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Not
surprisingly, Chris, the RRR will now officially
rename New Orleans Sodom and Gomorra, despite the suffering of innocents. It
fits into narrow worldviews all too well. But unless they can perform miracles, the RRR is not going to
rescue Bush from criticism that his policies and war of choice put the Gulf
Coast and its industries in orange alert danger, unprotected, despite all the
lip service. The economical
collateral damage alone is overwhelming, but I’m telling you, if by Friday the
POTUS has not declared a national state of energy conservation – not just gas rationing
- and shared sacrifice to build a common sense of purpose, then he is a bigger
fool than any of us imagined. If he tells the rest of America to donate to
relief but go about your business and to Disneyland, then honey, he’s not just
a lame duck, he’s deep-fried duck. With a tip of
the hat to Lawry directing blame where it belongs, here are some of the
questions being asked inside Washington and cyberspace, courtesy Froomkin’s
White House briefing, titled Bush’s 2nd Great Challenge: * If the reason
Bush returned to Washington is that he is more effective here, then why didn't
he come back two days ago? * If the White
House considers the return from vacation largely symbolic, then what is the
symbolism of his long vacation during a war? * Could Bush and
the federal government have done more to prepare for hurricane recovery? Unlike
the Asian tsunami, this hurricane was forecast days ahead of time. * Did any of his
previous budget decisions allow the hurricane to cause more damage than it
might have otherwise? * Are National
Guard troops and equipment required to restore order in this country many
thousands of miles away. * Will he and his
administration meet this disaster quickly and effective with the appropriate
civilian and military resources and manpower? * Will the White
House provide the bold leadership and vision that the nation requires? Peter Baker in
the WaPo aims at the touchy issue of imagery: “The abrupt decision to return to
Washington represented a turnabout of sorts for a president who for weeks
ignored criticism that such a long summer break -- the longest stretch away
from Washington of any president in decades -- appeared unseemly at a time when
U.S. forces are at war in Iraq. The White House repeatedly defended Bush's
sojourn in Texas by noting that modern communications technology meant he was
able to lead just as effectively from the ranch as from the Oval Office…. Ann Tyson in the
WaPo addresses linkage to the Iraq war: “With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting
in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces for
rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and water-purification
teams, among other units, and requesting help from distant states and the
active-duty military. . . . " 'Missing the
personnel is the big thing in this particular event. We need our people,' said
Lt. Andy Thaggard, a spokesman for the Mississippi National Guard, which has a
brigade of more than 4,000 troops in central Iraq. Louisiana also has about
3,000 Guard troops in Baghdad. "Mississippi
has about 40 percent of its Guard force deployed or preparing to deploy and has
called up all remaining Guard units for hurricane relief, Thaggard said. . . . "Recruiting
and retention problems are worsening the strain on Guard forces in
hurricane-ravaged states. Alabama's Army National Guard has a strength of
11,000 troops -- or 78 percent of the authorized number. 'We're just losing too
many out the back door,' Arnold said." From Editor
& Publisher: “At least nine
articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of
Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars. "Newhouse News
Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune web
site, reported: 'No one can say they didn't see it coming. . . . Now in the
wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about
the lack of preparation.' . . . " 'The
Louisiana congressional delegation urged Congress earlier this year to dedicate
a stream of federal money to Louisiana's coast, only to be opposed by the White
House. . . . In its budget, the Bush administration proposed a significant
reduction in funding for southeast Louisiana's chief hurricane protection
project. Bush proposed $10.4 million, a sixth of what local officials say they
need.' "Local
officials are now saying, the article reported, that had Washington heeded
their warnings about the dire need for hurricane protection, including building
up levees and repairing barrier islands, 'the damage might not have been nearly
as bad as it turned out to be.' " After his being
labeled “out of the loop” prior to 9/11, you’d think Bush would have learned to
at least portray the image of a war time president always on duty. Between the
collapse of consensus on the Iraq constitution, increased violence there, being
outflanked by anti war protestors, it’s now Beware the Ides of August, George. This
photo taken by ABC’s Pentagon reporter Martha Radditz yesterday in San Diego,
where he told a military audience one reason to stay in Iraq was to keep
terrorists from the oil rigs, this doesn’t help the image of the detached, vacationing
president. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050830/480/capm10208301856 |
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