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Bush flying over New Orleans at 10,000 feet: "Hey, Scott (McClellan), it
sure looks horrible down there. I can just make out what looks
like...uh...uh...I think they're dead folks, black ones, floatin' belly up
in a big ol' swimmin' pool, or somethin'. Give me those binoculars there,
Scott...."
McClellan: "Here, take these, they're 20 power. Should be able to see 'em
better with these."
Bush: "Thanks...uh...yeah, I can...uh...oh no...Scott, tell the pilot, to
circle around...I'm losing sight of 'em..."
McClellan: "Sure thing, Mr. President...(talking on a cell
phone)...'Captain, please turn the plane back immediately. The President
says he wants to see something down there.' "
Bush: "Yeah...that's it, okay, I can see 'em now. Uh, huh...those are dead
people alright. About five of 'em, 2 little ones and 3 adults floatin'
dead in that motel swimmin' pool. What a horrible sight, Scott! It must be
real bad for those folks down there. We'll give 'em lots of help."
McClellan: "You know we will, Mr. President. Your approval ratings are
hitting the bottom, and a majority don't like the Iraq war. Katrina may
have saved us from ruin."
Bush: "I was selected by God, Scott, to lead this nation through a time of
great crisis. This is another part of that great crisis and I'm still
leading the nation. And I will continue to lead it to the very end."
McClellan: "That's what a lot people are worrying about, Mr. President."
Bush: "What do you mean? Uh.."
McClellan (tersely): "...you know, 'the very end.' "
Bush: (chuckling) "You mean the end of the world? Now, Scott...you and I
know we can't be sure if God has more plans for me that he hasn't
revealed....uh, I'm just joking, Scott."
McClellan ( nervously laughing): "Okay...you got me there."
Doc ;)
Posted on Wed, Aug. 31, 2005
Bush sees Katrina's destruction from Air Force One
BY G. ROBERT HILLMAN
The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - President Bush got his first glimpse of
Hurricane Katrina's devastation Wednesday during an Air Force One flyover
of the Gulf Coast. And he intends to go back by the end of the week for a
closer look.
But such a visit is no easy logistical or political matter,
particularly for a president also buffeted by continued turmoil in Iraq,
skyrocketing gasoline prices at home and precariously low standings in the
public opinion polls.
Presidential travel anywhere is a tangle of security and support
services. And in the wake of the killer hurricane, even a helicopter
flyover of New Orleans and other devastated areas of Louisiana and
Mississippi could interrupt vital rescue work.
The governors of the two states and others are offering conflicting
advice to a White House that is already sensitive to the inevitable
politics of disaster.
"He may come for a helicopter tour," said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen
Blanco, a Democrat.
"I think it would be important for him to see firsthand."
But not so fast, said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, appearing with
Blanco on Tuesday night on CNN's Larry King Live. He said Bush was
"chomping at the bit to come down here," but he waved him off for a while.
"The telecommunications infrastructure is totally destroyed," the
Republican said. "We have no electricity. ... The basics are not there.
And we're still in the middle of search and rescue."
A third voice, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who lost his house in the
state, all but begged the president to come.
"The people of Mississippi are flat on their backs," he said he told
the president in a telephone conversation. "Your visit would be very good
for the morale of Mississippians who are hurting right now."
So, the White House is weighing its options, mindful that whatever
the president does, or how he does it, will surely rile one side or the
other in the nation's increasingly polarized political environment.
The president is intent on visiting, as he did in New York after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks four years ago and repeatedly in Florida last
year when one hurricane after another ripped through the state.
Friday is a possibility. Or maybe Saturday, said White House press
secretary Scott McClellan.
And just what the president will do when he gets there is still up
in the air, McClellan added.
"I can't tell you how devastating the sites were," Bush said at the
White House after Air Force One had dipped to skyscraper levels over New
Orleans on his way back from Texas.
"The folks on the Gulf Coast are going to need the help of this
country for a long time."
Bush, who spent most of last month at his Texas ranch, cut his
working vacation short by two days. He quickly convened a meeting in the
White House of key Cabinet secretaries involved in the most urgent
hurricane relief efforts, then appeared with them in the Rose Garden to
deliver a sobering assessment.
The first priority remains saving lives, he said. Recovery will
"take years."
"Right now, the days seem awfully dark for those affected; I
understand that," the president said, speaking directly to the hundreds of
thousands of displaced residents. "But I'm confident that with time you'll
get your life back in order. New communities will flourish. The great city
of New Orleans will be back on its feet, and America will be a stronger
place for it.
"The country stands with you," he pledged. "We'll do all in our
power to help you."
---
© 2005, The Dallas Morning News.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/12527455.htm
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