Obama’s approval rating is sinking faster than the Titanic. The economy has slowed to a crawl, probably headed toward a double dip recession. Libya has descended into
chaos and anarchy. Egypt, formerly our best ally in the Arab world, appears to be edging toward war with Israel. Iran is lurching toward a nuclear weapon,
while promising to exterminate Israel. In summary, the Anointed One has botched nearly everything.
So when Hurricane Irene came on the scene, the White House was delirious at a fresh chance for Obama to look Presidential. Remember Rahm Emanuel pointing out that you can’t waste a good crisis? What could be better? Here was a chance for Obama to show the world how much better he is at handling these things than the ever pathetic George Bush. So the Anointed One cut his Martha’s Vineyard vacation short by about seven hours and went on a desperate search for a compelling photo op. It
started with a shot of him “taking command” at FEMA headquarters. The picture is remarkably similar to the situation room picture taken during the Osama bin Laden raid. Obama looked uninvited, irrelevant and perplexed. Then he gave a rambling
monolog lecturing everyone about how this is a really big hurricane and people
should expect high winds and water. Really? A hurricane can bring high winds and water? We are so lucky to have someone as brilliant as Obama point that out! In the meantime, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Christie and Governor Cuomo were showing real leadership. They may have made mistakes, but no one had any doubt as to who was in charge. It wasn’t Obama.
The problem was that Obama had nothing to say and nothing to do. Obama probably believed the main stream media myth that Bush dropped the ball with regard to Katrina. That is factually incorrect. Bush made a declaration of emergency early on and authorized FEMA to pre-position supplies. His prompt action allowed Air National Guard Units from around the country to converge on New Orleans in record time, and they conducted the greatest search and rescue operation in world history. The Air National Guard helicopters literally flew out to sea and followed Katrina on shore. They were rescuing people before Shepard Smith got done telling the
world that New Orleans had dodged a bullet. Thousands of lives were saved as a result of his leadership. There is little else that Bush could have done under the circumstances. FEMA was never intended to be a substitute for local first responders. The problem was that Katrina was a Category 5 storm that downgraded to a Category 3, not a Category 2 that downgraded to a Category 1. In addition, Bush had to deal with an incompetent Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, and an inept Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco. Neither of them showed an ounce of leadership. Bush had to prod both of them to do the things that Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Christie, Governor Cuomo and all the other state and local officials did
instinctively during Irene. Did you ever notice that no one discusses the “failed” emergency response in Mississippi during Katrina, even though that is where the brunt of the storm actually hit? That is because the Governor of Mississippi was Haley Barbour, and he was on top of it. It’s too bad the main stream media failed to
notice.
Hurricane Irene became the storm that never was; in some cases, the news coverage bordered on being humorous. There were all these live shots of news reporters standing outside, in the middle of the storm, often surrounded by civilians who didn’t even bother to wear rain gear. In one case, a Weather Channel reporter interviewed a girl, about ten years old, wearing shorts and a tee shirt, who said she just came down to see the big waves. He was outfitted head to toe in expensive storm gear that looked like it was designed to survive an arctic expedition. Even the pictures of the raging waters failed to impress. Anyone, who has visited Point Reyes in Northern
California, has seen waves a lot more impressive than those.
To make things worse, everyone is gearing up for the 10th anniversary of 9-11. As a result, people are being reminded of what happened and how George W. Bush responded. National Geographic ran an hour-long interview with President Bush, and it was stunning. The contrast in leadership ability between Bush and Obama could not be starker. There is going to be a lot of 9-11coverage. It is going to provide a visible reminder of the kind of leadership George W. Bush provided during those
trying times. Nothing could be more damaging to Obama.
TDM