Worst Bush Moments #3: Strumming While New Orleans Flooded

As the 9th Street Levee was gushing forth a torrent of water, water that was filling up New Orleans like a soup bowl, our president was doing this:

bush-katrina.jpg

Now, remember, this was after Katrina had hit, after we knew that, at best, there was serious devastation in the Gulf region. Katrina was a particularly awful hurricane, but even minor hurricanes do tens of millions of dollars in damage, and a hurricane of Katrina’s size is likely to cost lives, at least a few.

Bush could be forgiven for not knowing just how bad Katrina was in the day after it hit — there was cautious optimism at the time that levees had held, and that the damage might not be catastrophic. But it was cautious optimism, optimism that would ultimately fade as we got news, not just from New Orleans, but from Gulfport and points east as well.

George W. Bush chose to deal with this serious situation by goofing around, getting a free guitar, and giving John McCain a birthday cake — actions no man who actually cared about the people he led could have taken.

Of course, Bush never really gave a damn about the people he led. And no day more perfectly illustrated the contempt in which he holds you, me, and 1800 dead Louisianans than August 30, 2005. Thank God that in 24 hours’ time, he won’t have to deal with the rabble anymore.

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5 Responses to Worst Bush Moments #3: Strumming While New Orleans Flooded

  1. 1
    Susanne says:

    No, no, no. I despise GWB, but this is a photoshopped picture. It was widely circulated post-Katrina – and widely debunked. Check Snopes, please. The man is bad enough on his own merits — no need to fake dumb things he’s done.

  2. What is about this guy and his poor (and recorded) responses to our nation’s tragedies?

    (came across your site for the first time today…)

  3. 3
    Jeff Fecke says:

    Susanne–

    Sorry, this picture is all too real. The picture was photoshopped into even worse pictures, like Bush playing the guitar while literally in New Orleans. But this pic is real.

  4. 4
    Brandon Berg says:

    Of course, Bush never really gave a damn about the people he led.

    The president leads the employees of the executive branch of the government. To say that he leads the citizens of the US in general suggests a deeply flawed view of the proper role of government in our lives.

  5. 5
    DSimon says:

    George W. Bush chose to deal with this serious situation by goofing around, getting a free guitar, and giving John McCain a birthday cake — actions no man who actually cared about the people he led could have taken.

    In the context of the government’s crappy emergency response, this sort of stuff was definitely salt in the wound. But the wound itself is what really concerns me: Isn’t the “worst moment” really the lack of proper government action, rather than Bush’s antics?

    In a better world, one where the administration had done its job properly, I wouldn’t have begrudged Bush the occasional moment of relaxation.

    (Though, while I’m wishing, I’d also like some flying unicorns and a yacht…)