The sharks are beginning to circle their prey

The Democrats think they smell blood in the water, trying to make political points at the expense of the tragedy in New Orleans. The New York Times has joined the fray in a recent column titled "As White House Anxiety Grows, Bush Tries to Quell Political Crisis". The column makes the case that President Bush is in the midst of a political crisis, and that "analysts and some Republicans" have warned that the White House's response to the crisis in New Orleans, which has been widely seen as slow and ineffectual, could further undermine Mr. Bush's authority at a time when he was already under fire, endangering his Congressional agenda."

Widely seen in Democratic circles, that is.

In typical fashion, the column is laced with subtle cracks at President Bush, such as this one:

He struck a more somber tone than he had at times on Friday during a daylong tour of the disaster region, when he had joked at the airport in New Orleans about the fun he had had in his younger days in Houston.

HE JOKED?! How dare he! I suppose that this means that the President doesn't take the disaster seriously enough. Oh, and you didn't miss that part about his having "fun in his younger days"... oh, ho, we all know what that means, don't we?

And this one: "The magnitude of responding to a crisis over a disaster area that is larger than the size of Great Britain has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities," said Mr. Bush, slightly exaggerating the stricken land area.

OH NO! President Bush made an obvious geographical error, which proves, beyond a doubt what an idiot he is!

And here is glaring proof that the White House is running scared:

As Mr. Bush spoke, Vice President Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, the president's senior political adviser, listened on the sidelines, as did Dan Bartlett, the counselor to the president and Mr. Bush's overseer of communications strategy. Their presence underscored how seriously the White House is reacting to the political crisis it faces.

YEP, the mere presence of Karl Rove (Bush's handler, you know) is stongly suspect, since it is he who pulls the puppet's strings, right? Funny, but I think Karl Rove has been present at most other speeches, too, but I could be wrong. Maybe the President has been running scared since winning the election. Who knows.

The last one that I want to mention is in regard to the perception among some blacks that the White House had been slow because so many victims were poor and African-American. (Their description.) According to the column, this statement came from a Republican who would only discuss the question on the condition of not being identified . To me, when it refers to someone "who would only discuss the question" indicates that it was the reporter who broached the subject, not the unnamed Republican.) Here is what it says about President Bush:

But Mr. Bush, reflecting concern within the White House about the president's standing among blacks, notably said in this radio address that "we have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters all along the Gulf Coast, and we will not rest until we get this right and the job is done."

So, the folks at the NYT think that President Bush was obviously referring to blacks when he said "brothers and sisters" as a vain attempt to connect with African-Americans. I think the NYT is confused, because it was Bill Clinton who was the first black President, not George W Bush! What they don't understand is that in certain areas of the country, people of faith (all races, btw) call others their brothers and sisters, it isn't an expression used only by blacks.

There is also a reference to the war in Iraq and the La National Guard, blah, blah, blah. This column covered ALL of the Democratic talking points. I realize that a column in the NYT really doesn't mean much, since you can't expect them to write anything supportive of the president. I just wanted to point out this as just one of the numerous attempts to politicize the disaster and place the blame on President Bush.

I heard just a while ago that Kathleen Blanco has purportedly called in the former head of FEMA (under Clinton) as an advisor. It is rumored that it is being done in an effort to bolster the argument that the disaster was the result of combining agencies under Homeland Security. The governor and the mayor of New Orleans seem to be in full court press to deflect the blame from themselves.

We all know that many mistakes were made, on many different levels, the result of which is the disaster that we are all watching unfold. There is plenty of blame to go around.

But now is not the time for this. Peoples lives hang in the balance. Our people, fellow AMERICANS.