\jeff{krimmel}

Karl Rove To The Rescue

According to Elisabeth Bumiller and Richard W. Stevenson at The New York Times, President Bush has placed his chief political strategist, Karl Rove, in charge of leading the reconstruction efforts in the Gulf region.

This move sends the most obvious messages about the priorities this administration has isolated regarding the crisis wrought by Hurricane Katrina. It appears President Bush is more interested in battling the lowest approval ratings ever seen during his presidency than choosing a qualified head for the reconstruction efforts. How much experience does Karl Rove have orchestrating reconstruction plans period, much less one of the size required to rebuild most of the Gulf region? About as much experience as Michael Brown had when he as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Karl Rove is excellent at making the most politically of a given situation. This much has been proven time and again via his outstanding success rate running various campaigns over the past couple of decades. It is clear that these skills are what this administration wants most out of the person who is heading potentially the most significant reconstruction project in the history of this country. It really is a shame that a well-respected business leader or distinguished military personality was not asked to spearhead this most crucial of joint government-industry efforts.

In a related note, ABC aired a Primetime special replaying many of the events of the first week after the hurricane hit. I had seen several of the images before, but some were brand new. During a particularly desperate stretch, personnel were asking the patients in a flooded hospital to say their name. If the patient could say his or her name, nurses would administer an IV. If a patient was not able to say his or her name, no IV was administered. Resources were so scarce that they had to be saved for those who had a chance of surviving until authorities cleared evacuation routes.

Of course, ABC included the now infamous quote, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job”, uttered by President Bush days before Mr. Brown’s dismissal from the rescue and recovery efforts. And the president wonders why there seems to be a growing image of him as being disconnected from and uninformed of the realities at hand, both in this country and in the Middle East.