Milking Memories

Check the date -- yes, it's the anniversary of 9/11 on Sunday.

And, right on schedule, Bush is invoking the memories of that horror, which unified a country in shock to create an aura of leadership around a president with no mandate and tepid support at the time.

"Buffeted by criticism, President Bush stirred memories of the 2001 terror
attacks as he hailed the "acts of great compassion and extraordinary bravery
from America's first responders," then as now

A population desperate for a leader -- any leader! -- caused Bush's poll numbers to soar after the 2001 terror attacks, and he's been milking that occasion ever since.

With the current disaster highlighting the flaws in Bush's administration -- the incompetence,t he cronyism, the callous disregard for the 99% of the citizens in this country who are not in his tax bracket, Bush is naturally eager to wrap himself in the mantle of patriotic mourning and the sacrifices of others.

Bush's public support rose dramatically in the days following the attacks of
2001. He linked that time with the present at a ceremony Friday awarding medals
to family members of fire, police and other first responders killed by
terrorists four years ago.
"When America has been challenged, there have always been citizens willing to step forward and risk their lives for the rest of us," the president said. "Over the last 11 days in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama, we have again seen acts of great compassion and extraordinary bravery from America's first responders."

Compassion? bravery? it's high time Bush followed the example set by ordinary American citizens, instead of the other way around.

(see full AP report)