Where is Mr. Bush? On vacation, clearing brush, talking goo-goo talk with Barney the dog, mopping up Jenna's egg nog puke. Or is he reading "My Pet Goat"? As the death toll in the Indian Ocean tsunami crisis nears 100,000, he's, again, the invisible man.
He's unable to express empathy, yet he's most comfortable ticking off war-hawk sloganeering, so his lack of response isn't surprising. But it's another example of how we're stuck with a piss-poor chief executive, and we're seemingly powerless to wash his embarrassing stink from our skin.
The Washington Post notes that President Clinton has been more visible in the crisis than Bush. So the only statement from the White House has been to backhand Clinton:
"The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.'"
Shame on you, Mr. Bush! And even though he'll crawl out from under his ridiculous Stetson hat this morning to make a statement, you can bet it'll be stacatto, uncomfortable, uninspiring, and too late.