New York Times has some balls

The New York Times' editorial today, criticizing President Bush for being "casual to the point of carelessness," ripped President Bush by claiming the country is "waiting for a leader." The opening paragraph sets the tone:

George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end.

[snip...]

It would be some comfort to think that, as Mr. Bush cheerily announced, America "will be a stronger place" for enduring this crisis. Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal.

Talk about not mincing any words. The events this summer -- abductions, terrorist attacks on another Western democracy, a lackluster response to both skyrocketing gas prices and the crippling flood -- has America headed toward the malaise that Jimmy Carter captured in his speech 26 years ago. Complacency seems to be the name of the game, and until we become proactive (which involves taking care of the less fortunate, seriously sizing up the current threat to our American brothers and sisters, stopping the him-hawing of the administration in dealing with the spike in oil prices, and admitting that global warming is the root of these mammoth storms that now seem to be annual occurrences), we'll be as lost as we've ever been.