Rove and Bartlett are behind the influx of cabinet visits, Bush's return

[BurtWorm]

There's not enough puke in the world to express how repulsive this story is.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05bush.html?pagewanted=print


September 5, 2005

White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and ANNE E. KORNBLUT

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 - Under the command of President Bush's two senior political advisers, the White House rolled out a plan this weekend to contain the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

It orchestrated visits by cabinet members to the region, leading up to an extraordinary return visit by Mr. Bush planned for Monday, directed administration officials not to respond to attacks from Democrats on the relief efforts, and sought to move the blame for the slow response to Louisiana state officials, according to Republicans familiar with the White House plan.

The effort is being directed by Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, and his communications director, Dan Bartlett. It began late last week after Congressional Republicans called White House officials to register alarm about what they saw as a feeble response by Mr. Bush to the hurricane, according to Republican Congressional aides.

As a result, Americans watching television coverage of the disaster this weekend began to see, amid the destruction and suffering, some of the most prominent members of the administration - Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Donald H. Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense; and Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state - touring storm-damaged communities.

Mr. Bush is to return to Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday; his first visit, on Friday, left some Republicans cringing, in part because the president had little contact with residents left homeless.

[glitch]

1. That's Nagourney. Thanks for posting the authors, saves me from clicking

on the link. :puke:

[Tace]

2. Let's Call It A Wrap -- And Get The Asshats Out Of Office -- EOM

[Spazito]

3. What the idiots don't understand is that sending these 'prominent

members of the Administration' to the disaster EIGHT friggin days later doesn't make them look any better, it just emphasizes how late they are in acting.

It boggles one's mind that they think this will result in mitigating anything.

[eleny]

4. Will He Smooch A Dead Body This Time???

[snot]

5. How pathetic, that Prez at al needed someone to tell them. nt

[BurtWorm]

6. Rove's "style": To pretend not to be political

while being viciously political:


One Republican with knowledge of the effort said that Mr. Rove had told administration officials not to respond to Democratic attacks on Mr. Bush's handling of the hurricane in the belief that the president was in a weak moment and that the administration should not appear to be seen now as being blatantly political. As with others in the party, this Republican would discuss the deliberations only on condition of anonymity because of keen White House sensitivity about how the administration and its strategy would be perceived.

In a reflection of what has long been a hallmark of Mr. Rove's tough political style, the administration is also working to shift the blame away from the White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana who, as it happens, are Democrats.

[Solly Mack]

7. It's the Iraqi tours all over again - nothing more and just as meaningless

[mzmolly]

8. I am literally nauseated.

Literally.

[MichiganVote]

9. Assholes- you can't PR away this!!

[CantGetFooledAgain]

10. They are so fucked and they know it (nt)