McCain is working hard to separate himself from Bush, who the public views as a political liability. There are honorable ways for McCain to disengage from Bush, but McCain has chosen to use the ongoing pain and suffering endured in NOLA as a Hollywood backdrop for his politically contrived horse-and-pony show to prove that he is indeed a "kinder, gentler Republican."
Last April, McShame declared in his "forgotten places of America tour" that Bush's handling of the Katrina disaster was "terrible and disgraceful," pledging that it would never happen with President McShame. Given that natural disasters or terrorism could create another crisis, how would a President McShame prepare for this crisis in order to protect us and how would he manage the crisis? We don't have to speculate. We have a public record of how McShame prepped for Katrina, responded to a flooded city with dead bodies, and addressed the recovery in the aftermath. Let's take a peek.
McShame's criticisms of the Bush Team focused on the failure to have qualified people in charge, the "total misreading of the dimensions of the disaster," and the "failure of communications." The megamedia reported that McShame's "pointed critique was one of his harshest assessments yet of the Bush presidency."
Given McShame's flip-flopping, the only true indicator of how he would act in a Katrina-type disaster is to look at some of the public record of both how he responded to a real crisis when he was Senator as well as McShame's plan for disaster response based on his public statements thus far:
(1) Qualified People in Charge
The need for qualified people to be in charge of prepping for a disaster beforehand, managing a crisis when it happens, and supervising recovery during the aftermath is crucial for both the WH and the federal agencies. Days after Katrina hit, the public discussed political cronyism and how heckuva job FEMA director Brownie's resume of heading up an Arabian Horse Association did not qualify him to be FEMA director. Yet, McShame believed that the need for a qualified FEMA director to prevent the deaths caused by Katrina mismanagement to be a joking matter:
(2) Ability to Properly Assess the Dimensions of the Disaster
McShame showed that he was totally clueless about the gravity of Katrina before, during and after the hurricane made landfall. McShame's interest was not piqued by the warnings of a severe hurricane beforehand or by continual news coverage showing a city and people underwater and forced to remain in a city without food or water:
But McCain's record on Hurricane Katrina suggests that he was part of the problem, not the solution. McCain was on Face the Nation on August 28, 2005, as Katrina gathered in the Gulf Coast. He said nothing about it. One day later, when Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, McCain was on a tarmac at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, greeting President Bush with a cake in celebration of McCain's 69th birthday. Three days later, with the levees already breached and New Orleans filling with water, McCain's office released a three-sentence statement urging Americans to support the victims of the hurricane.
Though McCain issued a statement the next week calling on Congress to make sacrifices in order to fund recovery efforts, he was quoted in The New Leader on September 1 cautioning against over-spending in support of Katrina's victims.
The megamedia seem proud that McShame has finally criticized Bush's handling of Katrina. But, the very fact that it took McShame almost 3 years to determine that Bush screwed up shows his inability to properly assess the dimensions of a disaster. In September 2005, within days following Katrina, the public knew that "Bush was slow to grasp the magnitude of the catastrophe." What was McShame's assessment of Bush's "leadership" at this same time? When McShame was asked whether Bush was "ill-advised to follow through with two days of scheduled appearances, including one in the Phoenix area, then spend a night in Texas as the crisis unfolded," McShame responded: "I don't know." Three years is a long time to take to figure out that our President did not grasp the magnitude of a crisis that was obvious to everyone else.
McShame's motivation for finally admitting Bush screwed up sheds light on whether McShame would properly assess a crisis in the future. McShame is finally admitting that Bush messed up because 43% of registered voters say they have major concerns that McShame is too closely aligned with the current administration. It is political expediency which drives McShame to give the appearance that he is separating from Bush to become his own leader with a presidency that will not be Bush III. However, McShame does not even have the courage to criticize Bush without first giving the WH a heads up:
At a lunch hosted today by the Christian Science Monitor, former uber-lobbyist Charlie Black, who is a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said that McCain’s staff talks to the President Bush’s staff "everyday." Black also said that before McCain offered harsh words last week about Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, the campaign gave the White House a "head’s up."
McShame is such a leader, such an independent Goppie, that he needs to closely coordinate things with the WH to cover his ass so that he does not anger Bush, who might then pull the plug on some of the "benefits" Bush team provides McShame, like the informal advice received from Bush's former advisers Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove.
Contrary to the megamedia's portrait of McShame as credible and trustworthy, there is nothing but dishonor and lack of integrity from creating this "façade of separation" between the very unpopular Bush and himself so that the public will trust Maverick McShame. Manipulating and lying to the public needs to be highlighted to tear down his false persona as the "straight talk express."
(3) Need to Land Presidential Plane at Nearest Air Force Base
If McShame had been president, he would have landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base and personally toured the disaster zone rather than the mere aerial survey Bush did 2 days after the hurricane.
The press eats up McShame's bravado of a hypothetical future crisis without even mentioning that during the real crisis of Katrina McShame was at the wrong airport in Arizona, not NOLA, with President Bush and his infamous birthday cake that no one bothered to eat.
As the deadly storm system moved ashore almost three years ago, sending fatal floods through New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Bush was in Phoenix, on a tour aimed at boosting participation in what was then the administration's new Medicare prescription-drug plan. McCain had opposed the bill, but showed up to meet Bush at the airport anyway, along with other Arizona lawmakers. It was Aug. 29, McCain's 69th birthday, and on the tarmac, Bush presented his old political rival with a cake. The two posed, holding the cake up for cameras, and within seconds, went their separate ways. The cake, melting in the 110-degree Arizona heat, was left behind, uneaten.
And, if McShame is really committed to the principle of on-the-ground immediate response, did McShame ask Bush to hop back on the plane and fly to NOLA?
Just for a little comparison, Obama's record of response to NOLA includes press conferences, speeches and TV appearances discussing Katrina issues; visiting evacuees, and over 12 bills introduced or co-sponsored.
(4) Need to Fund Recovery for Disaster
In order to implement predisaster plans or rebuild after a disaster, funding is needed. Yet, McShame has voted against relief measures for victims of Katrina, including:
McShame voted against emergency funding bill which included $28 billion for hurricane relief.
McShame voted against 5 months of emergency health care via Medicaid for Katrina victims for up to 5 months.
McShame voted twice against establishing independent commission to study federal, state and local governmental responses to Katrina that would have included corrective measures to improve future responses. (In 2005, McShame stated that the federal response was so deficient that the causes should be determined by a bipartisan investigation to review what information Bush had when he failed so miserably.)
His campaign responded that he opposed the bill because of unnecessary spending included in it - local pork barrel projects or "earmarks" that McCain reviles, and which have been a centerpiece of his campaign.
Yes, McShame is a strict opponent of earmarks and has "promised to veto every bill with earmarks if he's elected president" except when earmarks pay for a much-needed ferry that is used as part of McShame's campaign to showcase to America that this goppie has principle and compassion. During his "poverty tour," McShame took a ferry ride across the muddy Alabama River with African-Americans.
McCain, sporting his Navy cap and sunglasses, even scampered to the bridge to take a turn at the wheel, news cameras clicking away to record his moment as helmsman.
I could not find a pic of McShame the great leader, but he was at the helm of a ferry that was financed by $2 million in earmarks in 2005. Now, it was great to finance this ferry which opened the doors for a town that had been isolated for years. In fact, cutting this town off from ferry service was the means to "keep black residents from crossing the Alabama River to push for civil rights.
The point is not that these earmarks were used for a good reason, but that McShame has declared ALL earmarks are bad. Well, McShame explained why his support of this particular earmark was consistent with his pledge against all earmarks:
"America is supposed to help people in rural settings, people like the quilters who are direct descendants of slaves," McCain said. "It's 'give people a hand up.' That's the essence of government."
Well, that explains why NOLA should not get earmarks, it's a city!
(5) Need to Tear Down 9th Ward
This provides another good example of McShame's two-faced strategy of saying one thing publicly and the opposite privately. McShame told reporters on his "Straight Talk Express bus" that we needed "a conversation about what to do about it, rebuild it, tear it down, you know whatever it is." Yes, tearing down the 9th ward is on the table for McShame until he speaks publicly, and then he forgets ever mentioning razing the 9th: "I don’t remember ever saying it." This may be one reason why the megamedia still thinks McShame is Mister Moderate because that is the message McShame conveys privately with them.
McShame's public stance is to take a ½ hour walking tour of the Lower Ninth Ward to illustrate his commitment to the community (as well as the "two packed, slow-moving flatbed trucks of reporters and camera crews.") Once again, McShame, apparently forgetting his own meme of concern for the community, then moves from his walking tour to a 20-minute news conference which did not provide seats for the local residents.
We can not afford a flip-flopping McShame in charge of finishing the recovery of NOLA or being in charge of our next natural or man-made disaster. Yet, how much flip-flopping and memory losses will be reported to the public when McShame has his free megamedia trained to not ask important questions or even report the news accurately. Here, a member of the press accepts McShame's rebuke that when he says "no comment:" damn it, accept it and move on:
To end this diary on a good note, please enjoy some Boutte Time! I could not find the jazz festival version where he updated the song with these lyrics:
Adding his own spin to an old Randy Newman song, "Louisiana 1927":
President Bush flew over in a airplane . . .
President Bush said, "Great job, good job!
"What the levees have done to this poor Creole's land . . . ."
McCain is working hard to separate himself from Bush, who the public views as a political liability. There are honorable ways for McCain to disengage from Bush, but McCain has chosen to use the ongoing pain and suffering endured in NOLA as a Hollywood backdrop for his politically contrived horse-and-pony show to prove that he is indeed a "kinder, gentler Republican."
If McShame had been president, he would have 
Why did McShame not hop on a plane to NOLA the way 