"It's August in Crawford, Texas, and President Bush is on vacation. His poll ratings are slumping. He hears warnings of a looming crisis that will soon change the course of his presidency.Bush defined by Katrina? I don't think so. Consider this from Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web".
Is this August 2001? Or August 2005?
The answer is both. Historians will ultimately judge Bush's presidency based on his leadership through two tragedies — the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, plus a conflict of his own design: The war in Iraq.
...
'the Katrina response was plagued by confusion, communications failures and widespread lack of coordination — all of which should have been addressed by expensive post-Sept. 11 reforms.' "
Judging by his leadership to this point, future generations of Americans will likely judge President George W. Bush's performance based on two things."Historians will judge Bush by his response to the hurricane? Hmm, OK, let's try a little test. Who was president during each of these events:
- The Galveston hurricane, which killed some 8,000
- The Great Okeechobee Hurricane, which killed more than 2,500
- The Johnstown, Pa., flood, which killed at least 2,200
- The San Francisco earthquake, which killed 700
You have no idea, do you? We had to look it up, and we're almost an expert on American presidents.
The answers are William McKinley, Calvin Coolidge, Benjamin Harrison and Theodore Roosevelt.
Do you remember ever hearing or reading a single word about how the president responded to any of these events?"
Retired from the US Air Force after more than 20 years of service. Now working as a contractor for various government agencies.