Do your remember Hurricane Katrina? It was terrible. Lots of people died in a natural disaster. But what was even more terrible than the fact that lots of people died in a natural disaster, was that after the fact a lot more people died because the federal organization tasked with dealing with natural disasters, FEMA, was headed by a Republican party hack who was bad at his job. All of the deaths were, of course, needless. But I think there’s a pretty big difference between deaths that are caused by an act of God and deaths that are the result of human incompetence. It’s part of the reason why earthquakes don’t go to prison, after all. (Also, they are geological events, not people.)
So it’s rather…galling that “Heckuva Job Brownie” has deigned to criticize President Obama’s response to the recent tornado disasters in Missouri and environs. Because, you see, Obama is in Europe having a jolly old time, chaps, when what he needs to be doing is commandeering dump trucks and getting rid of rubble and pulling babies from the wreckage, PRONTO!
BROWN: In this situation, they’re almost tone-deaf. I mean, you stop and think about it, your press office should be recognizing that the visuals that Americans are seeing is of this devastation. Don’t put a visual of the president up playing ping-pong. It’s awful.
CAVUTO: So you don’t have a problem with the president being abroad with the Queen and the Irish prime minster just doing fun stuff?
BROWN: No, I do have a problem with that. It’s not like he’s at a G8 summit. This is not a diplomatic trip of any sort. This is just a — he went to Ireland for God’s sake to visit relatives! It’s time to come home…in this case, the perception is that the president is detached. He’s more concerned about raising a toast to the Queen. People have died.
Aye, there’s the rub. People have died. Past tense. They have died in horrible tornadoes, and the YouTube videos and the photographs are scary and awful. But there is not much that the government, broadly speaking, can do other than what it’s already doing. Cleaning up, helping people rebuild their lives, etc. The damage is done.
Michael Brown is encouraging the President of the United States to roll up his shirtsleeves and go to Missouri for a photo-op. It will help us heal, you see, and soothe the frightened souls of the American people. Because we are children, and WHAT WE NEED RIGHT NOW IS A REASSURING PHOTO ON THE FRONT PAGE. Reminder: The last time a standing President heeded this same advice from this very source, said President’s approval ratings dropped a couple points and hundreds of people died in New Orleans. Also? Those hundreds of deaths were blamed on him. Rightfully.
Just saying.
(via Cole)
