How did Bush manage to see the first plane hit on live TV?

Patrick M · Postby **Patrick M** » Sun Jun 08, 2003 11:23 pm

Check out the transcript and the audio segment:

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/bushlie.html

Ed Bishop · Postby **Ed Bishop** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 6:35 am

I'd prefer to think he simply mistook the second plane hit for the first. As it is, while he most certainly must have viewed live footage, we still don't know what he saw, or when. Doesn't matter, really. The horror of the event speaks for itself. Safe to say, down the road it was the worst thing to ever happen to Saddam. Easier to go to war--regardless of the reasons--when you can point to something like that and say, 'remember'!

ED

Postby **lukpac** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 7:59 am

Ed Bishop wrote:As it is, while he most certainly must have viewed live footage, we still don't know what he saw, or when.

The only live footage he saw was of the towers in flames. Shots of the planes hitting didn't come to air till after both had hit.

mikenycLI · Postby **mikenycLI** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 8:04 am

After the first plane hit, there was live coverage, at least in the NYC metro area, of the result of the first plane hit.

Postby **lukpac** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 8:39 am

Yes, Mikey, but I'm pretty sure there weren't shots of the second plane hitting until after it had happened.

I'm open to being proved wrong, though.

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 8:39 am

Yeah, I saw the second plane hit live. I'll never forget it. "Oh, Christ, did I just see what I think I just saw?"

Here at the office, we all have TVs at our desks because a big part of our business is live auctions, and people like to keep tabs on them via closed-circuit cameras. The guy across the hall has CNN e-mail alerts turned on, and yelled over to me when he got the one that there was a fire at the WTC. I switched it on, and watched for a while (wow, that's a *big* fire...) and headed down to clue in our communications folks. When I got there, they were already watching, and the second plane drifted in from the right side of the screen, disappeared behind the first tower and all the smoke, and the fireball blew out of the second tower.

But Bush is full of it. There was no live coverage of the first plane hitting. In fact, the amateur tape of the first plane didn't surface until the next morning.

It sounds to me like he's just trying to find a way to get his bullshit "I'm a big tough fighter pilot" image across some more. As opposed to hiding out at an AFB somewhere and having the White House lie about it.

Ryan

Postby **lukpac** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 8:46 am

You got me, Ryan.

Nevertheless, that story is still obviously untrue.

mikenycLI · Postby **mikenycLI** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 9:44 am

Luke,

The local NYC outlets covered the disaster from the beginning, live, as it happened after their usual morning, network Tv, talkshow coverage.

I was watching the local ABC outlet, that had various cameras on the second tower (including a traffic helicopter), and they actually aired, live, the second plane hitting the remaining WTC tower.

It's possible some local/network station picked up this local, live coverage, and he either saw it happen, or one of the replays.

Immediately after it hit the tower, of course, the local newsroom slo-mo'ed it, for our collective horror.

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 11:44 am

Yes, the national networks were carrying the live feeds from the local NY stations soon after the first plane hit. We were watching the first tower burn for several minutes before the second plane hit.

But no way did Bush see the first plane hit, as he claims. And his story doesn't make sense if what he actually saw was the second plane, since anyone with a semi-functional brain knew as soon as the second plane struck that this was a terror attack of some sort. That he would choose to respond by reading to a classroom full of kids is mind-boggling. I guess he was waiting for someone to tell him what to do.

Ryan

mikenycLI · Postby **mikenycLI** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 11:52 am

Well, giving him the benefit of the doubt, there, actually, wasnt anything he, or anyone could "do", at that point.

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 12:28 pm

That's true. But as President I'd at least be idly curious if other planes were off course, what action the FAA was taking, what the defense status was, and other things like that.

But you're right, what he chose to do in those first few moments wouldn't have made a lot of difference in any event.

Ryan

mikenycLI · Postby **mikenycLI** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 12:32 pm

Ryan,

You're right, as it sounds like his mind was, ahem, not on those things. Guess this comment slipped through the handlers !!

seth · Postby **seth** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:15 pm

I'm no Bush-lover, but this seems to be nit-picking based on his habitually sloppy speaking style. He said "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." It is possible that what he meant was he saw the live footage of the first tower on fire plus the early reports that it was caused by a plane crashing into the building. If so, he neglected to insert the word "that", as in "I saw THAT an airplane hit the tower". Then again, he may just be telling stories.

I personally HEARD the first plane fly over my apartment and then hit something, and immediately turned on the TV. It took about 4 to 8 minutes before anything was on TV. I then stayed glued to the tube (still at home) and saw the second plane hit, live - the announcers had a delayed reaction to what we had all just seen. I then went outside and watched the fire downwtown (from about 1 mile north). I was in the voting booth when the first tower fell (it was a Democratic primary election day - later postponed) but I saw the second collapse with my bare eyes.

Seth

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 5:58 pm

I'm no Bush-lover, but this seems to be nit-picking based on his habitually sloppy speaking style. He said "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." It is possible that what he meant was he saw the live footage of the first tower on fire plus the early reports that it was caused by a plane crashing into the building. If so, he neglected to insert the word "that", as in "I saw THAT an airplane hit the tower". Then again, he may just be telling stories.

That actually makes sense, based on the way he talks off-the-cuff. Dropping the "that" sounds right.

I personally HEARD the first plane fly over my apartment and then hit something

I can only imagine what that must have sounded like. The TV pictures were bad enough, but the noise of the impacts and collapse must have been enormous.

Ryan

seth · Postby **seth** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 3:31 pm

The plane flying over sounded unusual enough for me to notice it (I couldn't see it). I heard a bit of the high pitched squeal a jet makes when it's taxiing on the runway. In hindsight, it was probably because the person flying the plane at that point was basically an amateur. I think I read that the second plane accelerated much more as it aimed into the building. Anyway, the sound made me look out the window - it must have passed very low and close to my building. I live near Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, about a mile or a little more from the WTC. I remember thinking that the plane sounded wrong. About 10 or 15 seconds later I heard a distant BOOM. Pretty loud, but I wouldn't have thought twice about it if I hadn't just heard that plane (sometimes trucks unloading cargo, etc. make a similar boom, though they would have to be within a few blocks to sound as loud).

When the second plane hit the south tower, I was watching on TV, but didn't hear anything from outside. When I later saw the second tower collapse, there was no loud noise from my vantage point in the park - maybe just a low rumble - it was surreal to say the least. Another building, 7 World Trade Center, collapsed later that day at 5PM (it had been fully evacuated), and my then 6 year old daughter actually felt the floor shake in our apartment - she thought it was an earthquake. (I didn't hear or feel anything, though.)

Seth