Time for leadership, not damage control

George Bush needs to get back to his real job… commander in chief.

Our troops must feel abandoned by all of us as a media-driven storm is being portrayed as the one Moses was holding in reserve for the Pharaoh.

Bush is now in New Orleans more than Nagin, who has found Dallas more to his liking. It is high time that the President put someone in charge of The Great New New Orleans Rebuild, stop being a governor and get back to overseeing death and destruction of the rags.

Billions will be squandered where they call counties parishes and nothing can or will prevent it. The budget is already more than $200,000 per refugee, er evacuee, and if anyone believes the current figures, they must have just arrived from Fillintheblankistan.

Right now Bush’s humanity has painted him into a corner; the man is truly moved by what has happened to the people of the Gulf Coast, perhaps stung somewhat by the Left’s hysterical and unfounded criticism, and he's also making amends and trying to shore up his poll numbers.

But enough; commanders in chief do not do curb and gutter. The president must put this job in the hands of someone who will manage at least the project’s first stage; tomorrow is not soon enough. It needs to be a manager/business man, not a politician or someone seeking to enhance their career.

e

This is a thankless job.

Mayor Rudi is an obvious, but a naive choice; no one with Oval Office thoughts would touch this with Bill Clinton’s hands. Same, same: McCain, and every Democrat in America.

Tommy Franks comes to mind, but who can blame someone who devoted their entire adult life to the nation for keeping a low profile? For my money it’s Ross Perot… if you want it done and done right.

And speaking as a taxpayer, New New Orleans should be made over; there’s little reason to rebuild at all if it ends up being managed by a Nagin or “protected” by cops who are on the take, loot and in the end simply run away.

n

And now comes Rita or Ruthie or whatthehellever... the news media, especially cable TV, has failed its responsibility... between the media hysteria and the understandable instinct of Texas Gov. Rick Perry for self-preservation, the disaster in the Lone Star state won't be water, it's cars, gasoline and a still burning bus full of charred senior citizens.

m

Much like a physician who orders every medical test known for even routine patients because he does not want to be sued by malpractice attorney-sharks... so too are the local politicians who would be committing political suicide if they didn't run around like Chicken Little for anything more than a small wind storm.

m

Run For Yer Lives!

m

The result is over-reaction in Houston Texas. Houston is not nestled in a swamp like its neighbor to the east.  There were not and are not, nor will there be 10,000 dead or a need for 25,000 body bags... and in Texas this won't amount to a molehill in the state's long history.... this is a "story" driven by the leftists willing to use mother nature and her death and destruction to attack a Republican president, and nothing more... while aided and abetted by hysterical reporters who have their ruffled panties in a twist over very little. b

m

In a matter of 48 hours anyone with common sense will understand that Lovely Rita was next to nothing, relatively speaking, and should have been reported as such.

d

Don't git stuck on stupid.

Comments

[Dilip]

Hello from Turkey( Turkiye),Here there is a real trouble on teacihng English at schools. The educational system is unsuccessful. Although we are techers of English, many of us do not really have a command of English. Some of us have been to abroad, so their Eglish is more fluent.Also there are handicaps, especially financial, at schools.At the end of their approximately a 10-year of English education, almost all students cannot speak English.I want to learn how to teach English efficiently at school with limited conditions. Could you please help me about this?Also i want to ask how you had chosen those tesol teachers for the Convention? Which qualifications must one have to be choosen?

[bigwhitehat]

One more thing. Congress should pay for the NOLA relief by cutting the waste from their porky budget.

[bigwhitehat]

The Stafford statute dictates that the money will be spent one way or the other. But that has nothing to do with implementing a constructive agenda. And that money will by the same statute go to things public.

The advantage for pushing a conservative agenda comes from the reactions of many of the evacuees. It seems many feel betrayed by the performance of their democrat controlled local governments. Some sound ready to get off the plantation. New Orleans was the very definition of a failed welfare state. Many of these same folks no longer want to depend on government for their subsistence. Some do. As for those that do, a help you help yourself approach should be taken. School vouchers, welfare reform and immigration reform need to be central to the plans. So does tax relief to businesses willing to locate in the area.

I don’t disagree with you about money Gary. I just think it is necessary for the POTUS to spend a little time down there pushing an agenda. Having America see Conservatives as the ones who rebuilt New Orleans is a coffin nail for the liberals. And the failures of the war on poverty type liberal policies must be highlighted from the bully pulpit.

[GA]

BWH...
Help me connect the dots on tens of billions for New Orleans et al enabling Bush to rectify the inner city welfare mess when Louisiana is under deep, deep liberal dem party control?
G

[bigwhitehat]

My president is spending so much time down in New Orleans because he sees the opportunity that is there. Conservatives have a chance to really clean up a liberal disaster. Not the natural disaster but the unnatural one caused by the welfare state. This is political pay dirt that will pay off long after Bush is back on the ranch.

[Ninja R]

Whether or not FNC is left, middle of the road or right is probably another topic for another time, but I'll address it now since the comment was directed at me. I tend to think they're more middle of the road than anything.

But if FNC is left-wing, I sure wish someone would tell Brit Hume and Shepard Smith - some say the two most notorious conservatives on deck - how left wing they really are.

I couldn't care less how conservative Rupert Murdoch is since he's not a reporter.

People often get FNC's opinion programs mixed up with news. If people believe O'reilly, Hannity and Colmes, Greta "Palsy" Van Susteren, or any other op/ed show is hard news, they're flat out wrong. It's opinion. Fox bashers seem to be unable to tell the difference.

But I think the bottom line isn't about a media source's leaning - it's about profit and self promotion. If they can find a niche and make money from it, they'll do it. And good on 'em because:

God bless capitalism. That's why.

[Windaria]

Actually it is quite possible that the troops are happy, at least abandoned is one step up from smeared at every step.

And please Ninja R, Fox is almost as left as the rest of them, they just balance it a bit. They are so afraid of continually being portrayed as right that even during the 2004 election, when the other networks were calling some of the states for Bush, they were still saying they were up in the air, even when it was plainly obvious that he won some of them.

Otherwise, you are dead on. I'll wait for Jackson to start blathering about Whites in texas... and just repress the urge to strangle the TV.

[Ninja R]

I think this might be the first time I've ever disagreed with you. I don't believe the most recent hurricane, Rita, is a story driven by leftists. Why, then, would FNC have 24/7 coverage?

I normally haven't liked the coverage in the past and wished they would move on to something else, but I can't help enjoying the fact that one Fox reporter is broadcasting about a mile from my childhood home (even if I AM subjected to Geraldo's disgusting self promotion)...I've been following the coverage all day watching for any news of Winnie, Texas.

Of course, the rest of the news-watching world shouldn't be subject to my whims.

I can already hear it from the nutjob Leftists: "Texas was well prepared because that's Bush's state," or, even worse, from the racists (Farrakhan, Sharpton, Jackson): "Texas was well prepared because it's a bunch of white folks there."