Quick Thoughts: The Bush Imperium’s Katrina Speech

Okay folks, a few quick thoughts on Bush Junior’s big speech concerning Katrina.

First of all, I found myself taken by surprise to see Bush Junior actually ACCEPT responsibility for the unacceptable response in the first days after Hurricane Katrina hit. I’m sure he had the most sour of tastes in his mouth when he had to do that in front of the media… even worse than when he was on his drinking benders in his younger days. It’s not easy saying “I screwed up.” But of course he never actually SAID that HE screwed up! He just said he accepts the responsibility as president. Then he just blamed the rest on Mother Nature. And he promised a “thorough review”… from the very agency that DID screw up! Can you say “whitewash”?

Yes Mister President, this was NOT a normal hurricane… but that still does not explain why you played Nero to the tragedy. Why didn’t you cut your vacation short and head back to Washington so you could mobilize that response that took all week in showing up? YOUR part in this matter also played an important part in this FUBAR situation and you SHOULD have addressed it in your speech.

Second, what was up with the location of his speech? Of all of the places that he could have been, even in the French Quarter, the president HAD to pick the ONE place in New Orleans that looks like nothing ever happened to it! In a city that is still partly underwater, and the rest still covered with debris from the flooding and the hurricane itself, this is the ONE PLACE that is meticulously trimmed and free from any kind of damage.

But every time we turn on the news, we see the reporters standing in front of flooded out streets, buildings with debris, or just areas that are devoid of electricity, traffic, or life. Why didn’t the President make his speech in front of these places, huh? If he TRULY wanted to show that he was really THERE and that he really CARED about the devastation, why wasn’t he making his speech showing the kind of damage that was all around the city? Why hide up in the RICH part of the city; high, dry, and free from damage?

If the Imperium wanted to use the location to show that they really cared about the people truly affected, they picked the WORST place to do it! The only possible way that Karl Rove could have made the situation any worse would be if he told the President to make the speech on Air Force One as it made another fly-by over the city, like it did the first time around.

Bush Junior promised much for rebuilding the area, offering tax breaks and incentives. They all SOUND good, but it’s one thing to promise it all… it’s another to actually deliver. If the Imperium can’t deliver those things, then it will be yet another black mark on their record, and for the GOP come 2008.

If Bush Junior was looking to redeem himself through his speech, he once again fell short. And if other people have mixed reviews about his speech, then again Bush Junior has nobody to blame for that but himself… and his people.