The Moose comments on an impressive rescue operation. "It orchestrated visits by cabinet members to the region, leading up to an extraordinary return visit by Mr. Bush planned for Monday, directed administration officials not to respond to attacks from Democrats on the relief efforts, and sought to move the blame for the slow response to Louisiana state officials, according to Republicans familiar with the White House plan. "The effort is being directed by Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, and his communications director, Dan Bartlett. It began late last week after Congressional Republicans called White House officials to register alarm about what they saw as a feeble response by Mr. Bush to the hurricane, according to Republican Congressional aides." Clearly, Director Rove is at the helm of the Federal Emergency Image Management Agency (FEIMA). He will not dither like Chertoff and Brown. He will not accept bureaucratic excuses. And he will roll over anyone in his way to rescue his boss from political peril, "In many ways, the unfolding public relations campaign reflects the style Mr. Rove has brought to the political campaigns he has run for Mr. Bush. For example, administration officials who went on television on Sunday were instructed to avoid getting drawn into exchanges about the problems of the past week, and to turn the discussion to what the government is doing now... "One Republican with knowledge of the effort said that Mr. Rove had told administration officials not to respond to Democratic attacks on Mr. Bush's handling of the hurricane in the belief that the president was in a weak moment and that the administration should not appear to be seen now as being blatantly political. As with others in the party, this Republican would discuss the deliberations only on condition of anonymity because of keen White House sensitivity about how the administration and its strategy would be perceived." And expect FEIMA Director Rove to go negative against any obstacle to the image recovery effort. The last time when W. ran into this type of disaster was back in While the Bushies dropped the ball on Katrina, the stakes this time are too high to fail.
After a week of incompetence, the professionals are stepping in. The stakes are too high for the two Michaels. This recovery operation is not merely about lives - it concerns politics, power and privilege. There is no margin of error when it comes to rescuing the heroic image of W. as the decisive leader of the free world.
The New York Times reports,
"Under the command of President Bush's two senior political advisers, the White House rolled out a plan this weekend to contain the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. 
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