"No one can forget the iconic picture of President George Bush flying on Air Force one..looking down at New Orleans during Katrina," gushed NBC's Andrea Mitchell just before the beginning of the Republican convention. Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Bush flew over the city two days later. Hurricane Issac also hit Louisiana on August 29th. Thus a question for Andrea and her pals: Will you "remember" that the current president didn't even bother to fly over, much less visit Louisiana until September 3rd? And will you tell the American people he had no plans to do so until Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited the flood-ravaged areas of that state last Friday and forced his hand?
Will you tell the public that while David Chalian, the termite formerly working for Yahoo! News, was broadcasting the idea that Republicans "are happy to have a party while black people drown" Barack Obama was doing virtually the only thing he's been doing for the last four years, namely campaigning? I know a line like "Obama is happy to campaign while all of Louisiana is drowning" is something you and your colleagues wouldn't dream of attaching to a Democrat president--but it applies nonetheless.
You know what was out there in the media over the holiday weekend instead? "Pretend President" Romney visits Louisiana for nothing more than a photo-op with first responders he intends to pink slip, was the spew at the Daily Kos. The
Washington Post stayed with that theme, publishing a high-profile a story of Harry Reid calling Romney's visit hypocrisy. “It is the height of hypocrisy for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to make a pretense of showing sympathy for the victims of Hurricane Isaac when their policies would leave those affected by this disaster stranded and on their own,” Reid blathered.
Obama did make one legitimate stop during Isaac, visiting soldiers in Texas on August 31st, to mark the two-year anniversary of the end of the Iraq war. The would be the same Barack Obama who, along with Harry and the rest of the Democrats, have gutted military spending, with even more automatic cuts coming as a result the debt ceiling impasse last August.
But I'd bet my life no one in the mainstream media will accuse the president of hypocrisy for visiting soldiers whose lives will be further endangered by cuts in defense spending.
The
Los Angeles Times covered for Obama as well, with a story of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney saying the president's decision to travel to Louisiana was made before Romney announced his visit. In other words, Jay is claiming Obama
thought about going before Romney did. And even though he didn't say so, Jay's implying that makes Obama just as concerned about Louisiana as Romney is, if not more so--and the
Times doesn't even offer a hint of skepticism. The
Times did, however, re-iterate the hypocrisy angle Democrats were desperately trying to sell while they waited for their standard-bearer to "lead from behind" in Louisiana.
The good news is that Obama will actually make it to Louisiana. When flooding overwhelmed Tennessee in May of 2010, the president was MIA. Nor did he bother to visit the areas of the South devastated by tornadoes in April of 2011, despite 45 people being killed, and scores of others being left injured and homeless. During that disaster, the president was also campaigning--when he wasn't golfing.
Most Americans won't remember those failures of leadership because the same hopelessly in-the-tank media that made the Katrina/Bush story an archetype for government failure--accompanied by a racist undercurrent--can't possibly bring themselves to apply the same standard to this president.
But I can. It's been a long time since I said so, but it bears repeating: beneath the imperious air, the narcissistic aura, and the overwhelming self-absorption, Barack Obama is, at heart, a slacker. I cannot remember another president from either party who simultaneously enjoyed the trappings of the office more--and the duties of the office less. But don't take my word for it. The book, “The Rise of the President’s Permanent Campaign,” by Brendan J. Doherty, reveals that Obama has held more fundraisers than the previous five presidents combined. He has also played four times as many rounds of golf in four years than Bush did in eight.
And the president has continued with his party-hearty lifestyle while the economy sputters, the Middle East goes up Islamic flames, and people in states hit by disaster wait for him to show up--when he bothers to show up at all.
This week is the Democrats' convention. The real entertainment here won't be the Democrats. It will be the gushing from the #-corps media, more than willing to prostrate themselves for their ideological soul-mates. The same bunch who couldn't find a good thing to say about anyone at the GOP convention won't find a single bad thing to say about anyone in Charlotte. Make no mistake: by Tuesday, Isaac, Louisiana, and the flooding will be swept into the dustbin of media non-existence--unless they can somehow be exploited for Obama's benefit.
And the same bunch who were foaming at the mouth during last week's GOP convention will be getting a collective tingle up their legs this time around.
