Piling On

From Digby:

Disaster Pageant

Is it really appropriate for all these disaster officials to be on television pretending to be "briefing" the president (who is dressed in his campaign costume) so that he can appear to be engaged in the problem? Don't they have better things to do than raise Bush's poll numbers?

Now he's "going to go comfort some people." Who says he isn't doing his job?

Fact is at this point Bush won't be able to do anything right. I don't know yet whether his actions in visiting New Orleans are useful or effective and I'm likely to be one of the first in line to nail the guy at every turn. But I also know that politics, as opposed to leadership, is about momentum.

During 9/11, Bush reaped a harvest of positive momentum due to American patriotism and grief. Remember? The guy couldn't do anything wrong. Nothing. The media spun virtually everything he did as positive, "leadership", "bold" and every other hyperbolic description of a virtual George Washington leading the nation through the revolution.

With the horrendous pictures and stories coming out of New Orleans, coupled with the inadequacies and failures of FEMA and the federal government in general in responding to hurricane Katrina, note that the media will go with the momentum of trashing Bush...no matter what he does. Most of it deserved...some of it not. Should the Dems pile on? Probably. It's good politics given the reality of the situation. Is it good statesmanship? I don't think so. But it's how the game is played.

Mind you, it's a bit of the chickens coming home to roost. But a cattle stampede sort of response in politics and particularly in the media is not useful to the actual running of the country.

"Live by the sword......Die by the sword"