The Easy Answer to Why Obama Hasn’t Been to Louisiana or Milwaukee
It would be easy to spend an entire day comparing the media coverage of President Obama’s lack of interest in Louisiana during a natural disaster with their coverage of President Bush and the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Rob Eno reminded everybody of Bush’s response: He was there right away to survey the damage, and coordinate responses between state and local authorities. President Obama, on the other hand, has hardly put down his golf clubs while vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard last week.
And why should he, right? He’s not running for re-election so his attitude is, “Who cares?”
It may sound harsh, but what other reason could there be? The president has issued nary a statement on the events surrounding Louisiana, other than having the Justice Department release 16 pages of guidelines warning recipients of federal disaster assistance to not engage in discrimination.
The Red Cross says the flooding in Louisiana is the worst natural disaster in the U.S. since Hurricane Sandy. Ironically, President Obama’s reaction to that disaster, which happened during a tough re-election campaign in 2012, was far different.
The president made his first statement about Hurricane Sandy on October 29, the same day it first hit New Jersey. Two days later, President Obama landed in Atlantic City Airport and hopped on a helicopter with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to survey the damage. Gov. Christie still hasn’t been able to escape the infamous Christie/Obama hug that showed a solemn Obama looking … presidential.
It allowed for a narrative to be crafted. While there was a mutual unwritten agreement between President Obama and Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, to stop campaigning, Obama’s “presidential” tour of the storm-ravaged areas of New Jersey was his opportunity to campaign without actually campaigning. (For the record, Obama didn’t visit New York, which also suffered massive damage, until after the election.)
Hurricane Sandy was Obama’s “October surprise.” It allowed him to project a measure of leadership and calm that a president needs during a time of crisis. It is debatable as to whether or not it sealed the election for him as some have argued, but it certainly helped.
Yet four years later, there is a crisis in Louisiana, and Obama is nowhere to be found. The president has finally scheduled a visit to the state this Tuesday. After his vacation ends. What a sport. Regardless of what a president can or cannot do personally is irrelevant to the fact that people are encouraged when they believe their political leaders are looking out for them. In such times, party affiliation does not matter. Yet President Obama is more concerned with golfing, shopping, and going to the beach than cutting his trip short to visit a bunch of yokels in the red state of Louisiana.
It’s been a similar situation in Milwaukee. Obama relishes getting in front of the camera to wax poetic about “disparities” related to crime and interactions with police when there’s some political gain to be had or when he can inflame tensions between Americans even more than they already are. The police shooting in in Milwaukee sparked two days of violent riots, but the president didn’t say a word. Why? Three reasons:
1. The victim, Sylville Smith, was armed with a stolen gun. He has a misdemeanor conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.
2. According to “witnesses,” Smith was shot in the back. The medical examiner, however, says Smith was shot in the arm and chest.
3. The officer who shot Smith, Dominique Heaggan, is also black and was wearing a body camera.
There simply is no political hay to be made from this shooting. That has undoubtedly contributed to President Obama’s silence on the matter.
Political opportunism and narcissism are hallmark traits of President Obama’s tenure. Now that he is five months away from leaving office, it’s safe to say his “leadership” will be non-existent unless it helps to serve him in some manner. (For more from the author of “The Easy Answer to Why Obama Hasn’t Been to Louisiana or Milwaukee” please click HERE)
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