Jeb Bush’s classless cheap shot

October 26, 2005

On Monday, as Hurricane Wilma slashed across Florida, you’d think Gov. Jeb Bush would have a lot of disaster-related topics on his mind. But in true Bush fashion, he managed to find time in his busy schedule to play a little politics with the hurricane, blasting Louisiana for not being as efficient as Jeb seems to think he is.

While applauding state and local efforts to deal with the onslaught of Hurricane Wilma, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took the opportunity Monday to blast what he said were Louisiana’s failed attempts to deal with Katrina.

Bush said that unlike Louisiana, Florida organized local efforts to bring people to shelters and to transport evacuees.

“In Florida, we consider it a high priority and it’s a bottom-up system,” Bush said Monday at the Collier County emergency response offices. “In Louisiana, it was left for the federal government to fill the void, and you can see the consequences.”

Just in terms of having a little dignity, does Jeb really feel it’s necessary to take a slap at Louisiana right now? Is anyone in the Bush family familiar with the idea of having a little class?

Poor taste aside, I’m not at all convinced that Jeb’s analogy is particularly compelling. New Orleans is below sea level protected by levees that his brother didn’t expect to break. For that matter, Katrina was a much stronger storm than Wilma was. Moreover, Florida received far more federal assistance in advance of Wilma thanks in large part to the fact that agencies learned valuable lessons from their Katrina failures.

And before Jeb pulls a muscle patting himself on the back, Florida is still not exactly a model for a post-hurricane paradise. Power is still out for most of the affected areas and will be for several weeks. More importantly, relief supplies have been dangerously slow in reaching those who need assistance. One South Florida mayor said, “The state made promises they couldn’t keep. I’m very frustrated and highly unhappy.”

If Jeb spent less time taking cheap shots at Louisiana and more time tending to his state in the midst of an emergency, everyone would be better off.

Let’s face it, Jeb is not only a part of the Bush family but he is also a big part of the republican machine. The talking point was that the democratic governor and mayor in Louisiana were more at fault than the Bush administration following Katrina. Jeb was just reinforcing that point. I’m surprised Limbaugh, Hannity et al. haven’t already made it as well.

  • Seen one Bush, you’ve seen them all. They all learned their classlessness and cluelessness from Prescott many decades ago with his collusion with the Nazis to prey on their victims to line their own pockets, and it has all been downhill ever since. Just more and more of the same.

    Lest we forget, they are all Lying.Fucking.Bastards.

  • I haven’t tracked down the numbers, but I’m betting Florida has a lot more room in its budget for relief efforts than Louisiana, a relatively poor state.

    New Mexico, an even poorer state, recently bought a five million dollar jet for the Governor to replace the 1966 model he had been using. The purchase has been hugely controversial, partly as a conservative attack on Bill Richardson, but also because the state doesn’t have that kind of money laying around.

    Lucky Jeb gets to preach small government while presiding over one of the larger governmental units in the country. He wears his (haughty, bigoted, callous) class on his sleeve.

  • Well considering mama Bush’s comments in Houston Jebbie’s comments aren’t much of a surprise.

    Yes Florida is better prepared – but Florida is a lot more likely to get hit by hurricane’s.

    Not to let LA or N.O. off the hook – I grew up in N.O. – they do suck at the pre-planning thing. Part fatalism, part denial, party lets party – they haven’t always spent as much time on thinking on hurricane planning as I would like. Saying that the economy in LA and N.O. has been in the tank since late 1980’s oil bust when I was in high school, and the state coffers have not exactly been rolling in the dough.

  • My friend is without electricity and water in Broward County and will be for the foreseeable future. Yeah, Jeb learned a lot about hurricanes after how many?

    And what did that bum do to help Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina? As far as I know, diddley-squat.

    Screw the let-em-eat-cake Bushes.

  • Jeb Bush’s stupid and thoughless remarks don’t really surprise me all
    that much. After all, if my brother was president of the usa and I knew
    all I had to do was pick up the phone and call, wouldn’t I get anything
    my little heart desired? Having 27 electoral votes sure seems to get
    you a lot of attention in Washington D.C., doesn’t it?

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