Impromptus

The president as national mayor, &c.

By
President George W. Bush looks at the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss., September 2, 2005. (Larry Downing / Reuters)
On Biden and East Palestine; prior experience and the presidency; a smelly attack on a critic; the genius of Melissa McCarthy; and more

In 2005, President George W. Bush took a lot of heat for his response to Hurricane Katrina — the natural disaster that devastated New Orleans. He wasn’t on the ground, or on the ground fast enough. He wasn’t taking charge. He was a racist. All that.

“George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” said Kanye West (later a Republican hero, oddly enough).

Bush had good reasons for his approach to Katrina. A president and his entourage should not get in the way of people doing their jobs, particularly in emergency situations. A photo-op was not the most important thing in the world. There were local officials, state officials, FEMA . . .

It mattered not at all. Bush was clobbered for what was portrayed as his indifference to the people of New Orleans. A black politician spoke to a group of us at National Review. “This is our 9/11,” he said.

Like many other journalists, I wrote a lot about Hurricane Katrina, and the politics surrounding it. Here, for example, is my Impromptus of September 8, 2005. An excerpt:

A brief word about George W. Bush, and the tendency to pin Katrina on him. I always thought one of the cruelest terms ever invented was “Hooverville.” A Hooverville, as you know, was a camp for the destitute during the Depression. There was never a more humane man in politics than our 31st president, Herbert Hoover. And to do that to him . . .

I thought about this when I heard that some people were referring to flooded New Orleans as “Lake George.”

I remember being on the radio with a famous left-wing journalist — whose name is “Katrina,” by pure coincidence. She talked as if Bush had visited this horror on New Orleans. I found myself saying, “It was a hurricane.”

At some point in our history — 30 years ago? 40? — the U.S. president was suddenly supposed to act as national mayor. He had to show up at the site of every disaster, every misfortune, to prove that he “cared.” Without the photo-op, he was in trouble.

And conservatives — I think of National Review in particular — thought this was bunk. Everyone has a job to do. The president has responsibilities. Governors, mayors, and others have responsibilities. Our system is federalist. We are not a kingdom. A president is not a king, who might stroll among his subjects, having them kiss his hand.

We are republicans, for heaven’s sake (whether we are Republicans or Democrats, or independent)!

On February 3, a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spewing hazardous materials. Now we have a new Republican talking point: President Biden went to Ukraine. How come he won’t go to East Palestine, huh?

Here is Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, doing Fox News (of course):

Now, Youngkin is supposed to be a “traditional Republican,” or a “pre-Trump Republican.” But he peddles the same populist snake oil as everyone else. He is thoroughly modern. Last fall, he went to Arizona, to campaign for Kari Lake. “Kari,” he said: “You. Are. Awesome.”

Does party loyalty ever ask too much? For some, no. (This applies both to politicians and to media people, strangely enough.)

On February 13, there was a mass shooting at Michigan State University. Three students were murdered, and five others wounded. This atrocity traumatized the state of Michigan at large. I know a bit about this, being from Michigan. This was a very, very big deal in our state.

I haven’t heard one Republican — indeed, one person — chastise President Biden for not going to East Lansing. I have heard many, many Republicans chastise him for not going to East Palestine. I have not heard one person demand that Biden go to Michigan. I have heard a great many demand that he go to Ohio.

The train derailment was bad. Very bad. Fortunately, no one died. At MSU, three dead students.

Look, it’s all performance. We are awash in tribalist bullsh**, with red jerseys and blue jerseys (and hardly anyone thinking of red, white, and blue).

The president should not be a national mayor: the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral. (The baby at every christening.) Yes, Biden should have been in Ukraine. The Ukraine war is a great world crisis, and Biden is the president, responsible for foreign policy and defense.

Doesn’t everyone know that? Has American education been so degraded?

I think of what Barry Goldwater said in 1960: “Let’s grow up, conservatives!” Please.

• There is a new entrant in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, 2024. He is Vivek Ramaswamy: an entrepreneur and political activist, age 37. He is certainly qualified, constitutionally. (You have to be at least 35.) I bet he has many excellent ideas. But I think of something I learned from Rick Brookhiser, long ago: The presidency is not an entry-level job, unless you have won a world war (like Ike).

I wrote a piece about this — an essay — in September 2020: “The Question of Experience: On presidential candidates and what they’ve done.” Some interesting things in there. Some interesting history. You may enjoy the piece.

Of course, Americans elected Donald Trump in 2016, creating a new ballgame. Trump had not held political office and he had not won a world war. He was a celebrity from reality TV. (Does reality TV ever seem unreal to you?)

In the summer of 2020, Trump’s friend Sean Hannity, of Fox, asked him an interesting question: “What are your top priorities for a second term?” Trump gave an interesting answer:

“Well, one of the things that will be really great — you know, the word ‘experience’ is still good. I always say talent is more important than experience. I’ve always said that. But the word ‘experience’ is a very important word. It’s a very important meaning.”

Huh.

I was, and am, a huge fan of Steve Forbes — such a warm, bright, patriotic person. I could see him in the presidency. But I always wanted him to run for governor of New Jersey (his home state). I wanted him to run for governor, get elected, demonstrate his governing ability, and then . . .

But everybody’s in a rush. (I myself would run for president, if I had a sliver of an opening.) (Don’t worry: The republic is safe from me.)

Consider: Andrew Yang ran for president and then ran for mayor. Isn’t that a little weird? A little bassackwards, as we used to say?

• For about 25 years, I’ve had a day job and a night job: political journalist and music critic. The first job has its hazards, and so does the second. Did you happen to see this story? “An award-winning German ballet company director who smeared his dog’s faeces on the face of a dance critic has failed to apologise, saying he was responding to decades of ‘annihilatory criticism.’”

Geezum. Beware of ticked-off ballet directors who’re packin’ dog poop.

• Rena Gluck was a dancer. She has died at 89, the same day as her twin, Milton Gluck. “The siblings had planned to celebrate their 90th birthday together in Israel the next day.” I have quoted from this obit by Brian Schaefer in the New York Times.

Let me quote the following as well:

Rena Joan Gluck and her brother, Milton, were born on Jan. 14, 1933, in New York, to Leibish and Zelda (Karabok) Gluck. Her parents had immigrated from Eastern Europe in the 1920s and met in New York. Her father, a jeweler, was unemployed when the twins arrived during the Depression. He volunteered in a grocery store, later worked there, and eventually owned a grocery store himself.

The things people do. You’re unemployed and you have twins. You volunteer in a grocery store . . .

I have such admiration for strivers such as Leibish Gluck. Such admiration.

• I loved a phrase used by LeBron James. Talking about a new teammate, Jarred Vanderbilt, James said, “Vando is a Swiss Army knife. He can do a little bit of everything.”

• There are different types of genius, I think we can agree. Dante and Newton are obvious geniuses. So are Bach and Einstein. But can we agree that there is a kind of genius at work in the below sketch? Marvel at Melissa McCarthy, supported by Jason Sudeikis. I mean, really. The G-word, “genius,” may be a little strong. But is it?

Thank you for joining me, my friends. I’ll see you later.

If you would like to receive Impromptus by e-mail — links to new columns — write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com.

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