The Calmer In Chief

By Ezra

I don't even know what to say about this one:

Bush does not appear to tap sources deep inside his government for information, the way his father or Bill Clinton did, preferring to get reports through channels. A highly screened information chain is fine when everything is going well, but in a crisis it can hinder. Louisiana officials say it took hours for Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to reach Bush (although when she did, he talked to her soothingly, according to White House officials).

So White House officials thought it important to note that when the hysterical, emotional woman finally reached her emotionally distant president, he had the presence of mind to speak in "soothing" tones to her. Whew. I'm so glad that though FEMA fumbled and the National Guard was indisposed and Michael Chertoff was asleep on the job, Bush was in full control of his vocal modulation, and able to effectively deploy it against Mrs. Blanco's overwrought screeching.