NYT: WAITING FOR A LEADER

[Dora]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/opinion/01thu1.html

George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end.

We will, of course, endure, and the city of New Orleans must come back. But looking at the pictures on television yesterday of a place abandoned to the forces of flood, fire and looting, it was hard not to wonder exactly how that is going to come to pass. Right now, hundreds of thousands of American refugees need our national concern and care. Thousands of people still need to be rescued from imminent peril. Public health threats must be controlled in New Orleans and throughout southern Mississippi. Drivers must be given confidence that gasoline will be available, and profiteering must be brought under control at a moment when television has been showing long lines at some pumps and spot prices approaching $4 a gallon have been reported.

Sacrifices may be necessary to make sure that all these things happen in an orderly, efficient way. But this administration has never been one to counsel sacrifice. And nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.

*snip*

It would be some comfort to think that, as Mr. Bush cheerily announced, America "will be a stronger place" for enduring this crisis. Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal.

[SpiralHawk]

1. Listen up, Mr. George Bush

America needs positive and capable leadership. You have been AWOL time and again. You are judged and found wanting. You are fired.

[Divine Discontent]

2. IF ONLY THE PRESS AS A WHOLE WOULD....

RIDE THIS GUY'S ASS! WHAT A MISTAKE OF A PRESIDENT THIS COUNTRY SUPPOSEDLY VOTED FOR TWICE... WHAT A PATHETIC, IGNORANT, UNCARING, MISTAKE!

[DinahMoeHum]

3. Piss.Poor.Leadership.

says it all...


:evilfrown:

[lostnfound]

47. Sinister though he may be, we DO have a leader: Cheney.

We know Shrub isn't in charge.
We know who must have designed the budget that cut levee protection for NOLA.
Shrub may be a vacuum, but Cheney is worse than a vacuum. I find it very easy to believe he considers it to be simply an unfortunate fact of life that it wasn't worth putting money into protecting NOLA because it was built in the "wrong place" and there's too many people in the world anyway..

[hedda_foil]

4. The NYT editorial sounds like DU!

While our attention must now be on the Gulf Coast's most immediate needs, the nation will soon ask why New Orleans's levees remained so inadequate. Publications from the local newspaper to National Geographic have fulminated about the bad state of flood protection in this beloved city, which is below sea level. Why were developers permitted to destroy wetlands and barrier islands that could have held back the hurricane's surge? Why was Congress, before it wandered off to vacation, engaged in slashing the budget for correcting some of the gaping holes in the area's flood protection?

It would be some comfort to think that, as Mr. Bush cheerily announced, America "will be a stronger place" for enduring this crisis. Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal.

[Pirate Smile]

5. I definitely felt the "Arbor Day" quality of the speech.

As if I didn't long for the Clinton Administration's competence enough already, I think the country would have really appreciated a Bill "I feel your Pain" speech. I think the Country needed one.

[kittenpants]

50. he was too busy mourning that he had to cut vacation short at 4 1/2 weeks

to put any real feeling into the speech.

[nankerphelge]

6. The "My Pet Goat" reaction...

it's a classic.

[KyndCulture]

7. this kicks ass! Anyone of us could have written this.. nt.

[osaMABUSh]

8. We have no leader - let's make that clear on Sept. 24 in DC

[me b zola]

21. I'm a little worried about the 24th

LBN is reporting that 10 major airports may be shut down due to a shortage of jet fuel. The Coast Guard has said that at least 20 oil rigs/platforms are missing in the Gulf.

I have my tickets for the 24th, but are they going to be worth a damn?

[Hissyspit]

9. When, WHEN do we get to impeach this guy? n/t

[Pallas180]

70. I think it's be a good idea to start demanding it of yr rep now.

WHITE HOUSE NUMBER 202 456 1414

Capitol Hill Switchboard: TOLL FREE 1-800-839-5276

CAPITOL HILL SWITCHBOARD - (202) 224 -3121 or [phone]

[Usrename]

10. May be the corporate media is waking up. Sure hope so. n/t

[Julius Civitatus]

11. Wow!!! The NY TImes got their balls back!!!

I'm impressed!

:wow:

[Captain Hilts]

17. Ovaries! They got their ovaries back! (nt)

[barb162]

74. hahaha, a needed laugh

[stevietheman]

12. Bush Resign Now! (you f**king incompetent fool!) n/t

n/t

[blondeatlast]

13. Nailed it. a nation in fear, a leader unable to sense it.

A recipe for disaster.

[Sparkly]

14. Wow.

EXCELLENT. Sadly, this is spot on.

[Captain Hilts]

15. Feeble speech. All he did was describe things.

It was like his comments about Peter Jennings. Just descriptive without using any compound sentences.

[IndyOp]

16. NYT said it almost as well as the kid on MSNBC today:

"He ain't president no more! President Bush don't know what he's doin!"

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4533014>

:grr:

[deadparrot]

18. I am SO thankful that my college provides free copies of the Times...

that one's going in the scrapbook...:)

[Cha]

19. They should have acknowledged

that Al Gore really won the 2000 selection then..cause they can wait on bush until Fucking Doom's Day and there ain't no leader gonna come outta that pile of disconnected gray matter.

[Hidden Stillness]

20. We Need a New Deal, Not an Act

All the people who believe that we should learn from Republicans and be just like them because they are so "brilliant" at "framing" and they "connect with people's values" so well and we "do not," and that you don't actually have to be a leader and solve real-world problems, only act like you are on TV because people are so "stupid" and "easily fooled" and only want it "packaged" and "sold" to them...can now wake up.

[stevietheman]

25. That was brilliant. Thanks! n/t

n/t

[Robeson]

35. Great post....

...very well said...:thumbsup:

[Cha]

72. Can I hear an

AMEN?!

[Mz Pip]

22. Day late and a dollar short

Old saying that applies quite well here.

Bush will go down to NOLA or Biloxi and try to appear in charge, mouthing platitudes about prayer and hope and strength.

But he won't put pressure on the oil companies to forgo a bit of profit. He won't implore Detroit to make fuel efficient cars. He won't consider raising taxes to help pay for rebuilding.

In short, he won't do a damn thing.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Southsideirish]

23. IMPEACHMENT NOW!!

[faithnotgreed]

32. worth repeating - IMPEACHMENT NOW

[howmad1]

39. Visualize Impeachment!

Please everybody, put this bumper sticker on your car. If enough of us do it, the freepers will have to spend their entire waking lives flipping us off. Hopefully, the sheeple will get it.

[faithnotgreed]

40. oh how good that sounds

welcome to the fun howmad - were glad youre here

[Laurab]

71. worth repeating again IMPEACHMENT NOW

please, please, we DO need a leader, get rid of this piece of shit and put someone with a brain and a heart in there. Let him go to his ranch and clear brush, if he can't go to jail just yet, I don't CARE, just get him out of office.......

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

57. I Distrust and pray for the impeachment of George W. Bush

nm

[intheflow]

24. This is riveting reading!

In fact, almost all the editorials blasted this administration in one way or another. Thank you, New York Times editorial staff!

[Eloriel]

26. Well, that's what you get with a sociopath at the helm.

And nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.

No conscience, no empathy. If you think about it, he has an astonishingly slender range of emotions that he expresses. Mostly just excited and emphatic assertions of his propagandistic talking points.

[Best_man23]

27. Perhaps if we "Stay the Course"

Things will work themselves out (sarcasm off).

Again, worst pResident ever.

[Dr Fate]

28. Karl Rove is a genius.

n/t

[fearnobush]

29. Because he does not give a shit!!!

When will the media, the people finally realize that he does not give a shit. I mean, com on Freepers, does it never get boring being a member of the Talibush? What does this guy really provide other than death and destruction, not to say Katrina was his fault, it was not. But the lackadaisical response and the non existent leadership to the worst disaster in our history is just so transparent that he... your God - Bush - give no shit about the people in this country.

[Neshanic]

30. "more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration" Spanky episode.

Now I have Monkey as that kid giving the "Arbor Day" speech in that Spanky and Our Gang episode in my brain. Hillarious and brutal for the NYT.

[wli]

31. Might as well draft Chavez to replace Bush. n/t

[carnie_sf]

46. Great idea

at least he's using oil money to help his citizens

[gratuitous]

33. "This administration has never been one to counsel sacrifice"

And the New York Times along with the rest of the so-called liberal media have consistently let the administration get away with it, because sacrificin' is hard work, and none of the Kewl Kidz wanted to be the wet blanket for the big party they were all having.

Well, the balcony collapsed, someone knocked a bunch of holes in the wall, the captain of the cheerleading squad is passed out in the master bedroom, the cops are at the door and Mom and Dad just phoned to say they're coming home early. Curiously, the Times has a case of collective corporate amnesia about its complicity in letting the party just go on and on.

[Hailtothechimp]

34. A very good read. Proud to be a Times subscriber. n/t

[NightOwwl]

36. His speech left me speechless.

Not a single heartfelt word of sympathy.

This should remove any doubt whatsoever that Bush is a genuine sociopath.

[baron j]

37. A real President of the USA would have interrupted broadcasts

for a few words before, during, and after this hurricane of such a magnitude.

[BrightKnight]

38. Expecting real leadership from Mr. Bush is silly.

:rant:

They need to give the Governor and mayor the resources that they need. It is appalling that they had to wait this long for an adequate number of National Guard troops. People are dying because of this. The Corps of Engineers has done nothing. Homeland Security is pointless. Mr. Bush is a sick joke as usual.

A much better job was done responding to the Tsunami on the other side of the world.

New Orleans is a center of African American culture and most of the people in the city now are poor and brown. The repiggies are showing their true colors.


A thorough inquiry needs to be made into the lack of response to this disaster.

[FlaGranny]

41. This is the first time

I've listened to or watched Bush in several years. I just cannot take him. He delivered the speech with his usual odd speech cadence and without goofing it up. He looked very pleased with himself and got that twinkle in his eye that you know means he was thinking to himself that he did good. Yeeccchhhh! I wish he would stop offending my sensibilities.

[kodi]

42. he will stand upon the levees and part the waters of Lake Ponchartrain

and lead the children of new orleans to the promised land, texas.

Amen!

[PinkyisBlue]

43. Folks

I can't stand the way he calls everyone "folks," the "folks" from New Orleans, the "folks" in Texas. He speaks very deliberately, and when a word has more than two or three syllables, he pronounces each syllable slowly. I find it irritating and distracting.

[FrenchieCat]

44. Personally, I don't care what words he uses, I still can't stand him...

I use "folks" a lot, so it's not the words he uses....it's how they are strung together to say nothing at all that bugs me!

[xxqqqzme]

49. that got me on 9/11

B4 he left the school, in his little run 'n hide speech, he said, 'don't worry, we're gonna get the folks who did this.' My son & I looked @ each other and said FOLKS?!?! I wondered - What's he gonna do then - invite the folks over for dinner?

[Nothing Without Hope]

45. But another NYT article from yesterday had major errors and omitted

vitally important points and stressed looting. A terrible article.

Discuseed in Replies #53 and 55 in this thread.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4523783
Thread title: CNN/New Orleans:"Mayor blasts failure to patch levee breeches" and that's {only the beginning}:

If you read the opening post of this thread and work through it you will see how huge the Bush Administration's guilt is.

[PurpleChez]

48. I pray that when the next election rolls around

people will realize that the most important issue facing America is NOT queer marriage but rather the wholesale destruction of our nation by * and his rethuglican brown shirts. I hope they remember that their misery was increased immeasurably by our idiot king's single-minded obsession with Iraq. How long can people continue to delude themselves into thinking that * gives a damn for them, that he is keeping them safe, that he is anything but a selfish, murderous criminal. I don't mean to speak ill of anyone suffering through the aftereffects of Katrina at the moment, but it blows my mind to think that there are likely 100's of 1000's of people in the shelters who, if they were told that their home was flooded because * cut the funding to maintain their levee, would still refuse to admit that he was anything less than Abe Lincoln, Marcus Aurelius and Charlemagne rolled into one.

[SweetLeftFoot]

52. C'mon

But if people believe that a Jewish bloke who "walked on water" 2000 years ago can directly influence their lives from his great lair in the sky, believing Dubya isn't that much of stretch.

[indie_voter]

51. IDIOTS!! All these people were mocking GORE

Gore was raising enviormental concerns such as this years ago, but instead the media was too busy repeating Rove lies.

We haven't had a leader since January 2001.

[KansDem]

56. To hell with the "Screw Your Times"

They had a chance to expose the Chimp and his pals, but instead they ran interference for him, even using their "coveted" pages to cheerlead for war, ala Judith Miller and Chalabi. Now they want to act like a responsible news outlet? To hell with them, they will never redeem themselves in my eyes.

[IconoclastIlene]

68. aint it a shame

true but a shame

[paineinthearse]

53. The NYT pisses me off

:rant:

I've attended four speeches by US Representatives over the past 6 months where, despite pre-meeting publicity, not one reporter was present.

March - Dennis Kucinich in Amesbury, MA, speaking on his proposal for a Department of Peace. I had contacted the Boston Globe's assignment editor several days in advance, but he said they had nobody available. Follow-up with the ombudsman was fruitless. The audience was >100.

April - Marty Meehan in Bedford, MA, speaking of his resolution to create a time table to disengage from Iraq. The audience was >150.

August - Jim McGovern in Worcester, MA, speaking about his factfinding trip to the middle east and called for IMMEDIATE withdrawal from Iraq. The audience was >200.

August - Barney Frank in Boston, topic was DSM (other speakers included John Bonifaz and State Rep. Gloria Fox). Prior to the meeting I conversed with the ombudsman, who sent a message to the city editor; the city editor did not deem the event newsworthy and decided not to send a reporter. Audience was >300.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette and the Boston Globe are owed by the NY Times.

We have no Dem leadership? Bull. We have leaders, they just can't get any press.:rant:

[butterfly77]

54. The big dummy

He's standing there flipping his damn script he can't hardly follow that. If they can fly over the people why can't they drop them some water and nutritional bars or something. He dosen't know what to do he has to read the script they write for him. Look how awkwardly he walked away, the big dummy.

[newyawker99]

58. Hi butterfly77!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[butterfly77]

55. I hate how he hesitates

When he thinks he's made a point, then he looks at the audience and moves his bottom teeth and looks like he's saying did you get that.

[sepia_steel]

59. hahaha

agreed. I hate how he juts his chin out like that. Welcome to DU :)

[jurassicpork]

60. Whatever does not destroy us...

...will destroy us tomorrow.

Why should the administration earmark $22.5 million for a pork-laden levee system when there are petroleum companies screaming for $14.8 billion in tax breaks to take care of?

JP
http://jurassicpork.blogspot.com

[Contrary1]

61. Is this latest attempt at appearing presidential

online somewhere, so I can watch it?

Thanks!

[LiberalCompassionate]

62. Worst. pResident. EVER. n/t

:puke:

[texpatriot2004]

63. The US has NO leader! Obviously. A leader would be doing

everything is his or her power to help and serve the people that he or she leads. Spoiled, ignorant, selfish, evil Bush knows nothing of service. He could care less about the poor, the elderly, the young, the elderly and young poor who are stuck in these flooded areas of three of the poorest states in the nation. There is NO leader! There hasn't been a leader since before the Supreme Court put this idiot in power.

[texpatriot2004]

64. Bush and his cronies are incompetent! How's that for leadership?

Dingleberries on parade!

[TheDonkey]

65. wonderful title. still waiting for a leader... will anyone stand up

[Clarkie1]

66. The most sickening thing was that smug grin.

Just like after 9/11.

It made me want to vomit.

[texpatriot2004]

67. How true! His smirk makes everything worse. Even if he utters

words that are supposed to be nice or kind, they are spoken with such insincerity that it makes whatever the situation is worse. Plus he laughs at inappropriate times...and like Wanda Sykes said, "the president shouldn't laugh like he just tied someone to the railroad tracks."

[Pallas180]

69. Dora, who's the author of that?

?

[Imagevision]

73. Bush never was a leader, now we see how incapable he is as a prez!

http://downingstreetmemo.com/

[barb162]

75. and the incompetents he has hired, like the FEMA head

Huh? There's a problem at the Convention Center? Huh?

[texpatriot2004]

76. Absolutely! That's the truth! Bush is STILL a FAILURE! n/t

[FourStarDemocrat]

77. That is 1 INTENSE editorial. I hope it gains national and world attention

Everything is said right there. Bushco should hang it's head in shame.