Feds mobilizing response to Rita
As Hurricane Rita powered toward the Texas coast yesterday, the Bush administration was doing its best to appear calm and collected while mobilizing as if its core credibility were on the line.
Indeed, political Washington was so jittery over the possibility that the federal government might repeat the errors of Hurricane Katrina that some Republicans reacted with alarm when President Bush spent part of the day attending to routine business — delivering a boilerplate speech at a GOP luncheon and attending a lengthy meeting on his stalled Social Security plan.
"Why he spent 45 minutes on Social Security today floors me," a GOP lobbyist said.
But White House officials said Bush spent much of yesterday on hurricane business and the time devoted to other activities apparently was designed to project a sense of calm.more