We can’t help remembering:
On September 9, 2001 I made reservations for an October trip to New York City. If I’d waited a couple of days I would have undoubtedly cancelled my trip. As it was my stepson and I spent the first 2 weeks of October 2001 in NYC.
While my other visits sort of blend together my memories of that visit stand alone. For one thing cars and other vehicles didn’t casually honk. When people saw me taking pictures, they talked to me. Asked me where I was from, “Did the rest of the country care.” And often (as when we took the Staten Island Ferry) cried with us as many of us saw the city’s new skyline for the first time:
One of the things that bothered me at the time was the INSTANT turn to talk of war. The “Drumbeat of War.” I was stuck at work throughout the day of September 11th and I was anxious to get home for the interviews with New Yorkers and those near the Pentagon and Pennsylvania for what they were thinking and feeling. But with Dan Rather and the others it was almost all WAR. The bulk of interviews (where they happened at all) were with heroic firemen.
I don’t at all mean to disparage what they felt or had to say. But, I was craving to hear about the people who got themselves out of the Towers. Or from the office workers who had to walk miles home. Or couldn’t get home. Salon is lost to me now but, on September 11, 2001 they had the coverage I was looking for. The pages are still there in their archive and you can see from the errors how quickly they were getting the stories online:
“It just came down around us”
I was on the 86th floor. One World Trade Center. It just came down around me. It just filled with smoke, and the whole ceiling fell down. There were six of us and we went into an office and sat on the floor and watched the smoke increase. So we decided to break a window and we broke four windows with the hammer. We were afraid that one of two things would happen. That the air would rush in, which was fine. Or that it would bring the smoke in, which would increase the smoke. Fortunately, it gave us air, but it also brought in debris, and flying glass and hot stuff.
So we waited, and were picked up, and went 86 floors down and just when I got to the mall, I thought it was fine. And all of a sudden — badoom, another one. And just a windstorm of soot. Concrete. I threw myself to the ground, and everything went right over my head, and everything went black.
The Port Authority people [got me from the 86th floor]. I have to hand it to them, they stuck by their posts. They were there when everything else was crashing. And personnel comforted one another. It was terrific. And then you see the firemen coming up with packs on their backs, 20 or 30 pounds. And theyre going up 86 flights. How would you like to walk up 86 flights? So they did a great job. When the second one hit, it turned black. And of course, half an hour ago another explosion, and the street went black. You have to just bear it out, and keep talking and talking. You couldn’t even see a flashlight.
The other people? I have no idea. We got separated. Someone has my jacket. There were shoes, change, everything. We got separated because we kept changing stairwells. As one got crowded wed move. And it was difficult, because we couldn’t see our way out, covered in soot and ash. Thats why Im going to Bellevue now. I dont know if there was asbestos up there or not. Im glad to be walking away.
–Lou Lesci, New York (as told to Roman Milisic)
I wasn’t there for the attack. But, the city was still in shock — still burning. I’ll carry the memories with me forever::
[click on photos to see larger versions]
Filed under: 2001, Remembering September 11 | Tagged: 2001, Remembering September 11 |
The Confluence 
Beautiful post, KB. Thank you!
Beautifully done, KB. That’s what I remember, the untouched rawness of the day. Thank you for the images.
Thanks, Katiebird. It’s a lovely post.
Thank you, katiebird. You have no idea what this means to me.
I could have posted more photos. The faces are the astonishing thing. Everyone is so serious. Still shocked. In one series I was trying to get a good shot of the Flat Iron Building and when I got home I could see that several people turned to check the sky where I was looking.
Thanks for your recall, katiebird.
That survivor story really shows the disorganized way they must have been thinking in those first hours after making it through.
I remember how, for a couple of weeks, everyone in New York was suddenly more kind and courteous to each other. And how the sky was so crystal blue, since the planes couldn’t fly over and the traffic was not allowed downtown.
And the fear. I remember the fear. It was quite paralyzing for a couple of days.
There was a bomb scare at Grand Central, which was right around the corner from where I was working, just a few days later. They evacuated the building. I refused to come back that day.
One of the things that bothered me at the time was the INSTANT turn to talk of war.
Katie, I arrived at work that day to a stream of cars heading OUT of the parking lot. My co-worker, Petal, barred me from entering the building shouting out “We’re at war!”
I remember thinking, “Woah! She’s really lost it.” But I was so happy, yes, happy (I’m ashamed to even say it), because it meant I got to spend the day with my family (they were visiting from England as I was due to get married on 9/15). I had no idea the scope of what had happened on the the east coast and that so many would never spend the day with their family again.
I got back on the road and turned on the radio and only then realized what had happened in New York. At that moment I was driving along PCH in L.A. There’s a part of it that goes right under the runway at LAX. No planes taking off. No movement at the airport at all. That more than anything brought home to me what had happened.
I lost my brother at 09/11, katiebird. He lives in my heart. Thank you for remembering the day and time of rememberance. Thats very important to me.
My heart is with you, your family & all the others on this day & FOREVER!!
tom, I’m so sorry. I was lucky that I didn’t lose anyone. My sister and her family live in Manhattan but luckily weren’t in danger. I’ll add you to my prayers and thoughts today.
{{{tom}}}
Beautiful post, katiebird. I live and work in the downtown Brooklyn area, and I walked to Park Slope to pick up my daughter from school. The mood was shellshocked and somber. There were hordes of people who had walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, and I remember how quiet everyone was. Everything and everyone was covered in ashes.
Raw Video: Newly Found Tape of McCain in Hanoi
I was living in New Jersey at the time – Somerset to be exact – some neighbors didn’t make it home that day. It was a Tuesday and I never went into the office – always took a conference call from home but someone asked to take the call with me to help them present something — it was a crazy day – I think we were all in shock – numb – wondering where our friends were.
(((((((((((((((((((((TOM)))))))))))))))))))))))))
Aw, Tom. Big hugs to you.
Woman Voter: Watching McCain’s gate back then is painful. The things he must have gone through to end up walking like that …….
I can’t imagine Obama showing any sort of heroism unless some was watching or KNEW it would benefit him.
SimoFish – I had friends who were missing that day, too. However, I was very fortunate in the fact that they all came home.
Thank you, Alice. Sad, but life goes on.
A woman I know who I once had a profound level of respect for called McCain “The Penguin” because of how he walks. I don’t think I’ll ever look at her the same way for that.
Thank you all for sharing your moving memories of that fateful
day.
At the end of an earlier post I explained my LI/NY account; and
why I can not trust Obama to be my President. Living in this area I want to hope that throughout the country, they shared the pain so many other lived.
McCain’s speech was beautiful today in PA. Obama…no speech!
I’ll never forgive Obama for that. That damn arrogance! Sorry, I’m getting pi**ed off
I remember that day in 1973 when the POWs were flown back to the Philippines. They were getting off the plane and kissing the tarmac. Wives, kids and families were hugging them with sheer joy. The ranking officer, Jeremiah Denton (later a US Senator), gave a short speech saying how honored they all were to have served their country. Then he thanked the President and the country. Denton was best known for a televised interview in which he blinked his eyes to spell the word TORTURE in Morse code.
Great post Katie. I was scheduled to be in NYC that Friday and could not fly as the attack occurred the Tuesday prior. We were stopping off to visit family prior to a 5 week trip to Europe to do research on WWII. (We planned on following the route taken by my dad who was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. Ended up recording an entirely different ‘war’ like experience.) We actually had plans for Saturday to watch the sunset from Windows of the World restaurant that used to be at the top of one of the towers. Additionally, my brother is a firefighter and I was freakin’ out until I learned from his wife that he was off that day and working in NJ, watching helplessly from the other side of the Hudson.
Here we had all these planned weeks off and no planes were flying, so we decided to drive cross country. We left that Saturday, the 15th of Sept. with camera in tow. We interviewed people across the country, people who could not pronounce Osama bin Laden, but wanted to kill, kill, kill. I was amazed at the outpouring of the call to war, surprisingly more from women than men. When we arrived over the GW bridge, we could still see the smoldering tip of the city. NY was eerily silent; that is what stayed with me most. As you mentioned, no honking horns, folks jittery and somber, but warm and friendly. I’ll never forget that visit, nor many of the people who took the time to be recorded with their raw feelings of that tragedy.
Thanks for the post; this day will always be a hard one for me and I was lucky I did not lose a loved one. My thoughts go out to all who did. 😦
Thanks for sharing. My heart is with everyone today.
Most of what I remember the days after were people being sapyp but sincere, lining up to give blood because it was all we could do being on the other side of the continent, and the creepiness of hearing no air traffic.
Oh yeah, and the whole staring at your hands and crying a lot thing. There was that, too.
And how an otherwise obscure scripting website became a news outlet because everyone else’s servers got hammered. And how that site put up a picture that reassured me that New Yawk would always be New Yawk that posited a “reconstruction” of the WTC that looked a lot like a bird-flip.
I remember how beautiful that morning was. It was sincerely such a gorgeous morning. I left for work at 8:40. By the time I got to work, everything had changed. Everything after that gets compressed. My best friend’s mother worked in the Marriot at the WTC and my best friend was scheduled to fly home from LA that day. The panic of the moment prevented me from absorbing what had happened. Then, I heard screaming, literally, agonizing screams coming from down the hallway of my building. The husband of one of my colleagues worked in the South Tower–she commuted into Phila from Bucks County and he commuted north to NYC. She would not stop screaming and someone called an ambulance. They rolled out a TV into our large conference room and we watched the TV as the Pentagon was hit and then we heard about PA. There were several National Guard Reservists at my firm and they ran out of the conference room and the partner next to me said, simply and with no hesitation, “we are at war.” My then boyfriend (now husband) was working at the Archives in D.C. and did not have his cell phone with him. Then they told us our building was going into lock down and we had to leave. So, I walked down 38 flights of stairs and walked home. Several hours later, after everyone had checked in, I went to church. All of the churches in Philadelphia were open that afternoon and night. Again, I know that there are areligious people on this blog, but the only thing I could do at that moment was pray for everyone who died and the ones they left behind. I couldn’t even give blood (apparently I may have Mad Cow, since I lived in England for 3 years). The next day, the Philadelphia Daily News front page headline was “Blood for Blood.” With one exception, it was the worst 24 hours of my life. Peace be with you Tom, and to everyone else who still suffers from these events.
I wasn’t of age during the Vietnam era and don’t truly understand the politics of that time. One thing I have discerned from reading about John McCain and his first wife is that conservative politicians used the POWs for political gain.
As I walked in Akron this morning I said to a colleague “today is just like it was 7 years ago.” We had a clear blue and peaceful sky.
I know Hillary could handle natural disasters like a Katrina, or an economic meltdown, or even terrorism, with strength and focus. I trust her ability to lead the country through any unexpected events.
I don’t believe Obama has the judgement or know how to deal with these events half as well as Hillary.
Hugs coming atcha Tom.
On 9/11 I was getting ready to go to work at my office at Sun Microsystems in Menlo Park, CA, when a friend called and told us to turn on the TV. I remember watching the first tower collapse and saying to my wife, “This will start a war.” I drove to the office and that is when I found out that one of my colleagues at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Phil Rosenzweig (who was in the Boston branch of the Labs) had gotten on Flight 11 that morning. Some of the Boston researchers went to Phil’s house to be with his wife and kids. In California, we were instructed that the ranking person in each building had authority to decide whether that building would remain open or not. Since I was the ranking guy in my building, I decided that we would remain open because, I figured, closing us down was the terrorists’ aim. I found out that everyone else in the company did exactly the same thing. Since we were helpless to do much else, our way of fighting back was to work harder.
I was at work that morning, in a 5-doctor family practice where I was a nurse. The only TV was back in the break room, and one of the docs who went for coffee came running up the hall to tell us that he thought the US was under attack of some kind.
At first there was complete disbelief, then a sort of numb horror.
Most of our patients the rest of that day did not show up. The few who did all huddled with staff around the tiny TV in that break room, many of us crying. We put the phones on answering service. One woman there for her annual physical had children in NYC downtown, and kept trying to call them on her cell. I vaguely recall that I was supposed to run an EKG on her, and never did. We just sat there watching, reaching out to squeeze a shoulder, grab a hand, me trying to tell her that it was okay, that her kids would answer eventually….and knowing with a sick cold feeling that I could well be wrong….
I will never forget, and I will never forgive.
I live in western Washington State. The flight path to and from Sea-Tac airport goes right over my area and both McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis Army Base are just a few miles to the east. There are always planes or helicopters flying overhead.
The thing that lingers with me to this day is the silence from the sky in the week after 9/11. All commerical flights were grounded. The only planes in the air were the fighter jets from McChord. They were way, way up, barely visible. The noise from their engines was a distant rumble. It was a haunting reminder of what had happened. I remember feeling that the whole world was on hold, waiting to see what would be next. I always said a prayer for the pilots in those fighter jets. I still do.
On Sept 11 I took my kids to school, and stopped by the principle’s office to talk to her about a kid who had thrown a rock at my kid’s head the day before. They were closing down the office because a plane had hit the WTC. The principle’s daughter worked downtown. I went to the corner and saw the gaping hole in the middle of the building; it looked like the buildings were melting.
As I was walking home, someone told me the Pentagon had been hit. A few blocks later I heard a clicking sound — clack, clack, clack — and looked up to see the first tower was gone. Even a mile north, you could hear the sound. Then I went and voted in the primary, as we had our mayoral primary that day! I felt I had to do my duty as a citizen, to stand up in the face of terror.
Later that day, we climbed over the gates to get into the playground, which was locked by the parks dept. We helped everyone else come over too — pregnant women, kids, strollers. We all gathered there and the kids ran around and we talked to each other in shock. There were fire trucks from all around the country; I remember seeing one from Tarentum, PA, where we had family.
Electoral college comfort?
One thing one hears all the time is that Democrats shouldn’t be worried by the national polls, because it’s the electoral college that matters, and Obama is solidly ahead there.
Um, no.
First of all, electoral college counts based on the most recent polls are close. Real Clear Politics currently shows Obama 217, McCain 189, 132 tossups. That’s essentially a dead heat.
http://countusout.wordpress.com/
Tom, pls accept my condolences. I can’t imagine what this day is like for you.
Someone upthread mentioned how quick we were speaking of go to war.
Natural response I think. However, I remember when Peter Jennings, may he rest, interviewed Maya Angelou. She pressed for caution. Her words resonate with me til this day:
“The thinker must think.”
We shouldn’t rush into war because of our emotions. Needless to say that advice was grossly ignored when it came to Iraq.
txpolitico67, I don’t know that it was ignored. I think it was superfluous.
Is anyone else watching Sarah Palin on ABC News–it’s her first foreign policy interview and he is really pressing her.
I missed it fif, how’d she do?
How’s she doing, fif?
I have it on DVR but can’t watch ’til late.
Charlie Gibson was really leaning on her, firing one question after another about very controversial issues, like crossing the border into Pakistan to pursue terrorists (without their permission) if necessary, a nuclear Iran, what if Israel decides to launch a nuclear attack on Iran–would we support that etc. She did her best, but it’s not her strength. She steered it back to energy, and he brought her back to foreign policy, pressing for specific answers to completely hypothetical situations (like the examples listed above). She did ok, but they really need to prep her hard core to be ready for the debate with foreign policy expert Biden. My sister thought she did fine and seemed strong. I wasn’t as convinced.
Anyone else see it and have an opinion?
fif, I think that if she avoided gaffs she probably did fine. You’ve got to start someplace and the chances that her first network interview would be perfect — well it would be unlikely.
Did she say anything totally dumb?
fif – It’s amazing how thoroughly she’s being vetted.
How about we ask Obama these same questions, sans teleprompter?
No, she didn’t make any mistakes–good point. She was just hesitant and gave somewhat stock answers. Hillary would’ve made mince meat of her with specifics and command of knowledge.
Miss her…
madamab — she’s being more thoroughly vetted than ANY of the other candidates: Obama, McCain or Biden. You’d think the whole world rested on her nomination.
If only they would ask Obama the same tough questions…..
KB – I just think it’s mindboggling how Obama has been completely hypnotized by Sarah Palin.
He sees a powerful woman and she fills his mental screen completely. He is so snakebit and intimidated that he can’t campaign against McCain.
He is far too emotionally damaged to be President.
She did OK, no blunders. It just didn’t feel like a strong performance, just an OK one. I would agree with fif, she needs more prep. It might just be a matter of having more practice with tough interviewers. Charlie asked complex questions that seasoned politicians would grapple with too.
She has excellent eye contact with Charlie when she gives her answers. She holds his gaze, doesn’t look away like shifty eyed Obama does. Also, she doesn’t employ stall tactics when answering. Obama routinely ‘uh, ums, ahs’ while looking away and searching for the most nuanced answer he can think of. Sarah, doesn’t look like she’s struggling for answers.
It was a cool clear morning in our suburb of Chicago. I usually turn on the news early in the am, but we were late getting ready and I had to drop the kids off at school. I went back home, and dressed quickly to go to work. On my way to the train station I passed by my kids school. The streets were eerie – completely empty and none of the kids were outside. I saw an officer in front of the school but he waved me away. When I got to the train station they were announcing that due to what had happened in NY the trains were not running. I speed home and just after I walked in the door I watched the second tower go down – my mom was crying and I stood there in shock.
I work for a market data firm, and our boss had sent everyone home because they were afraid something might happen in Chicago. Some of our guys were on the phone with brokers etc. working in those buildings and heard screams etc. One of our guys lost his brother.
My first instinct was to pick up my kids. They would not let them out: lockdown. Finally we were able to pick them up. Our little ones had been watching the entire thing on TV’s at school, with no one explining what was happening. They were in shock.
The nightmares continued for weeks and to this day they still feel fear. My daughter won’t watch the videos because of the falling bodies, the people jumping while holding hands.
Riverdaughter
Thanks for this memorial. I noticed today that there isn’t much remembering going on. When I turned to NPR, the topic was Obama. For one day, for this day you would think the media would honor those who perished and those who sacrified their lives for others.
Final part re: Palin on ABC.
Palin made comments re: Iraq to former congregants of her church, saying it was the “will of God.”
Charlie: “Are we engaging in a holy war?
She deferred to Lincoln. “I never presume to know God’s will or speak for God’s work. I said that in regard to what Abe Lincoln said, ‘let us not pray that God is on our side in any situation, let us pray that we are on God’s side–that’s what that comment was about Charlie. Today I send my own son to Iraq to fight for our freedoms.
“But you said that it’s God’s plan.” [Gibson]
Palin: “I believe that there is a plan for this world and there is potential to protect everyone’s inalienable rights to freedom and the pursuit of happiness.”
“I don’t know if the task is from God. I know my son has made a decision and I am proud of his independence and serving something greater than himself–he could have chosen an easier path, something safer.”
I don’t know if I got that Lincoln quote down right, I was listening and typing at the same time, but I’m sure some of you have heard it before. She answered this question really well. He was trying to make her sound like an evangelical wing nut, and she placed it firmly in Founding Father territory. Well done.
Palin did OK, but fif is right she needs more prep. I can’t remember seeing Barack questioned like this. They always accept his first answer and never drill for more details.
PUMA power in Florida:
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/florida-pumas-from-14-to-25-mccain-almost-doubles-lead/
why wasn’t michelle at the 9/11 memorial?
If she does not do any better in the debate against Biden, the Dems win. He presented some pretty strong questions and her answers were weak in my opinion. The problem is that she has been hyped pretty much and her first big entry onto the national stage through an interview with a well prepared interviewer was an uneven match up.
She needs to come across much stronger and better prepared or the luster will diminish rather quickly. It may have been a strategic move on McCain’s part to choose her, but I don’t see her winning over too many undecideds tonight from this interview. I would rate it as no more than a C-.
PJ – She is not running for President, Obama is.
Actually, fred, RCP updated their electoral map: it’s now Obama 217, McCain 216
Charles–you’re killing me–why are his numbers going UP?
She did just fine. For, god sakes, she’s not the top of the ticket. The only way she will get better at this is by doing these type of interviews. I thought a couple of the questions were condescending. Have you been outside the country? Have you met a world leader?
Pat…you always seem like the glass is half empty.
fif, I completely agree with your assessment of Palin’s performance. She did okay. People who don’t follow politics closely or who don’t know the nuances of the issues will be paying more attention to tone, and I thought she came across as confident, if a bit combative, no ahs and ums. I thought Gibson was hard on her, which I don’t have a problem with EXCEPT that Obama has never been grilled like she was, or like Hillary was during the primaries. For the beltway crowd, this is going to give them reason to brush her off…
She needs to prep more than she has ever prepped before for the debate with Biden…he will rip her apart on foreign policy if she cannot nuance her answers.
I thought she seemed stronger towards the end of the segment. Maybe she just needs a bit of time to warm up?
1/2 FLVoter- I agree! I’ve never seen Obama asked questions as directly as this with follow up questions pressing him on his response. It’s always ‘OK, thank you Senator Obama, here’s the next question…’
Charlie started off asking Palin if she is qualified for the position (VP). Has anyone ever asked Obama that question?
She got through it without making a gaff, but there is such a double standard with her. And, frankly, did they do this to Dan Quayle?
It’s true–they are determined to trip her up. Charlie asked her about the most controversial foreign policy issues in rapid fire succession, challenging every response. It would be tough for anyone without that debate training, but that’s what they want to highlight. He even pressed back when she answered one by saying, “That’s a flurry of words, but would you invade Pakistan to pursue terrorists if necessary?”
Does anyone remember a single interviewer asking The King of Word Fogs that question?
Thank you for a beautiful post.
My memory of that day was how my elderly parents sought me out at work….dropping by to go to an early lunch. It became clear that they were reliving the feelings they had felt as young people on the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked. It was the first time I understood how much our roles had changed. I had become the comforter instead of the comforted.
Mountain Sage
votingvoter – Obama is worse than she is.
And he’s at the top of the ticket.
Is McCain near death? No. He is going to be the president, not Palin.
It’s true–they are treating HER like the presidential candidate to distract from the fact that Obama’s unqualified. Why is she running against him now? This is all so weird.
Is McCain near death? No. He is going to be the president, not Palin.
madamab: didn’t you hear Matt Damon? He insists that an “actuarial study shows that McCain has a high chance of dying.”
Well, if Matt says it’s true then it must be.
Remember how many debates it took for Obama to even get in the game? At least 3.
Ben, was Obama ever asked about what world leaders he had met with when he started running? The whole point of his european world tour was to meet with some to act like he had any relevant foreign policy experience…
This whole campaign is topsy turvy. It’s like going through the looking glass. It all makes no sense to me. Most importantly, though, she didn’t make a huge gaff that can be used in some sound bite.
fif, you’re assessment is perfect: Charlie asked her controversial foreign policy issues in rapid fire succession, challenging every response. That really captures it exactly.
It’s been so long since I’ve seen a real journalist conduct a tough interview, I forgot what it looks like!
He was hard on her, but she didn’t panic or make a mistake. She held her own. With more experience doing these hard interviews, she’ll get better and better.
I agree with the the comments re: Palin interview. It is clear that foreign policy is not one of her strengths, but Gibson pushed her hard. He even said something like “I just got lost in a blizzard of words. Was that a yes or a no?” in regard to her 1st answer on Pakistan. First, that was a very condescending exaggeration. She did not give him a “blizzard of words.” Second, has any interviewer ever called out Obama on his inability to give a Yes or No answer? Hillary would have nailed all these questions…. Barack — not so much!
I guess Tim Kaine could say he met Queen Elizabeth II. Oh, remember how all of Hillary’s meetings with foreign leaders was just ‘ceremonial.’
fif, on September 11th, 2008 at 7:16 pm Said:
It’s true–they are determined to trip her up. Charlie asked her about the most controversial foreign policy issues in rapid fire succession, challenging every response. It would be tough for anyone without that debate training, but that’s what they want to highlight. He even pressed back when she answered one by saying, “That’s a flurry of words, but would you invade Pakistan to pursue terrorists if necessary?”
Does anyone remember a single interviewer asking The King of Word Fogs that question?
I noticed the word fog thing too and was thinking about how no one ever asked that to Obama, and I thought to myself, he is the king of word fogs! It felt like he was a professor grilling a student for an oral exam, which I guess is fine, I don’t care if they grill her, but what is with the double standard???
I’d say that if she didn’t make a gaff then it was a wildly successful interview. How could her first major interview be any better?
And you know that since she didn’t make a gaff it won’t be shown endlessly. No one but a few people like us will care.
I read a transcript excerpt on the ABC web site. One question asked her about the Iraq war and her comments in her prior church concerning God’s mission and the war. I thought her response was excellent, sincere, real, straight forward and the kind of response I could live with. She connected her earlier comments with those of Lincoln about war and God’s work—that we should not pray for God to be on our side or our opponent’s side; we need to pray that we are on God’s side. I could live with that.
In the other question series in the excerpt she also did a very acceptable job. Neither of these segments had the hard core foreign policy questions mentioned by fif. I am sure they see this interview series with Gibson as part of her preparation for the debate with Biden. I just pray that she did not give up sound bites and ammunition. This is a very difficult week end for her with her son deploying today for Iraq. I saw the welcoming of her and her family last night and it was a raucous celebration. She gave a short address to the crowd that was very warm, down-to-earth and well received.
Charles,
If Jeralyn is as bad a doctor as she is a political analyst, I wouldn’t want to be one of her patients!
😉
OC Girl: you are right. She will get better and better. I give this woman credit. she could have easily gotten snide. But she sucked it up and pushed through it. I liked how she answered his question about the Bush Doctrine. I’m sure everyone inside the Beltway was aghast.
You know who I wish they had grilled this way?
Bush!
He never would have been able to steal the Presidency.
On 9/11, my wife had just left for work which is only a mile from the Pentagon. I saw the second plane hit, and I recall Katie Couric just kept on talking before she herself realized what had happened. Word that the Pentagon had been hit put me on the phone, but my wife was not in her office. I tried several more times. Still no response. Then I heard about a fourth plane that was supposedly already in Maryland airspace heading for DC. Speculation was that it was headed for the Capitol Building. I heard that mentioned. That was Flight 93. What has puzzled me all these years is why someone announced that they thought it was headed to the Capitol. Why not the White House, or any number of other formidable targets here in the city. But according to the flight pattern of the plane that landed in Pennsylvania field, that plane was never in Maryland. I finally reached my wife. She was safe. Her office was safe, but was making immediate plans to vacate. She got home just after 1 PM. Metro had shut down. Traffic was crazy. The day remained tense, and then turned somber all across the city. I didn’t even want to see the Pentagon until several months later. The hole was massive. Pictures didn’t adequately prepare me to see such a gaping hole where hundreds lost their lives. Last year we drove by the hole in NYC, but didn’t leave the car.
I’ve never believed, and will never believe the “inside job” conspiracies of Cynthia McKinney and others, but I have always been puzzled by that report stating the plane was “already” somewhere over Maryland, and presumed to be heading to the US Capitol. Only heard it once. And I stayed glued to the TV for months afterwards, clamoring for details, any details, just give it to me straight, I wanted to know, god dammit, but the stuff of reason soon became the stuff of conspiracy versus political correctness, the pride of war versus the pride of nothing, and then simply confusion, obfuscation, and a whole lotta garbage.
Yes, September 11 was also the day I first discovered Fox News, becoming an immediate Fox addict, and my daily fixes have only tapered off this summer.
I didn’t know anyone personally to die in these events, and I have only known one person who knew somebody close to them who died. But I will never forget the place, time, and aftermath of that day. For days people walked along the streets heads down, not daring, or simply feeling uncomfortable even to look into each other’s eyes. It was a overwhelmingly somber reaction, I thought, even for DC, but I suppose we were indeed a city and a nation in mourning.
I thought to myself, he is the king of word fogs!
JJ: Puma minds think alike 🙂
I liked how she answered his question about the Bush Doctrine. I’m sure everyone inside the Beltway was aghast.
Ben: I was typing and didn’t catch that. What did she say and why was it unacceptable to the “insiders?”
And, let’s remember, most of the voters don’t watch the debates. George Bush got through his debates with Kerry on little more than his hideous smirk.
I think Biden will waffle on and on and will just come across as a terrible bore. Palin will have done her homework and will come across as capable and confident.
I think I’d worry more about how McCain’s going to do in his debates.
The McCain camp should do an ad comparing the questions they’re asking Palin to the questions Obama gets asked. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking hard questions, but they need to be asked (and in the exact same manner) of ALL the candidates.
The media seems hellbent on destroying Palin. That plan will backfire. It comes too soon after the way Hillary was treated for people to not notice.
Asshole Charlie Gibson misquoted her. He said the EXACT QUOTE was “Our national leaders are on a mission from God.”
Bullshit. The exact quote is “Let us pray our national leaders are on a mission from God.” In other words, we don’t know their intentions, but let us hope and pray that God is guiding this mess. Gibson chopped off that qualifier at the start of her statement.
BIG DIFFERENCE there, asshat Charlie. HUGE difference. This is why she responded with the Abraham Lincoln quote. She wasn’t praying because she assumes God is on our side, she was praying that we are on HIS.
Gibson deliberately tried to twist her words to make it sound like “GOD told us to go attack Iraq.” She never said that.
Thanks Charles 🙂 I didn’t mean that panic against you specifically. I just cannot live with the idea of him pulling this off. Seriously, I have muted the pseudo-president for the past 8 years, and due to this primary season and what it has revealed, I despise BO even more. I cannot go there. I still don’t understand why ANYONE is supporting him.
The bots are freaking out over her Georgia/Russia answer, but I liked it.
When Gibson said if under the NATO treaty, the United States would have to go to war if Russia again invaded Georgia, Palin responded: “Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.
She is absolutely correct. Those ARE the terms of NATO. It is a legally binding treaty that requires us to treat an attack on ANY member as if it were an attack on us. So unless you think we should withdraw from NATO (which may be the position of some bots), she is 100% correct. That is not war-mongering, that is reality.
Fif: Clearly the Bush Doctrine question caught her off guard and when he asked, “Do you agree with the bush doctrine?” She replied, “in what regard, Charlie?” That was a good save.
If the plan was to destroy her with this interview, it failed. She was composed, direct, and answered all questions put to her. She survived to interview/fight another day.
What was the electoral vote difference for Bush and Kerry?
I thought she held her own, considering the pressure she’s under; she is the number two after all. Charlie seemed contemptuous of her, but that’s okay, she’s in the big leagues now and should be pressed hard. I just wish Obama had been pressed as hard and hope he is sometime soon. She was firm and precise in her language and maneuvered the situation pretty well. She’s no Hillary, that’s for sure, but the dummies at the DNC wanted someone who uuhm ahmed and said 302 words to say maybe. She came across much better prepared than Obama does to this day. He is truly terrible and he’s the #1 on the ticket
Okay the world just turned inside out. Chris Matthews liked her answer on the Bush Doctrine. He thought the questions were also tough.
I’d rather she be pressed hard in these early interviews. If they were kind now, she wouldn’t have a chance of being prepared for the debate.
Absolutely, this is still Obama’s race to lose. The playing field is shrinking back to the traditional battlegrounds. A lot of these states where each candidate has a lead they are under 50%.
I suppose they could ask Obama those same questions now, so that he could respond with the usual “What she said.”
286-252
ohio made the difference
Carol:
OMG I just agreed with Chris Matthews.
cindytx – LOLOLOLOL!
Gary, I sent you an email….
How many electoral votes does my state have? 20?
As a clarification for always viewing “the glass as half empty”, let me just say that first and foremost that I am a Democrat who has always carried the Democratic principles for more years than I care to count.
My party has stolen this opportunity from me and you as well this year by their underhanded and unwarranted tactics by offering up the most underqualified candidate we have ever been presented. That being said, I am now left with looking elsewhere to possibly cast my vote.
I abhor the Repubican stance and what they have done to this country over the last 18 years. In a perfect world not one of us here would ever be considering John McCain as our choice. I am certainly aware that Sarah Palin is not in the running for president. However, we are faced with making a decision in how we will project our votes in the upcoming general election and the task is formidable. Where are these candidates actually taking us? What do they offer overall? Which is the best of the least palatable candidates do we support?
You are absolutely correct that Obama has not faced the hard questions we all want answered. That is one of the biggest failing so this election season. But that being said, I need to hear and see more since we know so little about
where they stand on the issues.
But if my criticisms and observations are unwelcome then I take leave. It is difficult for me as a Democrat to fully absorb the Republican agenda as it has led us to this point in history. I loathe and despise Obama and the DNC but that should not curtail my right to cast a critical eye at a candidate most of us had never heard of until 3 weeks ago.
Denise W – I enjoyed your comment. I am getting a pet peeve about the “She’s no Hillary” comments I’ve been hearing in so many places. Obama’s no Hillary, Biden’s no Hillary (by his own admission), McCain’s no Hillary. Why should Palin , a Republican, be compared to Hillary? Because she’s a female politician?
Rant over.
Pat,
Don’t you DARE! I you do that, I’ll have to hunt you down and tie your hands to the keyboard!
Kearnes said she is well read, especially on Russia.
Also, the Governor of Hawaii said they are required to work with the surrounding countries when they border them.
He was exceptionally tough. She has the ability to get to the point because he position is hard wired to the point, she doesn’t have to travel the pathways like BO does.
I think the issue was that ultimately Sarah Palin’s performance in the VP debate is not going to decide this presidency. We all have different opinions of her performance, but she answered really hard questions and did just fine.
This is a discussion. We can’t be sensitive. If it is your opinion, make your case.
Katiebird, I agree with you. It’s to her advantage to be pressed very hard initially. Charlie Gibson was a good pick for the first interview. Yes, he was condescending but I suspect many other journalists would be as well.
ABC perhaps is trying to appease the pi**ed off Obama folks; afraid that ObamaCo won’t favor them with interviews, etc.
Pat J, I’m glad to have your voice be part of the discussion here.
Half empty, half full? I see it as half a glass.
Point – she doesn’t have to know everything about history. The President will have expert advisers and they will bring their opinions and she will have the “judgment” to make a decision.
And, by now, I hate that word “judgment”.
The questions, while condescending at times, were fair. She chose to run with the big dogs and this is what you have to do. Obama’s had 19 months to learn this game. And frankly any of us could stand up in a 8 person debate and get through it on some level especially when you are hearing everyone else’s answers. She had NOTHING to go on. And what I took from her interview was, “you can’t blink” and she didn’t.
About the Bush Doctrine question in the Palin interview — I want to know who coined the phrase (media?) and why should it be accepted universally, especially by Republicans and especially if it is meant in a derogatory way.
ben – exactly!
I meant she was flying solo. She had no one to bounce off of.
Bush doctrine is a fluid term. She was smart to make him declare what part of the fluid “Bush doctrine” he wanted to discuss. Matthews loved her answer, “dove -ish”.
Charles, a lot of these young voters have no sense of history – zero, zip, nada. History began for them at the Clinton impeachment trial, and ends with the current Bush regime.
One of the biggest dangers to this country, in my opinion, is to allow our justified horror at Bush’s ill-advised empire-driven warmongering to turn to a stubborn refusal to face the realities of genuine dangers.
I see a lot of knee-jerk reactionary “Let’s all be nice and the world will be nice to us” crap coming from the new left that is frankly disturbing. I see a lot of assumed guilt for the actions of this country in the past 8 years that is leading many to cringe away from anything even approaching a sane and robust foreign policy.
They want to expiate the sin of slavery by electing a dangerously unqualified black man. And they want to expiate Bush’s sins by becoming all touchy-feely on what remains a very dangerous world stage. It is all part and parcel of a breathtakingly simplistic, spotty, and naive grasp of history.
I think Chris is about to get a “tingle down” his leg!
I bet the next time she is asked about the bush doctrine or pakistani border she will hit it out of the park. This isn’t the stuff that can hurt her. The mindfield for her is with social issues. She needs to say, at least for me, that her personal religious beliefs will not dictate policy and if McCain were to sign a stem cell bill she would stand there next to him. I need to hear what she has to say on that stuff.
8 p.m. est tonight McCain and Obama forum on FOX
Ok, that’s it, Bill going rescue OB, what a flipping jerk. What little respect I had for him is now completely gone.
And Sarah was interviewed harsher than O’Reilly interviewed 61 (seems O’Reilly has a man-crush). NO matter what, Hill included as vp, I will never vote 61….
And unfortunately, this is exactly what the whole mess has boiled down to. Not the best, but the perception of something new and shiny. Woe is us.
Attacking the Taliban/AQ government (they were thoroughly entertwined) in Afghanistan was a perfectly understandable action (nations do have the right of self-defense) and most of us in New York, like most people elsewhere in the country, supported military action for that purpose. That Bush botched that action and then started another senseless war in Iraq doesn’t change that. (IMO of course.)
I think the hard questions are fantastic. These questions need to be hard. I would rather know how a candidate views NATO than what is on their iPod.
As for what I said earlier about the media trying to destroy Palin….I didn’t just mean by asking her about controversial foreign policy matters in rapid succession. I was actually thinking about Brian Ross on GMA this morning and his “investigative report” on the whole Troopergate mess. It was so slanted it was laughable, except for the fact that someone out there watching believed it. It seems that sort of journalism is played out daily against Palin, but no one else.
Fine, look into every single aspect of a candidate’s life, ask them tough questions, hold their feet to the fire, please, by all means! But do it to all of them.
Per Artical 5 of NATO, we will come to the defense of a NATO ally if they are attacked.
A Washngton insder politician may have said something like, “Charlie, that is a hypothetical question. And if a NATO member is attacked, I don’t really believe we should honor our commitment to NATYO.”
Make no mistake about it, if a NATO ally is attacked, and that was the question, that is if a NATO ally is attacked by Russia, will we act to help our NATO ally? Will we come to the defense of that NATO ally?
The answer is yes and it has to be yes. America has always said with determination that we would enforce the NATO alliance and we have done just that. There is no other answer but yes.
And Obama, Biden, and McCain are in favor of letting Ukraine and Georgia into NATO.
If that happens and those countries are attacked, by all means we will have to come to their defense.
The editing by ABC was bad. Palin’s answers were confident and without hesitation. It was some straight talk and she delivered.
I hear ABC will do a Nightline special and 20/20, and more tomorrow for the evening news.
Tonight there is a forum featuring McCain and Obama. It just came on so going to watch it a bit.
Palin’s position is much better than George W. Bush:
She believes that America has the right to act if we are facing an imment threat to our national security. That is not cowboy diplomacy. That is being smart.
Sarah Palin answered the questions honestly and without hesitation. It was a good, tough interview and Sarah Palin did a fine job.
McCain-Palin ’08
Hillary ’12
Oh, fuck, Judy Woodruff.
Is there a cone of silence?
Love McCain’s answers at the forum now.
No, because McCain is first. BO has to listen to try and formulate his answers within 3000 words.
My cat loves my Macbook for some reason. He’s mesmerized.
Did this guy host the reunion of the Real House Wives of Orange County on Bravo?
BO sucks too much to be able to do well, he will try to sound so smart – he is a fraud, and all the acting can not hide that….
ben- lol!
Taking a page out of the (whiny) pro Obama crowd, I got 2 questions:
1- Isn’t McCain being interview here by 2 committed “Liberals”?
2- Now that McCain is going 1st, is Obama really in a “cone of silence” or can we assume he WILL be cheating?
OCGirl: Im so happy someone got my joke.
Not to throw a damper on the evening, but Hillary should be answering these questions.
purplefin.
I see your point. I guess it’s unfair to compare them to Hillary, because IMHO Hillary is the best. I am not blind to her faults, but she is truly a competent, qualified, incredibly knowledgeable person- that she’s a woman is an added bonus. That is what makes this so sad; that we are reduced to a second best option in these most dangerous complicated times. That being said, I am incredibly impressed by Sarah and given time she too might be one of the best. Obama- he will never be anything but a lightweight.
I remember a colleague of mine in White Plains, NY, berating me for not understanding how vulnerable 9/11 made him feel. How the children at the local WP elementary school first found out their parent(s) were killed when they were not picked up after school that day. How much he wished he were still living in his hometown, Pueblo, CO, and not in White Plains, and how lucky I was to be in Denver. How I could not possibly relate because I was beyond the range of danger and loss. As if this were an event that only affected New Yorkers.
Then I told him the story of my neighbor, who was attending a conference on one of the top floors of WTC North that day. She was so excited to have been chosen for this advanced seminar hosted by her company. How we waited to hear a word from her. How people who knew her from separate parts of her life – the ultimate Frisbee group, the dogowners group, the work group, the neighbors and friends, the family – came together to share memories. How it felt to NOT see her running her dogs past my house every day, to see her house a few doors down abandoned and empty and finally for sale, how weird it was that she didn’t just die. She disappeared. She just didn’t come home. Ever. And there was no body, and no funeral, and no story in the local paper, and no closure. She was just gone. Forever. And her cat ended up living with me.
He, remarkably, although he was in NY, had not lost a single person he knew. I, 2,000 miles away, had.
The point, I guess, is that yes, other people elsewhere, everywhere felt this too. The rest of the country cared. The rest of the world cared. I remember looking at a Web site that collected photos of memorials around the world – candles, flowers, stuffed animals, signs. That was what finally moved me to tears. That, and “We are all Americans today.” I remember thinking that war was such a wrong response to what had happened.
And then we squandered that great global outpouring of empathy by going to war. Eighteen months later I was protesting against that war with 10 million other people around the world.
It didn’t do any good.
I see a lot of knee-jerk reactionary “Let’s all be nice and the world will be nice to us” crap coming from the new left that is frankly disturbing. I see a lot of assumed guilt for the actions of this country in the past 8 years that is leading many to cringe away from anything even approaching a sane and robust foreign policy.
Exactly wmcb: as HRC said, “carrots & sticks”
This lovey-dovey meet without pre-conditions is dangerously naive, and scares the hell out of me–more than McCain’s supposed warmongering. Why do you think Obama just received high poll #’s from the world community? Because he’s such a swell guy or they know anything about him? No, it’s because they know a pushover when they see one, and it’s to their advantage. I mean Hamas? C’mon.
MABlue, if there is one thing I can say with absolute conviction about Obama, it is:
Assume he will be cheating.
Timberland? Geez.
What I think is good about this interview and the tough international policy questions is that the picture the Obama camp has painted— that she knows nothing and is completely inexperienced, unprepared—does not come across as the reality on camera. How I think she came off in this interview is that she has a level of knowledge; she does not stumble and mumble, she can hold up her end of the interview. I have a son. I think about what my mental and emotional state would be today if he were getting on a plane for Iraq. I am not sure I could do that interview even if I were hard wired to Kissinger and Albright.
jangles, I agree. someone on Lou Dobss said the McCain campaign had done a good job of lowering expectations, Lou laughed and said “i think the Democrats did that”. lol
McCain is going to destroy Obama in one of the debates. He will bide his time and will lay the trap for Barry and that will be the end of it.
I understand that Obama was a no show for the PA memory services today. McCain gave a heartfelt and touching address. Does this matter to the PA people? Was Obama not invited? I understand he sent an email. Is any of that significant?
fif, carrot and stick is correct. Bush’s problem is that he was all stick, no carrot.
The solution to that is not to take away the stick. The solution is to add the damn carrot.
It was more important to have lunch with Bill, today.
I just tuned into the forum, how is McCain doing? They hated that he suggested bringing ROTC back to campus’ like Columbia. They are conducting the forum in Obama’s lair. Why not do a forum for Obama at Annapolis?
I like the little pictures!
Fif-
Exactly
This lovey dovey sit down and talk and talk and talk, never went well with me. The idea of these foreign leaders preferring Obama speaks volumes. Power is always looking to expand and press where they see weakness. Given our options I trust McCain to lead with a strong but level head than Obama and the people he will surround himself with. Frankly his associations frighten me (Excluding Biden, who is harmless and means well but is no powerhouse)
Hi. I’ve been reading this blog for a few of weeks now, and I couldn’t resist commenting any longer. Reading all of your comments has been both enlightening and entertaining. I have learned much.
I am watching the CNN forum as well. McCain comes across as honest. At least, that’s the impression I get. And, no, there is no cone of silence, according to the online host Aqui (or whatever his name is). So, presumably, Obama can hear everything McCain is saying.
(Now I’ll wait and see how long it takes to get out of moderation.)
Well said, Johnny Mac.
Two states here (had to change my name when I added the photo). Most people forget that 9-11-01 was primary day in NYC, so I left early to votebefore walking from 42nd and 1st to work at 50th and 8th. I was in the conference room on the 33rd floor making last-minute preparations for the final Arthur Andersen sign-off on my company’s consolidated tax return, which was due 9-15. Funny how that seemed so important at the time. One year later, Arthur Andersen was kaput and our company was sold off and dismantled.
I bought our place in CT in 2002 and began working in CT in 2003. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that 9-11 was the core reason why I cannot ever support Bambi: He is not qualified, capable or motivated to keep our beloved nation safe.
For the love of God…the Department of Service!
Hillary is 60. Palin is 44.
She did fine.
We love Hillary and she should be the President, no doubt. But, if we can’t have her, I am happy with 2 honorable people and Sarah will learn.
Hi. I’ve been reading this blog for a few of weeks now, and I couldn’t resist commenting any longer.
Uh huh.
Here we go.
Oh Lord, Woodruff is bringing up Palin’s “derisive” comments re: community organizers.
McCain: “She was responding to Obama’s criticism of her experience as a mayor in a small town. Of course I respect community organizers and people who work on that level.”
He is really good in this setting. I can see why he does well in Town Halls.
McCain is really thoughtful and sincere. He undermines the “warmonger” image they put on him.
so far so good with johhny mac
I don’t understand the camera angle on the ABC tapes. Palin wasn’t able to look the camera in the eye and talk directly to us the listener. I think that made the interview less engaging. I agree with PJ, as a Democrat, I disagree with most of the policy points, but I thought that she was strong and direct and she stood up to Gibson. Thanks to my fellow Conflucian for pointing out that Gibson misquoted her quote on the war. I don’t know how but she was ready with the Lincoln quote that explained her statement (especially when you heart the entire statement).
Oh, cool, I didn’t get filtered, and I’m a potato head to boot.
BTW, I don’t have teevee (lucky me), so if anyone knows where I can watch the entire Palin interview by Gibson online, please point it out. I’ve only found two short snippets at ABC’s website. I’ll keep watching out for it, though.
this was a wonderful diary Katie. Everytime I read or see a picture about 9-11 I get choked up. For those that died, yes, but also for the grace and beauty of the response of the American people. l
I was teaching school that morning and a fellow teacher came by my room and told me to turn on the tv. She knew my daughter worked in NYC, in fact it was her 2nd day of work at CNN-doing pr for Lou Dobbs. I didn’t know where their building was and remember running down the hall, leaving my class-something I had never done, and calling my husband. I just yelled, ‘Jerry and he immediately said, she’s alright.’ Had managed to get a call out to him on her cell phone before the lines got tied up. I’m one of the lucky ones. You know–Forbes or Fortune magazine, can’t remember which, had a picture of a man trudging through the ash and haze with his brief case-on it’s cover soon after that day and it turned out to be the father of my daughters’ friend. He didn’t know that his father was on the cover until he saw it on the newsstand. Anyway, it was a very moving photo.
Sorry to get so long winded, but the memories bubble to the surface.
Being a mayor is a thankless job.
Pat,
Of course your criticisms are welcome! Please don’t feel that way. I haven’t read all the comments, but you, of all people, have the respect of us long-time Conflucians. I didn’t see the interview, but I value your opinion. I’ll try to watch it on-line tomorrow. I’m dead tired tonight, so I don’t think I could concentrate on it.
Try Fox or CNN
Not everyone is like McCain vis-a-vis the need for personal service, serving a cause greater than oneself etc. But if everyone were like him, I can kinda see the world working.
If everyone were like Obama, life would suck.
Watched the Palin interview. Nothing out of the park, but a solid base hit. She’ll do fine. She is smarter than Bush, a beacon of light compared to Cheney, more composed, humble, and believable than Obama, and keener and more exciting than McCain. She needs a little seasoning, which she’ll get. I loved how she wore hardly any lipstick. I was on the edge of my seat the whole interview. It was great theater.
I’ll vote for McCain/Palin.
NOBlink
NObama
NOvember
OMG…he is so funny.
Katiebird,
Thank you for this beautiful diary. I was in Rhode Island that day, on vacation at the beach. It was so shocking and horrifying. My sister and my parents had come out from Indiana. My sister was so upset, that my brother-in-law drove out to be with her. For the rest of our vacation all we did was read the NY Times and watch TV. It was so disturbing for me to know that two of the flights had originated in Boston, and of course many New Englanders were on those flights.
BTW, Pat, I’ll clink glasses with you and raise a cheer anytime.
The more I see and know of Mac the more I like him. Getting to see and know more about Obama had the opposite effect, unlike what he predicted would happen-that to know him was to love him-ugh
I was running late. On the radio, WABC I think., a woman said a “small plane” had crashed in WTC1. She worked at the station, was not a reporter but called in – could see it from her apartment.
I got on Rte. 208 S (NJ). From the tracks under the highway in Fair Lawn, you could see the towers. One had black smoke rising – a LOT of smoke.
The highway was backed up. Major construction months long. It took about ten minutes or so to get to the Rte. 4 junction. As I was sitting in the traffic, just past the RR overpass, one plane flew over – the sky was perfectly clear.
Ten minutes after that plane flew over, another plane hit the south tower. I was past where I could see. But a reporter on the radio asked another, “was that another plane? It looked like another plane hit the other building.”
When I got to the RR overpass on Rte. 4 in Hackensack, I could see BOTH towers smoking furiously.
Got to the office, no one knew. We turned on the radio.
In my building, eight people had eleven family members down there – it’s a small building – about 40 offices.
One woman’s son worked in the North tower and his brother taught at Stuyvesant High – his classroom window looked out at WTC – he could see his brother’s building hit.
I had two office mates – one had a brother and a cousin in WTC. The other’s niece was there.
One colleague who lived in NYC walked in right after one or both towers were down – I can’t remember. She had come over the GWB. “But it’s CLOSED!” I said. She was crying. “I drove over it closed. I was talking to my mother the whole way.” (Her mom died when she was 18).
Of everybody who had someone over there, only my office mate lost someone. Her cousin collapsed and died exiting the SI Ferry from smoke inhalation. I didn’t know you could die from that after you were out of the smoke.
One student stopped going to classes. He had registered but could not deal with anything. He got incompletes that became Fs and returned a year later. The F’s lowered his GPA, but he wanted to pick up and continue. His brother was one of the heroes on Flight 93. You would know his name. His wife is one of the “Jersey Girls.”
When they read the names, close to the beginning in the A’s is the little boy whose parents were our neighbors when I was in college. He was 3 then He was a lawyer when he died. Near the end, in the V’s is the brother of a former student.
The rest of the highway construction went very smoothly . We all became exceedingly polite and, for awhile, stopped using our “New Jersey hand signals” (Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich). The fires finally went out in February, near my birthday.
I have never gone back down there to see the hole in the sky. The end of the tracks in Fair Lawn and Hackensack have nothing at the end anymore. The towers had been all of the skyline you could ever see from there.
YES!!! I liked that answer, Mr. McCain, sir. Gosh, as a matter of fact, first time I ever heard that question.
He is good! No wonder Obama doesn’t want to be on the same stage with him
Jangles@8:27: “I understand he sent an email. Is any of that significant?”
That’s what I’ve been saying. He thinks he can run the country from his Blackberry. He emailed for Gustave, and now this!
LOSER!
I thought Sarah Palin did extraordinarily well ..She gave solid answers , and was not led where she did not wish to go . She spoke without hesitation or timidity, but with resolution and conviction. What I liked most I think was her determiniation to be understood , This , for me , is in stark contrast to what we have become accusomed to from bo … a constant and continuous garbled and unlcear message ; with the addition of so much extraneous information ; tangential verbosity, and almost painful equivocation . Bo talks out of both sides of his mouth so much and so often , his message is ineffective , and indistinct , and he gives the impression of being specious , and shallow .
Sarah Palin is very direct , unclouded, and her answers have depth and emphasis .
I cant wait to see how she progresses , because I think she is off to a great start !
Pat J.–I love reading your comments and you always make me feel so ‘not alone.’ This site is like a large family and even when we get irritated, lets remember that being here makes us all stronger.
Who is this male interviewer on the forum? He’s mildly annoying.
Is anyone going to watch Uhbama? I can’t stomach it but I’ll be curious about his endlessly philosophical answers. And once again, why does he get to follow the person who has to be on first?
Jmac did a good job.
What question, Brit?
Did you see Mac’s joke about people living longer and robust lives? Then he pretended to fall asleep? lol!
Obama will come on now and say: My views?- what he said !
Today I wore a pin I wear every time I Fly. Not many got this pin..It says..
American
11, 77
United
175, 93
September 11, 2001
It was given to me by my airline,.
The Airline that was my family for a very long time..American Airlines…until my retirement in 2002.
I was Honored in May 2001 as a Flight attendant of the year for the entire New York Base..For my airline.
I was in the air the morning of 9/11 out of Newark, as #1 flight attendant.
I was a lucky one, I know that because I wear a pin..each year ..on this day and every time I fly, in respect for them.
Those were my co-workers that died that day.
Brave hero’s they were.
All of them.
And my neighobrs son was lost that day..Jeff was his name..he died when my airline’s airplane slammed into the building he was working in.
And many in my hometown of Middletown NJ were lost that day, and many in my then town in NJ were lost that day as well. Many parents of kids from my sons’ high school .
Husbands, Fathers and sons..and mothers and wives and daughters and all of them friends of so many of us ..
Today I hung my flags and flew my big flag.. and put flowers in red white and blue in my gardens..
I used to hate that..i really did ..but i can do it now..because i have to do something to show respect for them…not for anyone else..but for me…and for them.
I still have a hard time getting through this day.
I can not watch TV.
.I went to the Memorials , too many..god ..too many.
Representing my airline as a Flight Crew, and as a co-worker and a friend ..and a family member of my Airline…As we were each other’s family member…our airline family.
I pray each one of those angels that were lost that day , have peace on the other side..and that someday we have all the answers to why ..why they had their lives taken that sunny sunny day in September 2001..
I started the day out today with tears on my front step..it was a day almost exactly like another September morning….it was sunny , clear blue sky..beautiful….fresh clean air.. a day that was perfect…
Today it was not perfect though..there were almost 3000 people missing from this world today..that shouldn’t be.
Remember them with love in your heart ..
Denise W, at 8:18 pm Said:
Totally agree. We don’t have the best in the GE. We still have her in the Senate thank goodness.
Pat, are you watching this forum?
I saw the upper thread, and miss hearing your comments. One of the reasons I always felt safe her was because of some of you ‘oldsters’ that had been commenting here a long time. I lurked a long time, made my first comment early May.
Of course- similar questions for bambi- God forbid he were to go first or be pressed hard
Magdalena: The question was, if McCain would give green cards to people who earned their PhDs in the US. What surprised me most was how McCain answered it. He didn’t waffle, even though I thought it was a controversial immigration question, especailly for his base. McCain basically said yes, he will do everything he could to keep those professionals in the country, though not necessarily a solution using green cards.
Fif
The male interviewer is the same guy who did The Real Housewives of Orange County Reunion on Bravo!
I turned it off. I can’t stand Obama’s speech pattern.
Why is it that Obama could listen to McCain’s Q & A?
How’s that fair?
Pat Johnson – wondered where you’ve been because I was waiting for you to log on to see what icon you got. Since I’m a blue toast, I thought maybe you’d be some kind of snack food.
Don’t go away – we love you and need your humor.
wcmb –
thanx for posting the real palin quote, as opposed to the misrepresentation by gibson. posters on other blogs are already pointing this out, but don’t expect the corpmedia to bring it up.
from NQ:
GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war?
PALIN: You know, I don’t know if that was my exact quote.
GIBSON: Exact words.
(NQ poster)NO, Gibson, those are not the “exact” words.
Actual quote: “Let us pray our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.”
“Let us pray” makes all the difference in the world, right Charlie? Typical media trickery.
end of post
go to ABC’s homepage today:
Tight Race: Obama Leads in Crucial States
Is Palin Politicizing Son’s Military Service?
Palin Backstab? Official Praised, Then Fired
(under a BO pic) WATCH: Fervent Election Enthusiasm
Does Palin Have Experience for VP?
Hasselbeck Defends Obama?!?
if u look at the BO leads in crucial states article, naturally it uses the quinnipac poll:
“The Quinnipiac poll gives Obama a 5 percent edge, 49-44, in Ohio. Obama has an even narrower 48-45 lead in Pennsylvania, while McCain has comfortable 50-42 margin in Florida. ”
i see posters on various blogs saying the quinnipac poll is being pushed on local media, yet rasmussen had mccain 7 points up in ohio a couple of days ago, so why would that be reversed already? to coincide with 9/11!
Dems downticket abandon Obama.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c2f69ce-8031-11dd-99a9-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
Democratic jitters about the US presidential race have spread to Capitol Hill, where some members of Congress are worried that Barack Obama’s faltering campaign could hurt their chances of re-election.
Party leaders have been hoping to strengthen Democratic control of the House and Senate in November, but John McCain’s jump in the polls has stoked fears of a Republican resurgence.
A Democratic fundraiser for Congressional candidates said some planned to distance themselves from Mr Obama and not attack Mr McCain.
“If people are voting for McCain it could help Republicans all the way down the ticket, even in a year when the Democrats should be sweeping all before us,” said the fundraiser, a former Hillary Clinton supporter.
“There is a growing sense of doom among Democrats I have spoken to…. People are going crazy, telling the campaign ‘you’ve got to do something’.”
hang on there, uhbama…. a couple weeks ago we were going to be energy independent in 10 years… not just 30 or 40 percent
ben: SERIOUSLY????
sung to the tune of the limbo song: how low can we go?
Got standards anyone?
MA Blue: no one in their right mind besides us political junkies would watch this incredibly boring exercise is civic affairs
Here he goes- He said what JM said and Judy called him on it
( miracle)
Fif: that was a joke.
MABlue:
McCain=fastball
Obama=slowpitch
When Arthur Andersen imploded, our Int’l tax partner went to Deloitte. Their offices overlooked ground zero. All the blinds on that side of the building were pulled, one year later. Maybe longer.
The smoke from the towers lasted for days. During the evening of the attacks, the winds shifted north to midtown. That’s when we smelled the jet fuel.
The next day, troopers from all over the country started showing up. They said they came because they had to. Mississippi. Arizona. I will always remember them.
I’ll also remember those “missing” posters that were all over Manhattan. Most of them mentioned what floor the loved one worked on and whom they worked for. It was heartbreaking.
And my father never called to see if I was OK. He had his sister make the call the next day.
I had a Coast Guard friend stationed on Staten Island on 9.11.01. During the rescue phase for the first couple of days, his job was to pickup body parts & put them into a bucket for later ID. His wife said he worked nonstop, coming home only to restlessly nap, eat, and vomit. Then he hurried back. She also said they couldn’t escape, because then the trucks started going to Fresh Kills on SI around the clock. They had loved living there, but now won’t go back.
I had to turn the channel. I can’t stand his speech pattern. He makes me sick with his 2 syllable answers before he pauses to consider the next 2 syllables.
“Something Has Got to Give” is on if you haven’t seen it. It is great!
ben, Andy Cohen? I think he’s the programming director for Bravo, which NBC owns
I don’t know if Pat is still here, but I have to say that all the McCain boosterism kind of bothers me too. I respect people’s choice to vote for him as a protest, but I don’t think I could ever reach the point where I’m rooting for him. I’m still a Democrat and I don’t trust Republicans. I don’t think that is going to change for me.
I want to recover the Democratic Party. When the Republicans win in November it will be tragedy in my book. Unfortunately, we don’t have decent alternative, but the next four years are going to be tough on me. I’m not wealthy, so I’m not insulated from the effects of Republicanism on the economy. I probably won’t have health care after this year until I am old enough for medicare.
This is horrible.
Obama has pretty much stolen Hillary’s platform.
Ben: ha. Who can tell nowadays? It is entirely within the realm of possibility.
I can’t stand listening to the sound of Obama’s voice! I have this streaming from C Span. He is such a doofus. McCain looked and sounded strong during his one hour of time.
I know Carol; I don’t know how much more I can take-
He’s a horrible speaker! And he’s saying everything JM said. Will the double standard never cease?
FYI, I got a call earlier this evening from a friend who has a friend high up in the Dem Party machinery, who told her rumors are flying about Biden being replaced with Hillary. Neither she nor I believed it, but it does provide some insight into how profound the Party jitters must be.
Obama has to follow everybody so that he can safely say: “What he/she said”. God forbid he ever follows Jessica Simpson!
Pale Lion @ 7:30 Anything could have been misinterpreted that day. The speaker may have confused locations in Maryland and Pennsylvania that had similar names.
I remember a video that was up on a conspiracy website. People who saw the second WTC plane swore it had no windows.
Once I had to fly to Israel on business. I always prefer to take the national airline if possible, so I took El Al. I left at night, but returning home on a morning flight, the flight attendants made us close all the shades even though it was daytime. When the El Al FAs tell you to do something, you do it.
A plane with closed shades could appear not to have windows. I sure the hijackers made the people close the shades. Didn’t want them to see where they were going – what was up.
I think it is going to be very obvious during the debates. McCain is a man who is really comfortable in his own skin, because he has spent years becoming this man. He has nothing to prove. He also has decades of experience to draw on, so his answers are available. Lastly, his ability to answer in a concise manner with conviction stands in clear contrast to the Grand Equivocator. Of course, it was really obvious with Hillary too–even more so–and people couldn’t see what was right in front of their faces. WHO is supporting this guy? I still don’t understand….
MABlue, he had copted Hillary’s stuff, and he also just stole McCain’s line, “serve a cause greater than yourself”.
The guy never had a principle of his own in his life. He just borrows whatever sounds good.
They keep telling him what McCain said, wtf…
katiebird, I love your story , thank you so much for writing and sharing …
…. I was only home alone that day … but I was so restless all morning I could not sit still and could not figure out why . So … I took a walk in the woods near my home. Getting dressed, I happened to put on all black , which I almost never do … When I came back from my walk , I noticed I had left the tv on . I had forgotten it was on in the other room because the sound was turned down all the way , and when I saw a plane fly into the world trade center .. I thought to myself .. that is so disgusting ; who made that horrible movie , and went into a mental rant about the level of violence in movies .
I changed the channel , and it was still on . I think I had a twilight zone moment before I turned the sound up and started watching .
My daughter lives in a bedroom community near DC , so I immediately called her , she was ok and all family was ok , and then I called my son in Qatar but I could not get thru .That took days …and happened much later ..
I called my Aunt Susie in NYC , of course could not get thru but she and the rest of the family were all alright . . the latter part of the rest of that day is a blur . I have friends that lost family and friends that day , but we all lost so many and so much .I really do think we need to declare Sept 11 a National Day of Remembrance
MABlue: I know we should have expected this, but his theft of Hillary’s thoughtful policies just rips it.
If the Dems liked her platform so much, why isn’t she our nominee? That’s what i’d like to ask ol never-had-an-original-idea-in-my-life Obama.
Those churches also paid him a salary.
My son went to high school at JJ Pearce with Jessica Simpson. She is very smart.
Pat: LOVE your gravatar. Did you choose it?
Christ, I will gladly pay for an elocution teacher for this guy!!! The stuttering is getting on my nerves.
POE: No.
damn he is so full of it
Not only can I not believe this doofus is the nominee of the Dem Party, I cannot believe that people like Matt Damon or John Kerry or anybody with a half-lick of sense would be hateful to other people just to help him get elected.
Pat, turn on Something Has Got to Give!
And Barbra Streisand is throwing a fundraiser on is behalf. Tickets are only $28,000. Oy.
Carol: I’m upstairs on the computer. Is that a movie?
Barbara used to be my favorite. Now, I love her old movies, but I can’t stand her personally.
OMG – yes, it is great.
He made $12,000 a year? Okay I know he had the chance to go make a buttload of money on Wall Street as he says (although I’m not sure why he feels this way since he wasn’t a finance major) but in the 1980s $12,000 a year was a liveable salary, especially in Chicago. That’s what most of the college grads I knew were making and we weren’t hurting.
I know that must sound insane to younger people but that’s how it was.
the fox anchors are sooooo bored with this. and remember, mccain does better when he is in a fight, coming from behind.
Carol: Is that the one with Rosie Perez and Bridget Fonda? If so I saw it. I liked it. Rosie was a pain but funny.
Babs is raising money for Obama….geez, that will get women like me over 55 (approx) to go vote for Obama….NOT!!!! She is really not going to be getting anymore money for concerts from me if he wins!!!
Other than when he is in ” preaching mode” as my friend from North Carolina calls it , …and she should .know her daddy was a Methodist preacher .. and I think he is mediocre at best in preaching mode …
I have NEVER understood why ANYONE thinks bo is an eloquent speaker .. he hems he haws he ums and he aws ( and he almost never rhymes hehe )
.. his cadence is almost painful sometimes he has no flow and no rhythm , and one of the really bad attributes of all , for me, he seems to be speaking for effect. he lacks sincerity .
John Mccain speaks from his gut and his heart .. thru his brain and out of his mouth Bo speaks from the back of his head .. under his eyelids and out of both sides of his mouth , and then he pauses to see what effect he is having.
Is anyone here at all familiar with neurolinguisitc programming .. he is frequently looking in the direction of prevaricating when he speaks .
No, Jack Nicholson, Amanda Peet, Diane Keaton
Carol: I did not see that one. Jack is another one I “like”.
Oh good grief. Ivy league students can’t figure out how to sign up for the military if they don’t have recruiters in their face on campus? Give me a break.
wmcb @ 5:56 “I will never forget, and I will never forgive.”
Neither will I. And Obama’s answer to what 9/11 means to him was what? Something about the atmosphere AFTER it and getting that BACK?
We were in shock! Americans are feisty. We were paralyzed. That day, and the weeks after – that wasn’t us!!
I really think that IS what he wants. Might as well put valium in the water. How far would he go to make us all zombies again. He’s nuts!
Well, I can tell you how downticket Dems are doing in KY, and that’s sh*t. I’ve previously mentioned the hubby’s hate/hate mail with Mitch McConnell. Mitch has been rude to hubby a long time, but earlier this year his letters [he never agrees with hubby] got considerably nicer. Mitch was worried.
Worry no more, Mitch. His new letters aren’t as rude as before, but they are definitely more nonchalant. Mitch isn’t cocky yet, but he is beginning to relax. If Hillary were our nominee, I think Lunsford could have taken Mitch out.
He may not have signed up for the war but I am sure he would have made a “speech” about it.
I don’t know how you guys can listen to him. The uh’s and um’s just drive me up the wall.
I just looked back. The audience is sharing cyanide pills.
What the Hell is going at TL.
Knowing all that Jeralyn has been writing about Palin the last couple of days, just read this post from BTD and tell me if he’s not whacking his co-blogger by using a proxy:
“Even the normally level headed”. (Unlike who?)
Who are the “THEY” BTD is talking about?
oh and he is totally lacking in originality .. I am beginning to wonder if he is one of those people that doesn’t learn from experience , as well..
Pat & Carol – Jack’s spot for Hillary as commander in chief – priceless! I LOVE Jack.
bb: I feel obligated since I started with this 18 months ago. It is like reading a bad book, you just have to finish it.
Carol,
I love that movie. Diane Keaton is adorable in it.
Still4Hill: I love Jack. A total “hound” but he makes no bones about it. My fave movie of his was “The Last Detail”. He was and is, great.
Swansp:Is anyone here at all familiar with neurolinguisitc programming .. he is frequently looking in the direction of prevaricating when he speaks .
He’s doing that because off camera, Woodruff is showing him the red queen card.
bostonboomer, on September 11th, 2008 at 9:25 pm Said:
I don’t know how you guys can listen to him. The uh’s and um’s just drive me up the wall.
I cannot listen to him he drives me nuts trying to listen to him I CANT STAND HIM SPEAKING the hesitations are intolerable ..and his voice grates too and he is cold he is so reptilian
At least John MCcain has warmth and seems mammalian …lol
Carol,
When I read your comment, I had a flash of the movie Airplane, and the guy saying, “I picked the last day to get off cigarettes, etc. The audience must be ready for heavy narcotics after listening to him.
The Bush Doctrine has been fluid. She was smart to ask which Bush Doctrine.
Also, loved the Jack video. It is “PriceLess”.
Speaking of Bush, I am about half way through the new Woodward book, “The War Within”. It illustrates how Bush started a war but then had no idea of what or how to get out but he refused to listen to anybody except Steven Hadley of all people. Very telling.
Still4Hill .
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you just cracked me up
I was watching The Today Show and Matt Lauer was interviewing some guy about a book. Suddenly, he said something like we have a breaking story. We’ll be right back.
The end of life as we all knew it. I remember how beautiful the weather was that day. Such horror on teevee. Nothing made sense.
I watched The Today Show exactly once more after that day. I was so repulsed, I never ever watched again.
The morning of 9/11 I was in another room when I heard my mother’s voice on the answering machine telling me to turn on the tv. I was getting ready to go work on a house I was remodeling, but I couldn’t tear myself away. I was glued to the tv all day.
It was my sister’s birthday and we had plans to go to dinner. We ordered cake and asked the waitress for a candle in one slice because it was my sister’s birthday. She looked at my sister and “Oh…I’m so sorry”. Very strange to have someone say that as a response to your birthday.
That night I laid on the couch trying to sleep. It was probably 3 or 4 in the morning when I heard a plane fly over. I knew all flights had been grounded and for a few seconds I was terrified. Then I realized who it was and said to myself “That’s our boys!” I was so proud and sad and relieved. I feel asleep knowing they were up there looking out for us.
I loved it when Hill and Bill did the takeoff on the Soprano’s. It showed their sense of humor.
swansp: The uhs /ums/ etc. would not be so irritating is the word he was scanning for wasn’t monosyllabic.
“if” I meant if the word
Still4hill- you got that right.
No one was “belittling” community organizing. It was the fact that THIS IS ALL HE HAS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
MaBlue, a huge chunk of this country does not care how thoroughly Palin explained the Bush Doctrine, because they have no idea what it is themselves.
For Sargent to suggest that her answer would have a big impact on the race is just ridiculous.
The Democrats always fall into the trap of playing to a) the beltway media and b) the political intelligentsia, every time they debate or answer questions.
Get a clue. Palin’s answers were not formulated to either of those groups. They were formulated for the voters out there who watch 10 minutes of news a day, and have never set foot on a political blog.
Democrats try to win the argument, Republicans try to win the voters.
Will the Dems NEVER learn that lesson?
does he ever answer a question? he was asked whether he had belittled small town mayors and he goes off on some lecture on private/public sector talent
Obama’s view on Mayors:
Mayors have to fill potholes, trim trees, and make …..?
What did Obama just say about small town mayors??
And BTW, why do they keep telling Obama the answers that Mccain gave when they ask Obama a question? LOL! Any chance those two are biased for Barry?
Pat – I loved that spot , too! Especially Chelsea parallel parking.
I loved that ad too, Pat. I was thinking of it when I heard Obama was going to meet Bill C. for lunch today. I’m hoping MadamaB will write a play about that lunch in the Sopranos style.
Somebody ask him about “sexism” please.
bb: I can see her creating that now. Can’t wait!
Someone needs to let Jeralyn know that Chris Matthews had a “tingle down his leg from her dove-ish answer”.
Pat Johnson, on September 11th, 2008 at 9:32 pm Said:
I loved it when Hill and Bill did the takeoff on the Soprano’s. It showed their sense of humor.
When??? Where??? I missed something?? Anybody got a link?
He (Obama) also said mayors make sure the trash is collected.
Now that Hillary is no longer part of these debates, Obama looks less of an amateur.
Iron Man: The male, Richard Engel, is the editor or Time Magazine who put this bozo on the cover under the headline, “The Nominee” before the primaries were over. Because of that I canceled my subscription the same day.
BPD: He can’t answer questions; just like Bush, he has handlers who give him stock answers & catchy phrases that he just sticks in anywhere, just anywhere at all.
bb – ooooooo you are so bad. Bill & Barry – lunch at Satriale’s (on the sidewalk). Syl and Paulie Walnuts as Bill’s SS detail.
Grab it, madamab.
I’m I the only one noticing that McCain’s time flew by and BO still is not off the air?
S: That video came out last year after she announced her candidacy. It was terriffic.
Carol: No. Half my body just went to sleep.
I have a question, in your opinion, if JM wins, where would HRC be most effective in his administration? After my boss said she gets nothing (same man who seriously had no idea what a glass ceiling was), he said education. I was thinking more along the lines of maintaining/establishing foreign relations, something hefty and desperately needed, and was a bit insulted about the education, but I also know her heart is with Health Care.
Obama is so boring, typical of self-absorbed people.
Now that Hillary is no longer part of these debates, Obama looks less of an amateur.
Other than the fact that he has to debate McCain, you have nothing to worry about.
🙂
Britannia,
Ah yes, that’s right. I couldn’t quite hear that last part of Obama’s answer over the phone ringing.
So, Obama’s view on the job role of Mayors in America:
“Mayors have to fill pothols, trim the trees, and make sure the trash is collected.”
You can’t make stuff like that up!!
BWAHAHAHA!!
WTF, Obama?!!
Imagine if Obama gets in (please God, no) and he is sitting with a foreign head of state and he needs a translator. How in hell does the translator insert the awws and umms into the translation?
our uh our citizens – The uh the kind of person ….
I need caffeine!
Fox and Friends -Was anyone on early this morning when the sound bite the host’s receive in their ear was audible? They were told “play it down” regarding something about BO. The host’s all said, “Play it down????????? What are you talking about?”
bostonboomer, I love airplane, all those kinds of movies actually. He starts off with the cigarettes and by halfway through the movie he’s saying “I picked the wrong week to quit huffing gasoline” or something crazy. 🙂
Hillary Clinton: Secretary of State
Reactions? Campbell = they are asleep.
Cripes – IKE to HOUSTON!
My cousin is in Houston. Where is Regency??
That was a good one:
Certain death. This is very serious.
Hi folks. Here’s my 9/11 memory. I lived in NY at the time–not the city…in Rockland County, just over the Tappan Zee Bridge. I was getting ready for work and my partner called (we hadn’t moved in together yet) and asked, “Are you watching TV?” As I reached for the remote, I asked, “Which channel?” She said, “Any channel.” I saw the second building get hit. I didn’t lose anyone I knew. My heart goes out to anyone who did.
Pat: I like it – Hillary as State. She’ll charm all those heads of state.
Sophie – I used to keep my boat in Piermont.
Forum over. The highlight for me was was that McCain’s answers showed a leftward shift – regarding role of government. And both McCain and Palin are adopting an approach that was aptly described today as “dove-ish”.
Even from a very neutral standpoint I did not hear anything new from Obama.
Was it Janis who said that the PUMA democrats should be rewarding leftward movement?
What really hit me during that day of 9/11 was when a broadcaster mentioned that so many children had been dropped off at school or daycare that morning and their Mother or Dad had failed to pick them up because they worked at one of the Twin Towers. I cried for hours over that.
When the Kid really was a kid of about 6, she & equally raucous cousin would go up front for the Children’s Sermon in church. They’d ham it up, then when the preach asked a question, they’d always yell, “Jesus!” no matter what the question. They thought it fit every occasion, and still sounded pious. The preach would smile, and then correct them…. the little heathens.
For some reason, I always think of them whenever I hear Obama try to sound intelligent & give the ‘right’ answers.
I just received yet another Sarah Palin smear email from someone I hardly know. It had lots of pictures of Palin with animals that had been hunted. [Do people know what Alaska is actually like? Talk about xenophobia.] It really is as bad as CDS! I remember these kinds of things coming from the Christian Coalition to demonize gays and abortion. I once saw a video that showed the most outrageous campy sexual performance about dildos or something they could find during Gay Pride Weekend in NYC. It was carefully edited for maximum effect of course, , and then the screen flashed in alarming large block letters: DO YOU WANT THESE PEOPLE TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN?!
The pictures in the email were accompanied by all the debunked Palin smears: the greatest hits. “She believes global warming is a farce and she wants to teach creationism in schools!”
I have been so offended by the relentless CDS, that I have zero tolerance for it directed at anyone else now too. I sent back a polite but firm letter to that effect. Enough is enough. Judge candidates on the damn facts and do your research. Then, if you don’t want to vote for them don’t, but stop shoving your panic and desperation in my face.
They’re saying tsunami to Galveston – no sh*t. Tsunami they are saying.
New post
Pat: I like it – Hillary as State. She’ll charm all those heads of state.
I would love to see Hillary as Secretary of State. She would be awesome and it would set her up perfectly for 2012.
Pat – At Delbarton HS in Morris County – 11 kids lost parents that day. Imagine.
Crap. Texas Ike is looking bad, folks. I hope the evacuation orders were heeded.
Dead still and freaky calm here in San Antonio (about 200 miles inland). We will be getting lots of refugees.
Too, too sad.
Hey Still4Hill: I used to eat in Piermont a lot!
BTW: Fox is showing excerpts and “analyzing” the Palin interview.
Ben,
At last they have come up with a way to cover that budgeting shortfall for first responders. Poor kids can be utilized that way we get some bang for our Pell grant bucks. Ain’t that swell? Furthermore, did anyone else get the creeps when Obama said that the military is looking for a civilian counterpart in places like Afghanistan or Iraq. There is no way in God’s green Earth with comments like that that I would want compulsory national service.
I know why not next make the old folks go out there and EARN those Social Security bucks by creating compulsory service for them too? Ugh.
Here is what Gibson asked: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war?
Here is what she actually said: “Let us pray that our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.”
Leaving out the “Let us pray” changes the whole quote.
I always think of Michael Lomonaco on this day. He was Executive/ Director of Windows on the World, the award-winning restaurant at the top of one of the Twin Towers. He wasn’t at work that morning because he was getting new glasses. Probably all the morning staff were killed that day.
I imagine one has to ask a lot of questions to which there are no answers.
“A plane with closed shades could appear not to have windows. I sure the hijackers made the people close the shades. Didn’t want them to see where they were going – what was up.”
I know (more than I want to) “9/11 was an inside job” people and this is something I never, ever thought of. Thanks for a comeback. I refuse to even entertain the thought that our gov’t would do this. I lost a high school friend in the Marine Corp barracks in Lebanon, his twin daughters had just turned 6 months old. Every time one of them try to convince me “we did it” I think of those girls and get angry.
Carol, on September 11th, 2008 at 9:39 pm Said:
I’m I the only one noticing that McCain’s time flew by and BO still is not off the air?
It sure seemed like he was on a longer time than McCain
A little biased you think?
At the forum they asked McCain and Obama about Palin’s negative remarks. They didn’t ask Obama about all of his negative crap?
Pat, he actually turned to me and said, what, you probably think she should get Secretary of State. I asked why not? She already knows every country’s leader. He said it would be political suicide – yeah, so what, he’s already President and he’s not going to run again, so how is that political suicide?
I’m glad I have a good relationship with my boss because I can tell him to stuff when he’s being stupid.
I do think the thought of her getting any “big” position terrifies him though.
Another thing I’m perplexed about (well, not really, maybe surprised), is I know a Constitutional Scholar, that is his specialty, but he’s also very right wing, who told me yesterday that HRC scares him far more than BO where the Constitution is concerned. He believes she would dismantle every Constitutional right we had where BO could be harnessed in pretty quickly because he’s weak. My thoughts are if you are all about you, then you don’t care who you trample on or what you trample, and that all that matters is that you get your way (yes, I believe GWB is guilty of this) – that HRC has, for the most part, about serving our Country (as is JM) – to me there is a huge difference. Am I missing something?
My 9/11 memory
My son’s best friend, whom I had known since he was 5 worked, in Tower 2. When I heard that it had come down, I was on the freeway. I had to pull over because I was crying so hard. We know he died because his parents have never heard his precious voice again.
It has taken me forever to read all the touching recollections and the comments re:the Forum. Thank you all.
BTW: Obama was in Springfield trying to make a deal in the state legislature. I read that no one in the IL legislature paid amy attention to the horrific tragedy taking place in NYC….They are nearly every one of them corrupt to the core. Except for my representative who is an honest, hardworking female, of course
IronMan, @ 9:41 pm Said:
Did he really say that? Because if he did, Daley (mayor/Chicago) is gonna be pretty pissed off from this easy dismissal of his job.
I read the vile and disgusting articles on Sarah Palin in Salon posted and defended by so called feminists of salon and I am ashamed. I am so ashamed of them and of myself as a woman. All the while we thought it was the men who kept us from being empowered but now I realize it was never the men it was always us. In Salon first you had Cintra Wilson (to the utter delight of patriarchy everywhere) demeaning a VP candidate in the most sexual of terms and to top it you had Tracy Clark the so called feminist actually defending the sexualized descriptions.
Now more than ever I am rooting for Sarah Palin. I sincerely hope she wins this election which seems to have bought out the worst of the so called liberals.
Still4Hill, on September 11th, 2008 at 9:50 pm Said:
Pat – At Delbarton HS in Morris County – 11 kids lost parents that day. Imagine.
_________________-
That’s horrible. Living in Las Vegas, I woke up to my mother’s call telling me to turn on the news. I was horrified. Then, when the second plane hit, I knew it was no accident. I told my son who was in 6th grade because I knew it was all they would talk about in school, explained what was happening, and we were both crying. My 8 y/o daughter came in to see the plane hit and asked me what movie we were watching and why were we crying. I took him to school (I homeschool my daughter), I went to work, and within an hour we were evacuated by our local police because there were still a few planes in the air, we were very close to the Strip, and they were also worried about Hoover Dam (which provides electricity to 8 western states). I though about my friend who died in Lebanon, I wondered how many people I crossed paths with while I served in the Army were still enlisted because I knew we were going to war. As devastated as I was, it hurt the most (but I was so thankful at the same time) when I went to pick up my son from school. It was surrounded by police, police officers every 10 feet, and it was the same for the elementary school down the street, and the high school a few blocks away. And all the schools. They were worried some crazy person would take our kids hostage.
I grew up doing air raid drills every month in school. The sirens would go off, and to this day I remember dropping to the floor, and rolling into a fetal position under our desks. There are still “bunkers” (abandoned) embedded along Pacific Coast Highway, particularly near the bases,
that were dug in after Pearl Harbor. We did a tour of them in grade school, we were at war in Vietnam and we were Pacific Rim and it was a reminder that we were a target. Pretty scary for a kid, and that was speculation.
I don’t want to be at war, and we’ve made mistakes, but the thought that if we play nice, the bullies will play nice, just doesn’t set well with me at all. You can’t negotiate with a terrorist, any more than you can negotiate with a psychopath, they have nothing to lose. I can’t get Sandra Bullock’s Miss Congeniality’s interview where she says tough on crime, etc., and then says world peace. I wish it were that easy.
Republican Woman and others – While in the world would you want Hillary anywhere but in the Senate?
Who I can’t spell this late at night…
While = Why
MY sister lived in NYC on September 11, 2001. You could see the Towers from her building.
I heard the news about “a small plane hitting the tower” at 7:46 as I was just leaving my car to go to the commuter train I ride into the city (Chicago). I thought, “What kind of nut couldn’t see the tower and wound up hitting it?” While I was on the bus from the train to the university where I worked, I heard the report of the second plane hitting the other tower. (I had the same feeling that we would be at war within months )
I spent the rest of the day trying to reach my sister. It was just the most frightening time. First I had to work with patients (i’m a psychiatric social worker), Between groups and sessions, I kept trying to see if she was okay. The lines were tied up – not only to NYC, but to Vermont where she and her husband had a home, and where he worked as a writer. I couldn’t get a response. My mother couldn’t either and between the patients and my anxiety and my mother’s as well, it was so hard.
I was so thankful to learn she was safe. She was shaken, but safe. So was everone she knew.
I couldn’t get to a tv until after 7:00 that night, and I stayed up night after night watching the replay of that day’s tragedy. Always hoping to find some kind of answer. The answer to that days’ horror never came.
I flew to NY in the beginning of October. It felt like a pligrimage. I needed to see my sister. I needed to pay my respects. I remember the walls in the train station, and the photos. The photos and the memories still bring me to tears. I signed the guest book at a small fire station near Times Square (I think) where most of the squad had lost their lives in the collapse of the buidings. I walked near the area of the towers. I went to the Strand bookstore where the smell of the fires was so potent that I could hardly breathe. My eyes burned and I developed a cough that I still haven’t shaken. I don’t know how anyone who actually live and work in NYC survived the air. I left there on October 18 – my oldest brother’s birthday. My sister lived and worked there until just recently. She still goes into NY monthly for a small job. She and her husband have pretty much left there for VT. They still have friends and some family there.
On September 15, my nephew and his fiancee got married in southern IL. So many people struggled to attend – air travel had been discontinued, I remember some of the wedding guests were stuck on a train for more than 24 hours, and had to be picked up, still hours away from the wedding. In a very sweet and touching moment, the wedding homily remembered the loss of lives in New York and offered prayers for the families. Even the lives of small town Illinois were touched by this tragic time.
Thank you katiebird for letting us share our memories. I don’t think I have ever written about this. I had no idea I had so much to say.
(((Tom)))
Bush has a doctrine?
9/11 memories:
My mom had been visiting and was flying home from Chicago to Fort Myers that morning at about 8:30. I would always take her to O’Hare and then sit at the gate until long after the plane had taxied out, just in case there was a problem and they had to come back so she wouldn’t be alone in the airport where I knew she would be scared.
Before the plane taxied out, the door was still open and the few United employees were just chatting and finishing up at the desk. I looked up from my book and thought about how easy it would have been for me to just walk down the ramp onto the plane. After it taxied out and the door was shut, employees gone, a maintenance (?) guy came walking through looking under every seat and picking up trash. I later figured out that he must have been from security and was checking for wayward bombs.
It wasn’t until I was pulling out of the parking garage that I heard the news on my normal FM station and thought about what a sick joke they were running – only to follow it up with the thought that they wouldn’t joke about something like that. I couldn’t reach anyone with my cell and went to work, only to turn around and go home because I remembered mom telling me that morning that if she needed to call me for anything she’d call my house – she couldn’t remember my work number.
I walked in the house and turned on the TV just in time to see the second tower fall. I jumped on the computer to check her flight status on United’s web site, then called their customer service. This was just about the time the full ground stop was called and they weren’t sure exactly where the plane was but tried to reassure me that she would be ok and they would put her up in a hotel if needed. Then I had to make the hardest phone calls of my life – to my brothers telling them that I didn’t know where mom was, only that her plane had flown off into that beautiful blue sky.
Many hours later, and a couple of voice mails left on my work number by folks near her assuring me that she was ok, was I able to call one of them back and have them hand her their phone. She had gotten just to the other side of Indianapolis and turned back. They sat on the runway for a long time as they were only bringing one plane at a time to the terminal, then they had to rush through to get out the other side. She heard some people talking about a bus back to Chicago and only after she coughed up $100 in cash would they let her on. If she hadn’t had the money, they would have left her standing there. The person who was on the bus with her brought her back to my place as we didn’t live that many cities apart. It was about 5:30 and I ran down to meet her only to have to tell her that her company’s headquarters in Building 7 had just collapsed.
She worked for Smith-Barney so had to be home for the market opening the following Monday, and since no planes were flying, I put her on a Greyhound bus for the 28-hour trip home. I saw a lot of airline refugees in the middle of the dirty, trashy Greyhound terminal in downtown Chicago at 4am that day. Thankfully she’s ok and now lives with me in a different Chicago suburb.
I’m very, very lucky and mine is a viewpoint of how some of what happened that morning affected us outside of the New York, PA and Pentagon tragedies. It certainly doesn’t compare to anyone who lost a loved one that day, but the rest of us were also deeply, deeply affected by what happened.
My most enduring memories of that week are the chirping of the firefighter or police badges (I later found out that the noise is to help find them inside smoky buildings) for people who would never be found. That sound seemed to go on for days. The people jumping from the upper floors and it being shown on CNN because they didnt’ edit anything well at the time. The rolling smoke and debris from the buildings collapsing seen on live TV and hoping everyone in it’s path would be ok. The guy from Cantor Fitzgerald who gave an interview within hours and just broke down sobbing on whichever network he was on because they lost all of their NY employees. The incredible resourcefulness of the employee of a small company who had the foresight to pull their server tapes and carry them all the way down and out of one of the towers so they could keep their business going. How Mayor Giuliani conducted business – say what you will about him, he held it together and kept everyone as calm as possible while still getting the job done. That priest (I can’t remember his name) who was carried out by the police (?) officers that he counseled. One of our employees, who was a former police officer, just taking off and driving to New York to help – and the incredible pictures he brought back. The night before mom got on the bus and we were at a fine restaurant in the late afternoon/early evening and the wait staff or managers going around handing everyone a candle to light at 7pm for the Midwest memorial time. The people in my office building in the suburbs going out next to the very busy street and singing in rembrance of those who lost their lives just a couple of days before.
And mostly, my next door neighbor who was a video editor for TLN Network who came home for a couple of hours around midnight or 1am that night. I stepped outside to talk to him and tried to console him because I knew he had just seen an entire lifetime’s worth of horrors unedited and who had to edit them for the rest of us to see.
Leslie – I knew I had a lot to say, but more than what I thought! Any city that has skyscrapers and mass transit and world-class airports were thought to be under threat that day.
Katiebird – also, thank you for letting us share. So many people have so many memories and some haven’t really had the opportunity to say anything until now.
I have A LOT of friends in D.C. and Arlington and spent most of the day frantically trying to get through on the phone. Luckily a friend of mine remembered texting works when voice sometimes doesn’t and let me know by the middle of the afternoon that everyone she could reach was O.K. Luckily I didn’t suffer any personal losses that day.
I used to drive up that stretch of I-395 near the Pentagon a lot. Can’t imagine what it would have been like to be sitting there and witness the catastrophe. My thoughts and prayers are with all who have been affected by this tragedy.
repub @ 9:57 I was away at blog radio and just saw what you wrote.
I know – I think those people are trying to imply it was something like maybe a C130 or something. I think I saw the 2nd plane 10 mins b4 it hit tower 2 – it was an airliner. I have seen military and C130s it was an airliner.
phlamingophred ~ you are so right in saying there was the thought that we were also under threat that day. We had emails flying throughout the hospital system telling us we had to stay there “in case”
I still have the same commute to/from Chicago. The closest thing to an illusion that I have experienced took place many weeks after the destruction of the towers. I was walking toward the Loop (Chicago) from the west to get to the train station to go home. I was on the phone with a friend when I looked skyward and saw a plane – they were flying again. From my perspective, it appeared to by headed directly into a building several blocks ahead of me. I dropped my phone in absolute terror. I still remember that overwhelming fear.
My beloved and I had made reservations for a trip to NYC on Sept. 17, 2001. When the bombing occurred on Sept 11–one week prior to our trip–in our shock and horror, we soberly and seriously debated cancelling. But then we realized that, by going, we were actually making a statement about our love for New York and New Yorkers, and being there in solidarity with them, would be the best thing we could do for them. Plus, it was important to us to be part of a message of resiliance in the face of tragedy. It was a very sobering experience–the pictures of lost loved ones were EVERYWHERE; theatres were open, but the audiences were thin; casts ended each show with a special remembrance to those lost in the attacks. Piles of flowers covered every park, and people were still in shock. We had conversations with firefighters and police who lost brothers, sons, fathers. But, I’m so glad we went–we felt like we were showing New York that the rest of the country did care, and we were going to show up in New York to grieve along with them.
I HAVE to thank everyone for sharing your memories. I’m stumbling to find the right words. But, waking up this morning and re-reading through the thread has made it dramatically clear how deeply we all were touched by the events of that day.
I forgot to add one very important point. One thing that struck me at the time was how (that day) many people were told by their supervisors — “Stay here”, “Wait until we know what’s going on” So many lost their lives because they didn’t get out of the Towers as soon as they knew about the first plane. Others became heroes when they defied authority and FORCED reluctant co-workers to leave immediately.
I remember one guy being quoted as saying, “We might feel like fools and turn around and go back, or we might be really, really glad” Everyone on that guy’s floor survived because of him.
So, I want to tell you — everyone: If a plane ever crashes in your block — LEAVE. Just go.
Dear katiebird,
I want to thank YOU for giving us all a forum to share our memories and “get through” September 11 for another year. For everybody who participated here yesterday, I would like to post this. If I had put it here yesterday, I think I would have dissolved completely. After the space of a day – I cry (so will you), but it is too priceless not to share.
Love to all,
from Still4 Hill