There have to be better uses for their time

September 2, 2005

The administration is facing intense criticism for not using the materials and resources necessary to address the crises in New Orleans and elsewhere. To address these concerns, the president had a photo-op this morning in an airplane hangar in which rescue workers and helicopters served as a backdrop instead of … I don’t know … working in some kind of rescue capacity.

helicopter
As Think Progress noted:

Why are these helicopters being used as a backdrop for President Bush, instead of assisting the victims of Hurricane Katrina?

Why are members of the Coast Guard being used as a backdrop for Bush’s press conference? Don’t they have more important things to do?

I don’t know how to link to it directly, but CNN’s free video service has a couple of clips that are definitely worth watching. The first was Bush this morning, from the South Lawn of the White House, preparing to head down. The second was the president’s remarks at the hangar shown above.

I’m open to other ideas, but it really sounds like the president is slipping badly — and he knows it.

Damn it, are photo-ops the only part of the federal government that still works?!?

Why isn’t the president turning around in anger and asking why the fuck those choppers aren’t flying to help NO right now? Oh, wait. That’s what a *leader* would do. Nevermind.

We are so fucked.

  • Hi CB,

    I watched the whole photo-op live on CNN which I have on all the time in my office. I happen to live in Alabama very close to the beginning of the destruction zone and I have to say…..it made me SICK to my stomach to see the Re-Thugs staging this thing. We got to see, our dear idiot governor Bob Riley, Haley Barbour, Chertoff….exactly the kind of people Shrub usually surrounds himself with, one thing stood painfully out to me, where the hell was Kathleen Blanco? Arguably New Orleans is one of the most PRESSING places where help is needed, so what’s she doing? Cause she’s not a republican? Or maybe cause this is a “man thing” Perhaps we should rename FEMA……Federal Emergency Masturbation Association, cause it really looks to me like a bunch of boys with their peckers in their hands……..Jesus. I hope this is a serious lesson as to who we need to have in charge of this country.

  • a critical element of any disaster relief is a public information campaign to tell people what they should do, where they should go, and how others can help. what we’re seeing here instead is a public relations campaign to make it seem like are doing something when clearly they are not.

    i don’t see how any can vote republican after this without feeling utter shame at doing so, if such a person could possess any sense of shame in the first place.

  • I posted this over an Hullabaloo: I hate to think the worst. I really do. But it’s impossible not to with BushCo. The National Guard is now starting to arrive in downtown NO. A huge food-truck convoy is said to be almost there and Bush his own self is due there soon. How conveeeeenient. Well, let him try to preen before the cameras handing out bottles of water and MREs (for no more than an hour, of course). At least help is arriving.

  • I’m a bit busy at the moment and don’t have time to review and clean up this post, so please excuse any spelling, capitalization, or grammar errors…

    I’ve always enjoyed discussions with CB. Often those discussions have been political in nature, and I think he’d accept the label of “Democrat” or “Political Liberal”. I, on the other hand, have always been proud to avoid a label (or perhaps to accept all labels). Specifically if I discuss a topic from a republican viewpoint and because of that discussion someone decides that I must be a “Republican” or I discuss another topic from a democrat viewpoint with someone else who decides that I must be a “Democrat” it really didn’t matter to me. I can generally see both sides of a debate, and when I do have my own opinions on a matter they rarely fit neatly into a labeled box. I’ll discuss taxes or gun control with a person who I “know” votes a straight GOP ticket, and I’ll use words like “we” or “us” because it makes the conversation easier, I’ll do the same with a dyed in the wool Dem when discussing capital punishment or civil rights. In then end I’ve neither committed to nor eschewed any label for my political views.

    I am, however, quickly approaching a breaking point in that stand. While I still have no desire to place an “official” label on myself (my views are just to varied and non-conformist to fit cleanly into any box except “Danny”), I’m suddenly rather offended to be associated with any label that puts me in the same category as GWB and friends. Unfortunately there are a number of non-political labels that GWB (along with some of his closest allies/advisors) belong to that I’m not yet ready to abandon (male, US Citizen, fraternity member, homeowner, husband, etc). I’d much rather they leave those groups than me (though I recognize it won’t necessarily happen, so I accept that while I must share the label with them I hope that the average person realizes the limitations of the label). However, I’ve come to realize that the labels “GOP”, “Republican”, “Conservative” are being warped to be nearly synonymous with “follower of GWB”.

    Until very recently it really didn’t bother me that someone might label me in their mind as such and then make assumptions about my stand on issues and policy based on that label. I figure if they really want to know what I think, they’ll ask me, and if they don’t then I don’t really care what they think. As frustrated as I was at times with the administration over the Iraq War, even then it didn’t bother me if someone made false assumptions about my view of related issues.

    So you might ask “What is it that has finally pushed you past the breaking point?” If you haven’t guessed yet, it’s Bush’s (and his administration’s) preparations for and handling of the disaster brought about by hurricane Katrina. This is an extremely shameful demonstration of incompetence in our government. The death, destruction, and inhumane conditions brought on by Katrina were bad, but Katrina pales in comparison to the death, destruction, and inhumane conditions brought on by the failures of this administration to prepare for and respond to devastation that isn’t nearly as “unpredictable” as the administration hopes you believe.

    “We couldn’t know”, “we’re doing our best”, “help is on the way”, “there’s know way anyone could have prepared for this”, “now’s not the time for politics”, “now’s not the time for blame”, “nobody is to blame”. These are the things we are hearing. These are the lies and misdirections being used to try to cover up the incompetence, but it’s not the lies and misdirections that disgust me. Any incompetent fool is going to say whatever he can to try to soften the blow when that incompetence becomes self-evident. What is so disgusting is the incompetence itself. And for me being associated with or seen as supporting, condoning, or “following” that incompetence is an insult. Accepting a label that puts me in the same category as those whose irresponsible decisions and actions have brought on the results we now see, is to accept being considered less than who I am and who I’m capable of being.

    As such, while I still find that my views on some issues are more in line with republicans than they are with democrats, I would rather not be considered a republican. Just “Danny” will do fine.

    – Danny

  • Dear “Danny” GOOD FOR YOU MAN! I live in the deep south as seen in my post above. I too go a bit back and forth and refuse to be categorized as anything. I lean “liberal” whilst you profess to lean “republican” know what I think? I think that it’s time for ALL of us in this country to ditch the stupid labels and find the RIGHT people for the JOBS that we elect them to! What an amazing thing that would be! It’s obvious that the people running this country are clueless as to how to handle any kind of emergency, I want a REFUND on the 48 BILLION dollar pricetag of the Department of Homeland Security which, in my understanding, was established in order to DO SOMETHING about exactly this kind of situation and who continue to look like a monkey fucking a football. Nice that Shrub is now going to get another photo-op on the ground, and really interesting that the trucks have finally begun to roll too. Good timing that……Maybe CB can get the latest quote from NO Mayor Ray Nagin and post it up, they played it live on CNN moments ago and I think he should be, at very least, Governor of Louisana for his efforts. His comment was something to the effect of “I don’t want to hear anything about another God Damn press conference or how many troops are supposedly on the way, tell somebody to GET OFF THEIR ASSES and get us help down here” Kudos to Nagin. And to you Danny because to throw off labels is to assert that you’re a helluva lot more intelligent than many of the other lemmings.

  • If I was Bush I would stay the hell away from New Orleans or Louisiana.
    And he better stay away from Ray Nagin, who I’m sure would just love to wring Bush’s neck for this fiasco supreme.
    Maybe now people could start putting out roof signs in New Orleans
    saying “Resign now, cracker! as W flies overhead . Maybe he’ll
    start to get the message.

  • I’m watching Bush right now…..

    He’s smiling and saying everything is going great……

    How can this man live with himself?????????????

  • I can’t help but think that if there hadn’t been a hurricane, and instead a terrorist group had used bombs (or airplanes) to break through the New Orleans levees, damage oil processing plants, and wipe out the electric power grid, the administration would have handled the disaster in nearly the same way. The main differences would have been that the rest of the country would be told to “keep shopping”, and we’d have an “enemy” that the administration could use to focus our frustrations and anger. Then they’d figure out what country best represented the terrorist group in the minds of the american people and we’d get involved in another war. Once the planes started dropping bombs the administration could say “See, we’re doing something. We’re protecting you, and putting a stop to what just happened.”

    Think about where you live. Think about what sort of disasters could strike in your neighborhood (natural or terrorist), then look at New Orleans and realize that the administration isn’t going to handle it any better if it happens to you (and you know it could). Now try and get some sleep tonight if you can. Don’t worry about anything, GWB has everything under control and he’s working hard to keep you safe.

    “What me worry?”

    – Danny

  • Dear Brainless Sadsack reminds me of Hal, the computer in 2001 A Space Odyssey. The computer takes over control in it’s heartless, bloodless way, quite certain that it knows the best way to run things and the humans are just in the way.

    Then Dave starts pulling wires and Hal starts to get all warm and fuzzy trying to talk Dave out of it and then devolves into dementia.

    O.K. We’ve got the rolled up sleeves. We’ve got the choppers in the back. We’ve got POTUS, (Prickhead of the United States), offering thanks and acknowledgements to all the little people in his smarmiest voice. We’ve got an impressive cross-section of uniforms and medals in close proximity.

    Whew, sure glad we’ve got that disaster covered.

    “Is my bike on the chopper? This rubble is going to make for some gnarly riding.? Somebody give Lance a call. You think he might want to come over? I’ll just get out my guitar and strum a tune while we wait.?”

  • Ya know, the doofus looks like an Emperor Penguin with his arms always straight out like that. I think that’s his Gunsmoke pose. Ready to draw at any moment. He knows how important it is to show he’s a guy who’s ready for anything.

    Trouble is: “Federal Emergency Masturbation Association, cause it really looks to me like a bunch of boys with their peckers in their hands” – Timmy

    He’s shootin’ blanks!

  • That photo op was designed to reassure Bush’s white conservative base that everything was ok. They tried to give the appearance of security and order by having the troops and helicopter there. Nearly everyone there was white, not a victim, and in nice clothes. He mentioned “law and order and “oil and gas” several times to convince his base that they would be able to fill their SUV’s and he was going to stop the looting that is going on.

    This had little to do with the victims and much to do with helping reassure his supporters that dear leader has everything under control.

  • I have only seen the stills. Was there someone working on these choppers. They may hvee been down for maintenance or something like that. Or maybe being refitt for the mission. I don’t know it’s just a idea. Not even I can imagine that they would have these ships deliberitly sitting there to give a good back drop, there has to be a explanation. Who knows though.

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