "Please update and resubmit," apparently unshown to the President.

[malaise]

53. Good post

This revisionist crap doesn't pass the smell test.

[Octafish]

50. That's one GOP line that makes me spit cyanide, every time.

The New York Times, of all places, just published a piece about how many more warnings the little turd from Crawford IGNORED.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/09/bush-knew-more-about-bin-laden-plans-than-we-realized/56716/

Bush is not a person who kept anyone safe. Not only is he a war criminal, he is a traitor.

[xocet]

52. Bush, Cheney, Yoo et al still deserve to be prosecuted for their war crimes.... n/t

[malaise]

56. It's all too much for

lil Joe Scum

[Frustratedlady]

51. What echoes through my mind each time I hear 9/11...

is the comment GW supposedly made when one of the CIA came in with another warning that an attack was imminent...

"Alright, you've covered your ass..." and dismissed him.

[kentuck]

54. Except for the small incident, Mrs Lincoln...?

How did you like the play??

[WI_DEM]

55. What is so hard for these idiots to understand? 9/11 HAPPENED ON BUSH'S WATCH

HE DID NOT KEEP US SAFE!!

[Berlum]

57. .

[malaise]

58. Poignant

Thanks - you should make that an OP
Remember though that Bushco didn't not allow us to see caskets.

[ThatsMyBarack]

60. K+R and....

What a moving pic....

[otohara]

61. Not So Awesome For Those Who Died

9/11 and Katrina

[jsr]

59. Bush knew and needed 9/11

[Patiod]

66. I assume he thanked President Obama, too?

Haven't heard too many teabaggers suggesting that President Obama has kept us safe from any attacks....

[zinnisking]

67. ..And every other president since he was born.

Since Joe is still alive, every president since his birth has "kept him safe".

They fawn over George W. Bush as if He wasn't just a president, He's their Big Brother.

crEEEEEeeeeepy!

[malaise]

68. Hilarious isn't it

The truth is that Obama has kept everyone safe.