The Acorn Never Falls Far From the Tree

W.

Was it when he arrived in Mobile, Alabama, a full four days after the storm made landfall, and praised his hapless Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director, Michael D. Brown, whose disaster credentials seemed to consist of once being the commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association?

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," said the President.

Or was it that odd moment when he promised to rebuild Mississippi Senator Trent Lott's house -- a gesture that must have sounded astonishingly tone-deaf to the homeless black citizens still trapped in the postapocalyptic water world of New Orleans.

"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house," cracked Bush, "there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

Bush seemed so regularly out of it last week, it made you wonder if he was stuck in the same White House bubble of isolation that confined his dad.

Too often, W. looked annoyed. Or he smiled when he should have been serious. Or he swaggered when simple action would have been the right move.

(Tried to find a reference to Bush's "party days" in New Orleans statement on his first visit to the Gulf Coast, but couldn't. If anybody has it....)
(update: ask, and it shall be given):

"I believe that the great city of New Orleans will rise again and be a greater city of New Orleans," he said, joking that he had come here as a younger man to enjoy himself "occasionally too much".

His Mother:

Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them."

The former First Lady's remarks were aired this evening on National Public Radio's "Marketplace" program.

She was part of a group in Houston today at the Astrodome that included her husband and former President Bill Clinton, who were chosen by her son, the current president, to head fundraising efforts for the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were also present.

In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to wants to move to Houston."

Then she added: "What I’m hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed with the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckled slightly)--this is working very well for them."

From E&P, via Atrios.

Let's just be glad she won't be allowed near any refugees as a volunteer.