American Presidents of years past have all been politicians, but at times when the country needed a leader, the politician stepped back and a leader emerged. A politician takes account of a situation and knows what to say. A leader takes account of a situation and knows what to do. When you catch a politician posing as a leader, sometimes they manage to get by with words alone, but sooner or later the people longing for leadership know that they’re on their own. All of us have worked for someone like this at one point or another in our lives, and with age and experience comes the ability to sniff out who’s who.
Reports of a meeting in Louisiana with Bush and officials from the week of the hurricane entailed the President hearing complaints, concerns and ultimately playing a passive role as Governor Blanco insisted on discussing command and control of the situation off-line. Commander and Chief or talk show guest? If there was ever a situation where an American President needed to take control of a situation and make it clear to everyone involved who was in charge, this was it. The subordinate government official (Blanco) wanted to make a power play of some sort, and it was up to Bush to stomp that nonsense out. A leader would have done just that, but a ‘suit’ is who we have for a President.
His staff rounded up numbers for him, matrices, spreadsheets full of information to prove that he was doing a great job. Instinct never kicked in, just like it never did for Mike Brown. His resume padded in a way that reminds me of the character Garreth from The Office. When Garreth was asked what his job title was he’d say “Assistant Manager” only to be corrected by his boss with “Assistant TO the Manager”. Brownie had done the same thing, claiming to have been “Assistant City Manager” in Edmond, Oklahoma. It’s significant to those of us wondering how he got the job, but insignificant in reality as he didn’t get his job because of anything but cronyism.
Combine the suits, cronies and spreadsheets and it’s no wonder why the American public is upset about the post-Katrina failure. They’ve never understood that this country is not a stock price, product line or operations unit. Sure we’ve got national numbers like productivity, unemployment rate and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but within state and national government there are thousands of people devoted to the management of all these things. The republic exists as figures on a piece of paper in this sense, but then we have individuals elected to represent the actual people. Some are worthy, definitely not all.
Surely the state of Louisiana would have been better off with a better group of elected officials. Republicans have been consistently steering the conversation about what went wrong towards the failures of these people, while putting forth the impression that in terms of the federal government, this was ‘not our department’. The only reason such political nonsense has become a focal point is that this absolutely was the federal government’s department, and President Bush’s responsibility to cut through the bureaucracy and take charge. The American people obviously understand this fact much better than the suits.
At this point there isn’t a single story about what happened on any level of government that will repair the political damage President Bush has brought on himself here. This entire thing transcends politics, meaning, the American people aren’t going to be swayed in their opinion of it by politicians. He ran for this office and should have decided well before then whether or not he had the ability to do the job. The Republican Party will suffer from all of this as well, if for no other reason than the fact that they vouched for this man and called him a leader. Truth is, what the American people have elected here is a team of suits, cronies and spreadsheet jockeys. We’re well aware of it at this point.
I give GWB good marks after 911, but on Katrina I have some doubts. Governor Blanco needs to go as does Mayor Nagin. New Orleans was a corrupt city before the storm and the corruption may have hindered the relief effort to a degree.
Thanks again Chris for posting your articles and essays on our friendly forum. Please feel free to continue to do so. 🙂
Great essay.
The feds attempt to shift blame is shameful, without a doubt mistakes were made at the local level but also at the federal level. A real leader would acknowledge this and move on. The fact that nearly two weeks after the storm we are still playing the blame game shows where Bush’s priorities lie.
The blame should never have been on the Feds in the first place so that is why the blame is being shifted to those responsible, and rightfully so.
Blaming Bush for Katrina is like blaming the Purser on the Titannic for all the deaths. Sure, they could have filled the life boats to capacity but the Captain and the ship owners (Nagin and Blanco) should have not hit the ice berg like it did, thy should have built a bigger rudder ande should have had more likfe boats.
Again, the Fed is the back up and long term recovery agent, the local and state authorities are responsible for the immediate response. It’s the immediate response that was the problem.
Sorry, Karl, the blame everybody equally and Bush’s priorities arguments don’t wash at all. Federal mistakes would be judged at about a 2 and local and state mistakes were a 10 on the screw-up-o-meter. The Fed didn’t get anyone killed.
Screw-up-o-meter? I like that.
Holding Bush responsible is like being mad at my dog when he steals a hamburger off the table. It is really my fault for leaving food out where the dog can get it, and the dog is just being true to his nature. In this case it is the peoples fault for putting Bush in a place where he could screw up, because he is just being true to his nature.
On the Snark-o-meter my comment was probably about a 7
Right, are you aware of the meeting Bush had with those officials down there and the fact that he chose not to supercede the Governor’s authority?
It’s at that moment where he had to step up for the sake of those people. If she was as incompetent as you and I believe, then what was Bush thinking in not taking over?
I think it was for the explicit purpose of providing a political out should things have gotten worse after that…which they did. I don’t know of a single President who would have just rolled over at that point.
Were the state government’s failures not obvious at that point? Because just saying ‘it’s all on them, end of story’ is to merely skim the surface of what went on down there. Republicans cannot just blow this off with the one-liners you’ve been presenting.
That’s what I mean when I point out that this issue trancends politics. Right, nobody’s buying what you’re selling, and just saying it again over and over while the rest of us are actually digging and reading first hand accounts is only going to make it worse for the GOP.
In response to something like this, politicians talk and leaders act. The GOP is 100% politician when it comes to Katrina, and the American people have taken note of it.
It’s at that moment where he had to step up for the sake of those people. If she was as incompetent as you and I believe, then what was Bush thinking in not taking over?
Then we should go back in time and tell Bush how incompenent she and Nagin are. See, that’s the problem with hindsight, Democrats wait till after something happens so they can pounch all over those in charge and preach about what we should have done. Charlatans!!!!
Bush cannot and should not revoke the status of elected officials.
Oh, so as long as the governor said, “I want control” – NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED DOWN THERE – you’re saying Bush shouldn’t supercede her authority.
That’s insane! This is the ‘political nonsense’ I was talking about in my piece. Right, you’ve made up a situation here where those people in New Orleans only deserved the best their governor could provide.
The governor couldn’t deploy the military or light a fire under the asses of those outside of her jurisdiction. Only one person involved had the authority to do either. Those people needed a President willing to step up and cut through the crap.
Oh, so as long as the governor said, “I want control” – NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED DOWN THERE – you’re saying Bush shouldn’t supercede her authority.
He CAN”T supercede her authority, we have a constitution for a reason. I’d love for Bush to go in there and take out Blanco and, while he’s at it, take out that worthless Harry Reid the dastardly D from my home state of Nevada.
Look, the people of Louisianna chose Blanco not because she had any skill but because she was a Democrat so this is what you get. Why does Bush have to clean up after the liberals and still take all the blame. Accoding to the liberals here Bush is to blame so why should he have taken out Blanco? She’s a Saint!!!
That’s insane! This is the ‘political nonsense’ I was talking about in my piece. Right, you’ve made up a situation here where those people in New Orleans only deserved the best their governor could provide.
Their government didn’t come close to providing the best, they ignored all the signs and the sad part is if the governeor was a Republican he would have been lynched by Democrats the day before the storm hit. This feigning of sympathy for the poor Louisiannans at the hands or the wealthy Bushs betrays the true intentions of the left. At least Karl is trying to blame both sides almost equally…
The governor couldn’t deploy the military or light a fire under the asses of those outside of her jurisdiction. Only one person involved had the authority to do either. Those people needed a President willing to step up and cut through the crap.
Democrats would have blockled any efforts Bush would have made to unseat the Democratic Governor and Mayor. Besides, your hindsight only tells us what happened after the storm, we had no idea how incompetent the Mayer and Governor truely were untill days after the storm when the world found out what they failed to do.
I renew my call for prison time for the Mayor and Governor for the deaths of those people.
That is total hogwash. Taking over would have been a political problem at worst. What are they going to do? Arrest the President? The American people would have seen it as a necessary move considering the enormity of the situation.
Not only that, but the feds are driving the reconstruction plans.
This is ridiculous. The Democrats or anyone else wouldn’t have been able to do any such thing. I mean, ‘block?’ Are you serious? This wasn’t a confirmation hearing Right!
There is enough blame to go around here on the federal,state and local level. No spin doctor can make this situation look good !
Seems like conservatives exist solely to win elections and not Govern. Most liberals are willing to acknowledge that Democrats made mistakes in this fiasco, and once you admit a mistake you can fix it. Republicans refuse to admit errors so they are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over. Refusing to admit errors may win elections in the short-term, but it makes for terrible government.
Taking over would have been a political problem at worst. What are they going to do? Arrest the President?
Besides throwing the country into a constitutional crisis, and forget about the impeachment process that would immediately proceed and successfully remove the president, no one would follow the orders. It’s the pinnacle of illegality, no one in their right mind would support such a measure.
Federalists, Socialists and Communists would love for this to happen but we are free as a country because of the power of the states. Btw, why were you not advocating the removal of the Governor before?
Seems like conservatives exist solely to win elections and not Govern.
This is soo funny, were talking about Democrats who win elections but either refuse to govern or are too incompetent to govern and you bring up something like this. Karl, I really think you have a conservative heart but your brain is too full of liberal trash :- )
Most liberals are willing to acknowledge that Democrats made mistakes in this fiasco, and once you admit a mistake you can fix it.
I’ve asked around in a very small sample of liberals that I know and they all say the Bush’s fault mantra. Would you happen to have any names?
Republicans refuse to admit errors so they are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over. Refusing to admit errors may win elections in the short-term, but it makes for terrible government.
Republicans refuse to accept blame for things they didn’t do. How can you learn form a mistake you didn’t make?
Not only that, but the feds are driving the reconstruction plans.
Because that really is their job in all this, not toppling state governments.
No spin doctor can make this situation look good !
It’s not always always about looking good but looking right. Republicans are the ones who care about the trust and liberals are trying to make it appear the Fed screwed up or race played a part so that they can protect their liberal governor and mayor. In the 60’s this type of fraud may have worked but Americans nowadays are too sophisticated.
I’m so tired of hearing this.
What was it that he did that was so remarkable? He got us into a war (which has further destroyed an already crippled nation), he pissed off much of the world who used to think fondly of us, he’s contributed to higher fuel costs (I believe). I’m still waiting for Osama. So what was it again that he did that warrants “good marks”?
If you’re talking about immediately after the downing of the towers… then again I ask, what was so remarkable about his actions? Is it the fact that he didn’t noticably shit himself in public? I will give him credit for that, although I haven’t read any reports to confirm or deny this.
25% of the respondants to this poll believed that the sun revolved around the earth. Pennsylvania schools are teaching children that evolution is just a ‘theory’.
Don’t kid yourself Right…when it comes to smarts, America is experiencing a regression.
You know what is interesting about conservative thinking?
They will put their faith in corporations, but not in publicly elected officials. They talk about the evils of large government, yet they really offer no practical alternatives for governing billions of people.
Big business does not look out for the little guy, and the free market does not always account for the TRUE cost of things. Without government big business would pay NO attention to issues of environmental or local human rights concerns. They may pay lip service to it, but the corporations of today have no national loyalty. And the idea of the dollar vote does not hold up.
However, there is one lesson to be learned from the conservatives… never turn on your own regardless of what is going on, and you will succeed.
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