I'm not interested in pillorying President Bush for things he didn't do, nor am I interested in shielding the Democratic Mayor of New Orleans or the Governor of Louisiana from legitimate criticism.
Of course, the Bush Administration reporting that the Governor of New Orleans failed to declare a state of emergency when she had (on August 26) is an example of illegitimate criticism. And you have to wonder how Bush Supporters feel about their guys telling such transparent lies.
But that's where it's helpful to have a timeline of the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Think Progress has done a pretty nice one, and it seems easily verifiable. In particular it's nice to see how little Hurricane Katrina impacted President Bush's vacation. After all, a rested President is an effective President. That's why things have gone so smoothly - think about how cranky and unpleasant President Bush would be if he hadn't been able to celebrate Senator McCain's Birthday or goof around with Country Singer Mark Willis.
One might ask, well what could President Bush have done? He could have engaged. He could have gotten involved and treated this like a national disaster that has killed thousands instead of as an inconvenience to his personal life. I'll be blunt, President Bush is an idiot, so maybe we're all better off with him goofing around with Mark Willis. But those of you who support President Bush or who voted for him, well, don't you have a higher opinion of him than I do?
Being President of the United States is difficult. Ask Abraham Lincoln. Ask Franklin Roosevelt. Ask John F. Kennedy. You either rise to the occasion or you don't. And if you don't, well, I'd think you'd want a stronger defense than "well I couldn't think of anything that the president could do to help."
No comments:
Post a Comment