1. The criticisms against Bush for not speaking sooner and for the US’s announcing too little at first were mostly premature, given that the admittedly small US governmental sum first committed for aid was not the final word. But some of the milder criticisms were partly merited, primarily because a quicker statement would have been more politic.
2. Bush is not “Big Daddy.” I’ve noticed that George W. Bush, while his ego is certainly oversized, doesn’t always try to make everything about him. There is no doubt that Bill Clinton enjoyed the Bully Pulpit more than George W. There have been several moments when I noticed that Bush was content not to score political points when other Presidents would probably have made themselves a bigger part of the story (e.g. Jessica Lynch’s homecoming after being held in an Iraqi hospital). Bush sometimes thinks that the president doesn’t need to be in front of the parade. That has both advantages and disadvantages.
When I lived in New Haven and watched the New York TV news, I was struck by the different assumptions about city problems in NY compared to Chicago. In Chicago, the mayor takes the credit and blame for everything, and the news media assume that the mayor should stop every major strike, even private sector ones. In Chicago, the mayor is “Big Daddy.” While one, of course, sees some of the same in New York, there is still a significant difference of degree. New York being less provincial than Chicago, sometimes the news media actually assume that New York City departmental personnel are responsible [or treat major local events as being outside the local government’s scope of responsibilty].
3. Duane Delacourt, Secretary of Symbolism. This brings me to my main point: a larger first promise of money and a quicker expression of concern by Bush himself would have been politically wise for Bush (and the US)–if not in substance for the afflicted, then at least as symbolism for the rest of the world. Thus, I am proposing that Bush bring back Duane Delacourt, President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of Symbolism, whose exploits were covered in a series of Doonesbury strips that started on March 21, 1977 (go to this site, select March 21, 1977, and then page forward through them). [I revised this post to omit the Donnesbury strips themselves, which came from between March 24, 1977 and April 18, 1977.]
Note to VC readers under 40: Yes, Doonesbury was once funny, or at least genuinely clever and insightful.
4. Scrappleface makes a related point (tip to Betsy).
UPDATE: My daughter Katie informed me that Doonesbury has been running a recent series of strips about a Bush Administration Secretary of Toady Affairs. For example, see this Dec. 2004 strip. [I also added a bracketed clause above.]
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