I Don't Know If I'm Ready For A Pandering Bush

Contrary to last night's group hug, even the republican party is split over the cost of juniors photo op initiatives.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/politics/16cong.html?ei=5065&en=c0ed71e0e95938c4&ex=1127448000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

If he follows through with his promises of looking at future city evacuation plans and helping those in gulf with money (they do need it); then I will be pleasantly flabbergasted. I don't know how we can just spending and keep giving those tax breaks to the corporations and keeping up the cost of the Iraq war. Sooner or later something is going to have to give.

I thought the rolled up sleeves and open collar a nice touch.

should I or

Like in 1929....

Should of used an emoticon.

But really, what was he trying to indicate now with his outfit, was he just about to help out the workers or what? He sure has a thing about playing dress up for every big event. Makes you wonder what he used to do in his childhood.

Bear
Bear, like you, I was unimpressed. Although Bush did read from his teleprompter better than he usually does. I suspect that his speech was written by Karen Hughes. It seemed to be her style of Bush speak. She's also adept at using words Bush can pronounce.

It would be interesting to make a list of all the promises Bush made. Then keep track of them to see how many he actually fulfilled or tried but failed to fulfill. Bush has a habit of saying he is going to do something, as in State of the Union speeches, and not actually doing it. It's all image propaganda for political purposes.

I surfed around the TV, except for Fox News, listening to the talking heads after the speech. After complimenting Bush for accepting responsibility again, they generally had nothing good to say about the speech. They were astonished at "small government" Bush proposing spending taxpayer's money to the max. Some of it even for poor African-American people. They opined that Bush's proposals would split the Republican Party wide open.

CNN posted a poll with several questions about the speech. I was amazed to see how negative the voters reacted to Bush's speech.

But I will give Bush credit for having his hair combed, wearing a clean shirt. Even his fly appeared to be zipped.

BBB

If think we've all heard enough about this "taking responsibility" nonsense.

What does it mean?

Incompetence on this scale in the private sector would have the responsible party's head rolling. Is he going to resign?

Or is he going to continue to run this country into the ground...and pretend that he had made a "grown-up" move with this pathetic "I take responsibility" crap?


again...I will s

Bear
Bear, several commentators have noticed the similarity of last night's Bush speech and his speech proposing and justifying going to war in Iraq.

I think Bush has about six speeches. They just move the paragraphs around and change a name, a country, or a city. They don't have to put a lot of effort into writing new speeches because they are not sincere about any of the issues except to win elections. The political ends justify any means.

BBB

Bush, and Satchmo, in New Orleans
Bush, and Satchmo, in New Orleans
By Greg Mitchell
Editors and Publishers
September 15, 2005

It seemed almost a sacrilege for the president to stand in the jazz-mad French Quarter, using the St. Louis Cathedral and statue of Andrew Jackson as a Disney-like backdrop, and announce that NOW he is going to do something, after the death and destruction are done.

President Bush closed his comeback speech in New Orleans on Thursday night, standing not far from where Louis Armstrong grew up and Preservation Hall still (somehow) stands, with a reference to the local tradition of jazz funerals, which begin as dirges and end with the joyful "second-line."

With that, Satchmo must have rolled over in his grave. But at least he has a grave, unlike the hundreds or perhaps thousands of fellow African-Americans who were killed by, among other things, federal indifference to the flood threat before it happened, and criminal negligence after it struck.

Armstrong, of course, sang it best in his 1930 classic "Black and Blue":

How will it end? Ain't got a friend
My only sin, is in my skin
What did I do? To be so black and blue

It seemed almost a sacrilege for the president to stand in the jazz-mad French Quarter, using the St. Louis Cathedral and statue of Andrew Jackson as a Disney-like backdrop, and announce that NOW he is going to do something, after the death and destruction are done, leaving the taxpayers with a $200 billion bill (much of which will go straight into the already Iraq-packed pockets of his friends at Halliburton and Bechtel and the like). His speech came on the very day The New York Times published an article about the many jazz and blues musicians from the Big Easy now forced to live in Cajun country and beyond, perhaps never to return to their homes and livelihoods.

In the White House pool report just before the speech, the president's men boasted that they had thrown extra light on the cathedral backdrop. One aide said of the extra illumination: "Oh, it's heated up. It's going to print loud.''

Somewhat late in life, I have come to love the city, people, food, and music of New Orleans, site of many recent newspaper industry conventions (including one of our own), not to mention the beloved JazzFest. In fact, I spent many hours, while chronicling the disaster two weeks ago here at E&P Online, searching for news of local musicians. On various days, I reported, for example, that Fats Domino, Pete Fountain, and "Gatesmouth" Brown were missing, then lost, then found -- though Gates later passed away after evacuating to Texas.

The New York Times carried word earlier this week that many members of Preservation Hall bands had gotten out in time, now scattered with the tide, some as far away as New York City. One older trumpet player I caught at the Hall just this past June -- John Brunious, from a famed line of musicians -- was discovered in Arkansas. But I know nothing of his brother Wendell Brunious, who I'd seen the previous night at the funky club Donna's. Wendell was playing that night with drummer Bob French, someone else I haven't located.

And what of Henry Butler, who sat in with Michelle Shocked at a free outdoor concert in the rain, also in June? And Jon Cleary (not to mention his Absolute Monster Gentlemen)?

Then there's one of my real favorites, a clarinetist/sax player with an extraordinary face named Jacques Gauthe. One memorable day, I came across him, quite by accident, in three different venues -- in a street festival, at the Hall, and then even later at night at a club. Haven't heard a word about him.

One shouldn't assume that any or all of them, because they are fairly well known in NOLA music circles, had enough dough to live on higher ground or owned cars in which to escape. Most are black and barely making do. They make enough to live on, and when you love music as much as they do, and live in New Orleans, that is just enough. Even Fats Domino, who has made millions, still chose to remain (until the flood) in the downtrodden and flood-wrecked Ninth Ward.

Last week, when I wrote about the amazing story of Charmaine Neville, another Ninth Warder, and her battle to survive through high water, rape, and gunshots, several readers wrote to suggest that her story could not possibly be true. As part of the famous Neville family, and a semi-successful singer herself, surely she had enough money to live, or get, out of town? But, sad to say, like so many others, she just made scufflin' money, and has, as she put, "few resources."

So perhaps I'm a bit touchy about our president using the French Quarter to try to bring what seems, this month, like the death, and burial, of his presidency to an end, and launch into a swinging "second-line" tribute to his glory days -- before he squandered it all, and then some, on a foolish war and a belated rescue mission in New Orleans. One thing those two Bush tragedies have in common: Americans dying needlessly.

Somewhere Satchmo is not playing "Wonderful World."
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Greg Mitchell ([email protected]) is editor of E&P and a frequent visitor to New Orleans.

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Re: I Don't Know If I'm Ready For A Pandering Bush


Isn't it obvious what is going on here? Bush's handlers are trying a new strategy to make Bush likeable. They are now trying to morph him into...BILL CLINTON!!!

These posts strike me as relatively pointless. It's clear that there's virtually nothing Bush could do that wouldn't be criticized by you. For instance, had he not gone to New Orleans, someone in your crowd would have said that he was indifferent to the plight of ordinary people. Since he did go, I have seen it here described as a photo op. The good things that happen in the country are attributed to his subordinates or external forces, all bad things to him. You rarely provide evidence or analysis to back up your claims or your attacks on other peoples' claims. These are simply worthless expressions of your hatred of the president.

I thought you were ignoring me? After all, my posts are meaningless and you have many important things to do no doubt.

Brandon


People who need evidence or analysis to understand Bush's massive failure of governance have their heads up their butts.

Molly Ivins got it right in her 9/15/05 column:

"Some of you may have heard me observe a time or two--going back to when George W. was still governor of Texas--that the trouble with the guy is that while he is good at politics, he stinks at governance. It bores him, he's not interested, he thinks government is bad to begin with and everything would be done better if it were contracted out to corporations.

We can now safely assert that W. has stacked much of the federal government with people like himself. And what you get when you put people in charge of government who don't believe in government and who are not interested in running it well is ... what happened after Hurricane Katrina.

Many a time in the past six years I have bit my tongue so I wouldn't annoy people with the always obnoxious observation, "I told you so." But I did.

Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention."

BBB

As usual, you fear to address what I say to you.

Re: Brandon

You can throw around your insults and cheap shots, but the fact remains that claims without evidence are always improper in debating forums such as this, unless what is being claimed is truly self-evident. You don't back up what you say simply because what you say is wrong and not susceptible to being backed up.

Re: Brandon


Brandon, why do you always think everything posted on A2K is for the purpose of debating? Not everyone is obsessive about debating.

BBB

If bush were to go out with a musical pipe and lead all his followers of a cliff I woiuldn't criticize that... oh wait... that is what he's doing. Thank goodness you guys won't realize it until you're in mid air on the way down. Thins the herd and all.

Bear
Bear, as a musician, what did you think of Greg Mitchell's column posted on page 1?

Bush, and Satchmo, in New Orleans
By Greg Mitchell
Editors and Publishers
September 15, 2005

BBB

I think music, like all forms of artistic expression can be twisted this way and that to suit ones agenda. I also think once again, in a small way, the creation of art by blacks has been usurped by whites. No different from Sun records wanting an artist who was white but sounded black so it could be sold to the masses safely.