[MaggieCarta]

Mr. Bush also suffered his critics' ire for reading "The Pet Goat" to a group of schoolchildren at Emma E. Booker Elementary School after he was informed of the aircraft hitting the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. He was charged with being out of touch, indecisive, tuned out. He was said to be unable to grasp the significance of the events unfolding around him.

The new president's performance on Thursday afternoon was similar.

Um...no.

President Bush was in front of a group of (real) children who expected to have a story read to them by the President of the United States. Events were unfolding, and I daresay President Bush had a keen grasp of the gravity of the situation. However, he was mindful that he was in front of a group of real children (which is different from a group of adult Democrats) who did not need to be unduly disturbed. I saw his finishing of the story not as "out of touch", but rather completely "in touch" and quite cognizant of the fact that he was in front of children.

Zero, in contrast, was out of touch and out of line.

I think I will stop reading the editorial now.

[Erik Latranyi]

Events were unfolding, and I daresay President Bush had a keen grasp of the gravity of the situation.

Absolutely right. The camera captured the moment Bush found out about the 9/11 attacks.

Obama 's speech was over 3 hours after the news broke about the Ft Hood shooting. We did not get his intial reaction, but we got a statement that had plenty of prep-time and still reflected an incredible callousness toward the tragedy.