I just heard a snippet of a speech from Senator Kerry on "Meet the Press" which stated:

Senator Kerry: "Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whispered in my ear, "America is under attack," I would have told those kids very politely, nicely, that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to, and I would have attended to it."

Obviously he is referring to the infamous seven minutes which is so important to the Michael Moore movie's premise concerning President Bush.

However, on July 10, 2004, Senator Kerry was interviewed on Larry King Live.

CNN.com transcripts - Larry King Live

He was asked:

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KING: Where were you?

KERRY: 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 Boxer 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.
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Amazing, isn't it? The second plane hit, nobody could think, then the plane hit the Pentagon.

The second plane hit at 0903 and the Pentagon was hit at 0943. So, in Senator Kerry's own words, he could do nothing for 40 minutes, yet he makes a big deal about the seven minutes President Bush sat there, most likely waiting for the Secret Service to give him the 'all clear' signal so they could leave.

40 minutes versus seven minutes.

All partisanship aside, does anyone else think that maybe Senator Kerry should stay as far away as possible from statements concerning that moment in time?

(BTW: Notice how I remain respectful of both individuals, referring to them by their proper titles, etc.?)

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Yes. I AM a pig.

They just played that same snippet on "This Week".

I'm sure it will be showing up in other places as well.

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Yes. I AM a pig.

"Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whispered in my ear, "America is under attack," I would have told those kids very politely, nicely, that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to, and I would have attended to it." 

Senator kerry August 5, 2004

  "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 Boxer 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." 

Senator kerry July 8, 2004

9/11 timeline

8:45 a.m - American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, smashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

9:03 a.m - United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, flies into the south tower of the World Trade Center. (Kerry sees horrible event live on TV and sits stunned for the next 42 minutes unable to think or react)

9:30 a.m - President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."

9:43 a.m - American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.

9:45 a.m - The White House is evacuated. (Kerry and his colleagues evacuate)

Mike D

I hate violence! I hate it so much I am willing to kill anyone who tries to use it against me.
-- Mike Waidelich

kerry is full of it he like most democrats would have searched long and hard for the pc thing to do i am glad bush is prez 4 more

hopefully people will see how full of crap kerry is and return the president to the white house with landslide numbers.

...yep...gotta keep this roll we're on, going!

DC
S.N.O.B. #1009
You've probably heard of me!

I sent the same thing to my mother after I posted it here.

She responded with:
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Did you ever think about the fact, they had been in a meeting when the first plane hit.
Senator Kerry was just going into a leadership meeting in Tom Daschle's office. That office faced the Capitol. At the same time he entered, Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid were watching the news reports and then they all watched the second plane come in to the building. Besides it was not Senator Kerry's responsibility, not being Commander and Chief, to do anything at that point. He was not at the Pentagon or the White House. What was his responsibility and what did he fail to do?
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Of course, as a strong Kerry supporter, she missed the whole point of my message.

My point was that so much is made of that seven-minute time slot. Seven minutes is actually not a lot of time. The Secret Service had to rush to get everything coordinated to get President Bush out of the classroom to the airport, and then decide where they were going. No president has the power to make that choice in such a circumstance; the Secret Service makes that decision. Period. The safety of the President takes priority over everything.

Now, if President Bush had immediately jumped up and started taking definitive action, it would have just lead credence to the conspiracy theorists who claim that the administration had advance warning about the attack. It would have been nice if he had done a Superman or Mighty Mouse pose. (Can you picture that!?) LOL

I just don’t understand how Senator Kerry can admit that he sat -- couldn’t think – for 43 minutes and then make comments concerning that seven minutes.

Look, I was glued to the TV myself when all this went down. But, I still had the presence of mind to contact a couple of people I know with relatives in NY to ensure that they knew what was happening so they could check their relatives.

Senator Kerry makes no mention of taking any action, calling anyone, or doing anything else to find out what was going on to see what they could or should do. He is a U.S. Senator. He has contacts and powers which we do not. Senators Daschle, Boxer, and Kerry had the opportunity to start the ball rolling. Think of the positive light in which they would have been placed. During that time, President Bush was unable to speak to the public because they were gathering information and forwarding it to him on Air Force One.

I am glad that the senators did not try to take advantage of the situation in such a manner. I just wish that they, knowing what was going on in Florida with the President, would not give credence to extremists such as Michael Moore, who is actually causing harm to the Democratic Party.

I’m starting to digress.

I’m sorry if I’m not expressing myself well. I just finished dinner and I think I need a nap!

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Yes. I AM a pig.

...well then hell we need to find out what every congressman, senator, governor, and mayor were doing too. It wasn't anyone else's job to do the presidents job for him. No matter what spin anyone tries to put on this, this one is on him! ...I can't disagree with what Mom said on that one....she seems to be a very wise lady!!

DC
S.N.O.B. #1009
You've probably heard of me!

I believe these two instances are uncomparable as it was Bush's responsibility.

But they do show the human emotional impact of what happened. . ."nobody could think". . .this is the first time, outside of pearl h. that an attack on US soil was completed, plus it was against civilians. anyone would be stunned.

Should the pres have acted faster than 7 minutes, sure, but can i blame him, no. Every American stopped in paralysis. 7 minutes to clear his head and walk out of the class room with a level head is understandable.

For the rest of us who have never been presidents of the US, we expect our leaders to be super human. . .they should not be phased by 9.11, they should not accept BJs in the oval office, and they shouldn't have ever tried a drug. . .but they are human.