George W. Bush: Hurricane Katrina: Public Relations

Practically since the moment that Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005, public relations for President George W. Bush has presented a constant challenge

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Spin

• "The big disconnect on New Orleans. The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version," CNN, September 2, 2005.
• Elisabeth Bumiller and Adam Nagourney, "As White House Anxiety Grows, Bush Tries to Quell Political Crisis," New York Times, September 4, 2005.
• Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, September 4, 2005: "The Bush administration wasn't caught sleeping on the job while New Orleans went under with a gutted FEMA run by a guy who got fired from his last job policing horse shows. In fact, according to the new White House storyline, the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans didn't ask for help quickly enough. And the White House was powerless to act until they did. Apparently they couldn't even reschedule the president's vacation until the locals got the right forms signed."
• Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, September 4, 2005: "It's almost awe-inspiring to see the level of energy and coordination the Bush White House can bring to bear in a genuine crisis. Not hurricane Katrina, of course, but the political crisis they now find rising around them."
• Josh Marshall, "Did Newsweek get spun too?" Talking Points Memo, September 4, 2005.
• "'Wash Post' Runs A Key Katrina Correction," Editor & Publisher, September 4, 2005.
• Adam Nagourney and Anne E. Kornblut, "White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage," New York Times, September 5, 2005.
• Dan Froomkin, "Dealing With Political Disaster," Washington Post, September 6, 2005.

Photo-Ops and "fake news"

1. "Why are these helicopters being used as a backdrop for President Bush, instead of assisting the victims of Hurricane Katrina? ... Why are members of the Coast Guard being used as a backdrop for Bush’s press conference? Don’t they have more important things to do?," Think Progress asked September 2, 2005.
2. "There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV. ... ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time. ... The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF," Laura Rozen, reported in War and Piece, September 3, 2005.
3. "[T]he greatest disappointment [regarding the federal response] stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President," Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., said September 3, 2005, "I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black and white, rich and poor, young and old - deserve far better from their national government."
4. "Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid. ... But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas," Lisa Rosetta of The Salt Lake Tribune reported September 6, 2005.

• Associated Press photos can be viewed on The Times-Picayune website.

Related SourceWatch Resources

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• Bush lies and deceptions
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• George W. Bush: Hurricane Katrina: Announcements and Press & News Releases
• George W. Bush: Hurricane Katrina: Questions, Criticism and Commentary
• George W. Bush: The War President is Missing in Action
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• Hurricane Katrina: Blaming the Victims
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