Where are the class room kids of 911

Rarely do I say something complementary about Time Magazine. I think that's because they are now a more openly leftist rag. But I have to say this is an excellent article of the students who were reading with President Bush on that morning and what they are doing now.

The Interrupted Reading: The Kids with George W. Bush on 9/11

There has rarely been a starker juxtaposition of evil and innocence than the moment President George W. Bush received the news about 9/11 while reading The Pet Goat with second-graders in Sarasota, Fla.

Seven-year-olds can't understand what Islamic terrorism is all about. But they know when an adult's face is telling them something is wrong — and none of the students sitting in Sandra Kay Daniels' class at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning can forget the devastating change in Bush's expression when White House chief of staff Andrew Card whispered the terrible news of the al-Qaeda attack. Lazaro Dubrocq's heart started racing because he assumed they were all in trouble — with no less than the Commander in Chief — but he wasn't sure why. "In a heartbeat, he leaned back and he looked flabbergasted, shocked, horrified," recalls Dubrocq, now 17. "I was baffled. I mean, did we read something wrong? Was he mad or disappointed in us?"

Similar fears started running through Mariah Williams' head. "I don't remember the story we were reading — was it about pigs?" says Williams, 16. "But I'll always remember watching his face turn red. He got really serious all of a sudden. But I was clueless. I was just 7. I'm just glad he didn't get up and leave, because then I would have been more scared and confused." Chantal Guerrero, 16, agrees. Even today, she's grateful that Bush regained his composure and stayed with the students until The Pet Goat was finished. "I think the President was trying to keep us from finding out," says Guerrero, "so we all wouldn't freak out."...

... Dubrocq, now a junior at Riverview High School in Sarasota, doubts that he would be a student in the rigorous international-baccalaureate program if he hadn't been with the President as one of history's most infamous global events unfolded. "Because of that," he says, "I came to realize as I grew up that the world is a much bigger place and that there are differing opinions about us out there, not all of them good."...

Now here is something I find interesting. The teenagers know more than Mikie Moore or John F Kerry (who BTY served in Vietnam) about leadership. I remember the crap Moore put I'm his movie:

Michael Moore: Not knowing what to do, with no one telling him what to do, and with no secret service rushing in to take him to safety, Mr. Bush just sat there, and continued to read "My Pet Goat" with the children.
[the time is measured on a clock in the corner of the screen]

Michael Moore: Nearly seven minutes passed with nobody doing anything...
...Narrator: As Bush sat in that Florida classroom, was he wondering if maybe he should have shown up to work more often? Should he have held at least one meeting since taking office to discuss the threat of terrorism with his head of counter terrorism? Or maybe Mr. Bush was wondering why he had cut terrorism funding from the FBI. Or perhaps he just should have read the security briefing that was given to him on August 6, 2001 that said that Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America by hijacking airplanes. Or maybe he wasn't worried about the terrorist threat because the title of the report was too vague.

[cut to 9/11 Commission hearing, where Condoleeza Rice is testifying]

Condoleezza Rice: I believe the title of the report was 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.'

Narrator: A report like that might make some men jump, but as in days passed, George W. just went fishing. As the minutes went by, George Bush continued to sit in the classroom. Was he thinking, "I've been hanging out with the wrong crowd. Which one of them screwed me? Was it the man my daddy's friends delivered a lot of weapons to? Was it that group of religious fundamentalists who visited my state when I was governor? Or was it the Saudis? Damn, it was them."

[an image of Saddam Hussein appears onscreen]

Narrator: [as George W. Bush] I think I better blame it on this guy...

These kids understand Bush was trying to keep everyone calm A leader needs to be able to handle a crisis and his leadership was initially shown by not flying off the handle.

Oh, I ddin't give that POS Moore a dime....I paid for a ticket to Garfield...hey Bill Murray can have my money.

One thing the students would like to tell Bush's critics — like liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, whose 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 911 disparaged Bush for lingering almost 10 minutes with the students after getting word that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center — is that they think the President did the right thing. "I think he was trying to keep everybody calm, starting with us," says Guerrero. Dubrocq agrees: "I think he was trying to protect us." Booker Principal Gwendolyn Tose-Rigell, who died in 2007, later insisted, "I don't think anyone could have handled it better. What would it have served if [Bush] had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"

I remember John F Kerry saying during the 04 campaign words to the effect "if I had been there I would have immediately gotten up and said 'I'm sorry but I have to leave now, something has come up....'". Unfortunately for the former junior senator from Massachusetts there is video of of what he did on that day when he said (again from memory) "I stood there watching the Pentagon burn from my office. I was helpless to change this and had no idea what I could do...". Doesn't sound like someone who would be decisive at a critical moment.

All in all a good article from Time. Something rarely scene.