NYT: As White House Anxiety Grows, Bush Tries to Quell Political Crisis

[unhappycamper]

As White House Anxiety Grows, Bush Tries to Quell Political Crisis
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
and ADAM NAGOURNEY

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 - Faced with one of the worst political crises of his administration, President Bush abruptly overhauled his September schedule on Saturday as the White House scrambled to gain control of a situation that Republicans said threatened to undermine Mr. Bush's second-term agenda and the party's long-term ambitions.

In a sign of the mounting anxiety at the White House, Mr. Bush made a rare Saturday appearance in the Rose Garden before live television cameras to announce that he was dispatching additional active-duty troops to the Gulf Coast. He struck a more somber tone than he had at times on Friday during a daylong tour of the disaster region, when he had joked at the airport in New Orleans about the fun he had had in his younger days in Houston. His demeanor on Saturday was similar to that of his most somber speeches after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

<snip>

Mr. Chertoff said Saturday: "Not an hour goes by that we do not spend a lot of time thinking about the people who are actively suffering. The United States, as the president has said, is going to move heaven and earth to rescue, feed, shelter" victims of the storm.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/national/nationalspecial/04bush.html?ei=5090&en=92e1db22850b28f9&ex=1283486400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

[unhappycamper]

1. now for a comment

:sarcasm: I'm sure glad Mr. Chertoff spends a lot of time thinking about the people. :sarcasm:

(I couldn't say that in my original post.)

[ClintonTyree]

7. Just like bush "thinks about Iraq every day"..........

where DOES he get the time? In between work-outs, bike rides, vacations, meals and naps, he thinks about Iraq every day. :eyes:

[johnnypneumatic]

2. * "I think about Iraq every day...umm...every single day...umm"

"umm...I mean...I think about New Orleans every day...umm...every single day"

[chomskysright]

3. IMPEACH THE GOP

[wakeme2008]

4. And while * is golfing this Sunday at Camp David

which I am sure is on his weekend plans, I am sure he will be thinking of NO NOT

[mom cat]

5. He is cooked.

But others said the damage could prove enduring, and they warned that the inevitable battery of official investigations into what went wrong could further erode support for the war in Iraq if it turned out that the deployment of National Guard units to Iraq had contributed to the slow response. They said any thought that memories of New Orleans will fade would be checked by gas prices that spiked as Louisiana refineries shut down, particularly given that there was already evidence that rising gas prices were hurting Mr. Bush's political standing.

Beyond that, some Republicans said the perception among some blacks that the White House had been slow to respond because so many victims were poor and African-American undercut what had been one of the primary initiatives of the new Republican chairman, Ken Mehlman: making an explicit appeal for support among black voters, a constituency that has traditionally been overwhelmingly Democratic.

"Given the racial component of this, and given the current political environment, there certainly seems to be a high level of risk to this story," said a Republican Party official, who, citing the concern among party officials about the criticism, would only discuss the question on the condition of not being identified.

But Mr. Bush, reflecting concern within the White House about the president's standing among blacks, notably said in his radio address that "we have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters all along the Gulf Coast, and we will not rest until we get this right and the job is done."

[Kurt Remarque]

6. let's hasten his demise by working for a democratic congress

[ClintonTyree]

8. And all they're worried about is their "image"........

and that it might hurt their "agenda". Look assholes, you "image" will be forever linked to images of the dead and dying in New Orleans. And as for you precious "agenda", we've seen that too, and we want NO MORE OF IT!

[MichiganVote]

9. What !?! No more fundraisers?? Oh, God, Republicans are on their own

Help them! Save them! They might miss a party!

[FormerRepublican]

10. Bush is a day late and a dollar short.

The revoltingly uncaring maggots that inhabit his brain have been revealed to the public, and we're NOT going to suddenly decide they're not there just because the Republicans cover them back up again so they can steal another election.

The TRUTH is that Bush DIDN'T CARE about dying Americans in New Orleans and the US Gulf coast. Vacationing and politics meant far more to him than American lives. It's the most egregious deriliction of public trust and duty as I've EVER seen.

Mr. Bush, you made your bed, now lie in it!

[EST]

11. Somehow, some people can't seem to get it.

Impeaching the little hoss wanker won't help--although I'm all for it, as well as all the top ranked GOP movers and shakers. It has taken a catastrophe of these dimensions (and, sadly, will demand even more) to make the point that no one in that arrogant groupie gaggle has a clue how to run a public management non-profit, the government. Sheeple aren't referred to as sheeple because of their gentle natures or pixie-like sweet dispositions.
The only way `they can be made to reject these ignorant goons is by being so jammed up emotionally that they will feel justified in reversing their earlier emotional unconditional support. The country will have to get even worse, much worse, and for far longer in order to produce the automatic vomit reaction that will reject rapepublican aspirants for office at the level which will deem an election corrupt, should enablers and apologists actually win.
I can only hope the country is still here when that level is reached. The revolution, even if tolerably peaceful on average, will still have a lot violence at the extremes.