NOTE: This is in reference to an AP story written before Cheney visited the region and made what I believe were his first public statements of sympathy for the people affected by this disaster.
John posted approvingly below that the Dems were finally showing some cajones -- gee, all it took was an outrageously incompetent scandal unfolding in front of the entire country in a manner so shockingly inept that even Fox News was infuriated. At the end, he mentioned the AP AP story gave a technically accurate but unfairly positive spin to the facts by saying Bush had "cut short his vacation by two days." Reading the entire paragraph, it's much worse than misleading. Howard Dean is quoted saying "Americans deserve better from their leaders" and that's immediately followed by this blast of "facts":
Bush cut short his vacation by two days last week to return to Washington. He has presided over daily meetings, visited stricken Gulf Coast areas twice and was expected to return soon. He has sent Cabinet members to the region; Vice President Dick Cheney planned to be there on Thursday.Why is AP carrying water for Bush? This sounds like a press release from the White House press office, not a sober retelling of the facts by the MSM. If you hadn't been watching TV for the last ten days while disaster unfolded in front of us, you'd read that paragraph and think, "Wow, Bush is really on the ball."
The truth of course is far removed from that. Bush "cut short his vacation by two days." Well, what the hell is the president SUPPOSED to do during a national emergency? And the more telling point is the shocking fact (which Scotty says is just rude to bring up) that BUSH STAYED ON VACATI0N DURING THE WORST NATURAL DISASTER IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY. (Are you tired of me writing that yet? I'm tired of typing it, but until Bush apologizes for abandoning this country during its need, I won't stop.) Instead of praising the President for actually getting back to work, a real journalist would ask why after the hurricane struck on Monday, or after the waters were rising on Tuesday and the situation grew ever dire, why would the President stay on vacation?
Then AP trumpets the fact that Bush has presided over daily meetings. That's right up there with Bush's own remarkable assertion that he thinks about Iraq every day. Every day. OF COURSE he presides over daily meetings -- thousands of Americans died, hundreds of thousands are homeless and an entire city has been virtually wiped off the face of the earth. Why is it noteworthy or commendable that Bush is paying attention to this disaster?
Further, AP points out that Bush has visited the region twice and plans to do so again. We point out the obvious -- that it would be utterly BIZARRE if the President didn't visit a region hit by so calamitious disaster. A real reporter would have talked about the photo-op nature of the visits, how Bush didn't schedule them to avoid disruptions in rescue and humanitarian work but in fact DELAYED a shipment of food so it would arrive when he did. A real reporter would have mentioned the comments by Sen. Landrieu who lamented the fact that Bush spoke at an area that seemd bustling with activity only to realize it had been "staged" to provide a good backdrop for the TV cameras and dismantled as soon as he left. They might have mentioned Bush's tone deaf jokes about getting drunk in New Orleans when so many people had seen their lives shattered, a scene that echoed criticism by Cindy Sheehan that Bush had behaved like he was at a party when Bush was supposed to be comforting the parents of dead soldiers. Indeed, it was widely reported that Bush's first trip was such a disaster pr-wise (which is all Bush cares about) that he scheduled another one right away.
Then AP notes that Cabinet members have visited the region -- again, an utterly unremarkable state of affairs and noteworthy only if they DIDN'T go. AP adds without comment that Vice President Dick Cheney plans to go Thursday. Again, the Cheney reference is technically accurate but stunningly misleading. How could they fail to mention that -- just like Bush -- during the worst natural disaster in our nation's history Cheney stayed on vacation on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and finally appeared for a photo op in DC on Saturday? How could they not wonder why the VP was AWOL during this crisis or why he hadn't apparently made even the simplest of public statements expressing sympathy for the Americans who'd been brutalized by the hurricane? Instead, they report him going to the region about a week later than he should have as if it refuted the charge that Bush and his people weren't taking the disaster seriously.
Am I taking a partisan, attack mode in describing Bush's behavior. No. I'm simply laying out the facts. What AP wrote was misleading, inaccurate or just downright goofy by praising standard operating procedures as if they were remarkable or noteworthy. Email AP at info@ap.org and let them know what you think of the article by Tom Raum. Encourage them to ask tough, reasonable questions and deal in facts rather than cheering on the President OR his critics.
