Bush Again: My job is to lift mens souls

[MaxTheVool]

I gotta say this is a fairly lame thing to pit Bush for, as it’s basically exactly what any other president would do. It’s not like he’s going to go there and then make policy decisions based on what he sees… his visit is 99% ceremonial, and that’s not really unreasonable.

[Little_Nemo]

The difference is that for other Presidents a public statement like this would symbolize political action. When FDR said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he backed it up with the New Deal. When Kennedy told people to ask themselves what they could do for their country, he backed it up with the Peace Corps and Vista. When Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, he backed it up with military expansion. But when Bush says something, it’s just empty words. He makes statements about problems as a substitute for doing anything about those problems.

[ElvisL1ves]

Did he ask his staff if there was anything he should do or tweak?

[Terrifel]

@MaxTheVool

I gotta say this is a fairly lame thing to pit Bush for, as it’s basically exactly what any other president would do. It’s not like he’s going to go there and then make policy decisions based on what he sees… his visit is 99% ceremonial, and that’s not really unreasonable.

I think that most other presidents would have probably confined their remarks to the disaster at hand and the victims affected, rather than puffing on vacantly about their own presence “lifting men’s souls.” That’s the sort of thing you leave for other people to say about you, and if no one else says it, then chances are you didn’t actually lift any souls. I mean there’s platitudes, there’s mindless platitudes, and then there’s Bush.

If only Cheney had been there to back him up with his famous Joe Cocker impression: “Bush, lift us up where we beloooong…”

On the other hand, perhaps Bush meant “lift” in the sense of “steal.”

[MaxTheVool]

@Little Nemo

The difference is that for other Presidents a public statement like this would symbolize political action. When FDR said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he backed it up with the New Deal. When Kennedy told people to ask themselves what they could do for their country, he backed it up with the Peace Corps and Vista. When Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, he backed it up with military expansion. But when Bush says something, it’s just empty words. He makes statements about problems as a substitute for doing anything about those problems.

Do we have some reason to think that the federal government is in fact doing nothing to help?

[Kimstu]

@MaxTheVool

I gotta say this is a fairly lame thing to pit Bush for, as it’s basically exactly what any other president would do.

Maybe so. A recent blog essay, however, makes the interesting argument that it’s a deliberate course reversal from the current Administration’s earlier choice to avoid precisely this type of PR “uplift”:

The Empathetic Presidency Is Back

[In April 2001] [t]he Washington Post was struck by the shift in presidential attitude:

This week’s news demonstrated anew a fact that Bush has made clear over and over since taking office: The Empathetic Presidency is over…

…The more reserved approach, White House officials say, is both an expression of this president’s personal values as well as a decision by him and his political strategists about how to best use the White House platform.

“The president recognizes that from time to time there will be emotional and volatile events; he does not believe that politicians should seek them out and insert themselves in them,” White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said…

But this logic blew up in their face after Bush’s failure to respond quickly to Katrina. […]

And so, hours after the Kansas governor expressed frustration that so much National Guard equipment is half a world away in Iraq, Bush announced he would visit Greensburg and “insert” himself in the story.

With disasters such as in Greensburg, the ramifications of failed conservative policy choices are becoming clearer to voters. […]

A public expression of empathy is fine, if it’s backed by changes in policy to replenish our dwindling Guard resources and prevent an even larger disaster. But this Empathetic Presidency is all for show.

[NurseCarmen]

@Larry Mudd

…Brownie.

Don’t you mean Brawny? The Quicker-Picker-Upper?

[Maus_Magill]

@Terrifel

I think that most other presidents would have probably confined their remarks to the disaster at hand and the victims affected, rather than puffing on vacantly about their own presence “lifting men’s souls.” That’s the sort of thing you leave for other people to say about you, and if no one else says it, then chances are you didn’t actually lift any souls. I mean there’s platitudes, there’s mindless platitudes, and then there’s Bush.

If only Cheney had been there to back him up with his famous Joe Cocker impression: “Bush, lift us up where we beloooong…”

I’m trying to work out a joke invovling Bush singing Joe Cocker’s version of "I get By with a Little Help from my Friends,’ but I can’t make it work.

[Mighty_Girl]

@John Mace

I just had this image of Bush traveling around with one of his aids whose sole job was to make sure that Bush knew what he was suppose to be doing. Bush asks the guy “Am I supposed to do…”, and the guy always responds with “No, you moron…”

Like that guy that walked behind Roman victors repeating “remember, thou art mortal”?

[gigi]

@RTFirefly

Shoes for industry! Shoes for the dead! Shoes for industry!

Hee! That’s one of my mom’s mantras whenever shoes are the topic of conversation. “We’re all bozos on this bus” is another favorite.

[elucidator]

@Kalhoun

FIresign Theater? Is that you??

Georgie…Tirebiter!

He’s not insane!

[gigi]

@elucidator

Georgie…Tirebiter!

Hold on, is that part of a song? The tiny tickle in the back of my brain makes me think that was part of Mom’s repertoire as well!

[Little_Nemo]

Do we have some reason to think that the federal government is in fact doing nothing to help?

History. But I’m sure “helping Kansas” is on Bush’s “to-do” list: right after “catching bin Ladin”, “finding WMDs”, “making Baghdad safe”, “fixing up Katrina damage”, “straightening out North Korea”, “balancing the budget”, “leaving no child behind”, “uniting not dividing”, and “cleaning out the garage”.

[Maus_Magill]

@Little Nemo

History. But I’m sure “helping Kansas” is on Bush’s “to-do” list: right after “catching bin Ladin”, “finding WMDs”, “making Baghdad safe”, “fixing up Katrina damage”, “straightening out North Korea”, “balancing the budget”, “leaving no child behind”, “uniting not dividing”, and “cleaning out the garage”.

Now that’s not fair.

Kansas is a red state.

[m1k3g]

'Was just reading an article on Bush’s favourite books, apparently ‘Stupidity For Dummies’ is at the top of the list.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

@gigi

Hold on, is that part of a song? The tiny tickle in the back of my brain makes me think that was part of Mom’s repertoire as well!

Ask your mom to haul out her old Firesign Theatre albums and play them for you.

Better yet, get her (and you) a set of their CDs. Then All Will Be Clear.

If your mother is no longer on this earthly plain, my condolences, and congrats on having a way cool mom.

[gigi]

She’s alive and kicking, and can be counted on for these gems at every appropriate moment!

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

@gigi

She’s alive and kicking, and can be counted on for these gems at every appropriate moment!

Wonderful! Ask her on Moms’ Day if she’d like you to give her Firesign Theatre on CD as a belated Mom-Gift. I bet her old vinyl LPs from the '70s are probably worn to a skipping frazzle.

Heh. I just went onto Amazon and bought a bunch of 'em so I can play them in my car. While I was there, in fact, I ordered the definitive Stan Freberg collection. Can’t wait!

[Liberal]

Antelope Freeway 1 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/2 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/4 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/8 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/16 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/32 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/64 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/128 mile

Antelope Freeway 1/256 mile

…

[Pazu]

Hey! Did any of you people stop to consider that maybe, just maybe, our President has been recently ordained as a special minister in the Self-Serving Church of Jesus Christ Lip-Service, and is thus not only capable but UNIQUELY QUALIFIED to lift men’s souls? Geez, this place is just full of jackals and vultures these days.

By the way, I’m so intelligent that if you have any problems with this post, they’re clearly yours and not mine. Besides, you were all my fans before you found out I was Asian.