http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/30/93418/4943


Bush's 9-11 cowardice
by kos
Mon Aug 30th, 2004 at 13:34:18 GMT

So what does it mean when Tucker Carlson and Andrew Sullivan both declare
they can't vote for Bush in November? That they're whores? That they're
reading the tea leaves and don't want to get stuck on the wrong side of
history? That they're tools and hacks and don't matter?
Perhaps. But they do have their own sphere of relevance, and frankly, every
right-wing pundit that turns away from Bush is a victory for us. And the
latest Esquire magazine, in addition to running Ron Reagan's anti-Bush
screed, also treats us to Carlson and Sullivan declaring their
disappointment in the failed Bush presidency.

Carlson, in particular, is brutal on Bush, taking him to task for his
cowardice on 9-11 (no free online version):

.... The attacks initially made me sorry I voted for him. For most of that
day, as my wife and children stayed inside our house listening to the roar
of fighter jets overhead, and black smoke from the Pentagon hovered above
our neighborhood, Bush failed to return to Washington. My family sat
unprotected a few miles from the scene of a terrorist attack; Bush hid in a
bunker on some faraway military base.
It infuriated me, as did the subsequent excuses from White House spokesman.
There was a risk in coming back, they said. There was a risk in coming back,
they said. Of course there was. That's the point: Leaders must take risks,
sometimes physical ones. Bush should have elbowed his Secret Service detail
out of the way and returned in a display of fearlessness to his nation's
capital. I found it distressingly revealing that he didn't.

So did I. It was one of my earliest thoughts that fateful day. Say what you
will about Giuliani, and most of what I would say is bad. But Rudi showed
the type of leadership Bush only wishes he could muster.
What's worse, Rove knew how bad Bush's cowardice looked, so much the same
way they handle any obstacle they face, they lied. Rove claimed they had
received credible threats against Air Force One, a ludicrous assertion that
was proven false days later. But in the chaos of the moment, both Bush's
palpable fear and the lies used to cover it up were lost.

But as Carlson says, the incident was revealing. Just as Kerry's heroism
half a world away is revealing. There's a reason the Swift Boat Liars are
going after the story so hard. Kerry turned his boat into the danger he
faced. Bush ran to Nebraska and cowered in fear.