Let's put that in perspective.

In the 40 minutes between the second plane striking the WTC and the plane striking the Pentagon, John Kerry sat, unable to think.

In those same 40 minutes, President Bush spoke to the Vice President, the director of the FBI, the National Security Advisor, and the governor of New York; addressed the nation; and rushed to Air Force One.

And he read a book.

Except his isn't made up. Go read over at Mullings.

There has been a lot of talk about all of the anger on the Left. I think all of their crap has been pissing of the Right for a long time now. I mean, if you've ever seen Rich Galen on TV, he's the nicest guy. But they made him mad. A smackdown is a comin'.

John Kerry follows Michael Moore's lead on the "seven minutes."

"Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whispered in my ear, 'America is under attack,' I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to -- and I would have attended to it."

However, while we cannot know what President Kerry would have done, we do know what Senator Kerry did.

KING: Where were you on 9/11?

HEINZ KERRY: You know, it's very interesting. I landed at National Airport less than 12 hours before, coming from Pennsylvania, where I was doing a prescription drugs thing -- meeting. And I came in from Pittsburgh, landed at National, and that's the last time I landed at National for quite a while.

KING: How'd you hear about it?

HEINZ KERRY: I was at home in Washington. I had just come in and I got a call...

KERRY: I think I called.

HEINZ KERRY: And they said, look at the TV. I looked at the TV and I couldn't believe it.

KING: Where were you?

KERRY: I was in the Capitol. We'd just had a meeting -- we'd just come into a leadership meeting in Tom Daschle's office, looking out at the Capitol. And as I came in, Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid were standing there, and we watched the second plane come in to the building. And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table and then we just realized nobody could think, and then boom, right behind us, we saw the cloud of explosion at the Pentagon. And then word came from the White House, they were evacuating, and we were to evacuate, and so we immediately began the evacuation.

Time between second plane hitting WTC and Pentagon = time spent not thinking = 40 minutes.

Spotted in The Corner.

Because noone is reporting it. For example, you might think that the discovery of an active nuclear program in Iraq might have been news to someone other than NewsMax. (WMD in Iraq is my beat, and I gotta find out from Ace?)

And the Brits round up some folks who are just about to attack Heathrow, using some of that "old information" from Pakistan.

Then I hear on the radio that after almost three years, there is suddenly a move to find some stuff about the anthrax attacks. Could it also be related?

And some mosque leaders trying to help get some shoulder fired missiles get busted in Albany. Albany, again? Too close to Canada, I guess.

Mookie breaks the cease fire. Just guessing our agreement not to kill him is now about as useful as his agreement to cease fire.

And a guy arrested on a truck bomb plot in Chicago, though he seems like a McVeigh copycat.

Alan Keyes is running for the Senate in Illinois. This should be the most interesting race out there. I don't know there has been a Senate race where both candidates are black. And I don't know that there has been a Senate race where both cadidates are such engaging speakers. I hope they debate - it should be fun to watch.

I saw Keyes in 1996 at an event for all of the Republican candidates in South Carolina. Keyes was up last, and he was about 20 minutes late getting there for his speaking slot. But not one person left the auditorium as near as I can tell. We all waited just to hear him speak, and it was well worth the wait.

But I don't give Keyes much of a chance. He's from Maryland, not Illinois, and I am sure that there will be plenty of "not really black" talk from Democrats, which is kinda funny, considering.

And I am not sure I want Keyes to win, even though he is on my team, for a couple of reasons. Keyes is a fiery speaker, but also goes a bit off the rails. In 96 he complained that the GOP was racist when they did not include him in a debate even though he was at about 1% in the polls - and depite the reception he received at that event in South Carolina. And also, I saw him on C-SPAN in 2000, speaking to maybe a dozen supporters, and he was arguing, seriously, that we should go to war to take back the Panama Canal. I thought that a bit extreme.

Still, should be fun to watch.

PS - just heard on Fox, Keyes says he will need a couple of days to decide - so this may not happen.

If you are low in your rantage intake, Cold Fury's got more than your recommended daily allowance.

So of course, slow news month. But there is a lot going on. Jeff Quinton has a wrapup of terrorism news.

Hurricane came and went, didn't reach landfall in North Carolina.

That's gonna leave a mark.

Phone charger fried, hotel is changing cable system, all I have is the internet for communication to the world!

That's all I got. The news is slow.

Headed off to Raleigh for the week, and so this evening had a conversation with Mrs. Blaster regarding the bug-out box and our family communication plan, including a quick tutorial on operating the gun safe and how to operate the pistol (I am going to have to get her to the range, I think).

Kind of weird having the discussion - I know I say "prepared, not paranoid," but it just feels a bit strange having that talk. But we have to do it, so we do.

Times like this I remember just how much I hate the terrorists for making us have to.

The old simultaneous and contradictory Bush bashing trick. First of all, there is nothing to fear except 4 years of George Bush. Warnings of terrorist attacks are made up so that the people will live in fear and vote for President Bush.

But at the same time, we are doing nothing about Homeland Security, and we are less safe because of President Bush.

Meanwhile, I have to fly out of Reagan National tomorrow. That should be fun.

UPDATE: CPT Chaz has thoughts on this.