From a new
AP story:
President Bush, linking hurricane recovery and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks four years ago, declared Friday that the United States was ready to "overcome any challenge." "America is a strong and resilient nation," Bush said.
...
Bush spoke about the hurricane Friday at the swearing-in for Karen Hughes, the State Department's new undersecretary for public diplomacy -- a post designed to lift America's image abroad to help win the war on terror.
Bush said that more than 100 nations had offered help after the hurricane, and he compared that to "a similar outpouring of support when another tragedy struck our nation" -- the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
"Our people have the spirit, the resources and the determination to overcome any challenge," he said.
His speech marked the first of several steps in which the White House is seeking to intertwine the challenge of the anti-terror battle with the effort to recover from the hurricane.
(All emphasis mine)
So this is the new strategy to try to save Bush's political ass - to try to wrap him in the undeserved glory he received immediately post-9/11.
It won't work this time.
First, there's no "other" for us to blame. It's not "Amurca v. them damn A-rab terrorists" to pull us together. Toby Keith won't be writing songs about putting boots in asses.
Second, because this disaster was stateside, Americans got to witness firsthand how its effects were exacerbated by the failures of government at all levels. The response to 9/11 was, by contrast, exemplary. Our disaster response capabilities appear to have drastically weakened since then, which is inexplicable. It won't help Bush that the MSM is now all over "Brownie's" lack of qualifications and resume fraud.
Given the tone of the AP article, I am optimistic that reporters will see this for what it is - another Iraq-style effort to bamboozle the public by conflating two entirely different disasters in the hope that the one disaster's sheen will rub off on the other.
We cannot and WILL NOT let this happen. Repeat after me: "Katrina is NOT 9/11! Katrina is NOT 9/11! Now go fuck yourself."