Well, Technically, It Wasn't a Fire


"I wonder if there's a ballgame on..."

Paul Krugman posts from NOLA, where he's attending an economic conference:

Recently Glenn Greenwald wrote a piece critical of Peggy Noonan, in the course of which he quoted a 2004 Noonan column praising George W. Bush:

Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man. He’s normal. He thinks in a sort of common-sense way. He speaks the language of business and sports and politics. You know him. He’s not exotic. But if there’s a fire on the block, he’ll run out and help. He’ll help direct the rig to the right house and count the kids coming out and say, "Where’s Sally?"

What Greenwald doesn’t point out is that a year later there really was a fire on the block -- or, literally, a flood in New Orleans. And Bush didn’t run out and help -- in fact, his aides had to make a special DVD of horrifying clips from TV news to get his attention. And what he said when he finally made an appearance wasn’t "Where’s Sally?" -- it was "Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job."

Yeah, I suppose Shrub was the "daddy" candidate/president--the deadbeat dad.