Disclaimer: One minute I'm blogging about Mary Kay sales, the next minute I am blogging about George W. Bush and 9/11. Welcome to my blog! :) I obviously blog about whatever the heck I wanna blog about. :)
This morning, I'm at home watching the George W. Bush 9/11 interview on National Geographic (which apparently I will be watching a lot more of now, particularly because of my new-found fascination with the Amish population).
So, about this 9/11 interview...
Think what you want about our past President or judge his actions made during that time, if you want, and if you feel like you're in a position to judge anyone. But remember this: he is just a man, just one person, in the same state of shock, and terror, and more overwhelmed than any of us thought we were, and had some super major decisions to make. I don't think any of us would be prepared for a situation like that. And I'm glad I wasn't the one that had to deal with all that stress, fear, and turmoil.
Here's some great George W. Bush quotes from this interview that I felt led to share :::
"My first reaction was, "Whodahell would do that to "Amurica""?"
Now, this isn't as serious as the following quotes, but I thought this was appropriate. This just shows that he is human. He is man. And he is Texan. I love George Bush's accent, and it's only appropriate that SNL makes fun of it, because I mean dang, it's country as heck! Okay... back to some seriousness...
In regards to him being informed of the terrorist attacks while he was in front of a small group of elementary-school children:
I think it's so judgmental for people to comment on his reactions in the classroom [in front of the CHILDREN] after he heard the news. I'm glad he specified why he did what he did though [for those of who like to judge]. He said he knew a lot of people were going to be watching his reactions to these crises. He said he made the decision not to jump up immediately because did not want to rattle the kids. He said he had a moment of clarity in the classroom with those children, that his job was to protect. And I guess in that moment, he thought [and I think a lot of us agree] that it was in those children's best interests for him to keep his cool. Y'all know he wanted to get up, start screaming, panic, and cuss up a storm. And we're going to judge him for sitting there for a few more moments in an attempt to not freak a bunch of elementary school-aged children out???
I didn't know that the first time he addressed the country, it was in the room full of children, parents, and teachers. They thought he was going to compliment them on their school's reading program, but instead were informed that the country had been attacked. What an experience! How shocking! It makes me want to Google that video & see the reactions from those behind him. That blows my mind. Can you imagine?
"The most powerless I felt was when I watched people jumping to their death on TV
and there was nothing I could do about it.
I said, "Let's go to Washington." I wanted to be in Washington DC as the Commander in Chief at a time of war. And I needed to be in the Capitol making the decisions necessary to protect the home land and to recover from the initial attacks. .... And [the head of the Secret Service] said, "You're not going back to Washington." I said, "What dahell you talkin' bout, man? I'm the President of the United States. We're going back. I need to be there."
"We didn't know if there had been any other commercial airlines that had been hijacked. So the first decision I made, on Air Force One, was to give our Air Force orders to shoot down any commercial aircraft that did not respond to our orders to land. It would have been awfully difficult for an Air Force pilot to shoot down a commercial airliner full of our citizens, and yet, that was a decision I made because I thought it was the best way to protect our country at that point in time."
I feel like I'm semi-educated on the events of 9/11 and I did not know that. What a decision to make! And he commented on the guilt he felt when he learned that Flight 93 had crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania, thinking that it was due to those orders he had made until he learned that it was also a terrorist attack. Seriously, this man had so much to deal with this day. He was in charge of our country and it was under attack! Can you imagine the pressure?? The feelings of responsibility?? I can't.
"This is what war looks like in the 21st century."
"You never know what it's like to be a war-time President until the moment occurs. I never campaigned on 'Please elect me, I'll be the kind of war-time chief you'll be proud of. The war came upon us unexpectantly. And at that point in time you just deal with the issues. And there's certain gravity, of course, that comes when you start making decisions that involve life. It wasn't one of these moments when you can weigh the consequences or think about the politics. You decide. And I made the decisions as best I could in the fog of war. But i was determined, determined to protect the country, and determined to find out who did it and go get 'em."
I'm also glad he said that. I never realized until he said that that no, presidential candidates don't focus on their crisis intervention plans, or their history of emergency-handling when campaigning to be President. They focus on money, and their stance on abortion, and what they want to do with welfare, and unemployment. They're all realistic in that sense. I bet none of them know what they'd do when they are put in a position such as this. So they skirt the issue, and hope that if the win, they don't have to find out. And if you are put in a position like this, like George Bush was, then you just do what you've gotta do, and hope it's a good decision.
"One of my concerns, like the concerns of other husbands and/or wives, was, "Was my spouse okay?" Was Laura okay? And my second concern was, "Are our girls okay?" It took a while to find her. She was in a secure location. And it was awesome to hear her comforting voice, and she had talked to the girls, and said they were okay, so, that was a relief for me."
Aww! This [again] just goes to show you that he's human. He's a husband and a father. He's worried and afraid, and just wants his family to be okay too. The comfort of a spouse really is what we probably all want in a time of crisis. And he's no exception.
"It was in this moment that I made the decision that I'm going back to Washington over the objections of just about everybody else. I'd had it. I said, "I need to get home." A lot had developed, and it was important to wrap the day up with a Presidential speech assuring people that the government was functioning and responding, and that we would take the appropriate actions necessary to protect our country. And I damn sure wasn't gonna give it from a bunker in Nebraska. I wanted to give it from the Oval Office. I didn't want the enemy to have the psychological victory of a President speaking from a bunker in the heartland of our country, and not speaking from the Capitol that had been attacked. So I told the head of the Secret Service, "I'm coming home," and they prepared the flight and off we went.
"There were firefighters, police men and women, and rescue workers lining the way. I decided I was going to shake every hand."
“Eventually, September 11 will be a day on the calendar; it’ll be like Pearl Harbor Day. For those of us who lived through it, it’ll be a day that we’ll never forget.”
This really was a great interview. It was completely apolitical so no matter what side of the fence you stand on, if you're an American, I'm sure you'll appreciate hearing it.
Did you see it?
What did you think about it?
Tell me. :)
