The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]


You’re Either In Control Or Being Controlled …

Many of you may have already read this, but a while back, Politico magazine wrote a long – but fascinating – article about the moment George W Bush heard about 9/11.

What makes it especially interesting is they talk to people who were with him that day … from his Chief Of Staff, to his security detail to journalists to the pilots of Air Force One and the F-16’s sent to further protect the plan.

It is an amazing insight into one of modern histories most defining moments as well as being a wonderful lesson in how to give direction to chaos rather than letting chaos direct you.

You can read it here.


19 Comments so far
Leave a comment

2 article links in a few days. Have you become a news aggregator or is this a plan to get long copy read again?

Comment by Pete

only bored fuckers read long copy. im bored fuckless today so i read it. the biggest shock was it was better than most of campbells recommendations.

Comment by andy@cynic

Better than Google. Ha.

Comment by Rob

Interesting that you talk about giving direction to chaos.

My memory of reading the article was that it was various military personnel who did that via well-established rules and protocols despite the best efforts of the politicians and other civilians.

Comment by John

fuck me dodds youre a harsh fuck. no wonder i like you.

Comment by andy@cynic

Just standing up for proprietary process.

Comment by John

Well the military might have had a protocol to follow but for all intents and purposes, that was a protocol to protect the President because no one actually knew what was going on in the first few hours.

Comment by Rob

That’s my point. Systems that had been put in place so as to over-ride any off the cuff reactions. That’s how you counteract chaos. Though it’s interesting to recall that there was some fuss at the time about where is the President?

Comment by John

I have read this article and it was fascinating. What was even more surprising to me was how much I appreciated how Bush and Putin handled the situation. I don’t think that would be the case if Trump was in power or if he had to deal with the modern version of Putin. Incredible insight on a dark day.

Comment by George

what the fuck do you mean, trump and putin are bffs.

Comment by andy@cynic

It was tough for me to read but it kind of helped as well. Thanks Rob.

Comment by DH

Big hug.

Jemma xxx

Comment by Jemma King

Good to hear David.

Comment by George

That is wonderful to hear.

Comment by Rob

Surprising numbers of people click on links to long copy.

Comment by John

Hahahaha …

Comment by Rob

A fascinating article that I had somehow missed. Thank you Robert.

Comment by Lee Hill

Isn’t it just. And then I read an article recently with the pilots who were told that if a missile targeted Air Force One, they’d have to kill themselves to protect the President. It seems unreal till you realise it’s real.

PS: I did find the bit in the article where the pilots said they ‘hung back 5km’ to save fuel amazing because they didn’t want to risk being too close but could make that distance up in no time with afterburner.

Comment by Rob

you might not know this campbell, but planes go fucking fast.

Comment by andy@cynic




Leave a Reply