Below we post a selection of recent letters on “Bush lied about threat to Air Force One”
Thank you for confirming all my views. I don’t know when people will wake in this country and think for themselves. Since our tragedy September 11, Bush has maintained 90 percent approval rating. Why? Bush has shown up on the screen daily to remind us how confident he is in the American people, how this was an attack on our freedom, how great we are for uniting (although we seem to only in times of tragedy and revenge). Let’s face it, he has taken this from what we thought was gonna be some sort of military attack, to a Bush secret war!
I’m sorry to say, but in my opinion, the WTC/Pentagon attacks are now being used as an excuse for any, and everything—the economy, unemployment, foreign relations, Social Security reform, the blown surplus, settling old scores, etc.
As Americans blindly follow the government in everything they say (via media) and do, this seems to beg the question: since when did we trust them so very much? The average person has always said no. But now over half (62 percent) of this country is willing to sacrifice the lives of countless soldiers in battle. Yet we have no clue, nor do they, what this battle of the Bushes entails.
We should be outraged at our government for ignoring all warnings that may have saved nearly 7,000 lives. Also, we should be demanding an investigation into how and why this was ignored, so it never, ever happens again.
LH
30 September 2001
Friends and family always argue that I find my information that I so passionately spur along from leftist propaganda. In reading your article, “White House lied about threat to Air Force One,” my own assumptions on the 11th were validated. It came across as a lie, but because of my outright and very verbalized distaste for the current president, I was the only one I could convince.
On reading your article, I printed it and passed it along to my friends. See, I said, it was in the Washington Post. They still see anything I present as unpatriotic leftist babbling, so I wanted to retrieve the article from the Washington Post (although they all believe it too is a radical press).
What amazed me most about your article is how to me it cried that if the government will lie about stupid stuff, how can I trust them about anything else? Some friends who are used to my sputters commented they didn’t understand how, if this were true, that it mattered. Knowing that the Bush administration would lie about something like this does not make them doubt there is any evidence on bin Laden or that other agendas are in the work to curtail civil liberties and (my greatest fear) force Christianity and its patriarchal values into American law.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
CJ
29 September 2001
You shouldn’t have such a divisive spirit as to write a column on all of the government’s faults. There are no stories whatsoever on your web site encouraging our president or the American people. The other newspapers and media at least had enough decency not to put their columns on the first page so that all Americans can read and now doubt that they should follow their leader.
No one is 100 percent perfect. No matter what the government does, some one will complain. The secret service was doing their duty in protecting the president. They made a decision and didn’t have hours to deliberate or email you to ask what you think they should do. They are probably trained in the president’s security a whole lot more than you are and thus can make a better decision.
AS
28 September 2001
Thank you for not blindly following along with the information that has been provided to the news media. It is extremely important to question the motives and reasoning of the White House. There are too many things that do not make sense about the 9/11/01 tragic events. But since then we have had less focus on the recession, on the dismal failure of Bush to promote international peace or even relate to those he has met outside of the country, in addition to the president leaving for a month’s long vacation when he had not even gotten started in running the country.
I would like to point out also, that it seems very strange that both Bush and Powell were away from the areas attacked and that this “came out of the blue.” I am disturbed by the immediate censor of music on the radio, on the television networks and the ludicrous “are you with me or against me” tactics voiced by the president.
KM
28 September 2001
This is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard or saw. How dare you put this on the Internet where everyone can view it. We have enough to worry about without having to worry about our country being at odds. You obviously have no feelings for your country or the people. If the government did lie about where he was and what he was doing that does not automatically mean they are lying about everything else. With the events that happened on September 11, the media should have never known where the president was anyway. Under those circumstances he doesn’t have to tell anyone where he is. Look at how the media handled it when they did know. They told the whole world every chance they got. I wanted to know what was going on like everyone else did, but putting the leader of this country in jeopardy was not possibly the best idea. I can tell you didn’t vote for Bush but God has allowed him to be our president and whether you like him or not you should be behind him or maybe you support terrorism yourself.
28 September 2001
Regarding “White House lied about threat to Air Force One,” thanks for stating what was so obvious!
SK
28 September 2001
We never believed the story that Air Force One was a target—simply because the story did not make any sense. So, while the media was mindlessly parroting that information over and over again, these viewers already understood that it most likely was not true.
CP
28 September 2001
Thanks for an excellent article. Wonder where all those people are who said it wasn’t what B. Clinton did, it was that he lied about it. I can only imagine how this episode would have been handled had it been a Democratic administration!
FD
Texas
28 September 2001
So why doesn’t someone in the media go ask him? We have a right to know the truth about the events of that day and about everything. Everyone was sitting at work or at home afraid that they might be next and if, while all this was happening, the president was lying to us, what else has he lied about? Or what statement is he going to retract two weeks from now? Something just isn’t adding up about all this. We may not have as strong an intelligence force as we used to, but it is still the best in the world, and I don’t see how it can take them this long to find out who did it. It’s been two weeks and they still don’t have conclusive evidence on the people responsible for this. The President has lied to us (supposedly), asked for an unlimited amount of funds to eradicate terrorism, but he still doesn’t know for sure who he’s eradicating. I’m not a cop, but something just isn’t adding up.
MW
28 September 2001