Posted on 10/26/2007 7:23:23 AM PDT by rightinthemiddle
President eager to show mettle after Katrina muddle
If there is a lasting image of presidential detachment that has haunted George W. Bush since Hurricane Katrina, it is the picture of him gazing out the window of Air Force One as he flew over the Gulf Coast en route from his Texas ranch to the White House.
It was two days after the storm, New Orleans was 80% flooded, and tens of thousands of people were trapped without help.
But the best their commander-in-chief could manage was a presidential flyover.
"It's devastating," Bush said then. "It's got to be doubly devastating on the ground."
It was. From that moment of inaction, the widespread perception of him as the go-to guy in times of crisis evaporated.
He was no longer the commanding figure who stood atop a pile of rubble at Ground Zero, his arm round a fatigued emergency worker, vowing to get the terrorists. He was the guy who, on his first actual visit to the Gulf, turned to Michael Brown, FEMA's bumbling director, and quipped, "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."
So it's no wonder that Bush -- with a year left in his second term and a legacy to consider --has been eager to show things have changed.
Ever since the Southern California wildfires burst into public view late on Sunday, the White House has been at the top of its game. As soon as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called for help, Bush declared a state of emergency in California. He followed up by agreeing -- again, at Schwarzenegger's request -- to designate the state a "major disaster" area.
(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...
Every time I'm unhappy with Bush (which is a lot), I read stuff like this and am reminded who the real enemy is.
The "W, The President" sticker stays, if only to annoy a Lib.
Barf alert?
yup, Pres Bush caused Katrina and prob caused these wildfires. WHAT an imagination these libs have. I wonder what color the sky is in their world? Nitwits.
Actually, this article is pretty neutral- the author is (rightly) pointing out that Bush not at his best during the Katrina aftermath and mentions that he had done better in the past.
BTW the Post is a conservative paper even by American standards.
Ridiculous...these whiny lib journalists forget that at the time Bush did not want to land in Louisiana because his BIG security foot print would have been an unnecessary distraction from the relief effort.
He's literally damned if he does and damned if he doesn't!
Even the buses were trapped in New Orleans without aid from President Bush. < /mother of all sarcasm>
I love making editorial comments after the headlines, but I think this one speaks for itself.
Sorry, but for the most part, that's more than the people of NO deserved.
Ever since the Southern California wildfires burst into public view late on Sunday, the White House has been at the top of its game.
If Bush would have showed some “mettle” at Katrina instead of handing out thousands of taxpayer-funded gift cards, he wouldn’t need to be in California. This is not a national problem and it shouldn’t take the tax money from people in the other 49 states to resolve the issue. California’s residents, California’s problems.
What did Sheldon expect Bush to do? Swim to New Orleans? What a putz.
Is it that you don't get enough negative, less-than-factual news from our domestic media morons?!?
Well said, RIM. I had the same reaction.
Of all the valid reasons to criticize George W. Bush, not-showing-sufficient-concern-about-a-disaster is not one of them.
This sneer is so revealing of the shallowness of the Left--its overriding concern with feelings and appearances, its utter lack of depth and substance. This is one of the most frightening things about the Left and whatever its agenda du jour happens to be.
Ahhhh...it’s in association with FEMA, which is what your tax payor dollars already fund.
For your wish to come true, the agency (FEMA) would need to be defunded...so...that major disasters are only a state problem. Good Luck with that.
” He’s literally damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t!”
Yes - I’m waiting for the complaints that he visited the SoCal fire areas because a higher percentage of victims were white - unlike the shrine that NO has become to way too many.
Responsibility starts at the local. Why isn’t Nagin in jail for dereliction of duty?
The "MUDDLE" was due to NAGIN and BLANCO.
IMHO history will show that Brown, while a crony, did an adequate job in Mississippi and 4-5 other Hurricanes during his tenure.
The DBM and Dims SUCCESSFULLY pulled off the BLAME game hit job on Bush and Co for what was the worst NATURAL DISASTER in NO history.
Perhaps so, but he is observing the reactions of the Left, which dependably reveal their utter shallowness.
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