White House Defends Handling Capital Alert

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Thursday defended the decision to not interrupt President Bush during a bike ride to inform him of a suspected threat that led to the evacuation of thousands _ including his wife _ from government buildings.
...
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said a review was under way on how the situation was handled, but he said Bush was not upset that he was not filled in.

"The president has a great amount of trust in his security detail," McClellan said. "If there are any improvements that need to be made, they will be made."
...
But Leon Panetta, a chief of staff to former President Clinton, said there is no reason to leave a president out of the loop, no matter how short-lived a situation is.

"I don't think there is a legitimate excuse for not telling the president of the United States about that kind of potential emergency," he said. "It was serious that it happened and it could have been even more serious. ... That is something that just simply cannot happen again."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051201316.html

[DanCa]

1. Curiouser and Curiouser

First the grenade story and now this. Why wouldn't the let Chimpy now the Capitol is under attack?

[Liberty Belle]

21. Maybe the Secret Service hoped it was real, and ...

well, you can guess the rest.

[chelsea0011]

2. In other words...they know the President is a worthless sackoshit

[Bob3]

3. oh come on he's not in charge no reason to bother him.

He's all wore out from playing nice to the Russians.

[roughandtumble]

15. either it was a f***ing emergency

and chimpy should have been notified, or the whole thing was bullshit. Why do repugs want shit both ways ALL the fucking time?

[radar]

4. I liked the questions RUDE PUNDIT asked...

"...And why the fuck wasn't he notified until after "the danger" had passed about a suspected attack on Washington, which caused evacuations, including his own wife? Wouldn't you wanna know if your wife was being threatened with death?
...did they just not want to face that stomach churning blank stare of his as he tries to figure out what the fuck to do..."

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

[whistle]

5. Well, pigs grunt all the time.....

[Sanity Claws]

6. Bush does not want to be interrupted

My guess is that he told his security detail not to interrupt him with anything. They were too scared to face his wrath (he does have quite a temper)and so didn't tell him.

[radar]

8. Huh...

Similar to one of the things that enabled the D-Day invasion to succeed on 6Jun1944; nobody wanted to wake up the hot-tempered leader to ask for armor to reinforce the beach defense. Lucky us

That rigid system - always looking for approval before making decisions, no matter how immediately required.

[bluedog]

10. I still say "they knew"

it was all a stunt.......the pilot.bush supporter.no fines.no jail......bush not informed?....he was way ahead of time....

[MisterP]

32. why did I imagine him throwing his cereal and bananas?

[Danmel]

7. If I was in charge and I wasn't told about this

Heads would be rolling.

But no in this Regime is accountable for anything, least of all the boy king.

Un-fing-believable

[rodeodance]

14. prob. set up so cheney dog is saved first.

[Rose Siding]

9. Some reporters really tore into Scotty! E&P rpt...

There's lots at the link
snip>
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I said that it came within three miles.
Q: OK, but you said three miles. How close --
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, it came within three miles.
Q: How close was it? Because someone has taken a picture of a plane being escorted on K street. How close was the plane?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I mean, if the Department of Homeland Security or FAA has any additional information, I'm sure --
Q: Scott, how close was it?
McCLELLAN: April, it was within --
Q: You know how close it was. Please tell us.
McCLELLAN: Yes, within three miles. I don't know beyond that. Go ahead.
Q: Might there be something wrong with protocols that render the president unnecessary when the alarm is going off at his house?

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000920092

[Pinboy]

18. Thanks. That last question is a BEAUT! n/t

[Nordic65]

24. Wow, that's some serious back-peddling

Poor Scott, no escape. Absolutely fucking no escape. He was fried. Period.

[Dover]

11. The real "president" WAS in the loop. As during 9/11 Cheney was

at the controls. No need to disrupt a perfectly good Goat story!
Besides, had he been informed, Dubya probably would have exclaimed..."Geez, another bad pilot!"

[daleo]

12. Suppose there was another 911

Would they bother to chase down Chimpy on the bike trail then? How about a nuclear attack? Who would they take the aliens to if they said "take me to your leader"?

[Montanan]

13. More proof that Bush is only a cipher.

Bush is mentally checked out at least 50% of the time. When he doesn't have someone telling him what to say or do, he's totally at sea.

[rodeodance]

16. what frigging kind of procedure does not inform the Pres. when RED

Alert goes into effect. Who wrote this procedure. and why was it agreed upon. so many questions.

[rodeodance]

17. Love this question from Reporter!!

Q: Might there be something wrong with protocols that render the president unnecessary when the alarm is going off at his house?

[Liberty Belle]

23. Kick! Who said that?

[radar]

19. More proof he's just a lame-ass mascot...

...That can't even entertain us.

He get's propped up as the "best choice to lead the nation & keep us safe," but when there is a threat to the capital...???

Nah, don't bother him, we can handle it."

Which is what pisses me off - in a free country we're supposed to know who's in charge so we can follow the guy with at least a little bit of confidence; not be kept in the dark & be led like fools.

[lyonn]

27. Bush had just taken his meds

and couldn't have been awakened, like drugged!

[bluedog]

20. could have been a Bio.chemical attack

and bush was outside riding his bike......thats why I say they knew......why else would they take the chance of him getting sprayed on.....doesn't make sense..does it to you?

[zbdent]

22. The President was safe

but Bush was out riding his tricycle . . .

[BattyDem]

25. They went to red alert and no one informed the Prez ...

That means either:

A) There was no real threat and this whole thing is another "terra alert" publicity stunt to scare people.

B) They believed the threat was real and they DID alert the Prez ... who's name is Cheney.

C) Every person involved with this administration is completely incompetent and it never occurred to anyone to alert the Prez.


In any case, it's further proof of the mess our country is in! :-( :mad:

[AlGore-08.com]

26. I think the earlier poster comparing this to Hitler on D-Day is on the $

These guys have never, ever put the needs of the country before their own needs - - and it's always been kick down, kiss up with the Bushiviks. Anybody who works in the government for a living and doesn't follow their whims to the letter gets tossed out in a hurry.

I think it's much more likely that Smirk told them "Don't interrupt me for any reason" (or has a standing order not to be disturbed during certain times or during certain activities) and his staff was "waiting" to make sure it was a real, major attack before they dared face the wrath of Smirk.

Either that, or he was passed out in a pool of Zima in the Oval Office, and "biking in Maryland" just sounded less disastrous from a PR perspective.

[DearAbby]

28. RED ALERT...the highest alert, and the President needs not be told?

What kind of crap is that? What President in all history is not on the need to know list? What else is being done without the President's knowledge?
It doesn't add up. and the American people should be asking themselves this question....Just who is in charge?

[VegasWolf]

30. Only one pretzeldent, bush. Who cares what his opinion is anyway,

just go directly to the men in charge, Cheesy and Rove.

[Rex]

29. YAWN

This fake story is some of the WORST Turd Blossom has put out to date! I bet Rove sits on the pot all day trying to come up with new shit. Cheney's the real illegal president, not Bush. Can we move on to the real issues - Iraq, 911, stolen election, etc... :eyes:

[Robworld]

31. The imagery of Bush riding a bike is very odd

Its hard to imagine that during a huge evacuation of government buildings in DC that the President would just be out on his merry way biking. Also the fact that he wasn't told is very odd. Isn't the President usually warned first of possible threats, especially threats that happen in WASHINGTON D.C.?

http://www.dumdumgoestothecircus.com/