Surprise, Surprise, Surprise: Was Bush Surprised on 911?
Was George Bush surprised by the terrorist attacks on 911. That day, at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School, he was informed by Andy Card that America was under attack.
Let’s look at the pictures. Never before has a president been being filmed, and from so many different angles, while he is being informed of an attack on our nation.
Andy Card approaches Bush.
Does he look surprised to you?
Surprise is a fleeting emotion and expression. Surprise is involuntary. If you are surprised your face does certain things automatically without you thinking about it or being able to stop it. The eyes widen. The wider the eyes, the more surprised a person looks. The widening of the eyes is helped by the eyebrows lifting. Either the mouth falls open with none of the surrounding muscles contracted or the lips are pursed together in a small O.
According to Darwin (in The Expression Of The Emotions In Man And Animals), surprise is accompanied by a desire to see what has surprised us, thus the eyes widen, and by preparation for possible swift activity, which requires a deep breath through an opened mouth.
This is surprise*:
And this:
And this:
This expression – I remember it. When I turned on my TV the morning of 911 I remember my mouth falling open, my eyes widening. I remember my surprise.
Does George Bush look surprised to you?
His mouth doesn’t fall open even briefly. His eyebrows are not raised. He doesn’t even widen his eyes, which should be an involuntary response to surprise.
I think there is a good reason his face never showed surprise: Because he wasn’t surprised and he wasn’t surprised because he knew what was going to happen.
Even this prehistoric mask shows more surprise than Bush did on 911:
Isn’t it time 911 was really investigated?
*All drawings from The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expressions by Gary Faigin
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© Alllie 2006
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