Maureen Dowd

As always, reading Maureen Dowd's editorials is a pleasure (it's unfortunate the NYTimes has decided to start charging for them; I'll miss them a lot.)

In a simple sentence, she lays out clearly why the Bush presidency will be remembered as a failure when it's all said and done:

He can keep going back down there, as he will again on Thursday when he gives a televised speech to the nation, but he can never compensate for his tragic inattention during days when so many lives could have been saved.

That says it all. It doesn't matter how many times Bush goes to New Orleans, he could even set up camp there for the rest of his term; it doesn't matter how much food and water he has delivered (or delivers personally;) it doesn't matter how fast he rebuilds the city (not even if in its spitting image from before August 29th.)

The fact that he didn't prepare to tackle an imminent disaster, the fact that he stayed on vacation when the disaster happened, the fact that he and his team were completely inefficient, unqualified, inadequate, and incompetent after the storm hit and the disaster went from bad to worse, will hunt his presidency forever.

Bush's inadequacy in a time of need will tarnish his legacy the way Monica Lewinsky has tarnished Bill Clinton's.

Kathleen Blanco

This was Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's response when asked how she copes with the situation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -- given the attacks she receives daily from the Bush administration, trying to deflect the blame from its own botched response to the tragedy:

"I have to tune out the political talking heads. The blame game can get in the way of protective efforts. It can sap your vitality. It's the vulture mentality. Woulda coulda shoulda, sitting in their clean spaces, not knowing what's going on in the trenches. They know not of what they speak."

Well said. The poor woman had done everything right before the storm hit. She declared a statewide emergency and asked the federal government for help. Her calls weren't heeded, and now Bush is trying to say it was her fault and incompetence that caused the disastrous aftermath response.

While he stayed on vacation.

Countdown to October 1, 2005

Days left to the start of legal Civil Unions for same-sex couples in Connecticut: 16

Adoption FINALIZED!!

Yes, finally the process is over. This morning, around 10.30, the kids were officially and legally adopted by Ray and myself. They are our kids now. The judge was very nice and pleasant, but Nicole had a little melt down in his office, which was unfortunate, since now the few pictures we have are not happy ones at all. But they are mementos anyway. Jessica, the kids' social worker was there too, and she was very happy to close a case, I'm sure. She is very nice and has always done an excellent job. We'll make sure we send her pictures and news about the kids every now and then. Mary (Grandma,) came with us, and after the court appearance we all went to Toys "R" Us to buy something for the kids with the gift certificate I got from my co-workers yesterday (that was very kind and generous of them.) Afterwards, we went to get lunch, and that's when Danny decided to act up. Overall, it was a good day, but I'm glad Ray and I didn't take a vacation day. I'll try to post a picture from today as soon as I can. We are parents. :-)

Countdown to October 1, 2005

Days left to the start of legal Civil Unions for same-sex couples in Connecticut: 17

Bush: 'I take responsibility'

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday said he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said.

Bush's Legacy

In this Washington Post article, Dan Froomkin writes a wonderful sentence:

One of [Bush's] most significant legacies -- the immense post-Sept. 11 reorganization of the federal government which created the Homeland Security Department -- has failed a big test.

How about that. The mainstream media is really waking up. I wonder how 4 years of sleep feel like.

John Dickerson writes in Slate how the much-celebrated creation of the Homeland Security Department, the embodiment of Bush's management style, is suddenly an epic tale of failure.

Wow, I wonder how Bush will be able to burnish his legacy now.

The buck stops here!

I still cannot believe it.

I just got an email alert from CNN that reads:

President Bush says he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina.

I guess they realized the spin machine this time wasn't working, and so he had to actually take responsibility for the mess he himself created.

Serves him right.

The Misguiding Republicans

Dick Morris wrote this New York Post editorial where he suggests that, yes, team Bush failed to respond effectively to the emergency in Louisiana, and as a result many more people died than it was necessary, but once the President gets his act together, this disaster will be a huge boon for his presidency.

Day after day after day, people will see a massive flow of federal aid to the hard-hit area. While the storm's intensity and the catastrophe it caused concentrated into a few days the horrific experiences of the poor victims, the rebuilding process will take months and years. This process, likely to become a theme for Bush's second term in the way 9/11 dominated his first one, will ultimately become a presidential strength.

I disagree. Yes, the reconstruction will take years, and it will be under everyone's eyes, but it won't be a pretty process. We already see how the usual suspects (i.e. Halliburton) are benefiting from the billions of dollars already approved for the recovery effort. People won't be pleased to see that the rich gets richer and the poor gets nothing.

This is not Iraq where people can be easily kept in the dark: we are not there, just the journalists, and the Pentagon is pretty much free to do anything it wants without much oversight. New Orleans is big, but not the size of France, and we all will be able to see the kind of reconstruction that goes on. A huge skyscraper, a mall where there was a residential area, a parking lot where poor people had their homes, won't go unnoticed. And judging from Bush's history, the stage is set, I'm afraid, for a lot of political scandals.

I don't think Bush will benefit from any of it. Also because the survivors will demand answers, once they get back on their feet. And if they don't, it's gonna be worse. They'll demand help, jobs, subsidies, homes, schools. The situation will be far from pretty for a long while.

And why don't I trust Bush's ability to succeed in gaining from the tragedy like he did with 9/11? Because, like I said in a previous posting, he's done. He doesn't act like he cares anymore. He doesn't act like he wants the job anymore.

Furthermore, look at the post-war planning in Iraq. Inexistent. And that was a planned event. Here, he's just stumbling around like a drunken sailor. And don't forget that New Orleans is still flooded; the bodies are just being recovered (just this morning they found 40 bodies in a hospital;) we don't know how many homes in the city will have to be knocked down, or how long that will take. I heard they're quickly setting up temporary living areas, but real homes are a different thing.

And people who have lost everything, have nothing to go back to, even when a home is rebuilt. All they'll do is look for a job and try to start over. But always with an eye to the investigations about what went wrong, who screwed up... and how to get back at them (that's why Bush is being criticized by Republicans as well as Democrats; everyone knows he screwed up and has nothing to lose; might as well point the finger at him.)

No, I don't think this will be an advantage for Bush. He lost his motivation the day after he won re-election. Now he's just coasting toward January 2009, when he'll finally be able to go back to his ranch for good, enjoying the rest of his life as a rich white men, riding his bike and chopping wood.

A failed president.

The reaction of a true leader

This Newsweek article confirmed my opinion that Bush is one of the worst, if not the worst President, ever. We are so unlucky to have him as our Commander in Chief. A monkey would do a better job.

Just read this paragraph:

In September 1965, a massive hurricane hit New Orleans. By the next day the president - a Texan in a time of war - was in the city, visiting a shelter. With no electricity in the darkness there, Lyndon Baines Johnson held a flashlight to his face and proclaimed, "This is the president of the United States and I'm here to help you!"

And now this:

Almost precisely 40 years later, when another horrific hurricane hit the city, the president was, again, a Texan in wartime. But rather than hurry to New Orleans from his Texas ranch, George W. Bush decided, three days after Katrina hit, to fly back to Washington first.

See, just about anyone would be better than Bush. Johnson sprung into action, visited the people hit by the storm, and reassured them. Bush stayed on vacation, visited the area five days after the storm hit, took highly staged pictures, and still struggles on how to respond to the crisis.

Worst president ever.