WaTi this morning: "President Made Things Happen." A story taken from Meet the Press yesterday.
New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin yesterday said President Bush "made things happen" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but offered no praise for Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who remains in control of the National Guard and refuses to order a mandatory evacuation of the devastated city. Mr. Bush has been criticized by Democrats for the federal government's response to the storm, but the Democratic mayor -- whose own actions are now under scrutiny -- suggested major mistakes were made on the state level. "I think [Mr. Bush] was probably getting advice from some of his key advisers or some low-level folk that had been on the ground that this was serious, but not as serious as it ended up being," Mr. Nagin said. "My interactions with the president, at any time I talked with him and gave him what the real deal was and gave him the truth, he acted and he made things happen," Mr. Nagin told NBC's "Meet the Press."Note that two weeks later, Gov. Blanco still has not authorized an evacuation of the city nor has she relinquished control of the Guard. So where does Mary Landrieu, later in the story, get off blaming the Feds for not doing what they're not authorized to do? This press that has been hysterical for two weeks that the President should have "taken charge" --could that be the same press that thought it was outrageous for Congress & the Prez to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case? Is this the same press that nitpicks the Patriot Act to death? So. . . when the legitimately elected representatives of the people enact legislation lawfully, and the President executes the law, that endangers our freedom. But the President is out of line not to sieze power from a sitting Governor? Allegiance to the Constitution is a little variable, wouldn't you say?
There's an operetta called Mademoiselle Modiste in which a main character sings, "I want what I want when I want it." Could be the theme song of our petulant, arrogant, ignorant, lazy, unquestioning press.
