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From: adamyoshida@shaw.ca (Adam Yoshida)
Newsgroups: soc.history.what-if
Subject: 1-29 Attacks
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1-29 Attacks

No one saw it coming.  Well, except for the people on the planes, I
suppose that some of them might have figured it out beforehand, just
maybe.

We all saw it on television, if we weren't watching at the time, then
certainly when it was endlessly replayed on the news afterwards.
Later he would be venerated by the right as a Martyr in the cause of
liberty, but at the time George W Bush was just a President with a 42%
approval rating trying to defend his economic strategy.  The results
would come soon, he said, we just all had to be patient.  But many of
the American people were tired of being patient, I know I was.

He was talking about defence, oddly enough, when he stopped and looked
up.  The noise of the plane was loud, and getting louder.  He was
about to speak again when, bam, there's a huge noise and the signal
goes right off the air.  I was about to flip the station when CNN
changed cameras to give us a look at all of Washington.  Damn, what a
time to lose the signal, I thought.  But then I looked closer.  The
Capitol, hell, it was just gone.

Judy Woodruff came on, her voice unsteady, "it would appear," she
said, "that some sort of explosion has destroyed the Capitol…" she
trailed off, unsure of what to say, "it's too early to say much at
this point, but it would appear, and I stress that we do not have
confirmation of this yet, but it would appear that the President,
along with most of the Vice President, the Cabinet, the Congress, and
the Supreme Court have been killed…  Oh my God," she muttered, short
of breath.  She put her hand up to her ear, "Ok," she said to an
unseen individual, "ok," then she turned to address the viewer once
more, "CNN is now reporting that the explosion appears to have been
caused by a plane which struck the Capitol just moments ago…"

I turned away from the TV for a moment, fucking Debt of Honor, I
thought.  But they weren't done yet.  A few minutes later the
correspondent at the scene was interrupted by a flash from New York
City.  A plane had struck the Empire State Building, setting it afire.
Within twenty minutes another two planes struck, one hit the Statue of
Liberty, shredding it, and another plane, seeing that the Capitol had
been destroyed, hit the Pentagon.  CNN was soon erroneously reporting
a truck bomb at the Treasury Department and other hijacked planes in
the air.  An Air Force General, acting without authority, ordered all
civil traffic grounded, but not before another Air Force General
ordered his F-16's to shoot down a French Airbus headed for New York.
Finally, less than an hour after the first plane struck, virtually
every television screen in the world shifted to McLean, Virginia where
Madame Secretary is becoming Madame President.

Repeat after me the Judge says.  The woman nods assuredly.  She places
special emphasis on the, "preserve, protect and defend," line.  When
it is over he shakes her hand, "congratulations Madame President."
There are no cheers, this is not the time for that.  Finally, and with
a great sense of foreboding, Gale Norton, now the 44th President of
the United States, turns to face the cameras.