The political world did an understandable double-take yesterday when Bush sort-of accepted responsibility for failures the federal government made in responding to Hurricane Katrina. But it’s worth noting that Bush was responding to a question that sought entirely different information.
Q: Mr. President, given what happened with Katrina, shouldn’t Americans be concerned if their government isn’t prepared to respond to another disaster or even a terrorist attack?
Bush: Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. And to the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong. I want to know how to better cooperate with state and local government, to be able to answer that very question that you asked: Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack or another severe storm. And that’s a very important question.
I’m delighted to see Bush use the “r” word, but this was a chance for the president to explain to the nation and the world that the United States government — more than four years after 9/11 — has taken all necessary steps and is prepared to respond to a massive disaster, even if it came by way of a terrorist act. The correct answer is, “America is ready.” The wrong answer is, “That’s a very important question.”
The fact is, Bush praised the question but never answered it. By any reasonable standard, this is unacceptable. The president and his administration have had years of warnings, years to prepare, and years of studies, commissions, and investigations. But when asked directly if the public should be concerned about the nation’s readiness, Bush can do no better than to say he wants to know how to cooperate with local officials so he can answer the question.
I feel safer already.
It may sound unseemly, but Slate’s John Dickerson explained well how Bush’s weakness on this question matters in a partisan political context.
[Democrats] need suburban voters, and for suburban voters, Katrina isn’t so much about race, it’s about homeland security — about what would happen if someone bombs their mall.
This sounds largely correct to me. I suspect a lot of middle-class suburban families backed Bush last year because, for reasons that I can’t understand, they believed he could help keep them safe from “evildoers.” With this in mind, I wonder how many of them shuddered when they saw the president (if they saw the president) respond to a question about American preparedness for a disaster by saying, “I want to know how to better cooperate with state and local government, to be able to answer that very question that you asked.”