Katrina and Bush Not A Historical Marker

[Annie]

Taranto is on a roll and I agree with his assessment. Links at site:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/

Plus Ça Change
Here's an unwittingly amusing "newsview" piece from Ron Fournier of the Associated Press:

It's August in Crawford, Texas, and President Bush is on vacation. His poll ratings are slumping. He hears warnings of a looming crisis that will soon change the course of his presidency.

Is this August 2001? Or August 2005?

The answer is both. Historians will ultimately judge Bush's presidency based on his leadership through two tragedies--the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, plus a conflict of his own design: The war in Iraq.

Historians will judge Bush by his response to the hurricane? Hmm, OK, let's try a little test. Who was president during each of these events:

* The Galveston hurricane, which killed some 8,000
* The Great Okeechobee Hurricane, which killed more than 2,500
* The Johnstown, Pa., flood, which killed at least 2,200
* The San Francisco earthquake, which killed 700

You have no idea, do you? We had to look it up, and we're almost an expert on American presidents. The answers are William McKinley, Calvin Coolidge, Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt. Do you remember ever hearing or reading a single word about how the president responded to any of these events?