Maybe the president is out of the loop

September 13, 2005

Over the last couple of weeks, many Americans have come to see the president as uninformed and disengaged, even in the midst of the worst national disaster any of us have seen in the United States. In several instances, it seemed CNN and the major dailies were far more up to date on events on the Gulf Coast than were key administration officials.

To help remedy this impression, the president talked with reporters yesterday afternoon — and explained that he had no idea if his FEMA director had resigned or not, and suspected reporters with him on the scene in Mississippi had access to better information than he did.

Q: Can you tell us, have you accepted the resignation of Michael Brown, or have you heard about it?

Bush: I haven’t — no, I have not talked to Michael Brown — or Mike Chertoff; that’s who I’d talk to. As you know, I’ve been working. And when I get on Air Force One, I will call back to Washington. But I’ve been on the move.

Q: Our understanding is he has resigned, he’s made a statement. Would that be appropriate —

Bush: I haven’t talked to Mike Chertoff yet, and that’s what I intend to do when I get on the plane. You know, I — you probably — maybe you know something I don’t know, but as you know, we’ve been working, and I haven’t had a chance to get on the phone. […] So I can’t comment on something that you may know more about than I do. So don’t ask me again….”

In other words, Bush was getting a first-hand look at New Orleans for the first time since Katrina ravaged the city, but he hadn’t spoken with the director of Homeland Security, or the director of FEMA, and he had no idea if the latter was still on the job.

I feel better about the president’s command of the situation already; don’t you?

I thought the president is always briefed about things from his team when it happens. No…wait…he’s only told what he needs to know. But it was on tv. No…wait…he doesn’t watch tv. But it was on the blogs. No…wait…he doesn’t read that either! He’s too busy working! Please…

  • Perhaps someone needs to introduce the president to the concept of a cell phone.

    Or maybe access to the “internets”?

  • It is scarry that the President of the United States of America is so out of touch that he doesn’t know what is going on with someone in his administration who has become so high profile in the last 2 weeks. Of course considering there are about 3 people who tell him what is going on it is not a surprise. If one went down the hall to make photocopies or talk on the phone while one was out having a power lunch at Georgia Brown’s and the other was in the restroom then all 3 would not be available to tell him which way was up.

  • To attempt to be fair, how much time was between the press conference and the actual resignation?

    Anybody remember back during the 2000 election how Bush promised he’d run the government like a business? Anybody remember how successful Bush was in his previous business ventures? What was 49% of the country thinking?

  • “So don’t ask me again…”

    How dare you, Mr. President! The press is not playing a game with you. Reporters are integral in an open society. They get information from you and other “leaders” for the benefit of the public you are supposed to serve. Open disdain for those reporters is tantamount to the same toward the people. The people – at least as far as we know – gave you the office you hold. You did not take power, it was granted to you for a term (ok, two) and you will one day give it back.

    Just because you are not running for anything again does not mean you can act this way. You are accountable to the people. We are your boss, not the other way around. Oh, how I wish I was the lucky guy who got to tell Cheney to go fu** himself. Only I wish I could see you in person and tell you the same. You work for us, and you best square your ass away and start shitting us Tiffany cufflinks.

  • “Maybe the president is out of the loop”

    Maybe? MAYBE?! Fucking maybe????

    Come on, Mr. CB, this buffoon was never IN the loop in the first place!!

  • This actually isn’t the Prez’s fault, though I enjoy seeing him squirm. Brownie fucked up, again. You don’t quit through the media, you don’t make your boss look stupid if he gets that question, and he did look stupid. If you’re working as a director of a large organization, hold the announcement until everyone is informed.

    Poor Brownie, he’s ruined. He’d be lucky to get a job in a hardware store now. C’mon, “a stiff margarita”?

  • If you’re working as a director of a large organization, hold the announcement until everyone is informed.

    Or, maybe Drownie Brown DID call the boss and Cheney just didn’t bother to tell George.

    And Drownie ruined? I doubt it. He’ll be sucking up some nice lobbyist work before you know it. I hear FEMA’s handing out a lot of payola, if you have the right connections.

  • You don’t quit through the media, you don’t make your boss look stupid if he gets that question, and he did look stupid.

    Maybe that’s what Brown wanted.

    I’d suppose he doesn’t want to be the scapegoat and the only captain to go down with the ship.

  • I seems as if the Bush crowd has gotten bored with the tedious business of governing. As much as I dislike the guy, you have to wonder how much and how often his “crack” staff is leaves W twisting in the wind. There must be some very interesting conversations behind the scenes after one of these clueless interviews.

    Speaking of…you might enjoy the Muse’s take on the state of the presidency:

    Mission Demolished

    The President stepped onto the deck of the Iwo Jima Sunday with considerably less fanfare than was deployed for his made-for-TV boarding of the Abraham Lincoln in ‘03. And this time he left the flyboy getup hanging in the costume department.

    But one thing that was not left hanging this time was a “Mission Accomplished” banner. Nor was this boat floating in picturesque San Diego Harbor. The Iwo Jima is docked along the Mississippi, just a few hundred yards from a city shattered by a gal named Katrina who may well have also laid waste to what’s left of the Bush presidency.

    Bush didn’t accomplish the mission in Iraq and he downright demolished the one that involved organizing a federal response to Katrina. It was his third trip to New Orleans since the storm, no doubt to assuage a conscience distressed by how his administration so belatedly figured out that this one was of the Biblical variety.

    It did not help that the FEMA director Bush told the world was doing a “heck of a job” had just handed in a heck of a resignation and, for once, a clear majority of Americans are angered over another muffed mission….

    http://www.eyewitnessmuse.com/diary.php?p=149

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