John Kerry, Secretary of State, was on his yacht when the Egyptian revolution struck? Oh, no! Can you believe it? That has to be the worst thing that has happened in the history of the world -- or at least since Hilary Clinton killed those people in Benghazi.
... time moves back into the mists
... of the past
...
It's 2005, and Hurricane Katrina is roiling its way up the Gulf of Mexico
...
The president of the United States, who has been on vacation relatively nearby, in Crawford, Texas, of course knows (as I did, for Christ's sake) that -- unlike a spontaneous uprising in a foreign land -- Katrina has spent days developing into a massive hurricane that may devastate New Orleans, and so he is rushing to the scene to establish a command post and make sure that everything possible could be done to -- oh, wait a minute, no; he's actually going the other way, where he can be of help -- helping John McCain to celebrate his birthday.
But the next day, as Katrina pummels New Orleans, Bush rushes to the scene to help -- oh, well, no, he actually goes the other way, to a fundraiser in California.
But the next day, as Katrina leaves New Orleans drowning and moves north, weakening, Bush rushes to the -- well, no, he still has some vacation time left.
But the next day, with desperate people starving and drowning in New Orleans, Bush rushes to the scene to -- well, no, actually he flies over a drowning city on his way back to DC, while a clueless PR team publishes a photo of him staring blankly out over the devastation.
But he learned his lesson! What's that old saying? "Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
He made that very clear at the 2008 Republican convention. McCain was going to be nominated -- with his perky sidekick! -- but was Bush going to appear, when he might prove to be McCain's albatross?
No! Of course not! There was a tropical storm developing in the Caribbean that looked as if it could develop into a hurricane, and if it did, it might not hit Florida's east coast but might instead move up through the Gulf and hit New Orleans or the New Orleans area, so in case it did develop into a hurricane and did indeed threaten New Orleans, the president was rushing to the scene to establish a command post and make sure that everything possible could be done to ...
Actually, New Orleans did get some pretty heavy rain.
So the 2008 Republican convention had to struggle by without the assistance of the sitting president, and McCain and the Thrillah from Wasilla had to emerge as challengers on the national scene without his help.
The Republicans talked -- and talked, and talked -- for three days, and every word they said was diligently transcribed. It turns out that in three days of Republican bloviation, they mentioned the name "Bush" three times -- once referring to W's father, George Sr., and twice referring to Laura.