- re runs of the "Checkers Speech" next...

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...te/8305904.htm

Laura Bush defends husband's actions before Sept. 11 attacks

Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. - Any suggestion that President Bush didn't take the threat of
terrorism seriously before the Sept. 11 attacks is misguided, his wife, Laura
Bush said Monday.

"If the implication was that my husband in some way does not take his role
seriously, that's just absolutely wrong," Bush told reporters after addressing
a National School Boards Association conference in Orlando.

The actions taken by the Bush White House before Sept. 11 have come under
intense scrutiny since the publication of a book by former White House
counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, who has criticized the president's
handling of terrorism. Clarke testified last week before a bipartisan
commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.

In addition, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has resisted calls to
testify before the Sept. 11 commission. Commission member John Lehman, a
Republican, called the refusal to testify "a political blunder of the first
order."

The decision could complicate President Bush's re-election campaign, which is
being staked on his response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Laura Bush said the commission and its investigation shouldn't be politicized.

"It's for us to find out what we can do to make sure it doesn't happen again
and to make sure the people of the United States are safe and secure," Bush
said. "That's the goal of my husband and his administration."