Salon has an excerpt today from Paul Alexander's new book about Karl Rove, focusing on the White House's handling of the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I'm all for delving into the basic mystery of Rove: how did a political consultant whose principal skill was tactical - targeting and turning out narrow bands of conservative voters - and whose principal m.o. against opponents was toxic rumors and whispering campaigns, come to control the levers of government, something which he clearly neither understood nor cared much about? This is key to the failure of the Bush presidency, and I don't think any of the Bush books have yet fully explained it or set it in context.
Unfortunately, neither does Alexander's book, at least if the Katrina narrative is any indication. His account of the days following August 29, 2005 is lively, but it relies exclusively on interviews with Louisiana Democrats, including Senator Mary Landrieu and former Governor Kathleen Blanco. They're important players in what happened, of course. But they don't know what was going on behind the scenes with Rove and the White House staff any more than the rest of us. (Scott McClellan doesn't have a whole lot more, but at least provides an insider's perspective in his book.)
Alexander's sources offer opinions and speculation on what happened with Bush's inner circle, some or all of which may be valid - and all of which we've heard before. It's clear, as they point out, that the White House began spinning very early, trying to shift blame for the debacle from the (Republican-controlled) federal government to the (Democratic-controlled) state and local governments. So, facing an enormous challenge in mobilizing the resources of government, an effort that should have included smart, honest public communication, the White House instead tried to save its own skin with spin and political positioning. This isn't surprising - it's what politicians do - though what I found shocking in researching this for my own book was that this seemed to be all the White House was doing.
What I'd still like to know, and am disappointed not to find in a book about Rove, is what were Bush and Rove saying and doing during that terrible week? Why was the president so disengaged, to the point of permanently damaging himself? How did Rove (apparently, absurdly) come to run the response effort, as the White House briefly declared? Answers to these questions would tell us how Bush his team acted in a profound domestic crisis, and offer an important clue as to why his presidency fell apart.
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How could anyone have know it was still sitting unspent, in people's freezers?
But beyond that, Wasn't Katrina almost three years ago?
Isn't it time to Move On?
Tell that to the thousands of people down there without housing and the many more thousands that are having to live in other parts of the country. As a country, I don't think we can truly move on until the Katrina debacle is corrected.
http://levees.org/index2
But most White House's actually have a team that is confronting the problem. As the author states, this White House abandons the problem and gets right to work on public manipulation and spinning the media to shift blame. I guess they figure they can get ahead of the news cycle that way. It must be the only White House in history whose entire response to a huge catastrophe is damage control in the media and letting the victims fend for themselves. Rove is to blame for being a cynic who only values people as voting blocs. Bush is to blame for being a blank slate of a president. We are to blame for voting them into office.
May they all be punished.
McCain will completely destroy the USA if he is allowed to steal the Presidency. McCain's masters in Saudi Arabia will try to steal it for him just as they did for Bush.
Rove and ALL the top people in the Bush administration are Traitors. By simply reading the public record Bush has failed to uphold his oath of office. His breaking the law with his illegal spying program is enough to have Bush,Cheney,Addington and Yoo all convicted of Treason.
The entire Bush administration needs to be put on trial and then the traditional punishment for treason needs to be carried out.
I thought you'd offer some information we don't already know.
Anyone with a brain realized some time ago that the country has been run by Mr Cheney and Mr Rove.
The problem with Katrina is that it happened at the height of the Administration's vacation period. I could hear the whining from here when it looked as if there was a disaster taking place on our Gulf coast and Bush's peeps would have to get to work.
For liberals the issue is do we permit ourselves to sink to the level of our political adversaries? I'm reminded of the tactics used by Robespierre and Lenin during the French and Russian revolutions. They knew monarchists (19th conservatives) would never willing give up power and so they killed them all. Both revolutions were successful at mass murder but each failed to comprehend human nature; that sooner or later, another group would rise to the top and rule. I read many liberal blogs and attitudes often reflect a lets take no prisoners GOP-like approach. I have mixed feelings about that. Gut level, I say let's hang the GOP from gibbets but the Founders understood that even true democrats can become corrupted without political competition and so liberals need conservatives to keep us honest least we become like them. The issue then is how is this goal accomplished? I really can't say.
GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WORK
(FOR THE LITTLE GUY)
The Republicans have no intention of "governing." They're only interested in capturing assets and dismantling governance by and for the people.
All they _needed_ from Rove was electoral success. Anything about government that they didn't accidentally break thru incompetence, they were just going to have to wreck on purpose sooner or later.
The week of Katrina they were on VACATION. Same as they were just be 9/11.
Who cares? They certainly didn't.