Froomkin and his Questions
Dan Froomkin in the Washington Post has the questions being asked around Washington and the blogosphere Wednesday morning:
• If the reason Bush returned to Washington is that he is more effective here, then why didn’t he come back two days ago?
• If the White House considers the return from vacation largely symbolic, then what is the symbolism of his long vacation during a war?
• Could Bush and the federal government have done more to prepare for hurricane recovery? Unlike the Asian tsunami, this hurricane was forecast days ahead of time.
• Did any of his previous budget decisions allow the hurricane to cause more damage than it might have otherwise?
• Are National Guard troops and equipment required to restore order in this country many thousands of miles away.
• Will he and his administration meet this disaster quickly and effective with the appropriate civilian and military resources and manpower?
•Will the White House provide the bold leadership and vision that the nation requires?
This post was written by Mary Mancini
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 31st, 2005 at 11:17 pm
Probably not. The culpability for summarily ignoring the situation in New Orleans lies in a timespan of decades, not with this one administration.
September 6th, 2005 at 6:02 pm
• If the reason Bush returned to Washington is that he is more effective here, then why didn’t he come back two days ago? Bush has always been
an effective leader. It doesn’t matter if he is in Wahington or in New Orleans.
• If the White House considers the return from vacation largely symbolic, then what is the symbolism of his long vacation during a war?
What is Bush supposed to do when all the other bodies of the goverment
go on vacation? I would take him being in Crawford, Texas over Clinton chasing interns around the Oval office any day.
• Could Bush and the federal government have done more to prepare for hurricane recovery? Unlike the Asian tsunami, this hurricane was forecast days ahead of time.
No. Thats the responsibility of the State Government, not the Federal. They are the ones that should have planned better. Sending everyone into
the SuperDome without food and water is not a plan. They were disorganized and incompetent. If it was known this was a possiblity why didn’t they use their buses to evaculate the people to a different location.
• Did any of his previous budget decisions allow the hurricane to cause more damage than it might have otherwise?
No. No goverment agency ever claims to have enough money. We could
build the levies out of gold and they would still want more money. The state of Lousiana spends 15 million a year to keep the Saints in New Orleans. They also have lots of Casino’s and Tourists attractions. They
could have raised enough money to better protect their city.
• Are National Guard troops and equipment required to restore order in this country many thousands of miles away.
No. We have plenty of resources here at home to do that. What we should be asking is why didn’t the Govener or Mayor use the buses at their disposal to evaculate the poor people from the city. Why didn’t they take
any action at all to send them food or supplies? It was only after Bush stepped in that they got help.
• Will he and his administration meet this disaster quickly and effective with the appropriate civilian and military resources and manpower?
Yes. Of course. Are you trying to insuate that the President doesn’t care about the American people, because he is a Republican? He risked his
whole political career to go to war with a country, because he thought
it was in our best interest.
•Will the White House provide the bold leadership and vision that the nation requires?
Yes, President Bush has shown more ability to lead
than any President in the last 30 years. He has had to deal with a
massive terror attack. He even liberated two countries, because he
thought it was in the best interest of the United States.