OK, pardon me while I get a little angry (not about Keith but...)

I'm reading TVNewser and they're running a bit of an interview that ABC's Elizabeth Vargas supposedly did with *. She asks him: "When you look back on those days immediately following when Katrina struck, what moment do you think was the moment that you realized that the government was failing, especially the people of New Orleans?"

He says: "When I saw TV reporters interviewing people who were screaming for help. It looked -- the scenes looked chaotic and desperate. And I realized that our government was -- could have done a better job of comforting people. A lot went right, by the way. But the chaotic scenes were very troubling. It just -- it was very unsettling for me to realize our fellow citizens were in near-panic wondering where the help was."

Uh, hello?!? Those scenes LOOKED chaotic and desperate because they WERE. And those people did not need "comfort" from the government--if by "comfort" you mean you going down there to do a photo op by putting your arms around their shoulders and telling them "Be of good cheer, help is on the way one of these here days." They needed HELP. They needed ACTION. They needed food and water and decent shelter with a nice place to go to the bathroom instead of a stinking overflowing toilet. And they needed it RIGHT THEN. Not at some distant time in the future after all the red tape had been cut through! But it wasn't coming, and THAT is why they were in near-panic (make that panic)!

Fortunately, Brian of TVNewser does go on to say: "I wish Vargas had asked Bush when he saw the TV reporters interviewing desperate people. As Newsweek reported in September, Dan Bartlett created a DVD of the evening newscasts on Thursday, Sept. 2. Was that the first time the president saw the news reports -- more than 72 hours after the levee breach?"

Hah. Maybe she was told not to ask him that question and remind people of it again...that * chose to wait for the DVD rather than see the anguish while it was first happening. As I said back then, maybe he was hoping the DVD would have "extras" on it.

with losing his love handles at the time. He was angry at a recent weight gain and spent a lot of that time riding his bike and so on. He was more concerned with that than watching any footage on the disaster until Bartlett made that DVD. He was completely oblivious. This guy, it can never be overstated how disengaged and out-of-touch he is. His visits there and his littles speeches afterwards were just fine and dandy for him. He got to go makes some promises and feign leadership while the Titanic was sinking all around his dumbass. Those people, they suffered greatly and one reason is this administration doesn't take governing seriously. They have systematically destroyed typical government bureaucracies, incorporated cronies (Brownie, ugh) and weakened any type of security we have. Yet, he still doesn't understand what leadership is all about. It's not about the comforting photo ops that you mentioned. It's about action. He has maligned Clinton for his "I feel your pain" stuff, but what he doesn't realize is that while Clinton was consoling people he was also solving the problem. Bush is stumbling around in the dark on all of this stuff. NO is still a mess. Those people are still hurting. It's not about how good Mardi Gras is looking, it's about displaced people, poverty, wrecked homes and shattered lives. Yet, he goes on tv and talks about comfort and how a lot of things went right. Yeah, sure, a lot of things went right, I wonder what the hell that could have been.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans evacuees in Texas who had their Lousiana Medicaid coverage extended under a temporary agreement have just lost it. It's estimated there are 25,000 such people in Houston alone. Party on, George.

I bought the cd!

COMFORT???
Damn, Cowboy, get a grip! Leadership ain't about "comforting" people. It's about delegating responsibility. And when the delegating fails, it's about accountability and taking the blame.

This idiot has never been held accountable for a damned thing his entire life. He's always found ways to pass the blame, divert attention, distract with non-issues, and try to come off smelling like a rose. He does, indeed smell, but it ain't flowers. :freak:

This asshole has always passed the buck. And he's reshaping government into something which passes on responsibility to "someone else." Unless there's $$ to be stolen, of course.

:grr:

The Chimperor is having trouble enjoying his milk and cookies before bed because news of his subjects' death and destruction is "unsettling".

Pompous.Fucking.Ass.

There was a "lack of situational awareness", see? Is that like a lack of "actionable items"? :mad:

...before a seemingly large portion of the American population, particularly certain pundits and so forth, will wake up from what appears to be a multi-year mass delusion. Not only do certain people give Bush the benefit of the doubt, they attribute virtues to him that he never possessed!

A month or two back Fred Barnes published a profile of Bush in The Washingtonian ("Bush to DC: Drop Dead."). I expected an article on Bush's indifference to the working poor in DC, total lack of interest in the cultural and historial treasures of the area, and so forth. What Barnes did was attempt to depict notable Bush faults, such as lack of curiosity and a refusal to alter his early bedtime even for a state dinner (He basically told the guest of honor and spouse that they were going to bed at the same time he and the first lady were), as a sign of Bush's being his own man :eyes: and not being beholden to the Washington elites.

Can you believe that? Bush is the very definition of elite. The rest is faux folksiness and a lot of self-absorption.

Anyway, a reader wrote to the magazine that as far as DC residents were concerned, the contempt was mutual.

if you saw the interview. I saw some of it through a link (maybe on DU, DailyKos,I don't remember)and I was furious. He is such a clueless fuck that it's beyond pathetic.:puke: