Posted on 09/07/2005 3:27:33 PM PDT by Crackingham
When terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans came together in grief and resolve, rallying behind President Bush in an extraordinary show of national unity. But when Hurricane Katrina hit last week, the opposite occurred, with Americans dividing along sharply partisan lines in their judgment of the president's and the federal government's response.
The starkly different verdicts on Bush's stewardship of the two biggest crises of his presidency underscore the deepening polarization of the electorate that has occurred on his watch. This gaping divide has left the president with no reservoir of good will among his political opponents at a critical moment of national need and has touched off a fresh debate about whether he could have done anything to prevent it.
To his critics, Bush is now reaping what he has sown. Their case against him goes as follows: Facing a divided nation, the president has eschewed unity in both his governing strategy and his political blueprint. These opponents argue that he has favored confrontation over conciliation with the Democrats while favoring a set of policies aimed at deepening support among his conservative base at the expense of ideas that might produce bipartisan consensus and broader approval among the voters. His allies and advisers, while acknowledging that polarization has worsened during the past five years, say the opposition party bears the brunt of responsibility. Democrats, by this reckoning, have rebuffed Bush's efforts at bipartisanship, put up a wall to ideas that once enjoyed some support on their side, and, even in the current crisis along the Gulf Coast, are seeking to score political points rather than joining hands with the president to speed the recovery and relief to the victims.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Hey No Balz, this scandal is going to be ALL the Dems fault when the truth comes out. Blank-O and naggin Nagin were and ARE in WAY over their heads!! INCOMPENT actions let people die.
Bi-partisanship, in Washington Post-speak, is letting the liberals do anything they please.
Watch for back-up lights on that turnip truck.
Ah, so your thesis must be that Bush is a complete and utter moron. What unites the policies that Bush advocates—nation-building in Iraq, a guest-worker program, Social Security reform, ban on federal funding of stem-cell research—is that they are unpopular positions that alienate most of the electorate. If Bush takes his stands out of political opportunism, then the only possible explanation is that he's an idiot.
If you don't like Bush's policies, just say so and move on. Saying that his policies are calculated for political gain is absurd on the face of it.
There was no "bipartisanship" after 9/11! The scumbag dems simply didn't know if they could hide of Willie's involvement with the muslim terrorists and Saddam, so they didn't attack W like they've attacked him on everything he's gone since being elected. Let's not give the crapweasels credit for "bipartisanship" when all they were doing was covering Willie's butt!
At the suggestion of writer Michelle Malkin last Friday, I have cobbled together a blogsite called Texas Clearinghouse for Katrina Aid to serve as a clearinghouse for refugee efforts in Texas.
Texas is getting more refugees than any other state -- that's fine, we'll take them all -- but we need help providing them with food, clothing, and shelter.
If you are a refugee, you can information that will help you find relief. If you want to donate or volunteer, you can find someone who needs you.
Right now the site mostly covers Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas but I will add various churches, schools, and other charities in Lubbock and Austin tonight. My wife was down at Reunion Arena in Dallas yesterday handing out care packages and spiritually ministering to the refugees as a representative of her employer. She says that the situation is tragic and that there's a lot of work to be done. There are so many children who don't know where their parents are or even if their parents are still alive.
There are a lot of churches and other organizations in Texas that need help in dealing with the problem and I would appreciate it if you would get the word out.
Many thanks,
Michael McCullough
Stingray blogsite
That's because the Dems have a tremendous downside risk should the public come under the impression that the party which claims to champion the cause of the poor, the elderly and the weak abandoned them to fend for themselves. Not only were they abandoned, the jails were opened up and the criminals released to maraude amongst the poor, the weak and the elderly.
9/11 Bipartisanship?!?!
How long was it after 9/11 when Hillary was at the podium on the Senate floor screeching "What did Bush know and when did he know it?"?
The Washington Post is the paper you use to roll-up your bird cage liner...
FNC's Major Garrett: Red Cross Blocked by Order of the Louisiana State Government
Bipartisanship was gone in 2 weeks (2 days for the most extreme).
He's been programed, I can see the blank Clintonoid eyes.
Damn that Bush! He must have used a Jedi mind trick on them! ;-)
*snif* You been hangin' 'round Moby, son? Sure smells like it.
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