Andrew Sullivan on Bush/Katrina
I guess he couldn't do this in an American outlet?
Well, whatever the case, Mr. Andrew goes off in the pages of The Times on Sunday:
Wow. This just won't stop -- and unlike the 9/11 circling of wagons, this is really becoming a moment of questions, a moment of internal outrage and a moment of weakness for the authorities. It's not "Who caused the hurricane?" but "Who's to blame for the faulty response?" And that's always been a perfectly valid question. Tip to Jimmy....
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Well, whatever the case, Mr. Andrew goes off in the pages of The Times on Sunday:
Where was the urgency to get these soldiers to rescue the poor and drowning in nearby New Orleans, or the dying and dead in devastated Mississippi? The vice-president was nowhere to be seen. The secretary of state was observed shopping for shoes in New York City. The president had barely returned to Washington; and had already opined that nobody had foreseen the breaching of New Orleans’ levees.
Earth to Bush: the breaching of the levees had been foreseen for decades. If anyone wanted evidence that this president was completely divorced from reality, that statement was Exhibit A. It didn’t help coming after a five-week vacation, when most Americans are lucky to get two.
As chaos spread, the president seemed passive. He said on Friday that he was “satisfied” with the response, but not the results. What does that mean? Then he held a photo-op with Senator Trent Lott, whose house had been demolished. “The good news is — and it’s hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before,” Bush said. “Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott’s house — he’s lost his entire house — there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch.”
According to the official White House transcript, laughter followed that remark. Lott was Senate majority leader until a few years ago, when he was forced to resign because he said he regretted that racial desegregation had taken place in the South in the 1950s and 1960s. So while the poor and the black were drowning or dying, Bush chose to chuckle in the South. It beggared belief.
Wow. This just won't stop -- and unlike the 9/11 circling of wagons, this is really becoming a moment of questions, a moment of internal outrage and a moment of weakness for the authorities. It's not "Who caused the hurricane?" but "Who's to blame for the faulty response?" And that's always been a perfectly valid question. Tip to Jimmy....
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posted by Rocco Palmo at 22:31
3 Comments:
I go through my checklist: helped my wife pack up food, clothes, school supplies, and a few stuffed animals for the trailer heading south on Thursday. Now I can b**** about Bush.
His dad fumbled on Andrew. And Karl Rove notwithstanding, this one isn't going to get any better for the president. The opposition doesn't even have its first team on the field and already the Bushies are down 28-0 in the second quarter. Wait till the hearings are convened. Then you'll see the full information behind this incompetence, and you'll have all the armchair quarterbacks piling on to boot.
Let me suggest the lack of criticism of Bush is itself naked partisanship.
gyro,
All I said was that the full disclosure of incompetence was on its way, and I do think the locals have some share of the blame.
I think the raving Bush-haters will be active at that time as well.
I don't know what my kool-aid sludge said about the result of the hearings. Like Hermione Granger, I never had much use for divination. But it doesn't take much to see that a lot of people, including the president, will have their toes put to the fire on the handling of this episode.
Jeff, a few things ...
First this is a thread about Bush/Katrina, not women's ordination. I do know that many conservatives have sort of a thing for the hot button feminist issues of the day ... or it could be there's a shortage of ADD meds in the house.
"Hey, Todd. What did Bush do wrong specifically; other than simply that bad things happened?"
As I've written in at least three places, the incompetent appointees to FEMA, if not DHS. Brown is a disaster; otherwise why was that CG admiral sent in to clean up the federal act and get things organized? Bush also bobbled his first public appearance after Katrina hit. It was almost as if he didn't care. It was a poor speech at a time when the US president needs to project an image of caring, strength, and confidence.
"But people who use a disaster to offload their petty political grievances aren't behaving with decency, let alone charity."
My criticism is of the Bush Administration's ineffectiveness in providing support in this emergency. I can't believe it would've been better if Al Qaeda had bombed the levies. Bush declared war on terrorists. Fine. But he'd better have something to back it up with if he's serious about it. And if he can't oversee effective disaster relief with two days' notice, how are we to expect he'll get it right if, God forbid, another 9/11 happens?
Bush and his appointees who were ineffective deserve the withering criticism they're getting. Bush is the leader. He's responsible. Jeff, it's not up to you to determine the motives of people criticizing the president. If you have something germane to the actual criticisms, or any praise to offer, just spit it out. Or of you'd prefer not to criticize W, just hold your pen. These are not hard choices.
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