The Plaid Adder cuts right through it again, read "Unexcused Absence"

[lectrobyte]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/plaidder/04/30.html

[Spazito]

1. Excellent, as usual!

One point, though, unexcused is mispelled in the title on the home page.

[Plaid Adder]

3. I'm lookin', but I don't see it

Did they correct it after you posted?

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[Spazito]

4. Sorry, the error is actually when you click on the link to your

piece. It is spelled "Unxecused".

[MrBenchley]

2. A great great piece....

"This little gem is dated August 16, 2001 - ten days after a vacationing Bush either read or maybe didn't read the "Bin Laden Determined to Attack" PDB. And apart from the valuable lesson it gives us about how tamely the media allows itself to be led - look back at that opening paragraph, which reproduces the very spin that it discusses further down in the piece - what this piece shows us is that although Bush's handlers were aware that the American public were starting to get the feeling that Bush was playing hooky, their solution was not to have him actually do some work, but to try to make it look as if he were working.

Sticking Bush in a classroom full of cute kids and having him recite a book he had no doubt already memorized was apparently enough to fool CNN into believing that Bush was on top of things. It was not enough to fool Bin Laden. "

Who was it said "If the Republicans spent as much time creating jobs as they do trying to fool people into thinking they're creating jobs, there'd be more jobs"?

[jimshoes]

5. I don't know who said it..

but it's a great quote and it's true.

[MrBenchley]

6. You will notice that pretty much everything

this disgraceful appointistration has done has been only to give dittoheads momentary idiotic talking points....none of their actions seem beneficial or even aimed to succeed.

[usurper4]

8. But I don't think he was in FL for the vacation factor....

My belief is that he was fully aware of 9/11 coming and that he was in a "safe place". Don't believe me? (All are easily cited, but cut out for brevity)

Sept 2000: The Project for the New American Century submits a report to several defense contractors, most notably Halliburton and The Carlyle Group. In it, the group states that military spending will be curtailed without “some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.” Remember this.

2000–2001: The military conducts exercises simulating hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets causing mass casualties. One target is the WTC. Another is the Pentagon.

May 2001: “Though the Department of Defense had no capability in place to protect the Pentagon from an ersatz guided missile in the form of a hijacked 757 airliner, DoD medical personnel trained for exactly that scenario in May.”

July 2001: The G8 summit in Italy takes the unusual step of setting up surface-to-air missiles for security purposes. Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister explains that Italian intelligence had uncovered a plan to assassinate Bush during the event by crashing a hijacked commercial airliner into Air Force One or one of the buildings in use for the summit.

July 26, 2001: Attorney General Ashcroft stops flying commercial airlines due to a threat assessment.

Aug 2001: The World Trade Center begins a series of evacuation drills. According to Ben Fountain, who worked in the South Tower: “They knew this building was a target. Over the past few weeks we’d been evacuated a number of times, which is unusual.”

Sept 3, 2001: “Author Salman Rushdie, the target of death threats from radical Muslims for years, is banned by US authorities from taking internal US flights. He says the FAA told his publisher the reason was because it had “intelligence of something about to happen.”

Sept 7, 2001: The State Department issues the following: “American citizens may be the target of a terrorist threat from extremist groups with links to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization.”

Sept 7, 2001: George W. Bush schedules an appearance at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida.

Sept 7, 2001: Florida Governor Jeb Bush calls up the Florida National Guard to aid law enforcement and emergency-management personnel in the event of “civil disturbance.” He also cites their need due to “the potential massive damage to life and property that may result from an act of terrorism….” (notice the timing of all the events on Sept 7…looks like somebody received confirmation of the attacks!)

Sept 10, 2001: “Newsweek has learned a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns."

Sept 10, 2001: “Eight hours prior to the attacks, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown receives a warning from “my security people at the airport” advising him to be cautious in traveling. He was scheduled to fly to New York the next morning.”

Sept 10, 2001: George W. Bush flies into Florida, stays the night at the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort on Longboat Key, Florida. Surface-to-air missiles have been placed on the roof of the resort.

Events on Sept 11, 2001 (all times Eastern Standard Time): Described as a bizarre coincidence, a US intelligence agency was all set for an exercise on Sept 11th at 9 AM in which an aircraft would crash into one of its buildings near Washington, DC.

8:46am: Flight 11 strikes the North Tower of the WTC

Between 8:46am and 8:55am: Bush watches, on television, the first plane hitting the North Tower. Bear in mind, there was NO footage of this crash until the next day, when a documentary film crew submitted their footage. Unless you consider the Israeli film crew found at 4:30pm…. Here are Bush’s own words: “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.” Could he have just misspoken? Here’s another interview a month later: “Well, I was sitting in a schoolhouse in Florida ... 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..." Many have chalked this up to Bush being not too bright...I disagree. Curious as to what footage he saw? Keep reading.

8:55am: Bush enters Booker Elementary School

9:03am: Flight 175 strikes the South Tower of the WTC

9:16am: Bush finally leaves the school

9:41am: Flight 77 strikes the Pentagon

9:43am: Bush boards Air Force One

10:06am: Flight 94 goes down in Pennsylvania

11:45am: Air Force One lands…in Shreveport, LA and leaves again at 1:30pm

2:50pm: Air Force One lands again…in Omaha, NE.

4:30pm : “Five Israelis are arrested for “puzzling behavior” related to the WTC attacks. They are arrested around 4:30 P.M. after having filmed the burning WTC from the roof of their company's building near Liberty State Park, then shouting in what was interpreted as cries of joy and mockery. They were spotted by a neighbor who called the police and the FBI. The police tracked them down in a van with the words “Urban Moving Systems” written on the side. One man was found with $4,700 in cash hidden in his sock, another had two passports on him, and a box cutter was found in the van. Investigators say that “There are maps of the city in the car with certain places highlighted… It looked like they're hooked in with this. It looked like they knew what was going to happen.” One of these Israelis later says, “Our purpose was to document the event.” The FBI later concludes at least two are Mossad agents and that all were on a Mossad surveillance mission. The FBI interrogates them for weeks. They are held on immigration violation charges and released 71 days later.”

4:33pm: Air Force One takes off for Washington, DC

6:54pm: Bush finally arrives at the White House. Before going to sleep, Bush writes in his diary, “The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today. ... We think it's Osama bin Laden.”

I don't need any more verification of it...he knew. He allowed it to happen.

[chiburb]

7. I read it yesterday and...

sent it to almost everyone I know. Thanks Plaidder, another grand slam!

:-)