Bush Defends Gulf Coast Trips
, the president denounces critics who accuse him of staging 'photo ops.'
By Warren Vieth, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — President Bush strapped on a tool belt Tuesday and pounded nails at a home-building project for Louisiana hurricane victims as his administration announced steps intended to improve the recovery effort.
Before starting his brief work shift, Bush denounced critics who have accused him of staging politically motivated "photo ops" in the hurricane zone instead of staying in Washington and drafting a comprehensive recovery plan.
"We've got people here who volunteered their time, from all over the country, and they didn't say … 'I'm a Democrat and I'm going to work here,' or 'I'm a Republican and I'm going to work here,' " Bush said in an NBC "Today" show interview broadcast from a Habitat for Humanity project in Covington, La.
"I think our job is to elevate this whole process out of normal politics," he said.
First Lady Laura Bush joined the president at the lots where two houses are being built for low-income Louisianans left homeless by Hurricane Katrina.
"This is really, really important," she said. "It's very American to step out and help."
Critics of Bush's travel to the Gulf Coast include Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), whose office issued a news release Tuesday accusing Bush of conducting a "photo-op presidency" while failing to plan for reconstruction of the devastated area.
After the TV interview, the president and first lady joined workers at the Habitat project. Bush donned a hard hat, work gloves and a leather tool belt that held a hammer. The first lady wore a cloth nail pouch around her waist. After hammering a few nails into a sheet of plywood, the Bushes chatted, signed autographs and posed for photos with Habitat volunteers.
nbcrusader said:If GWB doesn't go, critics target him for "not caring enough".
Nice to have targets on both sides of the coin.
U2democrat said:
Personally I think it would be that way for any president of any party.
U2democrat said:
Personally I think it would be that way for any president of any party.
MrsSpringsteen said:I'm a Democrat who is not hostile toward religion, so there's one for you
Macfistowannabe said:Okay fine, let's just say "Democrats tend to be more hostile towards religion." Is that rhetoric politically correct enough for you now?
FizzingWhizzbees said:"Christophobes?" I really have heard it all now -- there's just so much bigotry against you Christians isn't there? I mean they won't let you erect monuments to the Ten Commandments and they even expect you to provide scientific justification for the teaching of intelligent design in schools. It's so hard being a Christian, no? And there was silly old me thinking that people of other religious faiths, such as Islam, might be the ones facing real prejudice and bigotry, y'know like having their places of worship burned down or being assaulted in the street for wearing religious clothing or being called terrorists or terrorist sympathisers.
nbcrusader said:
How many posts here, for example, exclaiming hatred for [insert fundamentalist Christian] will occur before you could entertain the notion of bigotry?
Irvine511 said:bemoaning the excessive influence of "fundamentalist christians" in the political processes of a secular government is a looooong way from hatred.
nbcrusader said:
I fully understand and agree with your statement. But, unlike your post (you argue with passion, but not hatred), not all posts deal with "what they do" and turn to "who they are".
Macfistowannabe said:It's puzzling that the biggest Christophobes in the Democratic Party - especially Chuck Schumer -
Macfistowannabe said:Okay fine, let's just say "Democrats tend to be more hostile towards religion." Is that rhetoric politically correct enough for you now?
A_Wanderer said:I would have no moral qualms about faking faith to get elected.