Democrats Lead – With Their Rights
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, not wishing to lose out on the Bush-bashing, have apparently forgotten that they hold high positions in Congress and could have proposed legislation dealing with any perceived emergency response shortcomings at any time, unlike President Bush, who, of course, cannot propose any legislation whatsoever.
Here’s what the twin titans of tinfoil had to say today:
In a letter to the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee chairwoman, Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, pressed for a wide-ranging investigation and answers to several questions, including: ”How much time did the president spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation? Did the fact that he was outside of Washington, D.C., have any effect on the federal government’s response?”At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush’s choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had ”absolutely no credentials.”
She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.
”He said ‘Why would I do that?”’ Pelosi said.
”’I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn’t go right last week.’ And he said ‘What didn’t go right?”’
”Oblivious, in denial, dangerous,” she added.
Please…does anyone, anywhere, really believe the conversation described by Pelosi took place? I’d wager every cent I’ll ever earn that it did not…at least not in any form approaching the one given. And as to Reid’s despicable suggestion that Bush cared more about vacation than Katrina, I’d like to ask the Senator what day and time his plane touched down in Washington…unbelievably crass, and a perfect illustration of why people consistently reject Democrats in national elections.
Better question, at least for those who keep screaming that Brown was patently unqualified for the post– what did Senate Democrats (including Howard Reid) have to say about Brown in August, 2002, when he was confirmed by the Senate as FEMA head?
(Congressional Record, from August 1st 2002 — it looks like he was confirmed without a recorded vote — i.e. unanimous consent.)
(Committee Hearings — current Democratic Whip Dick Durbin’s on the committee — asked no questions, in fact didn’t show up for the hearing.
The Chairman of the committee (Governmental Affairs) Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) concluded with: “Mr. Brown, I thank you very much. I will certainly support your nomination. I will do my best to move it through the Committee as soon as possible so we can have you fully and legally at work in your new position. In the meantime, I thank you very much. I thank your family for their support of you, and at this point, we will adjourn the hearing.“)
Apparently the White House has already repudiated Pelosi’s rather creative take on her conversation with the President. NRO doesn’t offer a link, but they put up a transcript of McClellan’s remarks on the subject here:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/05_09_04_corner-archive.asp#075834
To tell you the truth, Mark, I never thought your future earnings were in any serious jeopardy.
Of all the cheap shots you could fire, are there any lamer than the silly insistence that a president who is on vacation from the White House (be it at Crawford, Martha’s Vineyard, Kennebunkport, Santa Barbara, etc.) is somehow off-duty? Unless I’ve been misinformed, I believe all those locations have connections to that newfangled telephone device Mr. Bell invented, not to mention he’s almost always surrounded by staff except when he’s in the john. It’s not like he needs to be in the Oval Office pressing buttons to do the job. The main difference seems to be that he doesn’t need to wear a suit to work when he’s on “vacation.”
Given the pressures the president is under, I’d rather he get out of the office from time to time. If anyone in this country needs to do that, it’s the guy in the Big White Jail.
and/or bush actually asked her questions back to her questions to get her to explain herself. “ok, nancy, what didn’t go right? can you give me some examples? how factual is your information? tell me what you think we could have done better knowing what you know to be true right now? etc.)
utron, it’s a good thing…I’m so in debt I need every penny of those future earnings! sue, exactly…clearly SOME conversation took place, but methinks we’ve got a bit of a case of selective memory, here…
I would believe every word of that conversation. A liberal complained, the President asked her to precisely state the exact nature of her complaint, and she declined to do so on the basis that she assumed everyone everywhere simply agreed with her.
I’d say conversations like that happen everyday in Washington.
Since when is the question, “What exactly went wrong?” a bad question to ask? And when asked such a question, why wouldn’t a liberal so dedicated to the people take the time to answer it?
Reason: The answer to the question might suggest something other than total blame for the President.
Jim, good point; the words could be close to correct, but the suggestion is that Bush thinks everything is hunky-dory; in reality, the interpretation you gave is far more likely.