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Sunday, August 28, 2005: President Discusses Hurricane Katrina, Congratulates Iraqis on Draft Constitution [7]
Hurricane Katrina was aiming straight at New Orleans, and the vacationing Bush took time to hear something about the impending landfall of this monster storm. President Bush got an update from Max Mayfield from the Hurricane Center about how dangerous this storm could be. Yet even then, Bush knew he'd already done his part because after all, he put Brownie in charge and now it was his job to look after the details.
Monday, August 29, 2005: 2005: Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans [8]
Katrina hits New Orleans, levies break, Bush continues with his planned itinerary.
President George W. Bush joins Arizona Senator John McCain in a small celebration of McCain's 69th birthday Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, after the President's arrival at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix. The President later spoke about Medicare to 400 guests at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in nearby El Mirage. (White House photo by Paul Morse)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005: President Commemorates 60th Anniversary of V-J Day [9]
Despite the growing catastrophe in New Orleans, Bush continues his planned stops, delivering pre-planned speeches and finds time to accept a guitar from Country Singer Mark Wills.
President Bush plays a guitar presented to him by Country Singer Mark Wills, right, backstage following his visit to Naval Base Coronado, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Bush visited the base to deliver remarks on V-J Commemoration Day. (AP Photo/ABC News, Martha Raddatz)
Yet, others in the administration knew that what was happening in New Orleans was serious enough to preempt the planned vacation activities.
From Newsweek [10] (emphasis mine):
"It's a standing joke among the president's top aides: who gets to deliver the bad news? Warm and hearty in public, Bush can be cold and snappish in private, and aides sometimes cringe before the displeasure of the president of the United States, or, as he is known in West Wing jargon, POTUS. The bad news on this early morning, Tuesday, Aug. 30, some 24 hours after Hurricane Katrina had ripped through New Orleans, was that the president would have to cut short his five-week vacation by a couple of days and return to Washington. The president's chief of staff, Andrew Card; his deputy chief of staff, Joe Hagin; his counselor, Dan Bartlett, and his spokesman, Scott McClellan, held a conference call to discuss the question of the president's early return and the delicate task of telling him. Hagin, it was decided, as senior aide on the ground, would do the deed."
Wednesday, August 31, 2005: Bush cuts his vacation short (by two days) and heads back to Washington. Air Force One routed over New Orleans so Bush can view the scene from above.
President George W. Bush looks out over the devastation in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina as he heads back to Washington D.C. Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, aboard Air Force One. White House photo by Paul Morse
Bush saw the damage, but did he really comprehend the problem?
Thursday, September 1, 2005: Newsweek [11] reported:
"The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One."
One assumes that finally after viewing the reports his staffers put together, he understood the magnitude of the disaster. Yet, understanding it didn't translate into action that would help the people in that area as it took days more to rescue the survivors from New Orleans and years more to understand no help would be coming to rebuild the levies or the grieving communities.
So ended the longest vacation of George W. Bush. But our long nightmare of having this man, so incapable of understanding or caring about anyone else still goes on. Two years after that horrific storm, too many people in the path of the storm still have no home and are losing lost hope. And the long, long war grinds on. But, boy, isn't it nice to have a President in such good shape?
Notes:
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201703.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/politics/08crawford.html?ex=1281153600&en=97a5f6b716440158&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
[3] http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-08-13-bush-bike_x.htm
[4] http://thedailypick.blogspot.com/2005/08/congratulations-president-bush-you.html
[5] http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0824/p03s01-uspo.html
[6] http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1098858,00.html
[7] http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-1.html
[8] http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/29/newsid_4947000/4947378.stm
[9] http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050830-1.html
[10] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434
[11] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434
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