And all of it choreographed in advance.

I’d be inclined to agree if the photo was taken by anyone other than a Reuters’ photographer. They haven’t exactly been kind to him lately. In fact, they’ve been among the few in the media to speak plainly for some time now.

The president’s choreographed moments make him look good. And they’re pretty easy to spot because he’s a lousy actor. Always stiff and ‘on’. This looks like one of the most genuine moments I’ve seen stolen by a photographer. He’s tired, sweaty, and, I’d be willing to bet, pretty overwhelmed by the beating he’s taken the last couple of weeks...and, more than likely, pretty baffled by it.

There is a sharp contrast between his confident demeanor during his speech and this photograph.

I look at that photo and think, “You’ve no one to blame but yourself.”

Well, I’m willing to disagree, especially with someone as thoughtful and vigorous as your self, but why isn’t this photo just like his pronunciation of “nucular”? Calculated to make him seem like a regular joe with the weight of the worlds thrust on his shoulders. If he looks sweaty and weary, Joe Sixpack will relate. Maybe it is honest, but I could easily believe that someone with a spritzer bottle doused his back when they knew his back would be most visible climbing those stairs.

LOL! Well, the thought did cross my mind re the spritzer bottle. 

I dunno. It just doesn’t seem to fit. To me. I supposed it’s all in the interpretation we want to see. Some will see the Joe Sixpack kind of guy who is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. You see a choreographed event. I see a guy who looks like a beaten puppy who needs his Condi to console him because the world is being mean to him.

I wonder what other people see.

Blame, finger point, blame, finger point. I can’t even turn on the news anymore. I feel for the people. The actual people that got stuck there during the storm. The city and the state had the means to get them out but, they didn’t. And even sadder, even if they did, a lot of them would probably have stayed. No one ever thought it would have been that bad. How many times have the weather people hyped up storms and we panic only to have it be just a gust of wind and rain. Growing up in New England I have been through that more times than I can count!
I really don’t like GWB but, I think its even sadder that the DEM’s are using this misfortune of the people of the hurricane to bash him. He is NOT first in line for the finger pointing and blame. The Mayor, the Gov, and the STATE are first in line. Just plain sad.
I don’t even like this country that I live in anymore. And its not because of who the President is cause, the last one sucked, and the next one will too! American’s are a bunch of whining spoiled brats. Nothing is ever good enough. And we all want to blame someone for something and never admit when we are in the wrong.

No sweat ring under his arm.  Either he’s been leaning hard against a plastic-covered seat or someone doused him as Pablo suggests.

JustMe, we will never agree, you know that. So I’m not even gonna get started because I’ll start SHOUTING at ya.

PS. Stop watching FOX! Dammit.

N, his arm isn’t lifted. How can you tell? BTW, did you see the photos of his shirt buttoned wrong? It must have been a bad day.

Blame, finger point, blame, finger point. I can’t even turn on the news anymore. I feel for the people.

After this observation, “Just Me” goes on to let us all know who is first in line for the blame in Louisiana.  I’m glad someone is there to point out the “real truth” to the rest of us unwashed masses.  I love it how people see things through their own prism, and are so often unable to step back for one second to see the big picture.

My final point:  meteorology is a FAR from exact science.  I don’t think the NOAA and the National Hurricane Center hype anything.  They err on the side of worst case scenarios, which of course they MUST do… Sheesh.

Yes, when a Category 5 Hurricane is less than 100 miles off shore in very warm waters with no where else to go but on shore, and the National Weather Service (a government agency) is jumping up and down screaming that this is going to be a catastrophic storm, you’d think the other parts of the government (FEMA, subsidiary of Homeland Security) would pay attention and get their ducks lined up so they could swoop in on the *heels* of the storm, not 5-7 days later. Because it’s clear that there was going to be a huge amount of damage regardless of whether any levees broke. (Despite the government’s own models warning of levee breaks in a strong Cat 3 storm, along with the same warnings in the National Geographic last year and a series run in NOLA’s own Times-Picayune, last year). How does one say no one knew it would be that bad? That’s an excuse, not a reason for the poor FEMA showing. The Mississippi coast was flattened for miles inland and they still aren’t getting much FEMA support. That’s not the governor’s fault and I sure as heck don’t hear anyone laying blame on Haley Barbour for that.

Just Me, you and I both know that I’m no where near psychic, but if you’d like to re-read my post just prior to the hurrican’s landfall, it would seem to me that if *I* was concerned about levee breaks, there were a whole lot of other people in high places who knew the very real potential. So what happened?

This was a catastrophic event with 3 days of warning. What if some terrorist decides to blow up Hoover dam? No warning. If our Homeland Security can’t deal with 3 days of warning before a Hurricane, where does that leave us when something catastrophic happens without warning? That’s what these guys are supposed to be doing. Planning and preparing and doing worst case scenario models so that they are ready to spring into action within minutes. The new Homeland Security Department failed. And who is ultimately responsible for that? The President of the United States—for reasons, not the least of which, being the filling of top posts in these agencies with political cronies who had absolutely no experience in disaster management. Our lives in the hands of incompetents. 

They are all incompetents and always will be. They are politicians.  And don’t get me wrong, Bush is very much to blame for a lot of this, as is FEMA. I just think the mayor and governor and the state could and should have done a lot more first. JMHO. They had the means and they KNEW what could happen better than anyone and they blew it. If I lived there I wouldn’t want to go back if the mayor and governor were still in office there. Again, JMHO.
What I meant was that I think it is sad that the people are going through this and people that have no clue (you, me and most of the people posting here) what they are going through are doing are most typical American bitching/bashing of who is most to blame whilst we sit dry warm and fed. JMHO again (nothing written in stone that my opinions are “The” only “Right” opinions).
You know this is why I hate, hate politics. It’s always one side or the other. No in between for most people. I’m right your wrong if you are not signed up to my side. Kinda like the whole religion thing if you ask me. (if you don’t believe in my beliefs then you are going to hell)
And what surprised me most is that you bought into a side Kate. Never thought I would see the day when you would.
I will never BELONG to a party ever. I think it taints peoples opinions and sways them one way over the other. And keeps them from keeping more of and open mind to things.
And this post is for Kate only. The rest of you do not know me one bit. Kate does. Very well.
I don’t watch FOX LOL. Hum, funny how or why you would think I did. Bet if I was a full fledged Dem you wouldn’t say that. (jab-jab) And of course if I was a republican I most certainly would only watch FOX right? (you know I am just harassing you right?)

And dk, I think you should read what I wrote over again, and again cause, you didn’t get what I was saying in the slightest.

J, I strongly disagree with the current politics of the Republican party in control of two, and probably soon to be three, branches of our government. I’m not neutral. I’m not apolitical. And I certainly don’t intend to pretend to be indifferent to the damage the Republican machine is doing to this country. Give me a little credit for being able to think for myself. If I’m siding with anything, it’s for the preservation of this country that the current administration is working overtime to dismantle. I arrived at this point by simply observing what’s going on in the world. I don’t like it and I will fight it. That’s called taking a stand for what I believe in. Nothing more, nothing less. I know you’re having a problem accepting this, but you’ll have to. That’s me. Who I am. What I believe in. Times and circumstances change. These people scare the hell out me.

He looks like a broken man

That’s what the picture feels like to me, too, Sian.