It's amazing Bush won.

[Angel of Death]

He was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency.

[Jim Valvano]

In a way I suppose, but the impeachment certainly tarnished the incumbent's party (although some would argue it tarnished the Republicans just as much). It wasn't unprecedented though for a candidate to win in face of peace, prosperity, and incumbency; Kennedy did it in 1960

[A18]

Just think for a moment how close we were to having Al Gore as president on 9/11.

[Jim Valvano]

Yeah, people are talking about how 2004 may be one of the most important elections ever. What about 2000? The way I see it our decision four years ago was even more important then the one we have now

[A18]

We don't know how important our decision is, and I suspect we won't for another four years

[qwerty]

He was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency.

That's an actual quote from Bush in 2001. He didn't realize the mic was open.

[No more McShame]

Just think for a moment how close we were to having Al Gore as president on 9/11.

Scary thought

[IDS Judicial Overlord John Dibble]

Just think for a moment how close we were to having Al Gore as president on 9/11.

Scary thought

Not really. If you really think about it, he would have done virtually the same things as far as Afghanistan and Al Queda goes, really anyone in charge would have, it would have been impossible for them not to - Iraq would be a different matter.

It's not really amazing that he lost though - he wasn't exactly a great candidate, and because he tried to distance himself from Clinton he kind of lost the whole peace/prosperity/incumbency thing. Really I think either party could have done better.

[A18]

That's just not true.

Immediately after the attack, people on the news were already debating whether Bush was "being rational" about all of this..."does it really make sense to invade another country?"..."not even the mighty Soviet Empire could beat the Afghans!"

Gore would not have invaded.

[IDS Judicial Overlord John Dibble]

That's just not true.

Immediately after the attack, people on the news were already debating whether Bush was "being rational" about all of this..."does it really make sense to invade another country?"..."not even the mighty Soviet Empire could beat the Afghans!"

Gore would not have invaded.

Are you so sure? You're speculating. I'm speculating too, to be objective about it, but I think the political pressure would have made him have to invade(or the Republican Congress would have declared war anyways and Gore would have had to).

[ciplexian]

Al Gore would never have let 9/11 happen. Period.

[??????????]

Al Gore would never have let 9/11 happen. Period.

9/11 was being planned in 1997. Long before Bush was in office. Oh, who was the president again, never mind.

[Grad Students are the Worst]

Al Gore would never have let 9/11 happen. Period.

9/11 was being planned in 1997. Long before Bush was in office. Oh, who was the president again, never mind.

I don't really agree with ciplexian, but that's irrelevant to what he said.

[??????????]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

[ATFFL]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

[Redefeatbush04]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

[ATFFL]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

Question:  If he went charging out of that classroom and to teh nearest telephone what could he have done?  Would this have miraculously stopped the plan from hitting the Pentagon?  Would he have issued orders that were not already being given?  Would thh terrorists have seen Bush was serious and all turned themselves in?

What wonder of wonders would Bush charging out of that room have done?

[Akno21]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

Although it might have helped if the AG didn't say "I don't want to hear any more about this al-quida stuff", or a memo saying "Al-quida Determined to Strike in United states" had been dealt with.

[ATFFL]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

Although it might have helped if the AG didn't say "I don't want to hear any more about this al-quida stuff", or a memo saying "Al-quida Determined to Strike in United states" had been dealt with.

Al-queda Determined to Strike In United States memo. (pdf file)

SHow me the actionable intelligence.

[Redefeatbush04]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

Question:  If he went charging out of that classroom and to teh nearest telephone what could he have done?  Would this have miraculously stopped the plan from hitting the Pentagon?  Would he have issued orders that were not already being given?  Would thh terrorists have seen Bush was serious and all turned themselves in?

What wonder of wonders would Bush charging out of that room have done?

He is the commander in chief. The 9/11 commission report shows that had he acted within 1 minute of being told the united states was under attack the planes could have been stopped. Instead he spent 7 reading to children. I don't know about you, but I would abandon the kids and defend my country.

[ATFFL]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

Question:  If he went charging out of that classroom and to teh nearest telephone what could he have done?  Would this have miraculously stopped the plan from hitting the Pentagon?  Would he have issued orders that were not already being given?  Would thh terrorists have seen Bush was serious and all turned themselves in?

What wonder of wonders would Bush charging out of that room have done?

He is the commander in chief. The 9/11 commission report shows that had he acted within 1 minute of being told the united states was under attack the planes could have been stopped. Instead he spent 7 reading to children. I don't know about you, but I would abandon the kids and defend my country.

He had a sixty second window?  Sorry, but if he had gotten up and left immediately then he would have to be briefed and brought up to speed and he would have given the same order that was given later and what he did when he stayed in the classroom: He would have left it up to the experts to decide what to do.

There is a chain of command.  With the President out of communications leadership fell to other people, who the 9-11 commision shows acted about as well as could be expected.  The President would have deferred to the people who were trained to deal with the situation.

[Redefeatbush04]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

Question:  If he went charging out of that classroom and to teh nearest telephone what could he have done?  Would this have miraculously stopped the plan from hitting the Pentagon?  Would he have issued orders that were not already being given?  Would thh terrorists have seen Bush was serious and all turned themselves in?

What wonder of wonders would Bush charging out of that room have done?

He is the commander in chief. The 9/11 commission report shows that had he acted within 1 minute of being told the united states was under attack the planes could have been stopped. Instead he spent 7 reading to children. I don't know about you, but I would abandon the kids and defend my country.

He had a sixty second window?  Sorry, but if he had gotten up and left immediately then he would have to be briefed and brought up to speed and he would have given the same order that was given later and what he did when he stayed in the classroom: He would have left it up to the experts to decide what to do.

There is a chain of command.  With the President out of communications leadership fell to other people, who the 9-11 commision shows acted about as well as could be expected.  The President would have deferred to the people who were trained to deal with the situation.

He had been briefed before-hand. I don't even believe he gave the order after that 7 minutes, that is when he left the classroom. And what did our commander in chief do that day. He ran!!! He flew around the country on Air Force one hiding rather than leading this nation.

[??????????]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

Question:  If he went charging out of that classroom and to teh nearest telephone what could he have done?  Would this have miraculously stopped the plan from hitting the Pentagon?  Would he have issued orders that were not already being given?  Would thh terrorists have seen Bush was serious and all turned themselves in?

What wonder of wonders would Bush charging out of that room have done?

He is the commander in chief. The 9/11 commission report shows that had he acted within 1 minute of being told the united states was under attack the planes could have been stopped. Instead he spent 7 reading to children. I don't know about you, but I would abandon the kids and defend my country.

He had a sixty second window?  Sorry, but if he had gotten up and left immediately then he would have to be briefed and brought up to speed and he would have given the same order that was given later and what he did when he stayed in the classroom: He would have left it up to the experts to decide what to do.

There is a chain of command.  With the President out of communications leadership fell to other people, who the 9-11 commision shows acted about as well as could be expected.  The President would have deferred to the people who were trained to deal with the situation.

He had been briefed before-hand. I don't even believe he gave the order after that 7 minutes, that is when he left the classroom. And what did our commander in chief do that day. He ran!!! He flew around the country on Air Force one hiding rather than leading this nation.

What would you want him to do? Stand on the white house lawn and say "Come on you Son of a Bitches!!!!!"?

[Redefeatbush04]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

Question:  If he went charging out of that classroom and to teh nearest telephone what could he have done?  Would this have miraculously stopped the plan from hitting the Pentagon?  Would he have issued orders that were not already being given?  Would thh terrorists have seen Bush was serious and all turned themselves in?

What wonder of wonders would Bush charging out of that room have done?

He is the commander in chief. The 9/11 commission report shows that had he acted within 1 minute of being told the united states was under attack the planes could have been stopped. Instead he spent 7 reading to children. I don't know about you, but I would abandon the kids and defend my country.

He had a sixty second window?  Sorry, but if he had gotten up and left immediately then he would have to be briefed and brought up to speed and he would have given the same order that was given later and what he did when he stayed in the classroom: He would have left it up to the experts to decide what to do.

There is a chain of command.  With the President out of communications leadership fell to other people, who the 9-11 commision shows acted about as well as could be expected.  The President would have deferred to the people who were trained to deal with the situation.

He had been briefed before-hand. I don't even believe he gave the order after that 7 minutes, that is when he left the classroom. And what did our commander in chief do that day. He ran!!! He flew around the country on Air Force one hiding rather than leading this nation.

What would you want him to do? Stand on the white house lawn and say "Come on you Son of a Bitches!!!!!"?

 http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf

The information is very scattered but a lot of the presidents reaction can be found on Page 55

Your statement sounds a lot like "bring it on" by the way. Strange.

[ATFFL]

The attack on 9/11 was pretty much unpreventable by 2001.

The last chance was in the airports that morning.  Other than that, things were too far along by January 2001.

3 words ATFFL:

My - Pet - Goat

Question:  If he went charging out of that classroom and to teh nearest telephone what could he have done?  Would this have miraculously stopped the plan from hitting the Pentagon?  Would he have issued orders that were not already being given?  Would thh terrorists have seen Bush was serious and all turned themselves in?

What wonder of wonders would Bush charging out of that room have done?

He is the commander in chief. The 9/11 commission report shows that had he acted within 1 minute of being told the united states was under attack the planes could have been stopped. Instead he spent 7 reading to children. I don't know about you, but I would abandon the kids and defend my country.

He had a sixty second window?  Sorry, but if he had gotten up and left immediately then he would have to be briefed and brought up to speed and he would have given the same order that was given later and what he did when he stayed in the classroom: He would have left it up to the experts to decide what to do.

There is a chain of command.  With the President out of communications leadership fell to other people, who the 9-11 commision shows acted about as well as could be expected.  The President would have deferred to the people who were trained to deal with the situation.

He had been briefed before-hand. I don't even believe he gave the order after that 7 minutes, that is when he left the classroom. And what did our commander in chief do that day. He ran!!! He flew around the country on Air Force one hiding rather than leading this nation.

What should he have done?  FLown next to the plane that wa sheading to DC and went down in PA, jumped on board it and defeated the terrorists in hand to hand combat?  WOuld make a great movie, but has no basis in anything close to reality.

He had not been briefed on what was happening.  All he knew was that 2 planes had flown into the WTC.  That is what he was told.

Again, what should he have done?  Gone back to the white house?  He can lead as well if not better from AF1 than he can from Marine 1 and inside the WH itself.

Seriously, what could he have done?  All he knew coming out of the room was that 2 planes had hit the TWC.  What action could he take?  Groundstop?  Already happening.   Try to contact all planes in the air?  Happening.

What could the President have done that was not already being done?