President Truman said, “The buck stops here.�
Bush said, “Katrina exposed serious problems
in our response capability at all levels of government,
and to the extent that the federal government
didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.â€?
Bush has too many writers, not enough readers.
Vote Roberts down, he’s
too young for the supreme court.
We deserve a sage.
If the public reacts to Katrina by
saying incumbents are no damn good,
this hurricane could break the rule
and have a silver lining after all.
No official, local, state or federal,
was praised for being totally effective.
The blame game has all winners. The
next election could have all losers.
Electing new people could change
the way this country runs. If politicians
begin [...]
So they sent Brown home to prepare
for the next disaster. That’s better
than awarding a medal, but when will
Bush learn to push losers out the door?
If Mike was tasked to list the mistakes
he made orchestrating this disaster, he’ll
be too busy to do any more harm – and
maybe Bush hopes he’ll tire, and retire.
Dance the Bush Bungle:
step right into a storm, back
with a lush contract.
It sure was reassuring to watch Cheney
stroll along Katrina’s path pontificating
that “performance… is impressive,â€? and
“the progress we’re making is significant,�
Too bad he wasn’t around when help was
turned away for reasons, and by people,
still unknown – at least to us. He’ll probably
just report, “Looks good, why the fuss?�
Bush managed the Katrina disaster like Iraq –
planned poorly, skimped on resources,
chose inexperienced ideologues for staff,
gave lots of contracts to Halliburton.
Since he can’t recall making a mistake and keeps
repeating deceptions after they’re corrected,
he didn’t see the blunder, but when the public did,
he quickly promised an investigation – led by him.
Amidst Katrina’s devastation,
in Bush’s collapsed house of cards,
lie repeal of the estate tax, and his
derailed drive to ruin Social Security.
No good can come from a hurricane,
but not all damage requires repair.
The real measure of
Bush’s failure: Wal-Mart showed
greater compassion.
Now that public embarrassment drove
Bush’s bungling bureaucrats into action,
Rove can get rid of this distraction.
He’ll have Republications say, Louisiana’s
fate was due to failure of officials in the state.
They didn’t take the lead in filling public need.
No blame can lie with the administration
because the federal role is secondary.
Besides, the first-string was on vacation.
After reducing funds for levees, Bush couldn’t
acknowledge the possibility of flooding, besides,
historically, hurricanes are good for business.
Pictures of human suffering didn’t spur action,
but political fallout put him on a plane fast.
This administration approached disaster relief
like tax cuts – lots for the rich, little for the rest.
If we want a government that can handle calamity, [...]
A bright spot on CNN was Daryn Kagan’s assessment of Bush’s Mobile briefing: “…that was rather an odd thing to be watching. The president finally making it to the Gulf Coast after five days and then spending a big chunk of time, when he could be out seeing the devastation — getting a briefing that [...]
more …This administration plans poorly,
if at all. They also listen slowly.
On the fifth day of the crisis Bush
finally arrived for photo ops, and
a convoy of National Guard trucks
drove into New Orleans just in time
for TV coverage during the tour.
The President managed to spend
at least one day looking concerned.
Tomorrow he should get involved.
Susan F. Wood, assistant FDA commissioner
for women’s health, resigned because the agency
delayed permitting over-the-counter sale of
“morning-after pills� for political reasons.
She asked a colleague in the commissioner’s
office when the decision would be made,
the answer: “We’re still awaiting a decision
from above; it hasn’t come down yet.”
The HHS Secretary had promised the Senate
action by 9/1, but [...]
The EPA is making another attempt
to save air polluters money, and
scuttle federal and state suits
under a law requiring coal-fired
power plants to reduce emissions
when they make major modifications.
The courts wouldn’t let the agency
redefine “major� so now they want
to change the meaning of “reduce.�