It runs in the family.

“Where in the hell is the cavalry on this one? For God's sake, where are they?''



A massive hurricane sweeps across Florida and makes secondary landfall in Louisiana leaving a multitude of Americans homeless anxiously awaiting response and relief from the federal government.

Katrina?

No, Andrew.

Just as his father did 12 years before, President Bush is flying to Florida to survey the damage wrought by a major hurricane less than three months before facing a hotly contested re-election. Republicans hope the parallels end there.

After Hurricane Andrew left thousands homeless in August 1992, the first President Bush's administration was bitterly criticized for moving too slowly to deliver food, water and troops. Although his campaign vastly outspent Bill Clinton, his support ebbed and Bush was forced to defend what once had been considered home turf, winning by only a small margin.

Guess if this were an election year the people of Louisiana and Mississippi would be faring better.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick... the clock is running on the Bush presidency. Every passing hour where the federal government is missing in action is another state turning from red to blue. Images coming out from disaster areas in Mississippi and Louisiana of fellow Americans without food, without water, without shelter are eerily reminiscent of the way Bush Sr. dropped the ball after Andrew.

Watching the news this evening, one woman, homeless after the storm and standing atop a highway overpass which has become a dry refuge managed to put it very succinctly when she observed that “after the hurricanes in Florida those people came running! Where are they now?!”

Maybe, I’m being too tough. I mean after all, the president did cut short his vacation in order to personally oversee the relief efforts. He did manage to fly over the flooded metropolis of New Orleans today (two days after it happened). Yes, he’s a true man of the people, he is. When was the last time any of you took a month long paid vacation? Anyone? Anyone?

Watching people trudge out of flooded neighborhoods, watching them wander amidst the destruction and debris that was their homes, seeing the lawlessness resulting from overwhelmed local authorities makes me think the biggest indictment of the current administration is their handling of this event. If there is one issue for the Democrats to focus on in the mid-term election (and I didn’t think there was a shortage of things for them to focus on, mind you), this is it.

Also, as I heard one newscaster comment this evening, the world is watching and doesn’t it tell us volumes about how we take care of our own. Maybe, the problem is even though Louisiana and Mississippi were in fact red states, the people who remained behind in those neighborhoods in New Orleans didn’t fit the profile of good Republicans - does it have more to do with the economic and racial makeup?

Funny thing is, I’m a Republican and I think that this unequivocally stinks.

No two ways about it - Monday night after the storm had moved up from the coast, the feds should have been poised with manpower and equipment to help these people. 48 hours has passed and the question I have to ask is how many people died during that time and how many more will die over the coming days just because they didn’t get the help they needed? While our president (and because I’m writing this, I cannot manage the snide intonation at the mention of the office) was giving speeches about the War on Terrorism in California of all places, a state over from his ranch there were people suffering, you’d think a guy would be able to prioritize.