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 ...
There's the problem- most journalists (and more than a few Freepers) thought that those were the only options. Few considered the possibility that it was not just the "poor blacks" who were to blame for that situation which was also the result of (1) the failure to evacuate the city and (2) using the Superdome as a shelter without adequate preparation.
You are absolutely right.
IIRC, Haley Barbour requested that President Bush not go to MS.
I wonder why, when Katrina is mentioned, the only locale discussed is NO?
MS had much more damage due to the hurricane itself.
NO’s damage was self-inflicted due to their neglect of the levies.
He was closer to NO while he was in Texas than if he had flown to DC. Seen a US map lately?
If the National Post wants to engage in some serious journalism here, perhaps they should pay a visit to QualComm stadium and tell us all why things are so much different there than they were in the Louisiana Superdome.
Which is my point- this article is NOT about the response to the disaster, it’s about how they managed the political fallout. He’s pointing out that the WH screwed up with Katrina and discusses how they’re handling it now.
They already did- page 3, either Wednesday or yesterday. Can't recall if it was their own story or something off the wires.
‘He was closer to NO while he was in Texas than if he had flown to DC. Seen a US map lately?’
Lose the failed attempt at sarcasm, and reread my post. I noted clearly it wasn’t about geographical location, its about exercising Leadership as the average voter expects to see it.
That's a Chocolate City for ya!
How PC is that?
I’m glad someone recognizes the point of this article- bad enough when the Left read in something that isn’t there but I (naively) expected better from FReepers.
The Big Lie repeated...
LLS
Not sure what you are saying here.
Excellent point. That disaster, like the California fires and most other major disasters, are the direct result of a lot of bad decisions that were not the exclusive work of any particular politician or party. As the TSB philosophy puts it, “An accident is the end result of a chain of events. Break any link in that chain and the accident will not occur.” The same is true of disasters- while we could not stop the hurricane there were many decisions that could have minimized the loss of life and property- building below sea level, not maintaining the dikes, not evacuating sooner, not having a plan in place for dealing with evacuees, the list is endless and no reasonable person would pin the blame for all of them on any single person or entity.
This article is not about how the feds responded to the hurricane. It’s about how the White House managed the political consequences of the disaster.
Virtually every other poster here seems to think the article is criticizing the federal response to the disaster, when the article is actually about how they dealt with public perceptions. This isn’t comparing the federal response to the two disasters, it’s about how the WH is dealing with the media.
Exactly right.
I don't know where you live but comparing the CA fires to Katrina is apples to oranges. The LA gov refused fed help --Bush called her BEFORE the storm and she said, "No." That's why Jindal, a Republican got 53% of the vote with 11 candidates in last week's election. The people who live in LA, not the media or celebrities, know who screwed up and it wasn't Bush.
Also, the destruction is different after a hurricane--highways and bridges are often gone.
Houston was as prepared to accept Katrina victims in the same amount of time as the shelters in CA. Now, Houston can't get them to go home and many still won't work!
One woman started going on and on yesterday about how she wished Bush had just stayed home, that we didn't want or need him here (San Diego COunty).
I finally said to her that "You people would then whine and complain if he didn't come out here".
Fallout from his visit: People were ticked that the freeways had to close for his motorcade, and that all airtraffic had to reamin grounded while President Bush was here...including the choppers and planes dropping water. I don't know if that is true, but that is what news reporter was stating this morning (KUSI 9).
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