Real Kato Blog: Bush's Weaseling

Ohhhh, I can't stand it. Bush is trying to rebuild his image after being lambasted for his poor handling of Hurricane Katrina.

President Bush today took responsibility for the government's mistakes in handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Supposedly. He said, "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong."

Or in other words, "I take the responsibility for the fact that everyone else around here fucked up." Note that he didn't say "I made mistakes" or "I should have done something differently". With this statement, he's trying to project the image of a leader, while at the same time deflecting any accusation that he PERSONALLY did anything wrong. Do you suppose he'll be so candid about the fact that he should have sent troops and ships more quickly, that he shouldn't have hired a crony to head FEMA, and that he shouldn't have cut so much funding from the Army Corps of Engineers?

I don't think so. This has "scapegoat-hunt" written all over it. Of course it starts with the resignation of FEMA chief Michael Brown. (Bush will have to run away from the statement, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job". Unless he can spin that by saying, "When I said 'heck', I of course meant 'ass-munching bungle'.") And no doubt various other folks will be asked to fall on their swords as well.

On Thursday, Bush is planning to give a speech from New Orleans. This smacks of a cheap publicity stunt. Here's what I expect the speech to be like:

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