Further thoughts on "My Pet Goat"

[Plaid Adder]

Back to that sequence in F911 where Bush sits in the classroom with My Pet Goat while the towers collapse:

What really bothers me about that whole photo-op, apart from, you know, him sitting around on his ass while the nation burns, is how completely passive and out of it he seems even *before* Andy Card comes in. Now it may be that he's already thinking about that first plane, if in fact he was told about it on his way to the photo-op. But whatever the reason, the fact is that despite how this is always described, Bush is not actually reading *My Pet Goat* with the children. The children and their teachers are reading it and Bush is sitting up there doing nothing. He stares into space, every once in a while remembering to nod or do something to give the illusion that he's paying attention. Whether it's boredom, terror, or fear of the scandal to come, the look on his face tells you that George W. Bush has left the building. He had checked out as soon as he walked in the room. He must spend a lot of time like that, sitting around waiting for someone to tell him what to do. Not a real comforting image.

Shudder,

The Plaid Adder

[KG]

1. 'sitting around waiting for someone to tell him what to do

pretty much sums up that morons entire life.

[Ruffhowse]

2. Absolutely.....

...even more than Reagan, Bush is a puppet president. His day is carefully choreographed and charted out, with everything he's going to say written down for him to read. He couldn't operate independently as president to save his soul. The job is way out of the reach of his skill level.

[No Mandate Here.]

3. We always talk of the Stepford Wives, but we

have a Stepford Preznit. There are certainly some days where his circuitry is a bit loose.

Register a new Dem this week!

[leesa]

20. He was doing exactly what he was supposed to do. He was waiting for the

completion of the "Pearl Harbor event". He knew what was going on and he knew inaction in those critical moments would allow the completion of the project.

[unblock]

4. what always bothered me was that they ALWAYS say he was READING

when in fact he was being READ TO. i've seen photos of him holding the book but no evidence of him reading. the teacher was that one reading. shrub was not acting like another teacher, he was acting like another student, and an inattentive one at that.

[ThoughtCriminal]

5. Maybe he should take a quiz

You know - to see if he was paying attention.

Mr. Bush - just what did the sign Ari was holding up say?

(Bet most of the folks here can answer that - Class?)

[GiovanniC]

14. The Sign Said (Paraphrased)

Keep your damned mouth shut -- Karl is making the cue cards with some construction paper and crayons he found.

[cureautismnow]

12. The Teacher & Children Read, not Bush-boy...

You are correct. The teacher led the children through their reading drills in the approximately 8 minute footage I viewed. Bunnypants just sat there with a goofy and wayward look on his face. Afterwards, he commended the children for their excellent reading skills, as the towers burned...

[ronabop]

6. Wet brain.

Too much drugs, too much drinking, not enough recovery.

-Bop

[achtung_circus]

7. A lot of people can't cope with a call for sudden response

lots of people get deer i headlights look. I was at an accident a few weeks ago and most people stood around, wondering what to do. There's no shame in being unprepared mentally, although it doesn't seem to prepare you for the realities of life or the job of President of the United States.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Actually Bu$h wasn't waiting

for someone to come and tell him what to do.

He was waiting for the attacks to finish.

All of the planes were supposed to take off at about the same time and hit their targets within about a 15 minute window. When Flight 77 got delayed at take off, it screwed up the whole sequence of events. That is why W, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Myers all had to sit on their hands for over a half hour, pretending that it was no big deal for a jet to fly into the WTC and that there was no need to react. They had to waste time until the attack was over before they could react. If everything had gone according to plan, no one would have ever even noticed all the key people who reacted inappropriately at the start of the attack. Fortunately, the delay of Flight 77 gave the world a window of opportunity to see that at the least, Bu$h & Co let it happen on purpose.

[RC]

9. Do you have a source for the 15 minute window?

What you say makes sense.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. Actually, it was Flight 93 that had the biggest delay

However, I do believe that Flight 77 was supposed to take off at 8:00 AM also. That means that all 4 planes were supposed to take off at 8:00 AM. In addition to the problems with delays at take off, for some reason it took the hijackers almost 45 minutes to take control of Flight 77 and turn it around to go back to DC, which also caused the whole attack to take longer than they had planned.

So it seems the original plan was for all the planes to take off at the same time. Then for the hijackers to take control about 15 minutes after take off. Then if things had gone well, all of the planes would have hit their targets almost at the same time. Of course, because the hijackers couldn't control the actual takeoff times, things got a little messy.


7:59: American Airlines flight 11, a Boeing 767 takes off from Logan Airport in Boston with 92 people, headed for Los Angeles.

8:01: United Airline Flight 93, a Boeing 757, bound for San Francisco, is delayed for 40 minutes on runway, with 45 people on Board.

8:14: United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767, takes off from Logan for Los Angeles with 65 passengers.

8:17: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757, leaves Dulles in D.C. headed for Los Angeles with 64 passengers.

<snip>

9:00: Flight 77 makes U-turn and heads back for Washington.


http://www.serendipity.li/wot/timeline.htm

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Here's some better info that I found

Paul's timeline shows that all the planes were scheduled for take off between 7:45 AM and 8:01 AM, a 15 minute window.


http://www.911timeline.net/

8) 7:59 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 a Boeing 767-223ER with a maximum capacity of 181 passengers and 23,980 gallons of fuel, lifts off from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, bound for Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. Take-off was scheduled for 7:45.

9) 8:01 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93 a Boeing 757-222 with a maximum capacity of 200 passengers and 11,489 gallons of fuel, rolls from the gate in Newark International Airport, Newark, New Jersey with 44 people aboard bound for San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California. United Airlines Flight 93 will sit on the ground for 41 minutes before taking off.

12) 8:14 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 175 a Boeing 767-222 with a maximum capacity of 181 passengers and 23,980 gallons of fuel, lifts off from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, bound for Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. Take-off was scheduled for 7:58.

15) 8:20 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 a Boeing 757-223 with a maximum capacity of 200 passengers and 11,489 gallons of fuel, lifts off from Dulles International Airport about 30 miles west of Washington D.C. and the Pentagon, bound for Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. Take-off was scheduled for 8:01.

[TomNickell]

10. Bullshit.

Just another big steaming crock of it.

The Conspiracy Hobbyist at play.

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. Would you like to elaborate?

I presented my data, would you like to present yours or do you just like flaming people?

[TomNickell]

19. ROFLMAO. Data?

Bush knows all about 9/11, so he arranges to sit still and look so stupid that his political enemies weave the film into a major motion picture.

Yeah, that makes a -lot- of sense.

NOT!

It's an idiotic argument. It is continuously posted. It is constantly refuted as silly.

Call it a flame. Call it honest criticism.

Nonsense, repeatedly endlessly on hundreds of threads, deserves just the response you got.

Bullshit!

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. Then explain to me

why all of the key people sat on their hands?

If W, had been the only one to react like an idiot it wouldn't have even mattered. However, everyone else in the chain of command reacted inapproriately. Cheney sat in his office watching CNN. Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz didn't think there wasn't anything they could do, so they continue their meeting. Myers saw the first tower burning on TV and told Cleland's secretary not to disturb them. Tenet continued eating breakfast.

Keep in mind, all of these people had access to the highest level intel available. They are all supposedly specially trained (especially Cheney, Rumsfeld and Myers) in how to react in the event of an attack. Yet, not one single one thought that they should stop what they were doing, in order to find out what the cheney was going on in NYC? Give me a break.

Either they are all totally incompetent or they were complicit. Pick one.

[TomNickell]

23. Sorry, but Bullshit! Once again.

Sorry, but this is just not proof (or even weak evidence) of -anything-.

The actions of the admin officials are entirely consistent with the Standard Story. They are surprised; they are clueless; they react in a fairly human manner. It's all consistent with what we know about these clowns. They're fakes. Richard Clarke takes over.

-Your- alternate makes much less sense. If they -knew-, they had the opportunity to make Bush a National Hero. Give him a coherent speech. Get him back to Washington and NYC to make defiant gestures. Letting Bush sit and look like an idiot, letting Rumsfeld sit in the P'gon as the plane approaches, just make no kind of sense.

[DoYouEverWonder]

24. Bush would have been a national hero

if the attack had gone off on schedule.

If all of the planes left within the 15 minute window by 8:01, it would have been over by 9:00 AM. The attack would have been over just about the time W was supposed to arrive at the school. At that point, Bu$h would have immediately canceled his visit and gotten whisked off to AF1. Before leaving Florida, he would have made a brief statement and been able to appear decisive and in control.

Instead, because of the delays, he had no choice but to go along with the program, and ended up looking like a fool sitting in a 2nd grade classroom, while 1000's of people were being killed while he sat there.

[Chelsea Patriot]

22. This 15 minute delay is the Key

Bush sat in that classroom, killing time!....waiting for his previously scheduled 9:30 press conference to take place, which it did.

Flight 77's delay of 15 minutes also blew apart The Cheneys' war game alibi. Had Flight 77 took off at its scheduled time, Dick and Lynn's alibi of "The Confusion of A Real Attack Occurring Whilst a War Game Attack was Being Simulated" could have possibly worked.

However with the 15 minute delay and the subsequent lag of events, The Cheneys do not even dare bring forth this war game alibi.

Did viewers catch the 9/11 family member disrupting the commission with shouts of "Ask about the War Games!"?

Of course, the Frauds on the Committee aren't going to touch that one!

But the great thing is that all of Downtown NYC already knows all of this!!!

The Republicans have no idea what's waiting for them, come end of August...

[newyawker99]

27. Hi Chelsea Patriot!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Unperson 309]

29. WELCOME To DU!!

Love your handle, Chelsea Patriot!

C'mon in, settle in and enjoy!

:hi: :bounce: :hi: :bounce: :hi:

309

[PA Democrat]

15. It reminds me of the scene from F911 where reporters

are questioning bush at his ranch about the amount of vacation time he takes.

Bush responds that he is still working and says that he will be meeting with Karen Hughes that afternoon, But he cannot think of a single thing that he and Karen will be discussing. He says we'll be working on uh, uh, uh, some initiatives.

WHAT? He couldn't think of a single issue that he was working on at the time?

His brain is on permanent vacation.

[GiovanniC]

16. Look, We Have to Be Fair To Bush

His favorite book as a child, according to him, was "The Hungry Caterpillar" (we'll ignore the fact that the book wasn't published until he was in his twenties). That's a book where the caterpillar eats and eats and is always hungry and then eventually that leads to the very positive effect of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly.

But in the goat book, the goat was also eating and eating, but that just made the little girl's dad angry. So it was okay for the caterpillar, but when the goat does the same thing it was bad.

The inequality and injustice of it all.

He was obviously staring off into space as he contemplated the double standards that our society places on certain groups. Perhaps he likened Ken Lay to the caterpillar, and Martha Stewart to the goat. Maybe he was already imagining Saudi Arabia as the caterpillar, and Iraq as the goat.

In any event, I'm sure that "My Pet Goat" sparked a lot of very presidential introspection, and that sort of thing can't just be put on hold for some trifling thing our financial and military centers receiving devastating blows in the most massive terrorist attack in the US in history.

[SPQR]

25. You make an excellent point,

but of course "My Pet Goat" is completely biased. All the information Bush needs on pet goats he gets from his staff, who can be relied upon to give him fair and dispassionate briefings. If fact, I believe the title of the little-known August 7th briefing was "My pet goat determined to eat within the US."

[GiovanniC]

26. The Teacher

Must have known and was reading the story to him because she knew he wouldn't read it himself.

[Lisa]

31. trying to figure out how he could be a hero like the goat in the story?

Isn't the goat forgiven because he later saves the family from a dangerous intruder? I guess the kids hadn't read him that part of the story yet, or he would known he had to spring into action just like the goat!

[cmutt]

17. sarcasm

I couldn't fathom why our president-(s)elect could sit and continue reading this book while our country was under attack. After picking myself up a copy, I now understand why: what a riveting book! An absolute page-turner (ooh, pretty picture). I was spell-bound and simply couldn't put it down!

The tension starts when a girl is told by her parents to get rid of her pet goat because it's eating everything in sight. I won't ruin the feel-good ending of the book by giving away anything else. It's a must read. I could see a blockbuster movie. GWB could be the girl and Tennet could be the goat.. wait a minute.. this sound shockingly familiar.. has something like this already been made?

[newyawker99]

28. Hi cmutt!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Lisa]

30. what got me was how he reached out for the book AFTER hearing ...

The footage appears to show him picking up the book a few moments after Card had whispered the news in his ear. After seeing the cover of the book, it DOES look colorful and attractive -- soothing, maybe -- but not as attention-getting as being told that a second plane had struck the WTC!

Then again, I'm biased, because a former schoolmate of mine lost her husband on Flight 93, and she at any rate appears convinced that Mr. Bush could and should have done something to save those people.


""Whether or not my husband's plane was shot down," the widowed
Mrs. Homer said, "the most angering part is reading about how the
President handled this."

Mr. Bush was notified 14 minutes after the first attack, at 9
a.m., when he arrived at an elementary school in Sarasota, Fla. He
went into a private room and spoke by phone with his national
security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, and glanced at a TV in the
room. Mrs. Homer's soft voice curdles when she describes his
reaction: "I can't get over what Bush said when he was called
about the first plane hitting the tower: That's some bad pilot.
Why did people on the street assume right away it was a terrorist
hijacking, but our President didn't know? Why did it take so long
to ground all civilian aircraft? In the time between when my
husband's plane took off and when the second plane
hit in New York <9:02 a.m.>, they could have turned back to
airfield.""

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/M.A.Sweeney.txt


p.s. while viewing the F 9/11 footage, I noticed that Bush seemed to be swaying back and forth slightly as the minutes went by. Did anyone else observe this? My dad, who taught disturbed children, said that this was one symptom he saw in the classroom.