Sometimes people in rural America wonder whether or not the people in the cities think about them

Yesterday, Bush went to Minneapolis for a briefing on the bridge collapse and the floods. Afterwards, Bush said about the former, “my heart was touched by the fact that people lost their lives.” So it was all worthwhile.

It was clear that he understood how that whole “flood” thing works: “Water comes charging through their communities and really kind of wrecks the infrastructure.”

He reached to find exactly the right metaphor: “I just talked to the Governor, who has processed the final and the necessary paperwork so that a flood of help can come down, Tim, to get these people realizing somebody cares about them.” See, it’s not about aid being effective, it’s about sending a message. A message about how wonderful and feeling and generous he is.


He continued, “I understand rural America pretty well. Sometimes people in rural America wonder whether or not the people in the cities think about them.” Must... not... make... “Deliverance”... joke....

“I want those folks to understand the President thinks about it; the senators and the governor have heard about it, and they care about it.” By this point, he may have forgotten what the “it” he was talking about was, but he cares about it.

“I’m looking forward to making sure that the right people show up here on the ground.... we’ll get somebody down here in charge to give the people in your district some hope.” But only after they file Form 287394106A/W3 with FEMA’s Hope Distribution Unit.