FLASHBACK: 9/2/2005..Chimpolini FINALLY visits Hurricane Corrina area

[Bluebear]

President Bush, having made his flyover two days earlier, finally visited the Gulf Coast on Friday, September 2, 2005, the fifth day after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. He made his first stop at the Mobile Regional Airport in Alabama, where he gave a briefing ("heck of a job") on Hurricane Katrina:

"We've got a lot of rebuilding to do. First, we're going to save lives and stabilize the situation. And then we're going to help these communities rebuild. The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter.)"

At his second stop, while touring Biloxi, Mississippi's hurricane damaged neighborhoods, President Bush said:

"But the people have got to understand that out of this rubble is going to come a new Biloxi, Mississippi. It's hard to envision it right now. When you're standing amidst all that rubble, it's hard to think about a new city."

And, while at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana, his final "stop" of the day, in remarks on hurricane recovery efforts there, President Bush said:

"Here's what I believe. I believe that the great city of New Orleans will rise again and be a greater city of New Orleans. (Applause.) I believe the town where I used to come from, Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself -- occasionally too much -- (laughter) -- will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to. That's what I believe. I believe the great state of Louisiana will get its feet back and become a vital contributor to the country."


Maureen Dowd wrote in the September 3, 2005, New York Times:

"W. drove his budget-cutting Chevy to the levee, and it wasn't dry. Bye, bye, American lives....

"Shirt-sleeves rolled up, W. finally landed in Hell yesterday and chuckled about his wild boozing days in 'the great city' of N'Awlins. He was clearly moved. 'You know, I'm going to fly out of here in a minute,' he said on the runway at the New Orleans International Airport, 'but I want you to know that I'm not going to forget what I've seen.' Out of the cameras' range, and avoided by W., was a convoy of thousands of sick and dying people, some sprawled on the floor or dumped on baggage carousels at a makeshift M*A*S*H unit inside the terminal."

As the New York Times' editorial commented September 1, 2005, "nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis."

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush:_Hurricane_Katrina