Katrina underscores Bush's isolated style

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - As President Bush flew this week to the Gulf Coast for his second post-Katrina visit, an aide said the trip reflected Bush's usual routine of "seeing as much as possible and getting information from different places."

Not quite.

Bush did not visit with any angry evacuees in New Orleans. As Katrina approached, Bush and his top aides spent days apparently unaware that New Orleans might be flooded - despite many warnings, some from inside his own administration. Afterwards, he heaped praise on officials responsible for the slow and initially disorganized disaster-relief efforts. His aides dismiss demands that Bush hold someone accountable for failure, saying that's merely a distracting "blame game."

(snip)

While Bush likes to be surrounded by friendly faces, he avoids frowning ones. Since Katrina hit, Bush visited the Gulf Coast twice, but both times avoided angry evacuees - ostensibly so he wouldn't interfere with relief operations.

Some veteran Bush-watchers are skeptical of that White House explanation.

"They didn't want anything to be on TV showing a bunch of angry people hollering at the president," said George Edwards, a presidential scholar at Texas A&M University. "It would not have been a favorable scene unless he could handle it well, which he can't. Clinton could. He would be down there feeling their pain. But Bush can't."

more…
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/12594054.htm

[bullimiami]

1. Its not style. its ignorance.

either he is isolated and fed his daily dose of what to believe or he is the stupidest meanest most heinous creep on the planet.

[krkaufman]

28. And -- moreso, IMO -- Cowardice. n/t

[Dulcinea]

29. It's apathy.

Why should he care about a lot of poor black people who probably didn't vote for him & have no money for his campaign?

[rodeodance]

2. can't have any of the reality stuff you know.

[rodeodance]

3. the article calls it isolated style, I call it the BUBBLE

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[Laelth]

8. A better question might be ...

Why do you want to defend him?

:eyes:

-Laelth

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Take care of?

T%ake care of?

How about rescue? Under your logic, the federal government should let thousands of people die rather than lift a finger. Praytell, why do we spend all this damn money on your phoney Department of Homeland Security? Is it only to provide Bush's politicval hacks with cushy positions and make laughable color-wheel threat charts? You can't really be so brainless, can you?

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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[alcibiades_mystery]

11. LOL

Now it's 2000 buses! Oh Lord how they lie and lie.

And yet they'll defend Bush's absurd trip to Arizona and San Diego in the midst of the unravelling catastrophe, Bush eating cake and strumming guitar as American citizens drowned in their homes. Wait for it: the next salvo will be some racist tirade. It's always only an inch away for these cult-like Bush-worshippers.

[niceypoo]

18. It started out as 100 buses....now its 2000.....lol

The whole operation was put into federal hands the day before the hurricane hit. That put FEMA in charge. Don't believe me? See for yourself:

http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976

"BATON ROUGE—Today Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco forwarded a letter to President Bush requesting that he declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina. The full text of the letter follows:

August 27, 2005"

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Is incompetence considered a style now?

:rofl:

Bush: You know how I roll...

:rofl:

[zuzus petals]

6. FEMA Fuck ups

Please...I need links. A wingnut sent me a link from WorldNet Daily (I know, I know) that said that the State of Louisiana was keeping the Red Cross out because by accepting food, water, ice etc, that was encouraging people to stay.

I need something to squash this shit.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. Too bad the federal governent wasn't there

to supercede that. So it's OK for Bush to let people die - even under your dubious contention of local incompetence - if the locals are incompetent? Hell, whatever - locals are incompetent...I'll go fundraising out West heh heh heh. Some "security President" you got there! Some "preparedness President." This imbecile couldn't organize a trip to the bathroom. BTW, I don't believe for a second that you drive a truck, or were anywhere near Louisiana.

[Roy]

21. HA HA HA.....

No matter what the topic. Where there is annonymity, the repub you are talking too is always employed in whatever field the subject addresses.

These people will lie, even if the truth would save their life.

:rofl:

[zuzus petals]

22. Yeah..he was a lying sack of worm infested possum shit..

Oh, BTW, I saw GW Bush snort cocaine, know the woman who says he made her abort their baby (she was 13), know that he crashed a jet while drunk to the gills when patrolling TX for invasion from Mexico and has seen him kick puppies.

See troll? Anybody can do it..

[niceypoo]

19. The Govenor asked for federal help the day before it hit

BATON ROUGE—Today Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco forwarded a letter to President Bush requesting that he declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina. The full text of the letter follows:

August 27, 2005

http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976

There is the official press release

[zuzus petals]

20. This from you? To the FEMA Fuckups lying troll sack of shit

Three or four posts above?

"Why do you think the Feds. should take care of you, instead of your local and state government? It is not the job of the Feds. to take care of you. you need to take care of your self."


You're a troll...Now tell me about how Clinton killed Randall Terry's wife..dipstick

[AtlantaGirlyGirl]

23. ideology is the key

it makes sense that Bush would consider this to be a state problem - he's a conservative when it comes to the fed gov't. he is obviously very hands off and doesn't study problems, so why would he think that the Gulf might not have a plan of action? Before Katrina I didn't even know that NO was below sea level... and I went to a great university. They freak about the weather all the time and I wasn't expecting this. I'm not defending what happened, but it all falls in line with ideology. Cheney is a POS - I think he's the worst of the bunch. Rumsfield makes my skin crawl.

I have so many mixed feelings about what happened. Mainly anger and sadness. How can the Feds expect a city to save itself when there is no city? Duh. This should not be up to the city/state - I think that's what conservatives (i hope) learned from this.

As far as the people go, on one hand I do agree with Powell. Socioeconomic class had something to do with it. CNN reporters found buses and ambulances wouldn't go into the city because the drivers were scared. It goes with the class - not necessarily the race. I don't believe in people taking advantage of the system, but I don't believe in destroying the system because of some bad people. I am happy to pay taxes for services that help people. People who steal just go with the territory.

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. One non-sequitor in there

"CNN reporters found buses and ambulances wouldn't go into the city because the drivers were scared. It goes with the class - not necessarily the race."

Huh? I think it would be quite the opposite - the fear in white America put out by large groups of black people is well known and cuts across class lines.

[tanyev]

7. It's not style.

They just can't find enough people in the Gulf Coast area right now willing to sign a loyalty oath.

[Olney Blue]

13. Jimmy Carter would beat him.....

The article goes on to say:


Analyst Andrew Sullivan, who writes an idiosyncratic but often conservative Weblog, thinks Katrina unmasked Bush's weakness as an executive.

"I must say that the Katrina response does help me better understand the situation in Iraq," Sullivan said. "The best bet is that the president doesn't actually know what's happening there, is cocooned from reality, has no one in his high-level staff able to tell him what's actually happening, and has created a culture of denial and loyalty that makes fixing mistakes or holding people accountable all but impossible."

Bush allies insist he is engaged and pressing the government to fix all hurricane-related problems. But the public isn't much impressed, judging by his plummeting polls. One new survey by independent pollster John Zogby shows Bush would lose a hypothetical election to every modern president, including the much-maligned Jimmy Carter.

[ignatius 2]

15. But I thought he was a man of the people,the kind of guy you

would want to have a beer with.

Behind his carefuuly polished image of a "real" person, these is nothing but an empty,callous,soulless shell.

Now where did I put my smiley face, I wouldn't want to upset the King.

[anakie]

16. has any of the top admin officials

actually been to New Orleans yet?

[Rose Siding]

25. Shays (R) calls bush arrogant, compares admin to Nixon WH

This is remarkable.

To Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., the Bush administration's response to Katrina suggested "a real sense of arrogance. Loyalty and never admitting a mistake matters more than the truth. It has a Nixon feel to me."

[cliss]

26. Guess what?

Bush never went to Louisiana. He went to Mississippi, to a predominately white Republican area. (It's easier to joke around the white folks).

Lying pieces of shit.

[pinniped]

27. They just don't give a shit.

--* and his top aides spent days apparently unaware that New Orleans might be flooded--

And I don't care what that drug addict laura said about the monster caring about every citizen in this country.