What Did Bush See and When Did He See It?

by Stephanie Schorow
The Boston Herald
October 22, 2002
http://www2.bostonherald.com/lifestyle/lifestyle_trends/net10222002.htm



Will you ever forget the moment you first heard about the Sept. 11 attacks?

That moment will be a marker for a generation, the moment the world changed. For an earlier generation, the marker was hearing that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. For this generation, it will be how and when they heard about the first plane striking the World Trade Center. Memories of that moment remain posted on the Web, fodder for future historians.

Which is why, ever since the one-year anniversary, various Web citizens have been puzzling and arguing over President George W. Bush's recollection of the first moments of Sept. 11. E-mails and Web sites drew my attention to transcripts posted at www.whitehouse.gov.

Here is a section, verbatim: President Bush was at a town meeting in Florida in December, 2001. A third grader asked: "How did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack?''

"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. (On Sept. 11, Bush was visiting the Booker Elementary School to promote literacy programs.) 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.' ''

- (Posted at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html)

Think about that. Bush's remark implies he saw the first plane hit the tower. But we all know that video of the first plane hitting did not surface until the next day. Could Bush have meant he saw the second plane hit - which many Americans witnessed? No, because he said that he was in the classroom when Card whispered in his ear that a second plane hit.

Was Bush's comment a simple mistake? Maybe. But here's what Bush said in January 2002 at a town meeting in Ontario, Calif. posted at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020105-3.html:

"Q: What was the first thing that went through your head when you heard that a plane crashed into the first building?''

"THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well, I was sitting in a schoolhouse in Florida. I had gone down to tell my little brother what to do, and - just kidding, Jeb. (Laughter.) And - it's the mother in me. (Laughter.) Anyway, I was in the midst of learning about a reading program that works. . . . I was sitting there, and my Chief of Staff - well, first of all, when we walked into 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 that anybody could make such a terrible mistake. And something was wrong with the plane, or - anyway, I'm sitting there, listening to the briefing, and Andy Card came and said, `America is under attack.'

"And in the meantime, this teacher was going on about the curriculum, and I was thinking about what it meant for America to be under attack. It was an amazing thought. But I made up my mind that if America was under attack, we'd get them.''

Again, the question: How could the commander-in-chief have seen the plane fly into the first building - as it happened?

The Web has spun dozens of theories - some quite bizarre - about why Bush made these comments - you can get a sense of some at http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/completetimeline. You can also see a Booker School-produced video of Bush at the school at sites like: http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/2002/06/12_BookerLinks.html. It catches the moment when Card whispered in Bush's ear.

Perhaps Bush saw a replay of the second plane hitting the second tower, but simply remembers the hit as the first plane. Or maybe he did see the second plane hit - and then went on to read to the children. It's not conspiracy - just confusion. But it's confusion on a grand scale.

I ask again: Will you ever forget how you heard about Sept. 11? And what do you think of Bush's comments?

Read the transcripts and think about it.



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