USA Today: A compassionate Bush was absent right after Katrina

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-08-bush-compassion_x.htm

WASHINGTON — President Bush has shown that he can be empathetic, sensitive and decisive. But those qualities eluded him for days after Hurricane Katrina, and the lapse could become a defining moment of his White House tenure.

The most stirring image of Bush's presidency came when he spontaneously grabbed a bullhorn at Ground Zero and vowed retribution against 9/11 terrorists. Tears filled his eyes when he took the oath of office in 2001, and he has wept publicly when talking about U.S. troops slain in battle and his respect for his father. He has hugged countless victims of fires, hurricanes and other tragedies. During his 2000 campaign, he told recovering teen addicts, "I used to drink too much. ... I want you to know that your life's walk is shared by a lot of other people."

But there's another side to Bush. He can seem detached and unaware of the messages conveyed by his words and conduct. Bush decided to see Katrina's destruction for the first time from his jumbo jet and joked on his first trip to the disaster zone about youthful partying in New Orleans. He didn't cancel his vacation until two days after Katrina struck and didn't visit the region until four days after the storm. It's not the first time that side of the president has been visible. He taped a video for a 2004 black-tie dinner showing him hunting under White House furniture for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction as the death toll there mounted. His visit to Ground Zero came three days after the 9/11 attacks.

Bush's critics say his response to the hurricane proves that he's not a leader. "Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday. White House spokesman Scott McClellan has dismissed criticism of the response by Bush and his administration as part of the Washington "blame game."

[fooj]

1. McCain is disgusting, as well.

Peace.

[SoFlaJet]

3. as if

anybody with a soul would actually INVITE people who ALLOWED the things said about an opponents wife to be invited to a birthday party?Not this man..

[Benhurst]

4. Does anybody remember if McCain had one of the "tell all"

interviews with Dick Cheney when the senator supposedly was being considered for the vice presidency? If so, the Bush Crime Family has the goods on him.

[Hissyspit]

2. They're just figuring this stuff out about this guy? n/t

[Merlot]

5. He was a cheerleader in college - so grabbing a bullhorn was old hat

I can not fathom why people claim that becoming a cheerleader again is such a defining moment in his presidency. I just don't get it. Of course he did train for that moment by being on a cheerleader squad, so he obviously did the first thing he felt familir with.

As for being a leader, true leadership qualities were showen by Oprah when she demanded to see inside the dome. They told her she didn't want to see it and she insisted. No pretty photo-ops for this woman...who I believe beat gee dubya to the disaster area by a couple days.