Not to excuse Barbara Bush. Her comments were WAY off-base. However, to explain it: she has NO CLUE what the average Joe/Joan goes through to make a living, feed their family, provide a safe shelter and clothes. Mrs. Bush has been in the lap of luxury since the day she was born, married a guy from a fairly wealthy family, and had kids that she imparted that same lifestyle too. You can't EXPECT her to have empathy with something she does not understand. People like that have no empathy. To be empathetic, you need to be able to feel the same feelings the person does, and she has never had such tragic events happen in her life. Just like us X-Witnesses. I was born and raised a Witness. I couldn't understand Christmas because I never had it, and therefore, never MISSED IT. I was SUPPOSED to feel joy, etc. when it rolled around after I was a Witness, but just couldn't FEEL it, because I didn't know how to. I feel it now, but it has taken me a LONG TIME because I had to relearn things, only with the awareness that there were feelings to be had.
Mrs. Bush has never had to deal with anything like this in her lifetime, therefore she can't be expected to respond in an empathetic manner... maybe a SYMPATHETIC MANNER.. but who knows. It only serves to illustrate the great divide in our country between the haves and the have-nots. No one wants to lose their families, and I'm sure that Mrs. Bush would hate to lose HERS, too, no matter how much we choose to portray her in a bad light. She is a person that has her own mind, and she has the right to express it, no matter how wrong we deem her to be. We voted her husband in as President of the United States, so ultimately, how can we find fault with our own choices? We voted that state governments must have the ultimate control over the National Guard in their own states, and that the Federal government cannot act unless the Governor of the individual state asks for help. President Bush was just doing his job. Governor Babineaux-Blanco asked for 24 hours to figure out if she would accept the President's offer of Federal help. That delayed everything. Everyone was just confused about what they should do. They wanted to obey the chain of command, and obey the constitution, and it was a big mess because FEMA had just been put under the care ofthe Homeland Security last year and no one was quite sure where to go, who to listen to, what to do...
Luckily, we have a few homeland heroes. Three Star General Honore moved in quick and began to mobilize. Thank heaven for someone with a sense of leadership and honor. His name fits him well.
CG