Posted on 09/01/2005 10:54:53 AM PDT by metalmanx2j
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush, already under fire for the Iraq war, faced new criticism over his response to Hurricane Katrina but pleaded with Americans to keep politics out of the disaster.
Bush cut short a holiday at his Texas ranch to return to Washington on Wednesday to take charge of recovery efforts two days after Katrina walloped the US Gulf Coast, leaving hundreds feared dead.
But critics have accused him of failing to take one of the country's worst national disasters seriously enough at the outset, prompting a strong riposte from the president Thursday.
"I hope people don't play politics during this period of time," Bush said in an unscheduled early morning interview on ABC television. "This is a natural disaster, the likes of which our country may have never seen before.
"And it is a national emergency. And what we need to do as a nation is come together to solve the problem and not play politics. There will be ample time for politics," he said.
The New York Times, in a scathing editorial titled "Waiting for a Leader," dismissed his remarks of consolation and support on Wednesday as "one of the worst speeches of his life."
"In what seems to be a ritual in this administration the president appeared a day later than was needed," the Times said.
"And nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday -- which seemed casual to the point of carelessness -- suggested he understood the depth of the current crisis."
USA Today was also harshly critical of early coordination problems in the rescue and recovery effort, and scored the White House for "what appeared to be a halting response" on Tuesday.
"The president has mobilized a massive response," the paper said. "Even so, the feeling lingers that for the victims of Katrina in most imminent peril, help might be arriving too late."
It was not the first time Bush, who campaigned for re-election last year as a tough and decisive "war president," has been criticized for a tardy response to catastrophe.
He took a lot of heat after a tsunami devastated several Asian countries in December, killing more than 200,000 people. His response in the hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks also drew some rebukes.
The criticism over Katrina came at a bad time for Bush, with his popularity ratings sinking to around 45 percent, the lowest level of his presidency, and less than four in 10 Americans approving of his handling of Iraq.
But Bush insisted Thursday he reacted swiftly to Hurricane Katrina once the magnitude of the calamity became apparent to him as he was winding up a five-week vacation at his ranch.
The Texas Republican told ABC that he started to organize federal relief efforts on Tuesday and gave specific instructions to his administration to get in gear.
He said he told aides, "Look, when I get back to Washington on Wednesday afternoon I want to have a report on my desk and a cabinet meeting for you to tell me exactly what your departments are going to do."
Bush flew over the stricken areas en route to the US capital. The White House had said he would likely made an inspection trip on Friday or Saturday but the president was vague, saying he would go as soon as he could.
"Obviously, if a president were to land it would take a lot of resources away from the immediate task. But we have people on the ground now working with local authorities to determine what would be the best time for me to go," he said.
Deliberately overlooking the failure of the state and local governments (who are expected to handle civil defense).
No matter what Bush does here, he's not going to alleviate criticism from the left.
I am really getting tired of people trying to lay the blame for this at Bush's feet. What the **** is he supposed to do? Maybe he could just start shooting looters himself. That would be a step in the right direction I suppose.
...as El Rushbo said today...you're going to hear more bashing and attacking by the Left against President Bush and his administration...you ain't seen nothing yet.
God Bless this poor President and God Bless our Troops.
MSM attacking Bush over Katrina? I am SHOCKED I tell ya, SHOCKED!
The President is one man, one person, nothing more.
He can only serve to sound the call to duty and to rally the troops.
He can not move bureaucracies or departments any faster than any other mere mortal.
He is doing the best he can with what he has to work with.
To say nothing was in preparations is absurd and indicative of an agenda that could care less about those most affected by Katrina, imo...
AFP,, 'nuff said.
The lunatic left MSM moonbats, don't have a clue!
Katrina would not have happened if Algore or John Fraud Kerry were President.
Bush haters will probably sieze on anything to slam Bush, but do you remember the live video footage of Pataki and Guiliani walking around ground zero right after the attacks? That was powerful stuff. Bush always seems absent somehow.
Because maybe Bush has the entire country to run, not just a local city/state?
Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin should be the first 2 leaders to counter this crisis. Instead they are either crying or whining about lack of their own preparation.
Posted on Sat, Aug. 27, 2005
Bush declares emergency in Louisiana
Associated Press
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on Saturday because of the approach of Hurricane Katrina and his spokesman urged residents along the coast to heed authorities' advice to evacuate.
Bush, vacationing at his ranch, was being regularly updated about the storm, which is expected to hit land early Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency continue to coordinate with state authorities in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, and have prepositioned supplies in areas expected to be affected, he said.
The president's emergency declaration authorizes the FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and to provide appropriate assistance in a number of Louisiana parishes, or counties.
Look at the date.
If President would get off his lazy duff, don a pair of waders, grab a bucket and start bailing out New Orleans all by himself, everything would be fixed.
/sarc
Perhaps he sould have started pulling his hair and running in circles crying.
Translation: He didn't bite his lip and mouth useless touchy-feely platitudes about how "I feel your pain", he just talked matter-of-factly about what was being done to actually address the emergency.
According to libs, no matter what President Bush does, it will always be too little, too late. This is s useless story, not worth reading past the headline. The MSM is true to form.
Giuliani and Pataki made their photo-ops at Ground Zero after the danger had already passed. If Manhattan had been filled with quasi-humanoid mutants looting stores and firing shots at police and fire personnel, I can assure you that neither one of those guys would have been standing within 100 miles of Ground Zero.
The Democrats, who screamed "politicization!" when President Bush talked about 9/11, which was a completely political attack on the US by foreign terrorists, are now trampling each other to get to the cameras to politicize this natural disaster. They are shameless, and beneath contempt.
Who will be the first Lefty to claim that Karl Rove caused Hurricane Katrina to divert our attention from Iraq?
It's that obvious? Heh heh...
You nailed it.
What a friggin' hit peace...unbelievable..maybe a new low...
Why is there no mention of the fact that he declared a state of emergency BEFORE the storm even hit - or that he had to call both the gov and Mayor BEFORE they ordered a mandatory evac??????????
LOL! No wait, they want Bush to recreate the 9/11 bullhorn scene and yell "And the hurricanes are going to hear from all of us soon!"
I think he was pleading with democrat politicians (to shut the hell up), not Joe 6 pack.....
Sounds like a typical lib response. Maybe he could lob some missles at an empty encampment to show how strong he is.
I am a conservative and while I don't appraciate the left using my misery for cheap political gain, we need to call a spade a spade.
Bush's response as been as limp dick as Blank-o's. Maybve more so when you consider the resources he has available. My adopted hometown is in ruins and nothing is being done. Period. Why do we have a f-ing government, if not for these situations? What do I pay taxes for? So I can live in an unconstitutional FEMA shelter and confiscate tax money, so I survive for four months while my city is rebuilt? Terrific.
These situations are why conservatives believe in government. And our government at all levels including the man I voted for four times (Bush) has been an utter disaster.
I am thinking of becoming an anarchist. Get me an AK 47 and a bus ticket back to New Orleans.
I hear the Democratic web sites are already accusing Bush of delaying relief to NO because most of the people, who are still in the city, and having problems are black, Of course we all know blacks vote Democratic so Bush is punishing them for being Democrats. In other words if these were white southerners, who generally vote with the GOP, relief would be much quicker. I could not make this stuff up if I tried.
It is a measure of the total incompetence of the NO mayor and the Governor that the MSM is having to cover for them so vociforously. The law and custom on this matter is for the State of La. to ask the Feds in after they have determined the nature of the problem and have done what they can as first responders.
Besides, the flooding in NO started well after we thought they had "dodged a bullet" with the storm. It's really a totally different problem than Katrina that developed 48 hours after she passed through, and it has required a totally different response plan.
Maybe they'll learn not to mess with Bush! Vote for him or starve - lol. These people are absolute morons.
EXACTLY! But the governor is a Dem, so who cares if she's incompetent...right?
Ronald Reagan was right, government isn't the solution, it's the problem. Every government agency at all levels has royally F'd up their response to this disaster.
"Who will be the first Lefty to claim that Karl Rove caused Hurricane Katrina to divert our attention from Iraq?"
Or, that he created the hurricane from a secret weather control room inside the Whitehouse to divert attention away from Cindy Sheehan.
Remember Rudy on 9/11? There was a leader! Too bad the NO mayor is so poor in comparison.
I agree, it's not President Bush's responsibility. Maybe he knows that while going there himself might bring some comfort to people, the massive circus involved in getting him there and back again, and protecting him throughout, would take resources away from rescue efforts, and possibly cause harm, through delay, to those who are suffering and still awaiting help.
Clinton never missed an opportunity to grandstand. President Bush is an adult, and not worried about getting good press.
I don't consider having to field stupid questions and having to respond to veiled but baseless attacks from the usual lamestream jackals as being "on the defensive." GWB has not done anything wrong.
That was powerful stuff. Bush always seems absent somehow
Unfortunately, the huge and elaborate entourage that the President must take with him, including extensive communications systems, makes it pretty difficult for the President to just 'pop on down'. Guiliani didn't have the logistics problems to deal with and had the freedom to just go out and mingle immediately.
You sound like a liberal, who wants big daddy to make everything all better.
This catastrophe is unprecedented, yet you want to treat it as it were something that could have been planned for.
Your adopted hometown was doomed, if not from Katrina, then from another large storm. Living in a city below sea level, adjacent to the largest lake in the country is a recipe for disaster.
We had ample (more than two weeks) warning about the storm and it's probably path.
We saw the damage in FL even tho the storm was a great deal weaker than when it hit the Gulf Coast.
Therefore, disaster planners and response units had more than enough time to have resources ready to roll (my apologies to Todd Beamer) the second the wind dropped below 30mph.
Instead, it's three going on four days later and the response has been rare, spotty, disorganized, unmanaged, uncoordinated, and a dismal failure (at least so far).
What ever would happen if - out of the clear blue sky - a terrorist attack of similar proportions were to take place in a major city?
Think about it...then ask hard questions and demand accurate and "unspun" answers.
Ideally, I'd want to walk through the problem areas meet people and asure them that there was hope for the future. In this day and age that'd get you shot.
I like the idea of letting the local leaders achieve early prominance, then go in later. It's quite supportive of the local leaders. It doesn't undercut their authority by showing up first and acting like you're going to be handling it all.
I thought Bush handled it pretty well at the WTC site. At times like this, I more or less sit back and let leaders do what they need to do. On site visits will get done. Special services and funds will be initiated.
Is there perfect way to get things done. I doubt it. There are bad ways to handle it. I don't think Bush has been sub-par and I don't always defend him.
Ted Kennedy: "When will the President get us out of this quagmire?"
I state the obvious to keep it up front, like a bump. ;)
"Katrina would not have happened if Algore or John Fraud Kerry were President"
Indeed, John Kerry would have waved his "magic" CIA hat at the hurricane and it would have disappeared.
It could have been planned for. FEMA noted in 2001 that a direct hit of a major hurricane was the third biggest threat to this nation. Hurricane Ivan barely missed last year, there have been numerous stories about the impact of a major hurricane on New Orleans.
And yet what we're seeing at all levels; state, local, federal, is that nothing was in place to deal with this prior to Katrina.
It really was. Dubya has created a strong impression of himself as just out to lunch. Very poor. I hope he gets his act together, and fast: this is his worst run as President, ever.
>>I am thinking of becoming an anarchist. Get me an AK 47 and a bus ticket back to New Orleans.<<
Help yourself, but you will have some competition from the rest of the street thugs.
Needs to be broadcast loud and clear.
There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.
-Winston Churchill
MSM hits rock bottom...and starts digging.
FEMA was staging on Saturday, two days before the storm. The fact is, the governor of Louisiana waited two days before calling out HER National Guard. Why didn't she have them activated on Saturday?
Oh, that's right. She engaged her primary disaster plan for New Orleans: It will turn.
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