His Eminence, the Emperor of the West, King of Iraq, and Scourge of New Orleans returned from his largely pointless and symbolic PR trip to Europe in order to make a largely pointless and symbolic PR tour of an Iowa stricken by floods. He had nothing to offer the victims but a warning:
“I’m sorry we’re going through this,” the president said, against the backdrop of the swollen Iowa River, in a lovely middle-class neighborhood called Parkview Terrace near the University of Iowa, where homes were so submerged it looked as if they were accessible only by boat. “Tell people that oftentimes you get dealt a hand you didn’t expect to have to play, and the question is not whether you’re going to get dealt the hand; the question is how do you play it.”
Perhaps he's learned from Katrina not to make promises he doesn't intend to keep but I doubt it. Perhaps we've learned from 7 years with him how to read between the lines but I doubt that, too. The underlying message is clear enough from a distance. Whether Iowans in the middle of a catastrophe will hear it is another question.
McCain, who is in no position to do what Bush could do but won't, was much freer, promising Iowa and the rest of the flooded states what Bush practically said outright that they'd better not expect: help.
“I know that I speak for all Americans,” Mr. McCain said. “We’ll do everything necessary to try and rebuild their lives.”
Sure we will. Um, how? We're up to our asses in debt over the Second Gulf War, the National Guard is unavailable because so many units are providing support for the war, and Bush is determined to veto any bill that contains expenses for anything other than the war. So who's going to help Iowa? The tooth fairy?
Bush as much as told them that what they do about the disaster is up to them, taking himself and the federal govt out of the equation. Not surptrisingly, two of Iowa's Democrats were on hand to praise him to the skies just for showing up.
An estimated 35,000 people have been displaced by the floods, and 24 have been killed, mostly in Iowa, said Mr. Paulison, who described the disaster as the biggest his agency has handled since Hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Bush’s tour took him to the hard-hit areas of Iowa City and Cedar Rapids; he was joined by two Democratic members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation, Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Dave Loebsack, a freshman who had only kind words for the president.
“I think he has a very good sense when he’s on the ground with people of what they’re going through,” Mr. Loebsack said.
(emphasis added)
Probably true. The problem is that even if he understands their pain he doesn't care about it and won't lift a finger to relieve it. But nice Dem pandering, Dave. That may get you a spot at the next DLC dinner.
With representation like this, Iowans would be well advised lock up the silver and apply to Britain for foreign aid.
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