Bomb the Suburbs
Faced with dismal poll numbers, grim news from Iraq and lingering doubts about the federal government's ability to respond to catastrophes, one might expect Bush to build on his strengths by declaring war on hurricanes. (We certainly did.) Except the war isn't going so well. So instead, yesterday Bush reversed the math, essentially calling on Americans to pull together after Katrina or else the terrorists have won: "I've been thinking a lot about how America has responded [to Katrina]," Bush said, "And that stands in stark contrast, by the way, to the terrorists we have to deal with. You see, we look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break. They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it." Ingenious, really -- using the outpouring of emotion and money that Katrina prompted as a way of building support for the war on terrorism. Of course, Americans would have stayed home watching "Dancing with the Stars" and Anderson Cooper's cheeks would have remained bone-dry if the federal government's fucked-up response to Katrina hadn't put dying babies on their TV screens.
It's all part of the same strategic plan that's working so well in Iraq.
President's Remarks at Republican Jewish Coalition 20th Anniversary [WhiteHouse.gov]