Swatting at Griffin's Softballs

David Ray Griffin is coming out with yet another book, this one called 9-11 Contradictions, subtitled A Shameless Attempt to Fleece Some More Money Out of the Goofballs. Errr, sorry, I made that last part up; it's actually subtitled An Open Letter to Congress And the Press.

Now look at the contradictions Griffin cites:

Part 1 Questions about Bush Administration and Pentagon Leaders

1. How Long Did George Bush Remain in the Classroom?
2. When Did Dick Cheney Enter the Underground Bunker?
3. Was Cheney Observed Confirming a Stand-Down Order?
4. Did Cheney Observe the Land-All-Planes Order?

Answers:
1. According to all accounts, Bush left the classroom about 6-9 minutes after hearing about the second plane hitting the South Tower.

Nearly every news account fails to mention when Bush left the classroom after being told America was under attack. Three mention 9:12 a.m. [New York Times, 9/16/01 (B), Telegraph, 12/16/01, Daily Mail, 9/8/02] Remaining in the classroom for approximately five to seven minutes is inexcusable, but the video of Bush in the classroom suggests he stayed longer than that. The video contains several edits and ends before Bush leaves the room, so it also doesn’t tell us exactly how long he stayed. One newspaper suggested he remained “for eight or nine minutes”—sometime between 9:13 and 9:16, since Card’s arrival is uncertain. [Tampa Tribune, 9/1/02]

2. 9:52 AM or shortly after. Source.

According to the 9/11 Commission, the Secret Service logs Lynne Cheney’s arrival at the White House at 9:52 a.m. She joins her husband, Vice President Dick Cheney, in the tunnel leading to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) bunker below the White House, and then enters the PEOC alongside him.

3. No, it was not a standdown order. It was a shootdown order that never ended up being implemented, almost certainly for Flight 93 had it still been flying.

4. ? I don't even get this one. What the hell is this fruitcake getting at? Cheney is not obligated to observe any "Land All Planes" order except at the direction of the President.

Well, you can probably see the problem already. Griffin's not presenting "contradictions", he's just dusting off the old questions one more time. Oh, I'm sure he'll work in Norm Mineta's mistaken timeline to "contradict" the 9-11 Commission's account of Cheney's entrance into the PEOC.

Griffin's "Open Letter" is not really written to the press and Congress, but to the kook brigade who can doubtless be counted on to buy enough copies to make the publication reasonably profitable. However, I do think that the gravy train is largely coming to an end. I will be very surprised if 9-11 "Truth" outlasts the Bush Administration.