"For Bush, a Deepening Divide" (Washington Post)

Katrina Crisis Brings No Repeat of 9/11 Bipartisanship

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; Page A19

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.

Wherever reality lies between these mutual recriminations, the path from post-9/11 unity to the rancor and finger-pointing in the aftermath of Katrina's fury charts a clear deterioration in political consensus in the United States and a growing willingness to interpret events through a partisan prism. It is a problem that now appears destined to follow Bush through the final years of his presidency -- a clear failure of his 2000 campaign promise to be a "uniter, not a divider."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/06/AR2005090601687.html

we've known about this incompetent SOB from DAY ONE.....and for many of us Texas Dems, even before that.

I felt no "coming together" around the president post 9/11, I wanted to know why this happened UNDER HIS WATCH, and was amazed that he turned a gigantic screw-up into a political asset.

<<Mehlman said Bush has produced an unprecedented record of bipartisan accomplishment, citing the passage of the No Child Left Behind education act, prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients, the USA Patriot Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security>>

Oh, wait a minute--all the bi-partisan crap they've accomplished came at the expense of the most vulnerable and are perfect examples of prominent Democrats selling out to corporate interests?

Fuck them.

Similar to Steve Jobs' reality distortion field, but more powerful...

force their dogma on us all and anyone who wants to work with that is a traitor to the common good.

Fuck bipartisanship. The only gains we will ever make are the ones we can get by force.

"the path from post-9/11 unity to the rancor and finger-pointing in the aftermath of Katrina's fury charts a clear deterioration in political consensus in the United States and a growing willingness to interpret events through a partisan prism"
Americans died on American soil and we aren't supposed to ask any questions? If we do, it's "finger pointing"? Ugh.

If only 35% approve of the way Bush handled Katrina, then a lot of
Republicans are pissed too.

When are these assholes going to learn that, "You guys go ahead and do things our way," is *not* bipartisanship?

Grover Norquist gave us the best insight into the republican mind when he said the definition of bipartisanship is date rape.