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Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar

By Jeralyn, Section Huricanes Katrina and Rita
Posted on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 08:35:34 PM EST
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Via Crooks and Liars and George .

While millions of Americans have lost their homes or lives in the devastation wrought by hurricane Katrina, Bush not only goes about business as usual, he plays the guitar.

He couldn't even do a ballad? Not even, While My Guitar Gently Weeps? Jeez...

I look at the world and I notice it’s turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don’t know how you were inverted
No one alerted you.

Party on, Mr. President.

< Bush Administration cut funding for NOLA flood control in 2003 | Ode to New Orleans >

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    Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar | 43 comments (43 topical)
    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#1)
    by DawesFred60 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 08:58:44 PM EST
    Bush hates us all and his love for power is endless and his hate for America is understood for what it is. Watch out for this guy, don't be fooled by evil.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#3)
    by jarober on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 09:09:47 PM EST
    Oh my gosh - hundreds of thousands suffering, and all TL can do is blog! The insensitivity of it all!

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 09:20:33 PM EST
    In these times of American hyper-partisanship, even the response to an act of God like hurricane Katrina is revealing. The disaster, which devastated the extremely red states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, brought no snide claims of "divine retribution" from the voices of the left. No one declared that a just God wrought vengeance upon the South for its sins of slavery, succession, civil war, Jim Crow or more recently, its coronation of George W. Bush. Instead, the liberal blogosphere, led by sites like DailyKos, urged readers to come to the aid of their fellow Americans, providing news updates, offers of shelter for refugees and support for the Red Cross. Contrast that reaction to the compassionate conservative response of the radical right to acts of God - and man. Time and after time, the mouthpieces of the American Taliban that now have the ear of the President and the wallet of the Republican Party praised the wrath of an angry God that smited their enemies for a laundry list of sins and perversions... For the full story, see: "Hurricanes, Divine Retribution and the Right."

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 09:35:58 PM EST
    Hundreds of thousands of people have been suffering in Iraq for 3 friggin years under the Bush plan or lack of! Where is your sensitivity? Sensitivity? For the fourth straight year the poverty levels in America has increased while we give tax breaks to the wealthy. Sensitivity? How about the 45,000,000 Americans who have no health insurance and the millions who die because of that. Where is the sensitivity of our leadership? My gosh!?

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 10:08:59 PM EST
    Some folks are born made to wave the flag, ooh, they're red, white and blue. And when the band plays "Hail To The Chief", oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord, It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no, Some folks are born silver spoon in hand, Lord, don't they help themselves, oh. But when the taxman come to the door, Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes, It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son. It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no. Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes, ooh, they send you down to war, Lord, And when you ask them, how much should we give, oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh, It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no, It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no,

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 10:24:12 PM EST
    Notice the secret service agent in casual attire behind the guitar. Listen: Bush's faith-based initiatives, such as the one depicted here, take priority over disaster relief, even for disasters of historic proportions. And don't say Bush didn't do anything for Louisiana: he cut their federal funding, because Louisiana wasn't one of the 2004 battleground states.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 10:42:24 PM EST
    Bush has Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the job of crusading Leader is the worst possible thing for his psychiatric condition. He is nearly at his wit's end. His people are co-dependent. What is attributed to Karl Rove's 'politics' is often more like supplying Bush with the narcissistic reflection of himself that he craves; the aircraft carrier stunt, for instance, obviously carried too much political risk for the gain, except it is how Bush wished perceive himself as crusading Leader. His narcissism has gotten worse and worse and now he can't handle the 'real' world much at all. Not that he ever cared at all about the fate of New Orleans, but also he is a fragile and very, very dangerous man.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#11)
    by DawesFred60 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 11:27:16 PM EST
    But jon isn't it fun?

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#12)
    by DawesFred60 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 11:31:50 PM EST
    Ronald Baker, we have no leadership because this is not a nation just a business deal, and croatoan that is great thank you.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#10)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 12:18:43 AM EST
    As oil company profits are heading into the stratosphere, it's not surprising to see him strumming away and making a joyful noise.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 12:19:57 AM EST
    My what a startling coincidence between your blog post and this one written earlier by Prof. Juan Cole. You should cite your sources.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 01:29:07 AM EST
    The Good Old Boy who has killed 130,000+ Iraqis in the effort to dismantle their country. Bush is such a psychopath -in-search-of-more-fools -to-believe-in-him that next we will see Painter Bush -- mostly watercolors and landscapes, but some sculptural items that utilize Iraqi ears and other trophies of illegal war. And then a whole host of Zelig roles, all with that same smirk in the face of people who he betrayed. Like the way he fit himself into the 'Stalin' position in the Candadian painting. And then, there he was, standing next to Putin and Koizumi with his underwear sticking out of his zipper. Old Bill Clinton never did THAT. And on, and on -- competing with his father(s) to the last, unaware that he has earned the permanent enmity of the human race. He had a shot at the vision thing, but lined his pockets and sat on his can instead.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#13)
    by jarober on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 04:35:33 AM EST
    Ernesto - you claim that oil company profits are skyrocketing. Hmm - we know that the basic commodity cost is going up - meaning, they have to pay more to get it in the first place. Refining costs are also up, due to damage in the Gulf area. What that means is that there's a price spike all through the system, being passed on to end consumers. That's the market at work, not evil corporate machinations.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#14)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 04:47:57 AM EST
    Shilling for oil companies, JR...that's a new high in low, even for you. You're full of dookie of course.
    A doubling of oil prices since 2003 has put the Irving, Tex.-based company on a pace to surpass Wal-Mart Stores Inc. this year as the largest U.S. company by total revenue.
    Bend over, JR...and let the market go to work on you a little harder.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#15)
    by bad Jim on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 05:13:34 AM EST
    Bush strums while New Orleans floods. Doesn't that ring a bell?

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#16)
    by bad Jim on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 05:23:35 AM EST
    The fun thing about President Bush is that he makes it hard to decide whether he most resembles Nero or Caligula.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 06:08:05 AM EST
    I'm waiting for Bush's call for churches and civic group to pull together as the main line of help. Only if there is political hay to be made or his cronies, or Dick's, can make a buck will Bush get interested in big relief efforts. Hey, maybe Halliburton could do it!

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#18)
    by Ed Drone on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 07:07:21 AM EST
    "I got them Mississippi heavy water blues..." Ed

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 07:44:20 AM EST
    Another classic case of an engineered Catch-22. Bush goes to New Orleans, he's accused of using the devastation for political gain (as happened when he visited New York City after 9-11). Bush stays away, he's accused of being insensitive, disinterested, or clueless (as happened when he didn't immediately fly home to DC on 9-11). Either way, Bush can do nothing right and everyone here feels good about themselves for bashing him one more time. But what do you really expect? I doubt very much that the people working to clean up the mess would welcome a visit from the President right now. There's not a whole lot a bunch of Secret Service guys in dark glasses standing around with guns can do to help out if they have to stay focused on protecting the President. Nor would the news camera crews and reporters falling all over themselves to yell some inane question to W as he gets out of or into a helicopter be of much use to those trying to clear the streets and restore some sort of sanity to the situation. As for whether any of this would help get New Orleans evacuated any faster...well, you be the judge. If George W. Bush was standing in the street trying to direct traffic with a bunch of Secret Service agents giving you the evil eye as you drew closer to him, would this help you in any way? Which is not to say that there aren't things that the President could be doing to help out in this situation, but I suspect that most of those are being handled by agencies and people whose jobs it is to do these things. A speech on the subject, and only the subject, might be nice for those who are always looking for something to complain about in regard to the way he talks or some specific thing he says, but it won't do much for those directly affected, and if you're not directly affected and need W. to tell you what has happened, you're also not at all connected and probably won't hear the speech either. Which does bring up one final point: Contrary to some of the hyperbole being thrown around, this is not the only thing going on in the world. Yes, it's a terrible situation. Millions of people's lives have been devastated, and will continue to be for some time to come. But the world hasn't stopped spinning. Life goes on and not all of us have all day to hang out and watch the weather channel or CNN.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#20)
    by Darryl Pearce on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 07:52:55 AM EST
    Bush can do nothing right and everyone here feels good about themselves for bashing him one more time.
    Well..., yeah. And where have I seen this type of reaction before...? Clinton can do nothing right and everyone here feels good about themselves for bashing him one more time. So, what goes around comes around (especially on the internet). Dubya's a big boy--he can take it (or should be able to take).

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#21)
    by DonS on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:07:35 AM EST
    Either way, Bush can do nothing right and everyone here feels good about themselves for bashing him one more time.
    Bush's track record is of a politician more crass and out of touch than the average . . . since day one. As President, where more skill is called for, he has polarized and lost good will by his actions and his personality, being a thinned skinned and defensive puppet. Call it unfair. I call it chickens coming home to roost.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:14:56 AM EST
    Darryl, You won't get any argument from me there; this site resembles Free Republic during the Clinton years in far too many ways. But I always thought liberals aspired to more than that. Silly me. As for Bush being able to "take it": You must be kidding. Of course he could "take it", if he was even aware of "it", but I doubt anyone in the administration visits this site and I'd be willing to bet that W. never does. So where does that leave us? A site filled with empty leftist rhetoric frequented by the hard-left choir and those few conservatives who have nothing better to do with their time than bait the preacher. Scream all you want, but the reason no one is listening is that they've heard "wolf" about a million too many times. Constant refrain of the same tired claims of illegitimacy and illegality have deafened everyone to those rare instances when something of true merit is raised, just as it did during the Clinton years. If I didn't know better, I'd think TL was working for the administration instead of against it.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#23)
    by Darryl Pearce on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:23:23 AM EST
    Well, Bush has obviously failed at being a "uniter, not a divider." And since we know that this adminstration loves covert operations, "secret, even in success" ... we'll never know whether the news we get is real or something manufactured for some "gaslight" conspiracy. Credit where credit is due: this administation has taught me the meanings of the words "cynical" and "paranoia."

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#24)
    by Strick on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:40:54 AM EST
    So. I see this photograph was taken in San Diego after Bush arranged for federal support for the disaster and just before he announced he was returning early to Washington because of it. My what a nasty, unjustified attack.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:45:49 AM EST
    ok, so Bush doesn't have to go down to New ORleans, the point is, should he really be strumming a guitar and lagihing it up while millions of citizens have just been hit by a huge catastophe? Sure, whether or not you show up at your granny's funeral in an undershirt with a coors light in one hand and a bag of fritos in the other isn't going to change a thing about her dying, but it does betray a lack of respect and care if you show up like that. There's got to be something the president of the united states can do right now besides yuckin' it up at a photo op. The governor of LA and mayor of NO are beggin' for more help from the feds.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#26)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 09:13:39 AM EST
    It looks like he's trying to play a G chord, but he's got it wrong. If he strummed the guitar at the moment of the picture, it would produce a horrible sound.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#27)
    by scribe on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 10:46:50 AM EST
    He's not playing "fortunate son" or any of the other anthems people have cited above. He's playing the blues: "When the levee breaks..."

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#28)
    by Jim Strain on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 10:55:00 AM EST
    It looks like he's trying to play a G chord, but he's got it wrong. If he strummed the guitar at the moment of the picture, it would produce a horrible sound. G chord? To me, it looks like he's flipping the bird. BTW, I hear Bush is considering going to view the devastation later this week (Friday was the day I heard). Regardless of how it might look from a PR standpoint, can anyone imagine that President Clinton wouldn't already be there?

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#29)
    by Strick on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 11:16:30 AM EST
    It looks like he's trying to play a G chord, but he's got it wrong.
    Not if the guitar is tuned down 1/2 step the way so many country players do it.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#30)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 11:43:56 AM EST
    Fred Dawes:
    Bush hates us all
    Hey Fred...Are you making the assumption here that we, or anyone, even matters to Bush? I don't know Fred... Do you really think he cares enough to hate us?

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#31)
    by Edger on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 11:50:10 AM EST
    I don't know Fred... Do you really think he cares enough to hate us?
    - the anonymity above was unintentional... -- edger

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#32)
    by Edger on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 11:58:43 AM EST
    Bourbon blues on the street loose and complete Under skies all smoky blue-green I can Forksake the dixie dead shake So we dance the sidewalk clean My memory is muddy what's this river I'm in New Orleans is sinking and I don't want to swim -- Tragically Hip
    This is an unbelievable tragedy ... is there anything at all that can be said that is helpful... I don't know...

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#33)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 12:17:27 PM EST
    Led Zepplin Lyrics : When The Levee Breaks Led Zepplin Lyrics : When The Levee Breaks When The Levee Breaks If it keeps on rainin’, ’ goin’ to break, If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to , the levee I’ll have no place to stay. Mean old levee taught me to weep and , , mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his , , well, oh, well, oh, well. Don’t it make you feel bad When you’re tryin’ to find your way home, You don’t know which way to go? If you’re goin’ down south They go no work to do, If you don’t know about . ’ won’t help you, ’ won’t do you no good, Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good, When the levee breaks, mama, you got to . last night sat on the levee and moaned, All last night sat on the levee and moaned, Thinkin’ ’bout me baby and my happy home. Going, go’n’ to , ’’ to , but I can’t take you. Going down, going down now, going down

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#34)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 12:22:13 PM EST
    Just think what these idiots would have done if they got their hands on Soc. Security....This guy can't do anything right.. They got him tourin.. until the puppet masters tell him its time to come home now....

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#35)
    by Edger on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    August 16, 2005 Of Course He Is a Psychopath... A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION by Elizabeth ... or a sociopath -- the distinction here is insignificant. I'm a mental health professional and psychopaths are a professional interest of mine. There is little doubt that Bush's is a psychopathic character structure.
    Of Course He Is a Psychopath... August 16, 2005

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#36)
    by MikeDitto on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 01:19:53 PM EST
    Ivor van Heerden of the LSU Hurricane Center (On CNN): 80% of metropolitan New Orleans evacuated before Katrina hit. That means that 250,000 to 300,000 stayed behind. Initial computer models show that as many as one third of those people drowned. Quickly doing the math, that means the computer model is projecting as many as 80,000 to 100,000 dead. Let's just hope that the model is wrong.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#37)
    by Edger on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 04:04:43 PM EST
    80% of metropolitan New Orleans evacuated before Katrina hit. That means that 250,000 to 300,000 stayed behind. Initial computer models show that as many as one third of those people drowned.
    Sadly, your numbers sound about right: The 2000 census put New Orleans's population at 484,674 and the New Orleans metropolitan area's population at 1,337,726. 20 percent of 1.3 Million = 260,000 260,000 / 3 = 86,000

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#39)
    by Aaron on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:03:00 PM EST
    Nero(Bush) strums this fiddle while Rome burns. Bush's response to the rampant looting, "It's all good in the Hood."

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#40)
    by Aaron on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:06:53 PM EST
    Bush was off giving speeches and keeping his regularly scheduled appearances the day after the hurricane hit. Now he's on the TV giving speeches about the recovery. I guess he hasn't noticed that the disaster isn't over yet. The man is totally out of touch. I have no doubt if the hurricane had hit Texas he would've reworked his agenda.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#41)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 02:43:13 PM EST
    Posted by justpaul: "Another classic case of an engineered Catch-22." "Bush goes to New Orleans, he's accused of using the devastation for political gain (as happened when he visited New York City after 9-11)." Yeah, heroically showing up in NYC after sitting on his can in a Florida elementary school was justly criticized. Can he therefore justify wandering around San Diego while people are drowning on the other side of the country? Sure he can: YOU MISTAKE HIM FOR SOMEONE WHO GIVES A DAMN. And defending that, you make yourself into another of his hemorrhoid pillows.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#42)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 02:48:05 PM EST
    Of course in Nero's day it was a fiddle.

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#43)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:01 PM EST
    LOOK AT BUSH'S CHORDING HAND Notice which chord position they decided would make the best photo?

    Re: Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar (none / 0) (#44)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:32 PM EST
    I have done some calculations based on the official numbers and the numbers posted on this thread. Various mathematical models seem to converge on approx. 40,000 dead in New Orleans. This can be predicted in a variety of ways. Hopefully this is overly pessimistic, but I doubt it.

    Katrina Victims Suffer, Bush Plays Guitar | 43 comments (43 topical)