Condi spent the day playing tennis.

[yesthattom]

[ This post is a copy of Tom Tomorrow’s post because it says exactly what I wanted to say. ]

What is wrong with these people? Condi spent the day playing tennis.

For the benefit of the truly dense, John at americablog explains why the story of Condi’s lovely three-day getaway to the city matters:

The president, finally, has decided that the hurricane is a problem. He claims yesterday at 5pm, finally, that he’s going to be devoting his entire administration to saving the lives of the people currently dying in this growing national disaster. And what does a top member of his cabinet do? She goes to a Broadway comedy and today is buying multi-thousand-dollar shoes on 5th Avenue at the same time CNN is showing dead grandmothers in wheelchairs abandoned on the streets of New Orleans.

This is more than just a cheap shot at Condi. What in the blazes is this woman doing at a Broadway show in the middle of a national emergency? This is akin to going to a Broadway show in the middle of September 11. Don’t we expect the Secretary of State to work past 5pm on a day an entire American city is being wiped off the face of the planet? And shouldn’t she be doing something else today than shopping at filthy rich stores on 5th Avenue? Could she be - oh, I don’t know - working with foreign leaders, like the Mexicans, to see what immediate assistance they can offer to the neighbor?

New Orleans is ceasing to exist. What in God’s name is Bush doing letting his secretary of state go on vacation in the middle of this?

Also from americablog, watch for this little soundbite: “those who chose not to leave the city.”

Comments

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

find it really odd to think that the governement should be run like a badly run business, where when there's a disaster, people whose departments are not directly affected can shrug and say, "That's not my department."

You know what a badly-run business is? One where everyone is meddling in everything, so that nobody has the full story of what's going on, and one person does something just as someone else undoes it. I've seen that in action, thanks. You perhaps have heard the proverb "Too many cooks spoil the broth"? I had much rather that Condi stick to (mis-)managing her own department rather than trying to fuck around with bureaucracies she has no familiarity with.

Condi didn't have anything to do? How about she change into dungarees and get her butt down to New Orleans for a date with a few hundred sand bags?

I think that's only a fair statement to make if YOUR butt has the same date.

It's also possible that she has donated blood and/or money. It's equally possible that she hasn't--but the point is, you don't know. So it's pretty uncool to make blanket proclamations where you don't have any actual facts to offer.

[ayse.livejournal.com]

"You know what a badly-run business is?"

One where nothing gets done because everybody's pointing fingers at somebody else. Like, say, nobody shows up to deal with an emergency until five days after the levee breaks.

"I think that's only a fair statement to make if YOUR butt has the same date."

So, it's only reasonable to expect leadership and public service from our leaders and public servants who are paid very well for doing those jobs if I'm willing to do the same? I call that bluff: you pay me Condi's salary for the duration, and I'll be on the next plane out of SFO. The woman gets very well paid, precisely because when the nation calls, she is supposed to respond. Not go shopping for shoes.

Donating blood or money privately is not the point: she should be out there using her power as a public figure to encourage Americans to make sacrifices for the greater good. But her administration is not so big on the personal sacrifice thing.

As for shopping for designer shoes, it's frankly inappropriate for a public figure to be so obviously fiddling while New Orleans drowns. Even if she can't do a damned thing because women always get in the way, she should be keeping up appearances. Remember when at least appearing to have ethics used to matter?

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

But she didn't donate blood or money!