Marble Composition

Nauseating

Via Daily Kos, this out tonight from the New York Times:

White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 - Under the command of President Bush's two senior political advisers, the White House rolled out a plan this weekend to contain the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

[...]

In a reflection of what has long been a hallmark of Mr. Rove's tough political style, the administration is also working to shift the blame away from the White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana who, as it happens, are Democrats.

"The way that emergency operations act under the law is the responsibility and the power, the authority, to order an evacuation rests with state and local officials," Mr. Chertoff said in his television interview. "The federal government comes in and supports those officials."

[...]

Ms. Rice did not return to Washington until Thursday, after she was spotted at a Broadway show and shopping for shoes, an image that Republicans said buttressed the notion of a White House unconcerned with tragedy.

As the article shows, the entire administration was scattered to the winds; on vacation, or out of the country as New Orleans drowned. And while the president smirked and cracked jokes at his made-for-TV briefing, he apparently expressed alarm upon returning. What I'm genuinely not sure of is whether he was alarmed at how bad the situation was, or how badly he now looks for such a colossal failure of leadership.

So what's the answer? Blame Democrats. Anything but admit they screwed up in any way. Funny how this works: no plan enacted to save lives during the crisis, but a sure fire plan to cover their asses. Unreal. I have to say, I wouldn't trust any one of them to walk an elderly person across the street. There's now way the old-timer makes it across alive.

posted by FuzzFinger @ 9/04/2005 11:21:00 PM