Why Does Anyone Care Where Bush Was During the Hurricane

[Prometheus]

I am sick to tears of the on face slur against the prez because of his geographical location during the hurricane. So what if he was at home in Texas, or in San Diego at a SS meeting? The prez isn't going to stand up and rebuke the storm or drive a bus.

Ridiculing where he was is simply a low blow.

[Morgan_Freeman]

LoL... I agree, man.

[Morgan_Freeman]

I'm reminded of this:

http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/as...ubmarine.golf/

Japan's prime minister came under fire Sunday for continuing with a game of golf after hearing a U.S. nuclear submarine had struck a Japanese trawler.

It's not like the dude could do anything about it. May as well finish the golf game.

[Henry-Finland]

Where Bush was, it not so important.
But;

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY: Republican Lawmaker Spent 48 Hours Trying To Make White House Understand. Said Federal Response Lacking. "Rep. Charles W. Boustany Jr., (R-La.), said he spent the past 48 hours [Wednesday 8/31 and Thursday 9/1] urging the Bush Administration to send help. "I started making calls and trying to impress upon the White House and others that something needed to be done," he said. "The state resources were being overwhelmed, and we needed direct federal assistance, command and control, and security -- all three of which are lacking." [Washington Post, 9/2/2005] THURSDAY: New Orleans Mayor Sent Out Desperate SOS For Help Thursday. "New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin sent out a frustrated plea for help yesterday as thousands of people remained marooned at the city's Convention Center in the heat and filth, with as many as seven corpses nearby. "This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the Convention Center and don't anticipate enough buses. Currently the Convention Center is unsanitary and unsafe and we are running out of supplies for 15,000 to 25,000 people," Nagin said in a statement read by CNN. [Washington Post, 9/2/05]

X00.000 people are evacuated.
X00.000 people are trapped.
He is the commander.
A fact is, that he did not do anything in order to find out what is needed, but he said that "nobody could know..."

The question is: Is Bush a leader or an advertisement of the holiday-industry?

Henry

[SteveA]

Maybe a better way of putting it is that it shouldn't have mattered where the president was. Whatever system we have shouldn't be so dependent on the possible failings of a single man.

Though it likely really didn't matter much where George was, like you guys implied, it's just that too many people are fixated on it.

[RickSp]

So you don't care if Bush peddled while Katrina churned, to coin a phrase?

Seems like a pretty silly strawman argument. The concern was less about Bush being on his perpetual vacation, but that there was no meaningful Federal response to Katrina for the critical period after Katrina hit. I have heard relatively few compliants about Bush's location, but rather about the location of Mike Brown's head, which seemed firmed stuck up his ass for several days.

You have already made it clear that you also don't care about so many of the victims of Katrina. But that is your problem, not mine.

[RickSp]

I thinks the concerns are less where Bush was but why he failed to even become aware of how serious the problem was for several days.

From Newsweek: How Bush Blew It

The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less "situational awareness," as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace.

E. J. Dionne expands on the the theme of an out of touch, detached and self-indulgent presidency in End of the Bush Era

And so the Bush Era ended definitively on Sept. 2, the day Bush first toured the Gulf Coast States after Hurricane Katrina. There was no magic moment with a bullhorn. The utter failure of federal relief efforts had by then penetrated the country's consciousness. Yesterday's resignation of FEMA Director Michael Brown put an exclamation point on the failure. The source of Bush's political success was his claim that he could protect Americans. Leadership, strength and security were Bush's calling cards. Over the past two weeks, they were lost in the surging waters of New Orleans.

[Scribbler1]

George Bush is not a one-man government. Neither was Clinton, Carter or anyone else. However, part of their jobs is to put a human face on government and act as something of a figurehead. How people see him creates how they believe in his ability as a leader.

He visited New York's Ground Zero in an impressive show of concern, but he couldn't actually DO anything there. It didn't hurt his image and I personally thought it was a good move that reflects my feelings in the above paragraph.
If the president doesn't go somewhere like this he appears aloof and uncaring which has nothing to do with his actual ability to DO anything once there. Its what we want to see and Bush doesn't seem that interested in delivering.

My complaint with him is that wherever he WAS he didn't seem to care about the situation enough to Get on the phone to FEMA and kick a little ass or mobilize troops on an emergency basis once he saw that any preparedness plans had gone to hell and people were stuck.
I expect leadership from a president regardless of WHERE he is. I saw nothing.

[Savant]

I'll have to agree, though any opportunity for criticizing Bush should be taken advantage of. Bush is an absolute disgrace and embarasment, but what bothers me is people abandoning reality and getting stuck on ideologys.

Theres no point in having Bush attend any important event. He is not a leader of people, he has no talent or energy to bring to the table. He is a politician. And all politians are deceptive self interested power grabbers. They lack the ethics to be bothered by their lack of own integrity and see humanity as an expendible resource. They deal with people in metrics, not names.

Whereever you send him, he will do what politicians do. Not what a leader does, not what a volunteer does. If we have an emergency, do we need someone to pose holding a carton of bottled whater for the camera? Is there any point in flying someone over to stand next to some firemen and roll up their sleeves for the camera?

If anything, bringing a politician to the scene just makes folks feel hopeless. There are leaders and volunteers and activists that are taking care of the situation, and people involved in the event need to look to them. That way they can know that there is hope and that progress is being made.

By making them focus on a usless icon like Bush they might feel like the cry for real help is falling on the deaf ears of a plastic person.

[RickSp]

Quote by: Scribbler1 My complaint with him is that wherever he WAS he didn't seem to care about the situation enough to Get on the phone to FEMA and kick a little ass or mobilize troops on an emergency basis once he saw that any preparedness plans had gone to hell and people were stuck. I expect leadership from a president regardless of WHERE he is. I saw nothing.

Exactly. The number of trips the president takes to the disaster area is completely beside the point. If anything the demands of security and logistics might just slow down recovery operations. If, however, as a leader he doesn't even become aware of the scope of the problem for several days, that is a problem. And if his subordinates are as inept and clueless as he is, that is even a bigger problem.

Apparently the flight-suit-in-chief is beginning to get the message. The man who can't think of any mistakes he has made finally admitted responsibility for something. Wow.

[ibm]

Quote by: Prometheus I am sick to tears of the on face slur against the prez because of his geographical location during the hurricane. So what if he was at home in Texas, or in San Diego at a SS meeting? The prez isn't going to stand up and rebuke the storm or drive a bus. Ridiculing where he was is simply a low blow.

this is rather brilliant. of course the physical location of georgie boy ain’t important. that’s why he was in california promoting his social security reform and in arizona celebrating john macaine’s b-day (golfing) during the first couple of days after the storm hit. (does that ring a bell? how long did it take our “chief commander” to return to his office after 9-11?) and then he gracefully cut his vacation short.

too bad georgie boy changed his mind and seems to be in disagreement with you, because after he realized how shitty the situation could be, he’s now toured the disaster zone 3 times.

[Nono]

Quote by: Rick Seems like a pretty silly strawman argument.

It certainly does.

If somebody says "What was he doing in San Diego?", it seems reasonable to interpret it as meaning "What was there to do in SD that was more worthy of Boy George's attention -- such as it is -- than a humungous disaster occurring on US soil?"

Pro, can you quote anyone complaining publicly about his geographical location?

[Zeebadee]

If you want to ask where Bush was, it's only fair to ask where the mayor and governor were also. Neither one of them did a thing to prepare for the known results of a storm that intense, and then both stood around wringing their hands and complaining about the slow pace of federal handouts. Bush may be a doofus, but he's number 4 on this list, after that useless mayor, the whiny governor, and the incompetent head of FEMA.

[Scribbler1]

Quote by: RickSp Apparently the flight-suit-in-chief is beginning to get the message. The man who can't think of any mistakes he has made finally admitted responsibility for something. Wow.

Too little, too late. Ordinarily I would applaud Bush for standing up and telling us all where the buck stopped, but after weeks, his carefully worded comment had all the earmarks of something seen as giving him the best political mileage over actual honesty. We are now meant to see Bush as a take charge kind of a guy who takes responsibility like a man.

Considering his 5 years in office has given him MANY opportunities to take responsibility and to date this was his only actual admission of responsibility, I ain't buying it. Now that Brown has been fired the I'm betting the administration will soon launch a behind the scenes assault on Brown blaming him for everything that went wrong on the federal side. Public opinion will of course agree that the president bore ZERO responsibility for any of this and he will be seen as a stand-up guy by half the country. There will be no consequences for taking responsibility for this.

[Scribbler1]

Quote by: Zeebadee If you want to ask where Bush was, it's only fair to ask where the mayor and governor were also. Neither one of them did a thing to prepare for the known results of a storm that intense, and then both stood around wringing their hands and complaining about the slow pace of federal handouts. Bush may be a doofus, but he's number 4 on this list, after that useless mayor, the whiny governor, and the incompetent head of FEMA.

I agree that they ALL bear some responsibility and just how much is yet to be known. But I don't like how Bush supporters keep throwing the Mayor and Governor into the mix when the conversation is about Bush only. If Bush has X% responsibility harping about others doesn't lower the percentage. If Joe Blow committed murder and Adolph Hitler committed millions of murders, it doesn't make Joe Blow less of a killer.
At best there would be at least THREE lines of discussion in which the focus is on ONE person for each discussion. It would be much clearer and much fairer.

(And Zee, I'm not implying you are a Bush supporter or not.)

[Boetie]

Bush Jr was the clown running around touting his premptive theology. What is premptive about cutting funds to the levee? I thought it was about addressing the problem before they happened, not playing the game of "Gee (Bush Jr sucking thumb here) If I had only known, gee, mommy, mommy."

Premptive my ass. He is boy wonder of incompetence and nothing else. The wonder boy of blaming others, the wonder boy of infallability and false wisdom.

[ibm]

honestly, gw could've won a bit of my respect this time if he was actually on the ground of downtown new orleans the first time he toured the area.

[monty of ll]

It doesn't matter all that much where Bush was. He is now in the process of apologizing for not taking quicker action on Katrina and her victims. Well, he sort of apologized in his awkward stupid way. Bush wouldn't have thought of doing anything on his own because he is simply incapable of responding to emergencies. And probably is directed to not respond because it is feared that he may do the wrong thing. Remember the deer frozen in the headlights? This will be the second time and people will maybe start believing this time that he is incapable of a quick and proper response.

But that doesn't matter because the person who should have taken action immediately was Cheney in Bush's absense. The reason that Cheney didn't do anything is because he doesn't like blacks all that much and he didn't think that it was necessary to provide quick government aid. I think it will prove out in time that that is what Bush was really apologizing for. He obviously wanted to say something more about the issue but instead did his usual humming and hawing around because he obviously knows that he gets in trouble when he speaks off the cuff without someone writing a speech in which he will say the right things.

How sad that they had to choose him for president when Cheney is the person who is the real leader of the neocon agenda. Too bad Cheney was so damn unelectable because of his cold personality. They're just going to have to get it right in the future on who makes the quick responses to natural or manmade disasters. When Bin Laden gets his next big licks in it's not going to be appropriate to dilly-dally around or stand frozen in the headlights again! That's if Bin Laden is even alive or even interested in getting in some more licks.

Hey you guys, get with the program. I'm a Canadian and I shouldn't have to explain your political situation or the workings of your government to you should I?

[Prometheus]

Quote by: ibm too bad georgie boy changed his mind and seems to be in disagreement with you, because after he realized how shitty the situation could be, he’s now toured the disaster zone 3 times.

I couldn't care less wheather or not he agrees with me. I am no fan of bush. I think he's rather inept. But I still cry foul when people make shitty arguments like being on vacation during a hurricane equals not caring.

[SteveA]

Imagine if we had a system that wasn't subject to failing if one person went on vacation or came back too late. Whether or not the President really has such a large effect on things, is that really what the ideal?

It could be just another sign we've put too many eggs in one basket.

Even if we had another president that did better, what if the guy happened to get sick for a couple days or was visiting a foreign country.

Since when was the U.S. a nation that relied so much on a single (possibly or likely fallible) person to lead us?