Many have first complained that Bush ingnored the situation in New Orleans. Now we are hearing that he is ready to spend like a drunken sailor to try to repair first his damaged image and then the city.
I think It is much more of the later and I agree with Kathleen Parker in here commentary.
Looking more closely at what Bush has proposed, however – and ignoring for a moment the enormous front-end cost – another scene emerges. Seeing the world as Bush does is like looking at one of those computer-generated pictures that you stare at for a long time, trying to let your eyes unfocus on what’s close and obvious in order to see the other, often marvelous, image buried within.
You think you’re looking at a billion zigzag dots, but then realize you’re really seeing a fairy princess fluttering among butterfly gardens and hobbit houses.
It’s like that with Bush.
You think you’re looking at billions of dollars being tossed out like Mardi Gras beads to a sea of looters and scammers (and those are just the politicians), but then you unfocus your eyes and see what Bush sees: a beautiful landscape of antebellum Habitat for Humanity-built porches filled with happy voucher-educated African-American children giggling on joggling boards in two-parent homes headed by an entrepreneurial father and a stay-at-home mother.
Bush is a visionary and a dreamer. Exactly what a good leader is supposed to be.
Read the entire commentary here: Kathleen Parker: Bush’s pipe dream by sea.
The early response to Rita in evacuating Texas, Bush’s home state could be taken many ways but I am guessing it’s a “see we didn’t mess up this time!”
Bush is more worried about his image than anything. I noticed in his speech he had to sprinkle in “As well as minorities”, every so often to make sure we all knew he was conscious of the criticism of him concerning racial issues prior.
Pretty words are just that.. pretty words, and his promises are as empty as his eyes, and they’re pretty empty.
Louisiana politicians are not any better, but then I’m beginning to be anti-politicians almost as much as I am anti media anymore.
In Louisiana at least we were always honest about our politicians being the ‘best money could buy’.
Fish,
Im going to have to disagree with you on this one.
I know of some of your struggle and I appreciate your pain, not that I have experienced that amount of loss but we all have had our pain.
Here are a couple of thoughts.
1. Bush has never seemed to be interested in his image. One example of this is that he does not govern by poles, he governs by what he thinks is right. Another example of this is how he is dealing with the immigration issue. The plan that he has come up with is a type of amnisty plan. Most conservatives hate it and it had lost him support form a major part of his party. But he thinks it is the right thing to do so he is going ahead and doing it.
2. Bush is already a rich man, what does he have to gain from not doing the right thing? There is nothing else he can do in life and his legacy will be based on the right things that he does. He is not in someone’s pocket.
3. As a Christian, we are to pray for our leaders over us.
4. I would be willing to bet that the billions of dollars will indeed be flowing. This will be much more than just empty promises. But, we will have to wait and see.
We’re all entitled to our opinions :).
I agree we must pray over our leaders.
In this case I feel politics all around has failed a city. Democrats and Republicans alike.
Perhaps I’m just too close to the pain yet.
My brother’s a republican and my father’s a democrat. I’m somewhere in the middle, so it’s not blind bush hate, I would actually have voted for him in fact originally.
Right now I think I just trust no one politically, once bitten twice shy too many times with politicians and their empty promises. It’s not just Bush, it’s all of them. It’s why politicians and celebrity go hand in hand: image.
I’d like to think they(politicians) gave a damn about anything but money, oil, etc, but time and again I’ve not seen that. They care about numbers, polls, and how they are looking in the press. And it’s not just Bush.. it’s all of them.
Hmmm.. reading the article posted, and the ensuing comments, I don’t quite know what to say.
I do know this, this (from the article) “a beautiful landscape of antebellum Habitat for Humanity-built porches filled with happy voucher-educated African-American children giggling on joggling boards in two-parent homes headed by an entrepreneurial father and a stay-at-home mother.” made me snort out loud.
While I understand the reasoning behind such a statement, I think anyone in the affected area would take strong offence and scoff at such a statment. Who really care if the African American are voucher educated, and honestly, good luck getting an african american in Southern Louisiana not to take offence to such a statement. This person obviously knows very little about life in Louisiana for black people. Yes, perhaps that is a blanket statement on my part, but read the statistics. They are accurate.
I think the entire paragraph was irrelevent and distasteful. As for whether or not Bush failed, let’s face it, the entire local, state and federal gov’t failed in the wake of Katrina. Whether it was a matter of miscommunication, or outright failure at this point it doesn’t matter. There was a failure on ALL levels and in my honest opinion, that’s what matters.
Consequences need had for poor actions and bad choices. Whatever they may be and for whoever made them. Bush can promise this and that, but I’ll tell you something. All his talk on TV about helping people become homeowners instead of renters and all his talk about helping this and that out is crap. The only way anyone will be able to get any help such as that is if they move back to the disaster area. There is little help for those of us who evacuated and are staying away.
The only ones who are going to benefit from this “gov’t help” is the poor, and the rich. There is no help for the middle class working citizens who made up such a large majority of the entire gulf coast that was hit. There is no mention of those who lived paycheck to paycheck and no mention of help for them. The only help that is out there is for those who are completely destitute, or entirely too wealthy.
I guarantee, the first people from New Orleans who will get help, is the ones who owned those big fancy Yachts or the ones who were so poor they were living 10 to a 2 bedroom house.
There are many issues at hand here that stretch far beyond appearance or money. It comes down to morales, and our president may say he is a strong Christian man, but he has done so very little to show the entire public that he is.
Wow. I think I struck a nerve. There is nothing I can say.
I apologize for offending you.
Fish,
I was raised liberal and I am now conservative.
I have worked with many politicians.
Some are so evil they make satin look nice.
Some are God fearing men and women are truly working to do God’s work on earth.
Our job as the electorate is to get involved and elect God fearing representatives that lead us in a Godly direction.
In all my experiences with Bush, he is much closer to the later.
If politicians are bad it is only a mirror of the people that elected them.
You made a wise comment, maybe your pain is to close. I think you loose and pain will to be close for a very long time.
Wayne
Bush has never seemed to be interested in his image
Now thats a laugh. It is exactly the opposite. You got to be as blind as a bat.