Posted on 10/25/2007 5:31:29 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(CBS) SAN DIEGO President Bush had a message Thursday for Southern Californians weary and frightened from five days of still-burning wildfires. "We're not going to forget you in Washington, D.C," he declared in an eery echo of what he once told Hurricane Katrina victims.
On a damage-survey trip haunted at every turn by the ongoing Katrina crisis, Bush saw by air and on foot the result of fires that have raced through canyons and neighborhoods since Sunday. The blazes have killed at least three people, sent hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes and burned nearly half a million acres.
"We've got a big problem out here," the president said near the end of his quick, four-hour visit. "We want the people to know there's a better day ahead -- that today your life may look dismal, but tomorrow life's going to be better," Bush said. "And to the extent that the federal government can help you, we want to do so."
Said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bush's tour guide for the day: "The only way to grasp the true magnitude is to see it for yourself and to be out there with the people whose lives have been turned upside down."
Before leaving Washington, Bush said he aimed to bring assurances of federal help, comfort for those who have lost lives, homes and possessions, and thanks to overworked firefighters.
The president's first views of the devastation came via helicopter. CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports there was a very pungent odor from all the smoke from nearby fires at the air base.
Masks and small, wet towels were distributed to the presidential entourage to help cope with the smoky conditions. A white film covered the sky and, as the choppers drew closer to San Diego, Bush saw homes that had been reduced to piles of sticks.
Bush then got a closer look at the situation on the ground.
In San Diego's hard-hit community of Rancho Bernardo, Bush stepped through rubble on a street of Mediterranean-style homes, where houses that remained unscathed were interspersed with what amounted to mere shells of the American dream. He stood with Jay and Kendra Jeffcoat near where a single spiral staircase rested amid rubble that used to be their home and where their burnt-out car had melted into the scorched earth.
"Those of us who are here in government, our hearts are right here with the Jeffcoats," the president said, his arm draped around Mrs. Jeffcoat. Holding her small brown dog on a leash, she fought back tears and Bush kissed her on the head.
He shook hands at a makeshift disaster assistance center where government agencies and private companies are providing help to residents.
From there, the president's motorcade passed charred hillsides on the way north to Escondido, where he assessed that area's damage and addressed the public and about 200 tired-looking firefighters.
"We can't thank people enough for putting their lives at risk to help a neighbor," Bush said.
Amid all this pain were lingering memories of Washington's slow response to Katrina over two years ago, and how it damaged Bush's standing.
As the first natural disaster to begin to approach the scale of the Gulf Coast storm, the fires represent a tough test for the administration. Katrina, however, affected a far larger geographic area, knocked out all communications and most key infrastructure, and impacted a relatively poorer population and much less-prepared states.
With the White House determined to convey a picture of a speedy and effective performance this time around, Bush was asked to compare the two.
"There's all kinds of time for historians to compare this response to that response," he said. "You better ask the governor how we're doing."
Schwarzenegger, standing next to Bush on a cul de sac, said the president reached out to him earlier this week before he even had a chance to make the call himself. "I call this quick action -- quicker than I expected, I can tell you that," the governor said.
Later, in Escondido, Schwarzenegger was more effusive.
"I want to thank the president for coming out here today and being such a tremendous partner, such a great help, having done everything that needs to be done," he said.
Bush returned the praise for his fellow Republican. "It makes a significant difference when you have somebody in the statehouse willing to take the lead," he said.
It wasn't clear whether this was a subtle swipe at the Democratic governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, with whom the White House has traded blame for the Katrina crisis.
But much of Bush's stay in California offered reminders of Katrina, with some of his rhetoric even remarkably similar.
For instance, Thursday's "we're not going to forget you" promise echoed what Bush said in New Orleans as he ended his first day in the hurricane zone on Sept. 2, 2005: "I'm not going to forget what I've seen," he said then. And Bush's "better day ahead" consolation in California recalled lofty words from his speech in New Orleans' Jackson Square on Sept. 15, 2005.
"I know that when you sit on the steps of a porch where a home once stood, or sleep on a cot in a crowded shelter, it is hard to imagine a bright future. But that future will come," he said.
Fran Townsend, Bush's White House-based homeland security adviser, said the disaster response this time is unfolding "exactly the way it should be" and is "better and faster" than the administration's performance after Katrina.
"This is not the end of federal assistance. It's just the beginning," she said.
A break in this week's high, hot winds, and a helpful change in their direction, had officials hoping they could make progress Thursday. Some evacuees were even being allowed back into their neighborhoods. But several fires remained far from containment and threatened thousands more homes.
Which victims is he firing?
I know he’s being forced into it but Bush is setting a terrible precedent. I don’t want the POTUS at every fire, flood and fartfest in the US.
The New Orleans victims I suppose.
San Diego has shown the world how real ‘victims’ should respond in a time of crisis.
Well, what did you expect from baby-eating Republicans like Bush and Cheney?
It wasn't enough that they were victims. No, now Bush has fired them from their jobs, too.
(That was a really, really stupid headline!)
>>
I know he’s being forced into it but Bush is setting a terrible precedent. I don’t want the POTUS at every fire, flood and fartfest in the US.
<<
Unfortunately, this is his what he has learned from Hurricane Ka-CHING!-a.
Hey, I made a funny.
San Diego to the MSM... Sit and spin! We are NOT New Orleans.
Yeah. Now if only the federal Government could realize that.
Why, yes you did. I think that is good enough to make it around the country as the next catch phrase.
I think they should be forced to go on the apprentice and face “The Donald”.
“I know he’s being forced into it but Bush is setting a terrible precedent. I don’t want the POTUS at every fire, flood and fartfest in the US.”
Needs repeating.
(sigh) So does this mean that the Federal Govt is going to help the billionaires in Malubu rebuild their homes in the same danger zones once again? How many times does this have to happen?
State and local officials like this because it takes the heat off of them. In time they will realize it makes them seem superfluous.
Well... President W. Bush did respond in a good amount of time..that’s because their was a governor willing to do their part. When all levels of government work together and not attempt to look like the star things work out.
Thanks Governor Schwarzenegger for not passing on responability and caring for all people.
In New Orleans the truth over time will show the state government of LA along side the local government always has treated my community as second class citizens...so the federial government good not do their jobs...
Yup. And it will never be reported in the media.
I'm glad Bush is so willing to spend every last dollar of mine without even so much as a thank-you in return. /sarc
California to D.C. - Is this a joke?
If the Feds wanna help, they can start by securing our borders like they're suppose to, and stop neglecting their responsibilities, while attempting to take on more.
Nice little misspelled editorial. ;)
Bush did provide plenty of help to Katrina victims, its just that certain segments of the urban New Orleans population proved completely incapable of utilizing it. That won't be a problem in San Diego County.
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