Petrelis Files

WaPo's Dan Balz Weighs in on Bush's NOLA Speech

I think Balz and the Washington Post have it wrong, to a certain degree. Bush and his presidency can't be repaired, at least not with a lame speech way too late. So much build-up for the speech and very little substance delivered by Bush. Now that this speech, so late in the Katrina disaster, is over, it's time to start asking when Bush will face an audience of Americans not pre-screened by his advance team and how long will it take before he holds a news conference with skeptical reporters asking hard questions.

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A Bid to Repair a Presidency

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 16, 2005; Page A01

The main text of President Bush's nationally televised address last night was the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, but the clear subtext was the rebuilding of a presidency that is now at its lowest point ever, confronted by huge and simultaneous challenges at home and abroad -- and facing a country divided along partisan and racial lines.

Hurricane Katrina struck at the core of Bush's presidency by undermining the central assertion of his reelection campaign, that he was a strong and decisive leader who could keep the country safe in a crisis. Never again will the White House be able to point to his often-praised performance after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, without skeptics recalling the fumbling and slow-off-the-mark response of his administration after the hurricane and the flooding in New Orleans ...[snip]