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PrintEx-Bush aides say he never recovered from Katrina
Mon Dec 29, 2008 8:26 PM EST
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WASHINGTON — Hurricane Katrina not only pulverized the Gulf Coast in 2005, it knocked the bully pulpit out from under President George W. Bush, according to two former advisers who spoke candidly about the political impact of the government's poor handling of the natural disaster.
"Katrina to me was the tipping point," said Matthew Dowd, Bush's pollster and chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign. "The president broke his bond with the public. Once that bond was broken, he no longer had the capacity to talk to the American public. State of the Union addresses? It didn't matter. Legislative initiatives? It didn't matter. P.R.? It didn't matter. Travel? It didn't matter."
Dan Bartlett, former White House communications director and later counselor to the president, said: "Politically, it was the final nail in the coffin."
Their comments are a part of an oral history of the Bush White House that Vanity Fair magazine compiled for its February issue, which hits newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, and nationally on Jan. 6. Vanity Fair published comments by current and former government officials, foreign ministers, campaign strategists and numerous others on topics that included Iraq, the anthrax attacks, the economy and immigration.
Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that as a new president, Bush was like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee whom critics said lacked knowledge about foreign affairs. When Bush first came into office, he was surrounded by experienced advisers like Vice President Dick Cheney and Powell, who Wilkerson said ended up playing damage control for the president.
"It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin-like president — because, let's face it, that's what he was — was going to be protected by this national-security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire," Wilkerson said, adding that he considered Cheney probably the "most astute, bureaucratic entrepreneur" he'd ever met.
"He became vice president well before George Bush picked him," Wilkerson said of Cheney. "And he began to manipulate things from that point on, knowing that he was going to be able to convince this guy to pick him, knowing that he was then going to be able to wade into the vacuums that existed around George Bush — personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum."
On other topics, David Kuo, who served as deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, disputed the idea that the Bush White House was dominated by religious conservatives and catered to the needs of a religious right voting bloc.
"The reality in the White House is — if you look at the most senior staff — you're seeing people who aren't personally religious and have no particular affection for people who are religious-right leaders," Kuo said.
"In the political affairs shop in particular, you saw a lot of people who just rolled their eyes at ... basically every religious-right leader that was out there, because they just found them annoying and insufferable. These guys were pains in the butt who had to be accommodated."
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Published to:
- Associated Press's Column, All of Newsvine
- Groups: Our Orwellian World
- Regions: United States , Iraq , Washington DC
 | Bush Advisors Speak Candidly About Failure | Yahoo! News | Mon Dec 29 | 10 |
| Ex-aides: Katrina was beginning of end for Bush | msnbc.com | Tue Dec 30 | 367 |
| An Oral History of the Bush White House | The Latest From VanityFair.com | Tue Dec 30 | 5 |
- Public Discussion (245)
- Our Orwellian World
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{"commentId":4601379,"authorDomain":"weezywee9891"}
He really screwed up when it came to Katrina. Him and Mccain were celebrating Mccain's thousandth birthday when the hurricane hit. I don't understand why he just shrugged it off, thinking it wouldn't hit hard.
{"commentId":4601379,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"weezywee9891"}
- 2 votes
#51 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:32 PM EST{"commentId":4601514,"authorDomain":"a0ted"}
Why LA/New Orleans have so many unprotected, poor, no transportations and have so many gambling places where people can lose their underwear?
Is this GWB fault's also?
Why don't you blame GWB that gave the Dems all the pork barrels of money that they wanted?
West Virginia has 2 US Dems Senators, still very poor and not very protected if they aren't in their routine
{"commentId":4601514,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"a0ted"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4601536,"authorDomain":"lisaed"}
Fares---go back and re-read the timeline---it was local dem politicians who just "shrugged it off"
{"commentId":4601536,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"lisaed"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4617033,"authorDomain":"geejay"}
Revisionist history, Lisa? For shame.
Blanco requested aid before the hurricane struck. Perhaps Bush should have had a competent person, not a horse-show alum rich cronie in charge of FEMA...but that would require you expecting the buck to stop with Bush and we know you guys won't ever ever criticize your Dear Leader.
Perhaps Bush should have stopped partying during Katrina and acted like a leader, not a frat boy. Is his behavior during Katrina really something you are proud of as a Repub?
{"commentId":4617033,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"geejay"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":4601626,"authorDomain":"a0ted"}
The political machinery of LA is very similar to the one in Illinois.
Taking care of the casinos is fair but not taking a look for the levees and the falling apart homes that some did not want to leave until the very last minute.
We love to live near the water but.....unpractical.
It's time that my tax money goes to the people that continue building near the water over and over again.
My friends left three days before Katrina. Right now they bought a condo in another State just in case..
Accountability, accountability. Indeed if the President is a Republican but not for the Senators, Governor or Representative with the $90,000.00 in the freezer.
{"commentId":4601626,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"a0ted"}
- 3 votes
#52 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:44 PM EST{"commentId":4617054,"authorDomain":"geejay"}
Some people couldn't leave, det. Where would they all go? The shelters in nearby areas were full. Some of those who stayed were elderly or had pets that they didn't want to leave.
It's easy to sit on your butt 100s of mile away and say what every last person should have done and to sit in judgment of ordinary people, I guess.
Good for your friends. I bet they aren't poor or elderly, though.
{"commentId":4617054,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"geejay"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4602008,"authorDomain":"crustyfliss"}
Katrina was not Bush's fault. But his piss poor judgement came back to bite him in the booty. Mike Brown - FEMA Director was a horse trader and had absolultely ZERO experience is disaster management. So when Ole Dubya finally showed up in NO and wrapped his arm around him and declared, "you're doing a heck of a job Brownie" - he was forever screwed.
Let that be the last time we put political operatives in positions they have no business being in.
{"commentId":4602008,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"crustyfliss"}
- 2 votes
#53 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:06 PM EST{"commentId":4603599,"authorDomain":"a0ted"}
And you could do it better.
katrina was a mission impossible for the local authorities and the citizens/police that weren't helping with the situation.
Good evacuation plan: Yes. Casinos: No
{"commentId":4603599,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"a0ted"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4602575,"authorDomain":"JStranahan"}
Never recovered? Neither have the people of New Orleans
I say lock him in a FEMA trailer until he rots.
{"commentId":4602575,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"JStranahan"}
- 3 votes
#54 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:35 PM EST{"commentId":4604673,"authorDomain":"a0ted"}
Some of my friends lived in FEMA trailers next to their homes that they were fixing and were not complaining.
Two sides of the stories.
{"commentId":4604673,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"a0ted"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4602695,"authorDomain":"bobneve1"}
Katrina was not Bush's fault.
Agreed the storm itself was not his fault. There are some catastrophes that are just too big to be handled on a local level. He should have been advised and prepared to make decisions and run the show. Instead he fiddled and left up to an incompetent cronie that didn't know his rear end from a hole in the wall. The "buck stops here" is not only a monetary mantra. It means everything stops with him the people expect their leader to take action and take charge. Had the storm wiped out Crawford Texas I bet the reaction would have swift and decisive.
{"commentId":4602695,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"bobneve1"}
- 3 votes
#55 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:41 PM EST{"commentId":4603887,"authorDomain":"johnmorrissey27"}
HE never recovered after Katrina???!!! F HIM!!!
{"commentId":4603887,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"johnmorrissey27"}
- 2 votes
#56 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:49 PM EST{"commentId":4603980,"authorDomain":"Aunk"}
Check
{"commentId":4603980,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"Aunk"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4604329,"authorDomain":"gobbledegook"}
When you misunderestimate strategery, you turn a sick joke into a bad joke. What does it take to set a Lone Star Ten Gallon Hat High in the Saddle? Ask Barney.
{"commentId":4604329,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"gobbledegook"}
#57 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:16 PM EST{"commentId":4604381,"authorDomain":"crustyfliss"}
Robin,
Nagin and all the other officials in NO & LA as a whole all deserve blame. All I'm saying is that watching events unfold on TV - it was clear to the entire world on Day One that something unusual and catastrophic was occuring. The whole world could see that - except for the entire Bush administration. He was eerily silent and out of sight for FOUR DAYS.
No American President should ever be forgiven for that.
{"commentId":4604381,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"crustyfliss"}
- 1 vote
#58 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:19 PM EST{"commentId":4604854,"authorDomain":"rinkbong"}
bush...
{"commentId":4604854,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"rinkbong"}
#59 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:55 PM EST{"commentId":4604908,"authorDomain":"rinkbong"}
yeah,bush
{"commentId":4604908,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"rinkbong"}
{"commentId":4605678,"authorDomain":"cybok451"}
It was obvious right from the start as Bush stole the election in 2000 that this was going to be a rough ride for America. Whether it was ignoring the scientific opinions that did not support the neo-conservative views on global warming or stem cell research, or the desire on the Bush administrations part to attack Iraq no matter what, it was clear that this administration was going to pursue its policy agenda to the detriment of America and the constitution.
Clearly, the only people who benefited under Bush were his primary constituency, the Rich and the Corporate. Katrina only highlighted how little Bush and his neo-conservative cronies cared for the welfare of the average American. Even now he is using his last moments in office to enact new rules and regulations to favor industrial polluters and facilitate the continued fleecing of the middle class.
I would suggest to the reader a study of the fall of Rome to see a case study in where this could end up. Let us hope that President Obama meets the challenge and saves us from the damage the Bush administration has done to our country and our standing in the world.
{"commentId":4605678,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"cybok451"}
- 1 vote
#60 - Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:10 PM EST{"commentId":4609072,"authorDomain":"Surf7"}
{"commentId":4612880,"authorDomain":"Surf7"}
{"commentId":4615717,"authorDomain":"Surf7"}
{"commentId":4616595,"authorDomain":"bbednarz2007"}
{"commentId":4617653,"authorDomain":"watersportgirl"}
It is the U.S. Constitution which has given us freedom of the press.
It is the U.S. Constitution which has given us freedom of speech.
It is the U.S. Constitution which has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
While the colonial armies fought in the Revolutionary War, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were cavorting around in European palaces, drinking wine, philosophizing and trying to solicit European money and military might to help us.
We would not have won the Revolutionary War without the French. The military also love to hate the French and make fun of them, saying we bailed them out of WWII. Perhaps true. But we wouldn't be bailing them out of anything if they hadn't shed blood to make us a country.
And then we turned around the ignored their plea for help against their war with England.
Pass me some French fries, not Freedom fries.
It is the U.S. Constitution which has given us the right to a fair trial.
{"commentId":4617653,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"watersportgirl"}
- 4 votes
#65 - Wed Dec 31, 2008 6:28 PM EST{"commentId":4621112,"authorDomain":"bbednarz2007"}
{"commentId":4623119,"authorDomain":"watersportgirl"}
No one group has "given" us anything. It is a collective effort between those at home, those abroad and our allies.
Nobody can stand up and say "I (or we) have attained" anything for this country. Not even the greatest among men or women. Not the bravest soldier nor the greatest thinker, worthy as though they are of genuine respect.
It's collective.
The brightest minds, the best athletes, the most courageous soldier, the most savy of diplomats realize that greatness works together.
{"commentId":4623119,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"watersportgirl"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4623385,"authorDomain":"Zoilus"}
Without the Constitution, America is just a piece of land with people on it, like any other.
{"commentId":4623385,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"Zoilus"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4619033,"authorDomain":"Surf7"}
{"commentId":4621991,"authorDomain":"a0ted"}
Happy New Year to all spectrums of believers and not believers. Peace and health are my wishes.
{"commentId":4621991,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"a0ted"}
- 1 vote
#67 - Thu Jan 1, 2009 11:18 AM EST{"commentId":4623078,"authorDomain":"watersportgirl"}
Good debate.
And I do like bratwurst and peroigi's too!
Happy New Year ~
{"commentId":4623078,"threadId":"455900","contentId":"2256373","authorDomain":"watersportgirl"}
- 1 vote
#68 - Thu Jan 1, 2009 1:28 PM EST{"commentId":4623596,"authorDomain":"Surf7"}
{"commentId":4625124,"authorDomain":"bbednarz2007"}
{"commentId":4625257,"authorDomain":"bbednarz2007"}
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