Newsweek: Bush's return "a chance for him to look presidential"

As Bush returns to Washington to deal with Katrina’s aftermath, it’s a chance for him to look presidential and to briefly turn public attention from a troubled war to the homefront. Already, the White House has promised to send billions of dollars in aide to the affected region, and tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is expected to shave a few cents off record-high gas prices.

Later this week, Bush is expected to travel to the affected region, where his poll numbers have taken a hit over concerns about the war. In Louisiana, more than a quarter of the state’s National Guard troops are currently in Iraq—a stat that had local officials concerned considering the role the guard typically plays in helping the state weather such storms. A Survey USA poll released earlier this month found Bush’s approval rating in Louisiana had dipped to 48 percent—down 5 points since July.

Beyond the poll numbers, the Bush administration faces some immediate, urgent challenges—and serious questions about its response to the disaster. For all the president’s statements ahead of the hurricane, the region seemed woefully unprepared for the flooding of New Orleans—a catastrophe that has long been predicted by experts and politicians alike. There seems to have been no contingency planning for a total evacuation of the city, including the final refuges of the city’s Superdome and its hospitals. There were no supplies of food and water ready offshore—on Navy ships for instance—in the event of such flooding, even though government officials knew there were thousands of people stranded inside the sweltering and powerless city.

Then there’s the speed of the Bush administration’s response to such disasters. Just one week ago the White House declared that a major disaster existed in Louisiana, specifically most of the areas (such as Jefferson Parish) that are now under water. Was the White House psychic about the disaster ahead? Not exactly. In fact the major disaster referred to Tropical Storm Cindy, which struck the state a full seven weeks earlier. That announcement triggered federal aid for the stricken areas, where the clean-up had been on hold for almost two months while the White House chewed things over.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9148526/site/newsweek/page/2/

eom

He never did look pResidential.
No plan. No leadership.

The Smirking Chimp has never looked (or acted) presidential.

not an incumbent president with five years on the job?

How can a guy be president for five years and the MSM get a woody over the possibility he might be able to "appear presidential"?

IMO it shows how far Bush has fallen. People don't even think of him as presidential material anymore. He's Dennis Kucinich without the policies or the hot new wife.

definately needs more guitar lessons.

Gaaaah! Dammit! My head exploded again.

Off to get another towel...

:evilgrin:

Shit, in his speech yesterday he said he'd declared the area a disaster area ahead of the storm and I actually thought it was the only thing he'd done right.

The motherfucker's speechwriters slipped that in and I, a chronically skeptical Democrat, actually believed it.

WTF?!?!?

I'm an IDIOT!

I should have known it was a GODDAMN LIE!

Fucker fucker fucker!!!!!

The delivery was WOODEN, poor, and embarrassing. His post hurricane speech was descibed the worst of his life....

the man is a child in grown up clothes...

After 5+ years, I've given up. My friend in Australia called
last night to express her sympathies regarding Katrina. She
said it was too bad Smirk was president, because he mucks
up everything he tries to do.

Someone wrote a book or article after analyzing his speech patterns, and found that his greatest clarity came when he was speaking of aggressive actions etc.

Problem was his handlers are always afraid he'll go off completely on them, lose control.

and the media will give him a pass on it.

Will you finally (finally!) get on his case, consistently and specifically, about his failures? Or will you run one tongue-clucking story that basically concludes that Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi just caught an unlucky break and let Bush off the hook for his incompetence . . . again?