I’ve always been a conservative, but even I remember thinking George W. Bush dropped the ball during Katrina.

a elevated road? (from 30,000 feet) What a show of concern!

And it’s only 3 days until I finally visit New Orleans? I’m so nervous!

During the 2008 election campaign, then-Sen. Barack Obama killed Bush’s insensitive and overdue visit. It resonated with people on the American left, right, and center. In fact, Bush’s legacy was never fully recovered.

Flashback: President Obama slams President Bush for not visiting New Orleans sooner after Hurricane Katrina

(Mr. Bush waited 3 days, but for Mr. Biden and Helen it was 7 days) pic.twitter.com/PeIAhMDcav

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 3, 2024

Ah, times have changed.

On the other hand, we’ve all become much more cynical over the past 20 years. These days, everything is staged for social media, and the quaint charm of well-intentioned visits and photo-ops has lost much of its luster. Please provide something specific. Otherwise, you don’t have to bother showing up.

On the other hand, in hindsight, President Bush’s reaction wasn’t so terrible. Three days isn’t really that long, as first responders do the best they can and all the survivors try to make sense of the wreckage. Certainly nothing came of the seven days President Joe Biden waited to visit victims of Hurricane Helen in North Carolina, the most devastating storm since Katrina. And that low-key high-flying photo from the first day is certainly better than the one Kamala Harris posted three days later. She was so engrossed in her “work” that she didn’t even feel like connecting headphones to her iPhone.

President Bush was disemboweled by reporters while flying over New Orleans on Air Force One on the third day of Hurricane Katrina.

This is Kamala Harris three days after Hurricane Helen… pic.twitter.com/hcsU1Z1bjg

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 30, 2024

So, would we really be so furious with Bush if the media wasn’t telling us what to think? Our cynicism certainly extends here as well. Twenty years ago, we hardly noticed it, but today media manipulation has lost its potency.

Because we all know that if the Republicans were in power today and waited seven days to visit North Carolina, the media would lose their minds. He will be a monster, an uncaring thug, and a shameless politician who only cares about himself. But we’re not hearing it because the Democrats are in charge.