'Living Too Much In The Bubble?' (Time Magazine)

[Carla in Ca]

This is a good article that not only explains his slow response to the Katrina crisis but, more importantly, how the WH plans to devise a comeback plan "after Katrina fades". IMHO, there is not anything they could do or say now that will ever put this 'bungled initial response' right; The article ends with this: 'You only have one chance to make a first impression.'

snip...

By late last week, Administration aides were describing a three-part comeback plan. The first: Spend freely, and worry about the tab and the consequences later. "Nothing can salve the wounds like money," said an official who helped develop the strategy. "You'll see a much more aggressively engaged President, traveling to the Gulf Coast a lot and sending a lot of people down there."

The second tactic could be summed up as, Don't look back. The White House has sent delegates to meetings in Washington of outside Republican groups who have plans to blame the Democrats and state and local officials. In the meantime, it has no plans to push for a full-scale inquiry like the 9/11 commission, which Bush bitterly opposed until the pressure from Congress and surviving families made resistance futile. Congressional Democrats have said they are unwilling to settle for anything less than an outside panel, but White House officials said they do not intend to give in, and will portray Democrats as politicking if they do not accept a bipartisan panel proposed by Republican congressional leaders.

The third move: Develop a new set of goals to announce after Katrina fades. Advisers are proceeding with plans to gin up base-conservative voters for next year's congressional midterm elections with a platform that probably will be focused around tax reform. Because Bush will need a dynamic salesman to make sure that initiative goes better than his Social Security proposal, advisers tell TIME there is once again talk of replacing Treasury Secretary John Snow. There are no plans to delay tax cuts to pay for the New Orleans reconstruction or the Iraq war, and Bush is likely to follow through on his vow to veto anticipated congressional approval of increased federal funding for embryonic-stem-cell research.

MORE, please read. There is a Times poll at the end. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1103581,00.html>

[autorank]

1. Great Post Carla

He is the Bubble Boy or the Bubble Gum under your favorite chair or just a Bubble Brain.
:hi:

[Carla in Ca]

2. Well, look who's here!

How are you? Haven't talked to you for awhile. Can you believe these thugs...'when Katrina FADES'! We won't let that happen, right?
There are a lot of scathing articles, finally, but nice to see what we may expect in the near future.

Glad to see you!:hi:

Edit...thanks for the nomination, too!

[dbt]

3. Bigass Problem Number ONE:

What if it takes longer for Katrina to "fade" than this clueless crew plans for?

Bigass Problem Number TWO: The next hurricane that makes landfall.

Remember New Orleans

[texpatriot2004]

4. you can't live in a bubble man, sometimes you just gotta get out

and see what's out in the real world.

[Q]

5. Of course Bush won't mess with his tax cuts for his rich...

...friends and campaign donors. It's his plan to use tax dollars to 'pay off' his loyal supporters. It doesn't matter that he'll have to write a bad check to pay for everything else...it's all monopoly money to him. Besides...the plan to bankrupt the government and kill off social programs is well under way and should be completed by the end of his second term.

Never in his life has Bush suffered for poor performance. There has always been someone there to bail him out or take the blame for him.

[texpatriot2004]

6. Yeah, but I was reading his horoscope and Saturn is in 2nd

return or something like that; it has to do with Karma and ACCOUNTABILITY and according to this now is the time for this. Written in the stars man.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

8. A Saturn return...

is nothing to play with! It's the Universe's karmic 2x4 upside the head! :) It makes me very happy thinking about it.

[Carla in Ca]

7. And just this morning

he is quoted to have said, pertaining to his next area visit "I'm not looking forward to this".
Also, a conservative from the Hoover Institute is calling for impeachment saying this administration is guilty of criminal negligence.(I'm looking for the transcript now). Folks, as we all know, they can't get out of this. This WH wants to link 9/11 with Katrina. Fine, there is a link:

Slow response. "We didn't know they would fly planes into the towers"

Slow response. "We didn't anticipate the breech of the levies".