WaPo: One Reason For the Slow Response? Multiple Vacations.

[VolcanoJen]

A pretty damning Washington Post article for Monday morning... odd that it shows up on A17, though.

(Sorry if it's a dupe... search function is down. :-))

Officials Deal With Political Fallout by Pointing Fingers

Excerpt:

Louisiana officials pushed back hard against the White House yesterday, sharply criticizing President Bush for offering a tentative and insufficient response to the obliteration of New Orleans and then trying to shift the blame to the state and local governments.

<<<< snip >>>>

A senior White House aide said there was no reason for Bush to return to Washington to deal with the disaster before Wednesday, though he was told of the gravity of the situation in briefings late into the night on Monday. Bush cut short his working vacation at his ranch near Crawford, Tex., but spent Tuesday night there. The aide said Bush wanted to allow his Cabinet and staff time to get back to Washington and in place to brief him.

Democrats say Bush would have been better positioned to demand a speedier response if he were in Washington, or at least to offer Americans a symbolic show of his involvement by cutting short his time away from the White House.

One reason for the slow White House response, said a Republican who has been in contact with several officials, is that so many high-level officials and aides were on vacation. Vice President Cheney, for instance, was in Wyoming and did not return unil Thursday, and Nicolle Devenish, the president's top communications adviser, is getting married in Greece with a number of mid-level aides in attendance.

Thanks to Talking Points Memo for illuminating this article.

[liveoaktx]

1. Makes Bush look even more like a puppet Front Man stooge

while the real power was off doing something, probably recovering from open heart surgery

[joanne]

3. What "working vacation" are they talking about?

Riding his bike?

They just dont want to admit Shrub did NOTHING the month of August except attend a few carefully staged meetings to talk about "staying the course" in Iraq.

WORST PRESIDENT EVER!!!!!!

[VolcanoJen]

6. And, this quote speaks to the phony Friday morning "briefing session."

Bush cut short his working vacation at his ranch near Crawford, Tex., but spent Tuesday night there. The aide said Bush wanted to allow his Cabinet and staff time to get back to Washington and in place to brief him.

Gosh, from the sight of that Friday morning dog-and-pony show that went out live over every major network, Bush wasn't briefed on the extent and gravity until, well, Friday morning.

So what did he do on Wednesday and Thursday? Eat pretzels?

[Democrats_win]

2. OH my G! If they'd spent the same effort on doing rather than excusing

we'd still have New Orleans.

[Kagemusha]

4. The People expect better during a Time of War.

This is the sort of carelessness I'd expect from a pre-Civil War government with no expectation of immediate hostilities with any power. The President goes back to his farm or ranch and Washington D.C. basically shuts down. And, apparently, neither left in place a system that could respond to an emergency, nor felt particularly inclined to personally ensure that the emergency was responded to.

Meanwhile lawyers were making the arguments for and against nationalizing the Guard - you know, actually making Bush do something - while the Pentagon dragged its feet against being in a position to be blamed for anything that would go wrong as a result.

Emergency management? Disaster response? Homeland security?

Not when a "Gone Ranchin'" sign is up on the White House front doors.

[VolcanoJen]

5. Hey, don't bother us. We're in Wyoming, and Greece.

No sense in interrupting weddings and vacations just because of a little water in your basement, I suppose.

You know what? I'm sicker than I've ever been after reading that lame excuse. It's hard for me to fathom that a "Republican Senior Official" would admit to that even on background.

Is someone within the administration, or Congress, caving????

God, I hope so, for the future of the union.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

11. Look there are NO Excuses how many hours does it take to get

anywhere. This was not out of the blue, there was warning. Hey look if someone is getting married, or whatever that's ok. If I were ON VACATION, the minute I knew (and I know most here) there was a problem brewing we would've cut it short, just in case. The friggin president and congress have planes that operate on THEIR schedule, not the airlines. No more excuses will be tolerated, Mr. Bush!

[VolcanoJen]

13. Well, absolutely. What does a communications adviser have to do...

... with national security anyway?

Speaks volumes, doesn't it? What would Chimpy do without a script and an earpiece?

Let her get married. But the Vice President has no f'in excuse.

[BlueStateBlue]

7. I work for a friggin' catalog company and I've gone to work when I'm

supposed to be on vacation when there's an "emergency". And believe me, my emergencies don't involve anybody dying. Unreal.

[Spazito]

8. Good article, over all

Gotta love this:

"Chertoff is in charge of operational briefings for Bush, which start early each morning and occur periodically throughout the day. White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. is coordinating the hurricane team, and Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, has been intimately involved in meetings. Bush, who typically works a fairly set schedule, has been working longer hours, getting in earlier than his usual 7 a.m. start and working as late as 9 p.m., at least two hours past his normal quitting time."

My God, the man actually is staying up TWO hours past quitting time, this MUST be a National Disaster, right?

[joanne]

9. The Chimp is "working" two hours past his usual time

When is the next vacation?

[VolcanoJen]

10. From the sounds of this, the WaPo is a little pissed off about having to..

... publish a correction to yesterday's story.

You know, where they quoted a Senior Official on background affirming that Gov. Blanco still hadn't declared a state of emergency.

The second paragraph below is almost editorial.

Bush is trying to undo what many Republicans described as considerable damage to the White House inflicted by Bush's crisis management. "Almost every Republican I have spoken with is disappointed" in Bush's performance, said William Kristol, a conservative columnist with close White House ties. "He is a strong president . . . but he has never really focused on the importance of good execution. I think that is true in many parts of his presidency."

As president, Bush typically has been loath to admit mistakes, and this situation is no different.

[aquart]

12. Dear Nicolle, when Americans are dying en masse,

The tasteful bride postpones the wedding.

[VolcanoJen]

16. Miss Manners should take note. (n/m)

[VolcanoJen]

14. I'm sure Al Qaeda is taking notes.

Note to terrorists: Attack us in late August/early September.

We're like Europe. Nobody's home.

Disgusting.

[FormerRepublican]

15. So if we were in the middle of the cold war, and Russia just pressed...

...the button and dozens of nukes were headed for the United States, Bush would wait 5 DAYS to act? If terrorists set off a coordinated biological attack, Bush would wait 5 DAYS to respond? The ENTIRE COUNTRY could be destroyed and completely depopulated before Bush got off his *ss and did something!

From the sound of things, we don't have a President, we have a place holder.

Yeah, I feel safer already.

[VolcanoJen]

17. "Do you feel safer?"

I don't. Spread the word.

[amandabeech]

19. We're all supposed to be in danger of another terra attack.

What if a terraist had actually blown the levees in New Orleans? Even if * had been energized by the need to fight evil, he had no staff to do it with.

If there actually are terrorists out there with designs on U.S. territory, the lesson is to attack the week before labor day.

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. Good thing the terrorists all go on vacation in August too

Could you imagine what could happen if they didn't?

[Skidmore]

20. Do you know of any work place that lets its entire staff take a whole

month off at the same time? Especially when you are involved the provision of critical services?

[VolcanoJen]

21. The vacation time of this administration rivals that of the French.

Another good phrase to throw at your wingnut colleagues.

That should make their heads explode.