[the invisib1e hand]

overheard some kids at a bar tonight saying "Bush really screwed up" or some such parrotting of what they heard on NPR or in their lectures or wherever. Said one juvenile disguised as a young man, "Clinton would have screwed up just as bad, but at least he would have made them feel good while he did it."

I had to remind myself that I was once a young moron, too.

[jveritas]

Where do you live? I would like to know what part of the country people are saying such stupid things.

[M1911A1]

Well, if you look at it in a shallow sort of kid way, the second kid really has some insight.

"Clinton would have screwed up just as bad, but at least he would have made them feel good while he did it."

Let's apply the famous Clintoon parse to this: "Clinton would have screwed up just as bad"... Clinton would have had as much effect as Bush on the initial response (first couple of days). True, the President of the United States is not the Mayor of New Orleans nor the Governor of LA, and as such had little to no effect on that time period, so it matters not who was in the White House as far as the speed of federal response goes.

"...but at least he would have made them feel good while he did it.": True. Clinton would not have the rabidly hostile legacy media blasting him, and the same idiots who are howling "It's Bush's fault!" would be mollified by the image of Clinton biting his trembling lower lip has he announced that he felt the pain of the region.

I dislike Slick as much as anyone, but there is something in his makeup that might have been an asset in all this. President Bush, if he has erred at all, appears to have made the mistake of expecting some competence in the local government of the state of LA and the city of NO. President Clinton, if his pollsters caught any hint that the incompetence of the locals might reflect badly on him, would have dealt with them rather harshly, I think.

This would not really have any effect on the pace of disaster relief, but we would be spared the continuing statements being issued by Blanco and Nagin. If this would balance out the grandstanding of Clinton that we would have to endure instead is hard to say.