|
|
|
Judge Judy, George Bush, and nineteen nutballs with box-cutters
|
by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
June 7, 2006
If you've ever watched Judge Judy or The People's Court, or any of the other judge shows on daytime TV, you've probably seen "the gotcha moment." One of the litigants will say something that contradicts something he or she has already said, or that contradicts common human nature, and the judge will raise an eyebrow, wag a finger and scold, "Once you've lied in this court, I can't trust you again. Why should I believe anything you say?"
The liar has lost his or her credibility, and almost invariably lost the case.
Nobody likes to be lied to, and once you know someone's a liar it makes sense to be skeptical about any other tall tales a liar offers. As President Bush famously said, "Fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."
* * *
How many times has the Bush administration been caught lying? Too many times to count. If we applied the Judge Judy rule, we'd never believe a word from Bush, Cheney, or any of the familiar faces who surround them.
And what would happen to our understanding of 9/11, in light of the Judge Judy rule? After all, virtually everything we know (or think we know) about the events of September 11, 2001 is a reflection of what the Bush-Cheney administration has told us.
It was impressive how quickly the Justice Department identified the nineteen hijackers. We saw their pictures on the television that afternoon, and in the next day's newspapers.
But at least five of the people in those pictures were later found alive and well, and had nothing to do with the attacks.
It is now accepted without question that Osama bin Laden was the mastermind of 9/11. While the rubble of 9/11 was still smoldering, the Bush Administration announced that it had compelling evidence that would prove this, and that the evidence would be publicly published... but it never was.
Bin Laden has never taken credit for 9/11, except in a videotape of doubtful veracity. By some accounts, bin Laden has denied involvement -- and you do have to wonder, what's the point in pulling off the biggest, most shocking terrorist attack in history, if you're not going to brag about it?
For a long while after that disastrous day, it was widely reported that 9/11 had been a complete surprise attack -- that no-one could have foreseen what happened, and that the Bush administration had been as shocked as you were when the news broke. But bit by bit over the subsequent years, a steady trickle of news stories have shown that there were warnings all over DC in the weeks and months before 9/11, that the CIA warned that an attack might be "imminent," that Bush was told of a bin Laden plot to hijack airliners, that British intelligence warned Bush to expect multiple hijackings, that the US received warnings that airplanes might be used as weapons ...
And at least two months before 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft stopped taking commercial flights. When asked why, the Justice Department referred to a "threat assessment," and said that Ashcroft had been advised to fly only by private jet.
On September 11, of course, it was assumed there would be an investigation into this catastrophe, but was there? Bush and Cheney tried to block an investigation. When it couldn't be blocked, they sought to limit its scope and made sure its budget was a preposterous joke, a fraction of what had been spent investigating Clinton and Whitewater, or investigating the shuttle Columbia's break-up over Texas in 2003. When the investigation finally got underway, the Bush-Cheney administration was amazingly stubborn about letting investigators see any evidence.
And finally, astoundingly, President Bush agreed to testify before the investigators -- but only if Cheney and Bush appeared together, side by side -- and only if the testimony was super-secret -- no transcripts, no cameras, no reporters -- and only if the President and Vice President weren't under oath, promising to tell the truth.
And these are the people, Bush and Cheney, whose version of what happened on 9/11 has been accepted as the truth of the matter?
* * *
It is flamboyantly obvious that President Bush is a liar. It seems to be part of his character to avoid speaking the truth, and say only what he wants people to hear. And in his presidency, he has surrounded himself with people of similar lack-of-integrity.
This administration's highest officials have lied about tax cuts, denied global warming, lied about the cost and effectiveness of the Medicare 'Plan D' drug debacle, lied about the White House's exposure of a CIA agent, over-hyped minor problems with Social Security as if the program was near collapse, and lied about virtually every aspect of foreign and domestic policy.
When they're not lying, they're obfuscating. When they're not obfuscating, there's no comment, or the information is 'classified'. All through the cast of characters that comprise the Bush administration -- Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, Ashcroft, Gonzales, et al -- none of them have ever been open and honest about any matter of policy.
Many of their lies have been briefly debunked in the mainstream media, but no matter how many lies accumulate, the next announcement from the Bush administration is always reported with weighty gravitas, unchallenged and unquestioned in the media, as if White House press releases and news conferences can be assumed to be factual.
And these are the people whose version of what happened on 9/11 has been accepted as the truth of the matter.
* * *
For months after 9/11, America was told that Bush had been at a photo op, reading to children at Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, when he first heard the ghastly news that a jet had struck the World Trade Center. Eventually, dramatic video footage emerged, showing White House Chief of Staff Andy Card solemnly entering the classroom and whispering the bad news into Bush's ear. But that's not what happened.
In reality, the first jet hit the World Trade Center fifteen minutes before Bush walked into that classroom. The President was told about it as his limousine sped toward the school.
When Bush stepped out of the car at the school and started shaking hands for the photo op, when he walked into the classroom and smiled at the children, he already knew the first tower had been hit. The story now is that when Card whispered into Bush's ear, he was telling the President that a second jet had hit the second tower, and America was clearly under attack.
Bush didn't respond by excusing himself from the classroom and huddling with advisors or asking questions about the situation. He didn't do any of the things you'd expect a President to do, in the moments after being told the nation was under attack.
The President of the United States didn't respond at all. After the news was whispered to him, he simply froze, and remained in his chair in a class full of kids, for at least the next seven minutes.
Do you remember your reaction, when you first heard what had happened that morning? I remember my reaction: I froze for several minutes too, but I froze in front of a television set, watching the news coverage. President Bush froze in a classroom, surrounded by kids. There was no television in the room, telling him what was happening, and he didn't show the slightest interest in finding out what was happening.
By all accounts Vice President Cheney, back in Washington, was whisked out of his office by Secret Service agents at about this time. They burst into his office and almost lifted him off the floor in their rush to ensure his safety. That's their
|
|
This administration's highest officials have lied about tax cuts, denied global warming, lied about the cost and effectiveness of the Medicare 'Plan D' drug debacle, lied about the White House's exposure of a CIA agent, over-hyped minor problems with Social Security as if the program was near collapse, and lied about all aspects of foreign and domestic policies.
When they're not lying, they're obfuscating.
When they're not obfuscating, there's no comment, or the information is 'classified'.
All through the cast of characters that comprise the Bush administration -- Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, Ashcroft, Gonzales, et al -- none of them have ever been open and honest about any matter of policy.
And these are the people whose version of what happened on 9/11 has been accepted as the truth of the matter.
|
|
|
Wouldn't you think that the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President's life, would have wanted the Bush to leave the school at once?
Remember, it was no secret where the President would be that morning.
His itinerary, even including the school's address, was easily available to anyone with a few clicks at the White House website.
If one of those four hijacked jets had targeted Bush, he would have been an easy target indeed, sitting still, surrounded by school children, teachers, his staff, and his Secret Service guards.
For me, this is a Judge Judy moment.
It defies credibility and common sense.
|
|
|
Fighter jets are stationed at military bases all around the country, always ready, on 24-hour alert for our nation's defense.
It takes about five minutes to scramble a fully-armed fighter.
These jets can fly faster than 1,000 miles per hour, and could easily provide supreme security for the President's plane.
Yet these armed escorts weren't accompanying Air Force One when it left the Sarasota Airport, and none accompanied the President's plane until it had been in the air for about two hours.
And again, my inner Judge Judy wags her finger and says, "I don't believe such nonsense."
|
|
|
|
job. But in Florida, the President sat in a school chair, and waited.
Wouldn't you think that the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President's life, would have wanted Bush to leave the school at once? Remember, it was no secret where the President would be that morning. His itinerary, even including the school's address, was easily available to anyone with a few clicks at the White House website. If one of those four hijacked jets had targeted Bush, he would have been an easy target indeed, sitting still, surrounded by school children, teachers, his staff, and his Secret Service guards.
For me, this is a Judge Judy moment. It defies credibility and common sense.
Instead of rushing to Air Force One or to an undisclosed location, Bush and his entourage stayed right where they had previously announced the President would be that morning. After leaving the classroom, Bush even gave a brief speech before finally leaving the school grounds, more than half an hour after the attacks began.
And once aboard Air Force One, President Bush flew from Florida to Louisiana, and from there to Nebraska, before eventually returning to Washington DC. When people wondered why the President had zigzagged around the country, the White House issued a statement, explaining:
“There was real and credible information that the White House and Air Force One were targets of terrorist attacks and that the plane that hit the Pentagon was headed for the White House.” But curiously, as the nation was under attack and the President's plane was believed to be a target, nobody bothered to have military fighter planes escort Air Force One.
Isn't that remarkable? Fighter jets are stationed at military bases all around the country, always ready, on 24-hour alert for our nation's defense. It takes about five minutes to scramble a fully-armed fighter. These jets can fly faster than 1,000 miles per hour, and could easily provide supreme security for the President's plane. Yet these armed escorts weren't accompanying Air Force One when it left the Sarasota Airport, and none accompanied the President's plane until it had been in the air for about two hours.
And again, my inner Judge Judy wags her finger and says, "I don't believe such nonsense."
And really, do you believe it either?
* * *
Do you find it hard to believe, as we do, that 19 Muslim nutballs armed with nothing but box-cutters hijacked four jets and toppled the US Constitution?
Do you find it extraordinary that, despite numerous intelligence warnings that hijackings were being planned and that jets might be used as weapons, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was nowhere to be seen?
We'd probably believe the official story if there were one or two oddities. We might even believe it if there were just the oddities we've mentioned in this article. But is there anything we've been told about 9/11 that doesn't stretch credulity like a rubber band? There are so many oddities, bizarrities, and unanswered questions, it's beyond belief.
So we don't believe it. We don't accept the official story about "19 nutballs with box-cutters" who were able to outsmart all of America's defenses.
Of course, when we say we don't believe it, some people will immediately demand to know what we do believe -- as if rejecting the wildly implausible story of "19 nutballs with box-cutters" requires that we present an alternative theory.
We have no alternative theory to offer, and anyone who does is probably bonkers. You can't put together the truth without an investigation, and there simply hasn't been a credible investigation. An 'investigation' where the oath to tell the truth is optional is not an investigation.
Here's what we believe happened on September 11, 2001: Four jets were hijacked and thousands of people were killed. And that's just about all we know with any certainty.
We believe such a catastrophe cries out for an open, honest, apolitical, well-funded investigation, with subpoena power and a mandate to investigate everything pertinent that happened before, on, and after 9/11/2001. We want a real investigation, where witnesses swear to tell the truth and face perjury charges if they lie, where the truth is pursued without concern for protecting secrets or covering anyone's backside. We believe Americans can handle the truth, and the truth of 9/11 is years past-due.
© by the authors.
| | We're usually unable to forward readers'
emails, but both readers and authors are
invited to visit our 'dialogue' page
for two-way communication: |
| |
This is an archived Unknown News page. For newest material, visit our main page.
I can't afford therapy, but boy do I need it. So as an affordable alternative, I pound my anger into a weekly column here.
Fair warning: My parents were repressed -- using any bad words would get my mouth washed out with soap, literally. I still remember the sickly flavor of DoveTM. So as an adult, vulgarity helps with the healing. If naughty language offends you, beat the rush and get offended now.
This page is for my own good, not yours, so you may not like it, but I don't care.
About the authors
|
Helen and Harry Highwater have published Unknown News since 1997. We're a married couple sharing a byline à la Lennon and McCartney, and "I" can be either of us, or both of us. If you're consumed by curiosity, it's safe to assume the more boisterous and aggressive bits come from Helen, and anything ladylike or demure is probably Harry's work.
|
|
|
|
There's much more than this at Unknown News.
|
We appreciate the heck out of everyone who helps.
|
|
|
Previous articles by Helen & Harry Highwater:
Cutbacks coming
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Asleep all over America
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Comparing Bush and Hitler, and the monsters behind the curtain
by Helen & Harry Highwater
CNN is committing treason
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Is the President an adult?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
We interrupt the bad news for a brief pep talk
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Stand up for something, damn it
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What kind of 'patriot' supports a tyrant?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Time to oppose the phony opposition
by Helen & Harry Highwater
President Charles Manson
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What's for dinner at the Hanoi Hilton?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The bully at the bully pulpit
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Truth or dare, America
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Bush administration spying targets reporters, activists
by Helen & Harry Highwater
No, Virginia,
we're not libertarians
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Letter to the editor
by Proud American, with a response from Helen & Harry Highwater
A whisper of optimism
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Muhammad Ali is a scumbag
by Helen & Harry Highwater
On behalf of God Himself, I endorse Alito for Supreme Court
by Helen & Harry Highwater, as Jerry Falwell
The old guy in a sweatshirt
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The emperor wears no mental clothes
by Helen & Harry Highwater
I'm filing bankruptcy
by Helen Highwater
Our long national nightmare is just beginning
by Helen & Harry Highwater
"Mission accomplished" for FEMA
by Harry Highwater
Police roadblock freedom in America
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our phone number
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Fuck you, George W. Bush
by Helen & Harry Highwater
A forgotten man, one of many
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The daily compromise
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Are you for freedom, or against it?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The unspoken subtext of Karl Rove's treason:
Support your local CIA
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Cabbages don't count
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Back to basics: Question authority
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Anatomy of another lie
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Constipated and liquefied logic
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Be careful crossing the street, ya damn kids!
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Monsters in America,
from Deep Throat to James Watt to Christopher Cox
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Mainstream media:
Completely on board with Bush administration lies
by Helen & Harry Highwater
A Pope to be ashamed of
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What can we do about the stolen election?
by Atomicktom and
Helen & Harry Highwater
The President who cried "wolf!"
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Defeating terrorists without wars
by Helen & Harry Highwater
If you're not for Bush, you're French ... or al Qaeda
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Rescuing America from tyranny
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Separation of church and state
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Who would Jesus vote for?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Godless hippie scumbag
traitors who hate the troops
by Helen & Harry Highwater
To tell the truth
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What kind of bloody savages
would kill people and drag
their corpses along the road?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our serial killer nation
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Judging Judging Amy
by Helen & Harry Highwater
An apology and an endorsement
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Rights, responsibilities, and acknowledgement
by Peace-Thru-Reason and
Helen & Harry Highwater
Los Angeles Times memo orders reporters to fudge the truth
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our perspective on Terri Schiavo
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Who deserves freedom of speech? And who doesn't?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Two years of lies about Sept. 11
The new Warren Commission
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Criticizing Israel
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Is it terrorism to be a patriot?
Or is it just like Red Dawn, only with turbans?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Bush knocks on Armageddon's back door
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Why I won't be at the victory parade
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Company fined $6,000 for
answering customer's questions
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Clint Eastwood, and US foreign policy
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Do you love America? Do you?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Google refuses our ad
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Reasonable deaths in a nonsense war
by Helen & Harry Highwater
|
|
|
| |
