Wily,
What happened, and continues to happen in NO should come as a surprise to no one. The aftermath of a major hurricane in that area had been widely studied and reported on. Please see articles in National Geographic, Scientific American and Popular Science, as well as The NO Times-Picayune.
What could have the POTUS done differently in DC than in Crawford/Utah/San Diego/Phoenix? You tell me. It seems as thought there must have been something, since he returned to DC. From the White House daily Press Conference:
Q Is the President going to go visit the disaster sites?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I expect he will. We have had some initial discussions about that. I know that we will continue to discuss that and make sure that it is done in coordination with officials -- with state and local officials. We don't want to do anything that would disrupt the ongoing response -- the ongoing response efforts right now. So we're kind of coordinating to determine when the best time will be. I think you can expect by the latter part of the week that we will probably -- by the latter part of the week, we will make a visit to the region that has been impacted.
Q -- is this?
MR. McCLELLAN: I would expect by the latter part of this week.
Q This is more -- this is more symbolic. Cutting short his vacation is more symbolic because he can do all this from the ranch, right?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think -- no, I disagree. Like I said, this is one of the most devastating storms in our nation's history, and the President, after receiving a further update this morning, made the decision that he wanted to get back to D.C. and oversee the response efforts from there. This is going to -- there are many agencies involved in this -- in this response effort, and it's going to require a long and sustained effort on behalf of all the federal agencies working closely with state and local officials to help people recover from the destruction and devastation.
Q What is he unable to -- what is he unable to do in Crawford he could do --
MR. McCLELLAN: We'll talk to you all later. We've got to go. Thank you.
Meanwhile in Venezuela:
I would hope the talk of isolation, name-calling, hostile rhetoric, threats of assassination and kidnapping give way to aggressive diplomacy. I hope that weve done something to facilitate a detente on threatening rhetoric, Jackson said. We're not going to have an oil war.
The civil rights leader said he urged Chavez to reexamine Venezuelas cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to see if Venezuela would continue its cooperation with the DEA. Jackson also expressed concern about the suspension of permits for foreign preachers and missionaries in Venezuela. Venezuelas Interior Ministry had announced last week that it would temporarily suspend the granting of visas to foreign preachers for missionary work, while it reviews its policy on missionaries.
Chavez emphasized that his government was interested in having good relations with the U.S. and pointed out that during the Clinton administration relations were very cordial, normal, and constructive, even though many of the same differences existed between the two countries. We never lose hope that we'll regain a good tone with Mr. Bushs government, said Chavez.
With regard to the suspension of cooperation with the U.S. on combating drug trafficking, Chavez said, The fight against drug-trafficking is a priority for our government... But the fight against drugs cannot serve as a mask for violating our sovereignty or for spying, he added.
Jackson also spoke about Chavezs offer to provide discounted oil and perhaps gasoline to low-income communities in the U.S. Jackson called the proposal a good idea, whose details still needed to be fleshed-out. Jackson also pointed out that there is a program in the U.S. to provide assistance to low-income families for heating oil, known as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
