White House Involved In New Scandal

Gordon Taylor - Managing Editor
Rachel Snyder - Special Correspondent
03/17/07

Enterprise, AL- The White House finds itself embroiled in yet another scandal, but this time they are on the right side of the outrage. On March 3, 2007 President George W. Bush visited the devastated community of Enterprise, Alabama, ravaged by a savage tornado that took the young lives of 8 high school students at Enterprise High School.

President Bush toured the area in Marine 1, viewing the remnents of a once peaceful Alabama town. Arriving at the High School at approximately 8:30, he walked the remains the High School with Principal Rick Ranier, stopping in Hallway 3, the site of the deaths of 8 young Enterprise High School students.

Pausing to reflect on the severity of the devastation, he later remarked to the press corps as, he pointed to the Science Wing: "A hundred kids got out of here alive, it's a miracle."

Pictured at the left are the remains of the High School, which suffered a direct blow by an EF-3 tornado.

U.S. Senator's Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, and Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, accompanied the president along with U.S. Rep. Terry Everett, R-Rehobeth. As you can begin to see from the above photos, this wasn't going to be the usual tour with a following promise of help in rebuilding.

From the moment of his arrival at Enterprise High School, you could sense an awe and reverence about the President. He is a deeply compassionate man, a father himself, I wonder if he wasn't pondering how he would have felt, had this happened to his daughters school when they were younger.

As he continued his tour of the school grounds he came upon a small group of students standing on an emblem on the floor that read, "EHS, Class of 1965". Having been told he would meet this group from the student body, he asked, "Which one of you is the President?"

Megan Parks raised her hand slightly, then hung her head and began to cry. President Bush put his arms around Megan and Sarah Carroll and all three cried. A secret service officer standing nearby, although not able to hear every word, reported that he could hear the President quoting scripture and then he said, "It's tough being President, isn't it?"

After grieving with these young class officers for a time, he began walking around again. He mentioned that he wanted that emblem preserved, at whatever cost. The Mayor spoke up and said he would see to it.

President Bush replied with, "I was talking to the President." As he began to walk towards Hillcrest Baptist Church he remarked, "Where are my children?" Lagging behind, they ran up to him, and walked the rest of the way to the church with him. The media was sent in different direction and were not allowed to accompany him to the church.

President Bush walked to the church where the families of the nine that died in this town were waiting. As he entered, his security detail remained at the door. A local police officer attached to the detail questioned the Secret Service agent he was partnered with about not going inside the church with the President. The agent remarked, "This is a far as we go, this is his time with his people." The officer then questioned the presidents protection, if they remained outside the church. Again the agent remarked, "Yes, he is protected, but not by us."

Inside the church, President Bush was again seen with tears streaming down his face as he spoke with the families that lost loved ones and grieved with them. He prayed with them and gave assurances that all that could be done, would be done, to help them get back on their feet. He told them that this would make them stronger, that losing a loved one has a way of doing that to people.

The President spent nearly two hours on the ground in Enterprise. Governor Riley is quoted as saying,

"When you're around this game, you get to the point to where you can discern if the grief is real," Riley said after Bush left Enterprise Regional Airport on his way to Americus, Ga., to tour more storm damage. "I tell you, there were tears streaming down his cheeks."

The President left Enterprise, Alabama visibly shaken by the heart wrenching and emotional strain that a leader, a true leader, must endure. The President was right when he said that an experience like that the twisters had caused, the loss, the devastation and the turmoil will make the residents of this beautiful town stronger. Mr. President, I submit to you that it makes you a better and stronger leader as well. You weren't simply there paying lip service; you were grieving, you were showing your emotions and you were giving support and hope to these sad people.

It was after the President's departure that the ugly monster known as "Scandal" began to rear it hideous head. I waited one day, then two; then a week and still it grew stronger, uglier and the silence it created became deafening. The silence was so loud it roared in my ears like the very tornado that destroyed this town, and I searched and searched for a way to make it stop. But, it was not to be.

In my desperate search to end this scandal, this outrage, this horrendous act committed against the public, I found only a few whimpers of outcry, far to little to replace the silence of this scandal. A handful of local affiliates from the "Big 4" filed stories on the air and on their websites telling of the compassion, the grief and the humility our President had shown. While commendable, their voice is small and could not quiet the silence of this scandal.

And so the scandal continues, unchecked, unabated and unreported, the silence continues to deafen our ears.

BJ and Cherie Baker are listening to the deafening silence too. BJ brought his young bride home to Enterprise in 1975. BJ graduated from Enterprise High School, where his daddy taught physics and chemistry.

BJ tells The HinzSight Report that in the hours following the disaster the main stream media began to question the superintendent’s decision on whether to keep children at the school or send them home in the wake of the tornado.

“To anyone who has seen the devastation here, there is no doubt that he made the right choice,” says Cherie. “ Kids hang out chatting in the parking lots after an early release. The superintendent did the right thing by keeping the kids there. Otherwise, many more lives would have been lost.”

“The superintendent is very well liked and respected in the community,” says BJ. “No one thought to question his decision until the media arrived. Even now, the community is behind him, with maybe 1% of people who wonder if he made the best choice. He feels very responsible for the children in the schools, and certainly for the children who were lost in the storm. Anyone who has seen the condition of Enterprise knows that he made the right choice.”

Citizens in the Enterprise area have been greatly affected by the visit from President George W. Bush. BJ and Cherie are impressed by those moments that our forty third president experienced when he visited the area and attended to the people of Enterprise. The president was able to spend time with students of Enterprise High School as well as discuss matters with adults from the area. They met at the high school and they met at a church. People cling to their recollection and impression of his visit as they work together as a community to repair and heal.

There is only one way to end this scandal and that is to end the silence. The main stream media, so quick to question the actions and authority of a trained professional, has yet to speak a word of the humanity and compassion displayed by The President of the United States or report on the deep respect and thanks the community of Enterprise, Alabama has for him.

ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, the people of Enterprise, Alabama are waiting. Waiting for you to end the silence, waiting for you to break into your latest reports of negative events within the White House. Just once they would like to here, "This just in: President Bush is human after all. He showed us this recently as he cried, grieved and reassured the citizens of the community of Enterprise, Alabama."

Oops, did you just hear that?

Me neither.