In which I flip-flop

Last week, I wrote of an incident where two Republicans were upset with Bush's performance, but I couldn't bring myself to agree with them. As I learn more and more, I become more disgusted and cannot for the life of me understand where all the Bush devotion comes from, especially in light of his most recent failure. After putting together a timeline of my own, I've come to the conclusion that Katrina's aftermath was a huge dereliction of duty and the President deserves a good chunk of that blame. Truth be told, it was the picture of Bush cavorting with a country music singer while New Orleans was drowning that was most the damning piece of evidence.

• On Friday, August 26, Governor Blanco declared a state of emergency for Lousiana. You can read her statement here.
  
• On Saturday, August 27, responding to a request from Governor Blanco, President Bush declared a state of emergency for Louisiana, and commanded federal agencies to take charge along with local authorities. You can read the statement here.
  
• On Sunday, August 28, Governor Blanco wrote to Bush and asked him for federal assistance, claiming Louisiana simply did not have the resources to cope. You can read the letter here.
  
• On that same day, the Department of Homeland Security announced preparations for the storm. You can see the initial order here.
  
• Katrina hit in the early morning hours of August 29. New Orleans' levees hadn't been breached at that time, Mississippi and Alabama suffered grievous damage and loss of life.
  
• By Tuesday, August 30, New Orleans was starting to flood. On Tuesday, August 30, George Bush was in San Diego, giving a speech.
  
• On Wednesday, August 31, President Bush returned to DC, after ordering a flyover of the area in Air Force One. He did not actually visit the Gulf Coast until Friday, September 2 -- a full three days after the storm hit.
  

There's plenty of blame to go around, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder: where the hell was Bush and what took him so long to check out the Gulf Coast? What was going on in San Diego that was so important that he couldn't shift his attention to the Gulf Coast? Before, I was buying the line that maybe he hadn't been asked for help, that Louisiana had not authorized federal entry into the state. I now know, from reading Governor Blanco's letter, that that is wrong. Somehow, FEMA which delivered Florida for Bush last year couldn't get its act together and it never occurred to Bush to light a fire under these guys. The thing is, Bush is the ultimate guy in charge of this country. If he wants something done, he gets it done, come hell or high water (in this case, literally both). Yet, he didn't act. He still hasn't managed to get himself over to New Orleans to look at the damage; how sad is it that Harry Connick Jr., and Oprah Winfrey have been to the Superdome and other parts of New Orleans to help out, but Bush hasn't been? Meanwhile, while the Gulf Coast was burning, Condoleeza Rice was shopping for shoes and taking in a performance of 'Spamalot' in NYC. Dick Cheney was in an 'undisclosed location', and Karl Rove was buying real estate. And all of them knew a cat 4/5 hurricane was on its way. What does it take to get these guys to spring into action? Terri Schiavo?

I've had no use for the Bush administration since day one, but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in 2000. No longer; I'm thoroughly disgusted. Katrina was a 'gimme' for the President, a chance for him to regain his footing, the ability to act and look presidential, and restore confidence after the lies and misinformation -- which they continue to perpetuate -- about the Iraq War. He botched it dreadfully. Clinton may have lied about Monica Lewinsky, but no one died; all was lost was the dignity of the office, the self-respect of one man, and the trust his family had in him. Under Bush's watch, nearly 2,000 soldiers have died in Iraq for a cause he feels he owes us no explanation for. And now, thousands more dead in New Orleans simply because he was slow to act. And yet he still has his defenders. If this is the so-called ‘culture of life’, I want no part of it.