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Jeffrey Scott Shapiro in a recent post on FOXNews.com, Obama Needs to Go to Ft. Hood, wrote, This is one of the worst shooting massacres in American history and ironically, it happened at a secure, U.S. Army military installation. -- That's the president's turf and he should be there at the very least as a symbol of hope to those family members who lost loved ones.
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro’s complaint is shallow and unjust. It’s another example of Fox News bias and propensity for fallacious quasi-tabloid journalism.
Shapiro opines that it took six months following President Obama’s inauguration to visit Afghanistan, but it was understandable because the country was not safe. Did you feel it was safe at Fort Hood, Mr. Shapiro, even though the military thought it was unsafe by calling for a lock down of the base? Not until the dust has settled do Presidents visit disaster areas with any response, and never STAT, which apparently in your view a STAT response was the President’s responsibility.
Apparently, Shapiro and those at Fox News have short memories or do not choose to remember the Bush-Katrina catastrophe.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people, and left the city of New Orleans in a dire situation and destitute for help.
The Washington Monthly wrote, While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden. … Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell.
It was one of the strongest storms in recorded history and President Bush took his sweet time for any kind of a response, rhetorically or kinetically!
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro wrote in a November 5, 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal, Just as Americans have gained perspective on how challenging Truman's presidency was in the wake of World War II, our country will recognize the hardship President Bush faced these past eight years -- and how extraordinary it was that he accomplished what he did in the wake of the September 11 attacks. … The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.
Mr. Shapiro said that last year regarding, of all people, Bush, and a year later will not give President Obama the same consideration. I guess Shapiro must not think that President Obama has a lot on his plate.
In his piece, Obama Needs to Go to Ft. Hood, Mr. Shapiro said, In the meantime, Obama did order all flags flown at the White House and other federal buildings flown at half-mast, calling it a modest tribute to those [who] were killed and serve in the armed services. Adding, That's putting it mildly.
President Obama’s expression, a modest tribute, means humble in face of what the men and women in the armed services are sacrificing for our country. I guess all things are subject to the eyes of the beholder, especially that of Mr. Shapiro and Fox News. In this case, Mr. Shapiro should have his cataracts operated on; his vision as a result is extremely poor.
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