All work and no play ...

Appkiller said:

CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
percent of his time in office.

Via a "Snopes" search:

CLAIM

· After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over
the worst security failure
in US history in September.

Here's a few notes on the President's schedule for August 2001:

August 1, 2001: Nominated six US Attorneys, two judges for affirmation by
Congress.

Placed phone calls to PM Blair and Ahern to discuss matters between

Britain and Northern Ireland.

President announces an agreement on the Patients Bill of Rights

President addresses National Urban League Conference

August 2, 2001: President meets with House and Senate education leaders.

August 3, 2001: Placed six more nominations for US Attorneys.

President speaks to press at meeting to discuss his first six months in

office and the agenda for the future.

President attends a ceremony in East Room honoring Lance Armstrong.

August 4, 2001: President's Radio Address

August 7, 2001: Press conference in Waco, TX with pool of reporters.

August 8, 2001: President helps build a home with Habitat For Humanity, then
addresses

the group on faith-based and community initiatives.

August 9, 2001: Addressed the nation on stem-cell research.

August 10, 2001: Announces nomination of two US Ambassadors.

August 11, 2001: President's Radio Address

August 13, 2001: Presidential Ceremony to sign the Agriculture Supplemental
Bill.

President holds two press conferences with traveling White House pool.

The rest of the month had just as much, if not more, activity. I will omit
it here to save space,

but you can find complete information at the following sites:

White House, "News releases for August 2001"

White House Press Briefing, August 1, 2001

White House Press Briefing, August 3, 2001

White House Press Briefing, August 9, 2001

White House Press Briefing, August 22, 2001

White House Press Briefing, August 31, 2001

The President was in Texas from August 7-13 and 21-25. The rest of the month
was spent

traveling to New Mexico, Colorado, Wisconsin, Missouri and then back to
Washington at the

end of the month. A review of the White House news archive for August 2001
shows this

month to be anything but a "vacation". It is naïve to think that the
President spent an entire

month doing nothing, as "the resume" implies.

Bill "but don't let facts get in way of your self-righteous rage" S.

Quoted message said:

CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
percent of his time in office.

Let's vote Bush a permanent vacation in 04!

App

Ain't called rec.BICYCLES.tech for nothing. Plenty of other newgroups for
stumpin.

"J. Garland" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<Ky4Zc.10561$gl.9305@okepread07>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
percent of his time in office.

Let's vote Bush a permanent vacation in 04!

App

Ain't called rec.BICYCLES.tech for nothing. Plenty of other newgroups for
stumpin.

Bite me.

App

On 1 Sep 2004 08:24:05 -0700, [email hidden]

(Appkiller) said:

"J. Garland" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<Ky4Zc.10561$gl.9305@okepread07>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
percent of his time in office.

Let's vote Bush a permanent vacation in 04!

App

Ain't called rec.BICYCLES.tech for nothing. Plenty of other newgroups for
stumpin.

Bite me.

App

Dear App,

Ah, another carefully reasoned political speech designed to
win my vote!

What opponent (much less undecided voter) can resist such
roguish charm?

Carl Fogel

On 1 Sep 2004 08:24:05 -0700, [email hidden]

(Appkiller) said:

"J. Garland" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<Ky4Zc.10561$gl.9305@okepread07>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
percent of his time in office.

Let's vote Bush a permanent vacation in 04!

App

Ain't called rec.BICYCLES.tech for nothing. Plenty of other newgroups for
stumpin.

Bite me.

App

Dear App,

Ah, another carefully reasoned political speech designed to
win my vote!

What opponent (much less undecided voter) can resist such
roguish charm?

Carl Fogel

S o r n i said:

Appkiller said:

CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
percent of his time in office.

Via a "Snopes" search:

[...]

Quoted message said:

month to be anything but a "vacation". It is naïve to think that the
President spent an entire
month doing nothing, as "the resume" implies.

I think it's equally naive to think that the 58% of the time
he wasn't "on vacation" was worth any more to the safety of NYC
than the phone calls he made the 42% of the time he was.

Quoted message said:

Bill "but don't let facts get in way of your self-righteous rage" S.

--Blair
"Polemicist, anneal thyself."

S o r n i said:

Here's a few notes on the President's schedule for August 2001:

Quoted message said:

August 1, 2001: Nominated six US Attorneys, two judges for affirmation by
Congress.

Quoted message said:

Placed phone calls to PM Blair and Ahern to discuss matters between

Quoted message said:

Britain and Northern Ireland.

Quoted message said:

President announces an agreement on the Patients Bill of Rights

Quoted message said:

President addresses National Urban League Conference

Quoted message said:

August 2, 2001: President meets with House and Senate education leaders.

Quoted message said:

August 3, 2001: Placed six more nominations for US Attorneys.

Quoted message said:

President speaks to press at meeting to discuss his first six months in

Quoted message said:

office and the agenda for the future.

Quoted message said:

President attends a ceremony in East Room honoring Lance Armstrong.

Quoted message said:

August 4, 2001: President's Radio Address

Quoted message said:

August 7, 2001: Press conference in Waco, TX with pool of reporters.

Quoted message said:

August 8, 2001: President helps build a home with Habitat For Humanity, then
addresses

Oops. You left out the August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB)
titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."

Art Harris

On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 13:16:41 GMT, Harris <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

S o r n i said:

Here's a few notes on the President's schedule for August 2001:

Quoted message said:

August 1, 2001: Nominated six US Attorneys, two judges for affirmation by
Congress.

Quoted message said:

Placed phone calls to PM Blair and Ahern to discuss matters between

Quoted message said:

Britain and Northern Ireland.

Quoted message said:

President announces an agreement on the Patients Bill of Rights

Quoted message said:

President addresses National Urban League Conference

Quoted message said:

August 2, 2001: President meets with House and Senate education leaders.

Quoted message said:

August 3, 2001: Placed six more nominations for US Attorneys.

Quoted message said:

President speaks to press at meeting to discuss his first six months in

Quoted message said:

office and the agenda for the future.

Quoted message said:

President attends a ceremony in East Room honoring Lance Armstrong.

Quoted message said:

August 4, 2001: President's Radio Address

Quoted message said:

August 7, 2001: Press conference in Waco, TX with pool of reporters.

Quoted message said:

August 8, 2001: President helps build a home with Habitat For Humanity, then
addresses

Oops. You left out the August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB)
titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."

An easy omission to make. Have you actually read the thing? Here's your chance:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/images/04/10/whitehouse.pdf

Not real informative is it.

Ron

RonSonic said:

Harris said:

Oops. You left out the August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB)
titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."

Quoted message said:

An easy omission to make. Have you actually read the thing? Here's your chance:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/images/04/10/whitehouse.pdf

Quoted message said:

Not real informative is it.

I think it's VERY informative.

It says that FBI information "indicates patterns of suspicious activity in
this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types
of attacks including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New
York."

It also says that the FBI and CIA are investigating information "that a
group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with
explosives."

What action did Mr. Bush take in response to this information?

Art Harris

Harris said:

RonSonic said:

Harris said:

Oops. You left out the August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB)
titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."

Quoted message said:

An easy omission to make. Have you actually read the thing? Here's
your chance: http://www.cnn.com/2004/images/04/10/whitehouse.pdf

Quoted message said:

Not real informative is it.

I think it's VERY informative.

It says that FBI information "indicates patterns of suspicious
activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings
or other types of attacks including recent surveillance of federal
buildings in New York."

Most of the memo refers to intelligence from the '90s ('97 and 98 in
particular, some as early as '93).

Quoted message said:

It also says that the FBI and CIA are investigating information "that
a group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with
explosives."

What action did Mr. Bush take in response to this information?

The same as all presidents before and after him: rely on the intelligence
community (all of it) to thwart such threats. Hopefully it's better able to
do so now.

Bill "but sure you know better than the 9-11 Commission" S.

In article <[email hidden]>, Harris

Quoted message said:

It also says that the FBI and CIA are investigating information "that a
group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with
explosives."

What action did Mr. Bush take in response to this information?

Certainly nothing that John Kerry would approve of.

Tom Gibb <[email hidden]>

On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 15:08:24 GMT, Harris <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

RonSonic said:

Harris said:

Oops. You left out the August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB)
titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."

Quoted message said:

An easy omission to make. Have you actually read the thing? Here's your chance:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/images/04/10/whitehouse.pdf

Quoted message said:

Not real informative is it.

I think it's VERY informative.

It says that FBI information "indicates patterns of suspicious activity in
this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types
of attacks including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New
York."

It also says that the FBI and CIA are investigating information "that a
group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with
explosives."

That's information alright. Just not real helpful or particular. "The Sun is
expected to rise in the East tomorrow" is also informative.

Quoted message said:

What action did Mr. Bush take in response to this information?

Well if he did anything more than continue the investigations following up on
those leads then it would have been [censored] wasted effort wouldn't it.

We already knew they wanted to kill us. You people act like Bush should've
freeking panicked the moment he read that. He gets memo's like that all the damn
time.

Ron

RonSonic said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Harris wrote:
>Oops. You left out the August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB)
>titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It says that FBI information "indicates patterns of suspicious activity in
this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types
of attacks including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New
York."

It also says that the FBI and CIA are investigating information "that a
group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with
explosives."

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What action did Mr. Bush take in response to this information?

Quoted message said:

Well if he did anything more than continue the investigations following up
on
those leads then it would have been [censored] wasted effort wouldn't it.

How about warning the FAA and the airlines that hijackings were being
planned? There hadn't been any in years.

How about pressing the heads of the FBI and CIA for more information on
these threats? George Tenet was aware of the suspicious flight schools
activities of Zacharias Moussaoi.

It appears that Mr. Bush just listened to the briefing, and then went about
playing golf.

Art Harris

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 1 Sep 2004 08:24:05 -0700, [email hidden]

(Appkiller) said:

"J. Garland" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<Ky4Zc.10561$gl.9305@okepread07>...

Quoted message said:

> CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
> part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
> percent of his time in office.
>
> Let's vote Bush a permanent vacation in 04!
>
> App

Ain't called rec.BICYCLES.tech for nothing. Plenty of other newgroups for
stumpin.

Bite me.

App

Dear App,

Ah, another carefully reasoned political speech designed to
win my vote!

What opponent (much less undecided voter) can resist such
roguish charm?

Carl Fogel

Dear Carl,

I take my oratorical and editorial cues from Mr. "He's a major league
[censored]" and Mr. "Big time".

App, who is chock full of roguish charm.

Arthur Harris said:

How about warning the FAA and the airlines that hijackings were being
planned? There hadn't been any in years.

Wasn't Bush's job. Others SHOULD have done that.

Quoted message said:

How about pressing the heads of the FBI and CIA for more information
on these threats? George Tenet was aware of the suspicious flight
schools activities of Zacharias Moussaoi.

Bingo. Tenet dropped the ball big time. (Hold over from previous adm., I
believe.)

Quoted message said:

It appears that Mr. Bush just listened to the briefing, and then went
about playing golf.

Unfair. Presidents see thousands of memos and get hundreds of briefings.
There was nothing unusual in what he was shown/told prior to 9/11.

Bill "if he'd dropped everything and bombed someone the lefties would have
howled" S.

On 3 Sep 2004 05:18:57 -0700, [email hidden]

(Appkiller) said:

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 1 Sep 2004 08:24:05 -0700, [email hidden]

(Appkiller) said:

"J. Garland" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<Ky4Zc.10561$gl.9305@okepread07>...
> > CBS News calculated that, through April 2004, Bush had spent all or
> > part of 535 days of his presidency at vacation spots. That's 42.4
> > percent of his time in office.
> >
> > Let's vote Bush a permanent vacation in 04!
> >
> > App
>
> Ain't called rec.BICYCLES.tech for nothing. Plenty of other newgroups for
> stumpin.

Bite me.

App

Dear App,

Ah, another carefully reasoned political speech designed to
win my vote!

What opponent (much less undecided voter) can resist such
roguish charm?

Carl Fogel

Dear Carl,

I take my oratorical and editorial cues from Mr. "He's a major league
[censored]" and Mr. "Big time".

App, who is chock full of roguish charm.

Dear App,

So if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you're
hoping to convince me to vote for . . .

Carl Fogel

S o r n i said:

Bill "but sure you know better than the 9-11 Commission" S.

If you think the 9-11 commission's job was to find the
truth rather than prevent a $100 Trillion lawsuit against
the U.S. Government, you're wrong.

--Blair
"Clinton warned Bush.
Bush didn't care."

"Blair P. Houghton" wrote

Quoted message said:

S o r n i said:

Bill "but sure you know better than the 9-11 Commission" S.

If you think the 9-11 commission's job was to find the
truth rather than prevent a $100 Trillion lawsuit against
the U.S. Government, you're wrong.

--Blair
"Clinton warned Bush.
Bush didn't care."

Back in February, when Dubya issued the Executive Order establishing the
9/11 Commission and providing its directive, the several hundred Americans
who genuinely pay attention to these things (happily, I'm one of them)
immediately realized that it was a sham and a smoke screen.

Here's the ExecOrder: http://tinyurl.com/6horq. The source is, of course,
suspect (www.whitehouse.gov).

It's a sham from the get-go. It's titled "Executive Order Commission on
the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of
Mass Destruction." Its very charter was to look at the here and now, and
toward the future, to assess our capabilities to do this job. It artfully
avoids asking the $64,000 question: "How and why was our intelligence so
wrong."

Several *blistering* articles, including one in _Vanity Fair_ and one in
_Mother Jones_ outline (replete with names, dates, quotes, etc.) how the
Administration created an intelligence template immediately after 9/11. If
the intelligence that was gathered by the analysts didn't fit within the
template, it got no legs and was never heard. Read those articles. Their
fascinating and masterfully written.

I'm a big fan of "source documents" in their original form. Just like
cocaine coming from Colombia: everybody in the downstream dilutes, alters,
or spins the news just a little bit.

Read this ExecOrder. It's raw and it's pure. It doesn't empower them to
look backward at all (we'll ignore W's initial steadfast refusal to
cooperate with the commission, his demand to have his handler/VP by his
side, and his full-court press to have the conclusions released *after* the
election for the time being....).

To me, that speaks volumes.

S o r n i said:

Arthur Harris said:

How about warning the FAA and the airlines that hijackings were being
planned? There hadn't been any in years.

Wasn't Bush's job. Others SHOULD have done that.

Not his job?! He's the bloody president. It's his job to take charge. He
should have directed that those things be done. The buck stops here.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How about pressing the heads of the FBI and CIA for more information
on these threats? George Tenet was aware of the suspicious flight
school activities of Zacharias Moussaoi.

Bingo. Tenet dropped the ball big time. (Hold over from previous adm., I
believe.)

Quoted message said:

It appears that Mr. Bush just listened to the briefing, and then went
about playing golf.

Quoted message said:

Unfair. Presidents see thousands of memos and get hundreds of briefings.
There was nothing unusual in what he was shown/told prior to 9/11.

Nothing unusual? He had been briefed before taking office that Bin Laden was
the major threat facing the country. When presented with the August 6th PDB
"Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US," with specific referennces to
airplane hijackings and surveillance of buildings in New York, alarm bells
should have been going off.

The disturbing thing is that the President showed no curiosity, didn't
demand that the intelligence agencies provide him with more details, and
didn't discuss ways of preventing the attacks.

Quoted message said:

Bill "if he'd dropped everything and bombed someone the lefties would have
howled" S.

Who's talking about bombing anyone at that point? I'm talking about taking
action to get more information on the planned attacks that he had just been
briefed on, with the intent of preventing them.

Art Harris