Much has been made on Bush doing nothing for 7 minutes on 9/11 when he heard the news of the second plane crashing into the WTC.<br><br>Here's what Kerry says - "I would have told those kids very nicely and politely that the president of the United States has something that he needed to attend to. And I would have attended to it."<br><br>Here's what Kerry did (in his own words - so we can't be sure if it's true )<br><br>"I was in the Capitol. We'd just had a meeting - we'd just come into a leadership meeting in Tom Daschle's office, looking out at the Capitol. And as I came in, Barbara Boer and Harry Reid were standing there, and we watched the second plane come in to the building. And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table and then we just realized nobody could think, and then boom, right behind us, we saw the cloud of explosion at the Pentagon. And then word came from the White House, they were evacuating, and we were to evacuate, and so we immediately began the evacuation."<br><br>9:03 a.m. - United Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the South Tower at the World Trade Center.<br><br>9:45 a.m. - American Flight 77 crashes into The Pentagon.<br><br>In that 42 minutes Kerry couldn't think, Bush already had addressed the nation, vowed to capture those responsible and begun discussions with Vice President Dick Cheney and other top aides about whether to shoot down any civilian aircraft violating the administration's order that all planes be grounded. And finished reading "My Pet Goat."<br><br>Of course, if Flight 77 didn't crash into the Pentagon, Kerry might have not been able think for a longer amount of time. <br><br><br>[color:blue]All your sock puppets are belong to us</font color=blue>

Yes, much has been made about what Bush was doing on September 11th, but not by John Kerry. The quote you provided was from an interview where he was asked simply what he would have done and he provided a simple, plain answer. Before then, Kerry had not brought up Bush's actions in front of the children, and has not mentioned it since.<br><br>What Kerry said happened with him and his colleagues on September 11th was simply describe their mental anguish during that same period of time. There is nothing in what you have provided that would suggest that Kerry did anything hypocritical, unexpected, cowardly, or wrong.<br><br>Simply put, it seems to take some split hairs in this case to satiate your desire to defame Kerry. That's fine, but it seems pretty unimportant to me when compared to things like health care, the economy, foreign policy, ect...<br><br>-- Charlie Alpha Roger Yankee Whiskey<br>

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>That's fine, but it seems pretty unimportant to me when compared to things like health care,<p><hr></blockquote><p><br>Just as the 7 minutes are equally unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Hell two hours that day seemed like 5 minutes, and 5 minutes seemed like an hour.<br><br>Who cares?<br><br>

Agreed. It's done, over, finished. Let it be. Nothing can change it now, and I can't see how anyone could possibly critique what happened in the hours immediately following the 9/11 attacks (including what Bush did or did not do). There is NOBODY that could have done anything other than what Bush did, and as much as I hate to admit it, I think he handled that morning pretty darn well considering... But it's what Bush has done since that bothers most people.<br><br>And as you say, how does this affect my healthcare and the economy???<br><br>

That's right who cares!<br><br>I think that many people can't reasonably justify, explain, or otherwise make sense of their political philosophy or just what the hell they want in civic leaders, so they grasp apparently simple criticisms, however irrelevant. Bush is stupid. Kerry is a flip-flopper. ect...<br><br>-- Charlie Alpha Roger Yankee Whiskey<br>

Well, yes, I agree, it's over, forget it, and so on. But IMHO there is a difference between being one member of Congress our of 535 and being the President. If in a moment of national crisis a senator sits and drools on his bib, nothing terrible will happen. Same ain't the case for a president. Nor does it follow that because a senator acted in a particular way while he was senator, therefore he would have acted in the same wasy had he been president.<br><br>I'm not trying to revive the argument--it's ultimately not just in the past on the one hand, but also pure conjecture on the other. Still, the nature of the charge represented by the posting seems fallacious to me.<br><br>So where's Monica when you need her to straighten out something fallacious!<br><br>

that was my thinking as well. could kerry have done anything like order fighter jets to shoot down planes that were off course and act responsibly as the commander in chief? nope. could kerry have gotten on the phone to the FAA and NORAD? nope. i got absolutely nothing done on 9.11 after seeing the second plane hit. i couldn't think about anything other than the sorrow and fear i felt for the people in the WTC. my position didn't require me to act swiftly and neither did kerry's. a senator is fairly powerless without the other senators joining with him/her to pass resolutions and legislation, etc. they aren't a body to act swiftly in the minutes after a national security breach. that is the president's job. kerry has been awarded numerous medals attesting to his bravery and service, and there are the men who actually served with him under his command some of whom say he saved their lives through his ability to think clearly under fire, so we do have some indication of how kerry reacts under fire when he can make a difference. <br><br>"Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a—you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." dubya 8.6.04