We all know, many of us thanks to Michael Moore, that George W. Bush read a book about a pet goat with young schoolchildran even after he found out about the second plane flying into the World Trade Center. And I’ve never been able to figure that out. But the most likely reason has always struck me as being that he did not have a responsibility for national security issues at that time in his Presidency. Dick Cheney was running the show.
And the 9/11 Commission did quietly point out that Cheney probably lied to them in his unsworn testimony when he claimed to have consulted Bush before authorizing the shoot-down of Flight 93. The commission toned down their accusation to a mere read-between-the-lines peep after the White House read their preliminary report and went nuts.
So, it’s nice to see Newsweek come straight and say that Cheney was lying in their huge write-up of the most famous gunman since Lee Harvey Oswald.
Cheney testified to the 9/11 Commission that he spoke with President Bush before giving an order to shoot down a hijacked civilian airliner that appeared headed toward Washington. (The plane was United Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field after a brave revolt by the passengers.) But a source close to the commission, who declined to be identified revealing sensitive information, says that none of the staffers who worked on this aspect of the investigation believed Cheney’s version of events.
A draft of the report conveyed their skepticism. But when top White House officials, including chief of staff Andy Card and the then White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, reviewed the draft, they became extremely agitated. After a prolonged battle, the report was toned down. The factual narrative, closely read, offers no evidence that Cheney sought initial authorization from the president. The point is not a small one. Legally, Cheney was required to get permission from his commander in chief, who was traveling (but reachable) at the time. If the public ever found out that Cheney gave the order on his own, it would have strongly fed the view that he was the real power behind the throne.
It’s a good reminder that George W. Bush is a midget of a President and that Dick Cheney lied to the 9/11 Commission. When will the depth of this duo’s evil sink in with the American public?
I’d be curious to know if anyone posting here ever didn’t assume Cheney was in charge and Bush was the “hand puppet”.
I think Bush actually exerted some control after 9/11, but not before it.
Reading him the August 6th PDB was like talking to a wall. He didn’t care.
You ask, “When will the depth of this duo’s evil sink in with the American public?” Sitting here in Hawaii by the pool in my shorts and flip flops, the answer seems very much connected to political leadership. Howard Dean did it, for a while, in 2004. Right now it just seems a matter of time before SOMEONE steps up and puts it all together for the general public. Or am I dreaming?
sitting here in my living room freezing my ass off, and with no flip-flops or pool in site, I have to envy you Howie.
Why do I have the feeling that, even if it is all put together, the genral public won’t give a damn?
well that’s why I’m hoping for a “great communicator” to come along. Speaking as a former psychotherapist, I would have to classify this a “rescue fantasy,” at this point.
George Clooney?
I see no evidence that George Clooney is ready to get into politics.
no, but what about Ben Affleck?
no apparent inclination, same as George.
Booman-not to cheat you out of your envy, but they are still fucking up our country. And it does poke a hole in my paradise today.
Hasn’t this been around for a while? Why would it be more important now than at any time before?
What is new now is how the rovian empire is starting to crack and the TM is even smelling blood.
The lies have been repeated and recorded so many times that they can’t be unlearned by the public. I figure this will be explained away like everything else over the past 5 years. TM will have to spend a lot of time correcting their older acceptances in defending from attacks. The best hope is if the cabal starts eating itself.
Sometimes it’s too late for the truth to have any influence.
Even after 9/11 Bush was no where to be found. Remember when they evacuated the W/H because a small violated the no-fly zone in D.C. Rummy had to give the order shoot down the plane, because W. was out “riding his bike” and could not be disturbed.
Need anymore proof he is a hand puppet.
Cheney has done evil shit and will continue to do evil shit while he is still in office. No doubt he exerts far more influence on this administration than any VP has ever done before. But Cheney’s approval rating was already in the teens before the shooting incident, and probably cannot go any lower (true believers wont ever turn against him).
With ratings like he has, he will not be a candidate in ’08 and he would be a detriment if he campaigned for anyone this cycle. Bush is a lame duck with his approval ratings in the toilet, so he likely will not be campaigning for many people this cycle either. So, for the most part, the dynamic duo (ambiguously gay duo?) are neutered on the electoral stage.
And that is where our focus needs to be this year: the elections. The only way to limit the damage these assholes can do in their final 2 years is to get a Democratic Congress that will actually fulfill its obligation to do some oversight. This administration has done terrible things with little or no recourse because they have had a complicit rubber-stamp congress. That doesn’t mean ignoring this stuff about Cheney, but we need to show how Cheney’s evil ways are a microcosm of the GOP as a whole. They are all peas in a pod: Cheney, Bush, Abramoff, Libby, Cunningham, Delay, Frist, and on and on. From top to bottom, the entire national party is filled with corrupt, secretive, illegal, two-faced, lying, cheating, stealing, fear-mongering, propagandizing, profiteering, evil cronies.