When Perceptions Trump Reality
By John Cole Posted in User Blogs — Comments (26) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Hurricane Katrina has been and continues to be a disaster for a great number of our fellow citizens, and accordingly, President Bush and the appropriate federal agencies and affected Governor's have acted quickly to start the rescue and clean-up.
So obvious was the need for immediate action that President Bush declared Louisiana a disaster area several days prior to the Hurricane hitting the region.
But, with a hostile opposition party deranged by their minority status and always eager to exploit suffering and grief for short-term political gain, appearances do matter:
President Bush's swift expression of concern for hurricane victims Monday reflected a recognition of the Bush family's mixed record with the politics of disaster, experts said.
"I want the folks there on the Gulf Coast to know that the federal government is prepared to help you when the storm passes," Bush said during an Arizona speech.
No politician can afford to ignore the political implications of responding to a disaster, political analysts said.
"President Bush's poll numbers are already pretty bad, and there has been some concern among people about the long vacation while there is a perception that things aren't going so well," said Stuart Rothenberg, a Washington-based political analyst. "I hate to say it, but some of the role a leader plays after a disaster is public relations."
The Bush family political fortunes have risen and fallen on the winds of hurricanes for the past 13 years.
In August 1992, after Hurricane Andrew flattened parts of South Florida, President George H.W. Bush swiftly visited the scene. But his gesture seemed hollow to many when it took several days for emergency supplies to arrive.
Bush's Democratic election opponent, Bill Clinton, administered his trademark public empathy to hurricane victims, wondering aloud why more was not being done.
Bush is heading back to Washington, where he will help to further coordinate events in the clean-up, and while the hurricane's impact is just now being felt, it simply isn't simply isn't fast enough for some of the President's critics:
Jack Cafferty, CNN:And where's President Bush? Is he still on vacation?
Wolf Blitzer: He's cut short his vacation. He's coming back to Washington tomorrow.
Jack Cafferty: Oh, that'd be a good idea. He was out in San Diego, I think at a Naval Air Station, giving a speech on Japan and the war in Iraq today. Based on his approval rating in the latest polls, my guess is getting back to work might not be a terrible idea. That's not the question of this hour, however.
Because, as we all know, what the rescue efforts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama really need is President Bush, on the ground, biting his lip and 'feeling their pain.' The real reason for all this devastation is that Bush is on 'vacation, and not doing 'enough':
While George golfed yesterday, the worst hurricane ever struck New Orleans; oil went up to over 68.00/barrel; and an American soldier was killed in the charade and cataclysmic occupation of Iraq
Bush will eventually visit the region, when his presence will not be a distraction, just as he did in 2004 when Florida was ravaged by four hurricanes.
Not that any of that matters to those who are motivated only by hatred for the man.
[editor's note, by Erick] Bush playing golf is one of the newest lefty canards out today. Bush did not play golf, but that will not prevent people from accusing him of doing so.
...He was making a speech commemorating VJ day, and, when you weren't looking, he was in conference call with FEMA, Blanco, Landrieu, DOD, and other Usual Suspects.
Got a call into Mayor Nolan (?) on his way back to DC, fwiu?
Any questions?
Basically, he's allowing Northern Command and FEMA to activate recovery and response plans and to decide which military units to send in.
Jesus.....
Clinton didn't visit NC until about 5 days after Huuricane Floyd, I believe. It would be a logistical nightmare to try and get Bush to LA for a Clintonesque photo-op, and I'm not sure what good it would do pragmatically.
Politically, though, he probably should do it-- and I'm sure he will in time. It hasn't even been 48 hours yet, and the worst has come within the last 24 hours.
The only thing I could see was a Clinton quote from 1992.
Chicago Moderate. Not very clever, I'll admit-- but relatively accurate at least.
Some reason, I was expecting it to be something more obscure, what part of chicago do you hail from?
The only thing I could see was a Clinton quote from 1992.
(this query was mis-directed above, I was asking John, not ChiMod2)
And rightly so (no pun intended). It strikes me as going a bit overboard to demand the president be there within 24 hours of the most serious damage.
What the Republicans were angry about, from what I understand, was Clinton's previous and subsequent use of FEMA as a political tool. Correct me if I'm wrong, that was a little before my political awareness.
although hail might be a bit strong-- I just moved here a few months ago from Washington state.
thats a really nice area of town, if i recall, it's kind of near where I went to college.
Democratic Blogs are already posting about how the New Orleans Flood is Bush's fault. They use this quote from some partisan hack to justify it
_______________
"It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004
________________
Can someone check this lie out and crush it? It is embarrassing the lengths the Left will go through...
Sorry ChiMod, if you were puzzled by my query. I attached it in the wrong place (see below). I just couldn't see, in what John had written, what the Democrats had actually said in response to Katrina.
Is Maestri a Democrat or a Republican? To the best of my knowlege I thought he was Republican. And the quote is dated June of last year. Are you trying to say Democrats somehow arranged a Cat 5 Hurricane to destroy an American City during Bush's vacation just to make him look bad?
The results of this disaster were predicted as an inevitablility given the geography of New Orleans. Plans were developed to counter the threat but they either were not adequate or were not completed in time. There is a transcript from NOW dated September 2002 where Maestri was predicting a disaster on this scale, but it was outweighed by other security concerns. I wouldn't call him a partisan. He's more like a special interest group, the interest here being the safety of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
Of course, I suppose if he was on NOW with Bill Moyers maybe he is just a Lefty Bush hater.
Fran either.
Fran was a higher catagory for longer, but Floyd was devastating, because Dennis came only about a week before, and the area hadn't recovered from the flooding from that one when Floyd hit.
We were also without power longer after Floyd than after Fran as well.
You ever heard of linking? Where did you get the excerpt?
Why do you assume that Walter Maestri is a partisan hack? What evidence do you have to support your allegation? I dug around on Google and could find nothing to indicate that Maestri is either partisan or a hack.
From a USAToday bio on Maestri from 08/02/2000:
Walter S. Maestri has been director of emergency management for Jefferson Parish, La. since 1996. Jefferson Parish is the bedroom community of the City of New Orleans. Prior to his appointment as director of emergency management, he held various positions in local government since 1985.
On a daily basis, Maestri prepares plans to deal with any "all hazard" emergencies for the metropolitan area. "In essence, we play "what if" games trying to prepare plans which will handle any emergency which could possibly occur in the area" says Maestri.
TPMCafe has a partial excerpt of the article mentioned in your excerpt here. The actual article does not appear to be online anymore.
Don't jump to conclusions just because he might have said something over a year ago that may or may not make the president look bad now.
From 1970 to 1985 he served in various academic positions: Professor of Sociology at Holy Cross College, La.; Dean of Loyola University (New Orleans); President of Holy Cross College, La.
President of Holy Cross College? Yeah, the guy sounds like a screaming leftist.
Would it hurt to do some research before assuming that anyone who says anything that happens to make Bush look bad is a partisan hack? It smacks of projection, to be charitable.
Look: the hurricane is no one's fault. And I don't think it's appropriate to go throwing blame around for any of the collateral damage at this point. But I do think that we owe it to those affected by this tragedy to assess what could have been done to prevent it, and reassess our priorities in light of what we learn. New Orleans is going to need a lot of help, and we do no one a service with this kind of tripe.
the Bush bashing pales in comparison (although I condemn the remarks) to some other liberal comments about this tragedy. Some of them are saying no one cares about New Orleans, African Americans were sent to the Superdome so they would be killed, Louisiana is in the South, therefore they hate black people and want them to die. If Democrats wonder why they lose elections, this line of commentary is yet another reason why.
of lying.
Clinton was really good at biting his lip.
W is getting on with the tough work of directing the recovery from the largest disaster in our history.
The lying lazy MSM is proving to be fairly useless as far as actually helping anyone is concerned.
and the LA senators have had little trouble getting there so I'm not sure how hard a time it would be for the president to visit. However it would be useless, or maybe even worse than useless (if security necessities detract from rescue efforts), effort. Perhaps a visit to Baton Rouge instead could serve the political purposes.
Just as a comparison between the two presidents. I'm in agreement that a president doesn't have to visit the area ASAP after a disaster, but I find these links fasinating (& telling)
Here's Bush yesterday (8/30)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050830/480/capm10208301856
vs. Clinton (please note, this was a international trip and he left PRIOR to the hurricane hitting the US)
http://www.nandotimes.com/nt/images/floyd/floyd40.html
This is some lefty blog's take on Bush and Katrina.
I hear it all the time from the lefties where I work. What's the best arguements to counter this crap?
up after Fran hit NC. He did a flyover about a week after it hit.
And that was in an election year.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hurricane+fran+Clinton+visit&s
pell=1
Hey - look what's up next:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050831/ap_on_re_us/katrina_astrodome
Good thing the democrats in Texas built this thing 40 years ago just in cause this emergency use arose.
Prominent columnist Neil Steinberg in today's Chicago Sun-times waxes poetically about living it up in the French Quarter, but exhibits little concern about the rest of the city...
"The way officials were talking Sunday night, it would all be wiped away by Katrina. 'New Orleans may never be the same', they kept saying.
"Then it didn't happen. The storm "wobbled' 60 miles to the east, causing death and destruction, but not to the heart of the Crescent City. These weather people never know what they're talking about."
Yeah, Neil, some of these yokels listened to the weathermen and evacuated Neww Orleans before the storm. I guess the really clever ones who showed your disdain for the forecasts are enjoying their new digs in the Superdome or on the roofs of their submerged homes. But as long as there's no lasting damage to the Cafe Du Monde, guess it's all okay.
Incredibly, in the same column, he comments on the country singer who chewed Skoal during her concerts. He defends her, but not before sneering, "Sure, the South is a backwater, and it isn't worth the energy of getting too worked up over what goes on there."
I hope Neil Steinberg will forgive the rest of the country for mustering up the energy to pray and work for the comfort and relief and recovery of our fellow countrymen throughout the South.
what was he doing?