Politics of Distraction

Froomkin

President Bush yesterday called for Americans to cope with gasoline shortfalls by cutting down on their driving. And he continued to push for increased military authority in national disasters.

What do these two campaigns have in common? They're both red herrings, to some extent--distractions in the wake of the shockingly botched government response to Hurricane Katrina.

Consider this, for instance: There is no gasoline shortfall.

And a broad range of experts agree that putting the military into a position to enforce martial law is not only unnecessary, it's dangerous. The Pentagon itself opposes the idea. And under existing rules, the president has ample discretion to send troops in to help disaster victims already--discretion that he chose not to use for Katrina, but used amply for Rita.

One fair test of how seriously Bush takes his new energy conservation kick will be whether he exercises any self-restraint. But don't expect cardigans or thermostat-lowering in this White House.

Bush's gas-guzzling motorcade was whizzing all over town yesterday--and today he flies off in his fuel-gulping 747 for his seventh trip to the Gulf Coast since Katrina struck a month ago.