Back last winter, during the Asian Tsunami crisis I was more dismayed then usual by the conduct of President Bush. At a time when we did not know what the extent of the damage, both in human and monetary terms, was; what the effect on foreign or domestic
financial markets would be; how many Americans had been caught up in the tragedy the President of the United States did not feel fit to cancel his vacation, and return to the White House and it's Situation Room. Apparently, a tragedy with casualties in the tens of thousands didn't warrant that kind of concern.
Now, less then a year later, we're looking down the barrel of a tragedy of very nearly the same scale as the Asian tsunamis. A tragedy that has the potential to have a body count in the tens of thousands, and to leave as many as a million Americans homeless and destitute, A tragedy of which the financial ripple effects will be of such earth shaking magnitude as to be felt nation wide, if not around the world; a tragedy the likes of which we have not seen in generations.
And during this, as the storm rolls in to it's inevitable conclusion, where is the President of
the United States? Is he in the White House in the Situation Room with the Joint Chiefs and the rest of the national security council working on coordinating the disaster relief and damage control? Is he meeting with his economicteam to work through the hard times ahead, and prevent the potential economic meltdown this tragedy carries with it? Is he calling world leaders of countries we have aided in the past when tragedy struck their homes pleading for what help they may be able to provide?
No.
The President of the United States is sitting in a room in his ranch in Crawford Texas, with only a deputy chief of staff present, teleconferencing with the people who from what I can tell are the ones actually running the show.
President George W. Bush (R) looks at a map as Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin looks on during a video teleconference with federal and state emergency management organizations on Hurricane Katrina at Bush's ranch in Crawford,
For those of you who are saying we should not politicize this tragedy, I fully agree. The criminal ineptitude and apathy of this administration to impending destruction on
American shores, of American lives goes far beyond politics.
There is no other option but to call these people on their colossal failure of leadership. Anything less makes up accomplices in apathy. What these people have done is unforgivable, and they must, must be held accountable.