Tuesday, September 27, 2005; Page A23
There was a clear winner for best slogan at the huge, spirited, good-old-days antiwar demonstration that filled the streets of Washington on Saturday: "Make Levees, Not War."
It's no surprise that George W. Bush wasn't around when the multitudes of protesters -- police said 100,000, organizers claimed 300,000 -- paraded past the White House. After all, this is a president who restricts his town-hall meetings to townspeople who agree with him. He left his poor wife, Laura, to suffer the mocking crowds, who overshadowed the book festival she was hosting on the Mall.
The president's absence was understandable, though. His painstakingly crafted image of leadership and competence was so damaged by the botched response to Hurricane Katrina that he could hardly afford a repeat performance on Rita. So while a genuine Vietnam-era protest march was making its way past his house, complete with an appearance by Joan Baez, the president was on the road playing the role of flood-control commander in chief.
At the end of the day, though, he must have taken a moment to wonder how his mojo could have deserted him so completely. Rita turned out to be no Katrina, so there was no massive relief effort to command. The president still couldn't find his bullhorn moment. Meanwhile, his capital was overrun by the opposition in a spectacular demonstration of how unpopular the war in Iraq has become.
Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/26/AR2005092601472.html**********************************************************************
Excellent column! :)
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