The PR President

With his sleeves rolled up for the cameras and his nose red from his vacation, our failed president is once again in full PR mode. Funny how efficient Bush is when it comes to public relations and how inefficient he is when it comes to doing his job. Rep. Nancy Pelosi has a column on The Huffington Post that reminds us of the reality behind Bush's latest attempt to buff up his image:

It's no secret that the Bush Administration values politics and press opportunities over policy. But the dichotomy between the White House media campaign marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the harsh reality Gulf Coast residents have been facing these past 12 months is unconscionable. President Bush has devoted more time and preparation to this public relations blitz than to helping the people of the Gulf Coast.

While the President pats himself on the back and touts his Administration's appalling performance, thousands of families are still waiting for FEMA trailers. The incompetence, mishandling, and shear opportunistic greed that has occurred under the President's watch has been stunning - with $2 billion of the $19 billion spent by FEMA having been wasted on fraud and abuse. But even as families continue to wait for temporary housing, the locks on as many as 118,000 trailers used by Gulf Coast hurricane victims have to be replaced because they could be opened by multiple keys. Tests have also revealed that 94 percent of FEMA trailers tested have hazardous levels of formaldehyde gas, a respiratory irritant and carcinogen. When it comes to the health, security and protection of the American people, negligence and failure have no place.

I can still remember Bush's televised speech from New Orleans in Jackson Square. There were floodlights providing Bush with a nice PR background. The only problem is that there was no electricity for the lights but Karl Rove brought in generators for the speech. And afterwards, the lights went out and the generators were sent away. That in essence is the Bush presidency: action when the cameras are rolling and inaction when the cameras are off.