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September 12, 2005
Tailspin
President Bush was back in the Gulf region today to "continue to assess the situation on the ground".
Clearly, they want us to see this as further evidence that the President is taking a hands on approach to the recovery effort.
I think it's yet another sign that this administration is in a tailspin and has yet to plug the bleeding wound left by it's mishandling of Hurricane Katrina...and it's the most telling symbol yet.
Let's recap the weeks events;
1. After Rehnquist's death, Bush nominates John Roberts for Chief Justice. This seems an incredibly odd choice, given the fact that the President has two justices (Thomas and Scalia) who are more conservative and have signicantly more experience on the court (as in, they HAVE experience on the Supreme Court). The reason behind this is simple; the administration lacks the power to successfully fight three concurrent Supreme Court nomination battles right now. They need to focus their resources, not dilute them.
2. Bush, after an overwhelming amount of public outcry, essentially fires FEMA head Michael Brown. Technically, he just took him off the recovery effort, but that's as close to fired as anyone gets in this administration. Brown's utter lack of qualification and string of failures in handling this emergency are well-documented. From any other President, firing him would seem a logical and intelligent step. But for this President, it is unprecedented. No one ever gets fired in the Bush administration because that would be like admitting a mistake in hiring them... and the Bush administration doesn't make mistakes. Removing Brown from the procedings shows that the crisis has gotten so bad that they have been forced to admit culpability.
3. And finally, Bush visits New Orleans for the third time in just over a week. This is telling for two reasons. One, Presidents rarely, if ever, visit a disaster area more than once. These trips are largely symbolic to show a damaged part of the nation that the federal government stands with them. The President does not receive any information he couldn't get in the White House and he doesn't really do much to help with the actual recovery effort. For a President to visit more than once does no good for anyone and his efforts would be much better spent back in Washington trying to unify the government on a recovery plan. These continued visits are a desperate attempt to look "in charge". They're hoping for another "bullhorn-on-the-mound" moment and they're not going to get one.
But the main reason this visit is so telling is the date; September 11th. Normally today, the Bush administration would have spent all day reminding everyone how "well" the President did on September 11th. Last summer, they couldn't say "9/11" enough. But today Bush took time away from self-aggrandizement to do damage control in New Orleans. Bush's greatest "victory" has been superseded in importance by his greatest failure. And just as 9/11 marked a turning point in the first Bush administration, Katrina may mark a turning point in his second. Heaven help us all.
Posted By | September 12, 2005 12:32 AM | DIGG ME!
