Tikkabik

Poll results published by ABC News look at how Americans have reacted politically to the Katrina disaster. Questions range from how respondents felt about gas prices to whether they were personally affected by Katrina; who they felt was responsible for the slow response and so on.

Much of it falls along political or socioeconomic boundaries, no surprise there, to be sure. Republicans felt that Bush was doing a good job for the most part, most Democrats felt he was doing a lousy job. Non-whites disproportionately suspected that National Guard response was slow because so many of them are deployed in Iraq. One point crossed political boundaries, though: The majority of Democrats and Republicans alike though that petroleum companies and gas station owners were taking advantage of the situation by hiking up gas prices.

All I can say is that if Exxon Mobil and the other major manufacturers report another quarter of record profits, there should be blood in the streets.

The poll's given me some cause for soul-searching, because I definitely don't like Bush's response to Katrina. I don't like Bush to begin with, and never have, so that'll be no surprise to anyone who knows me. But I have to admit that a lot of it comes down to style over substance.

He was days late getting to the region, and only seemed to come reluctantly from his month-long vacation.

When he finally did, he did little more than hug a few people, pat some folks on the back and shake a few bureaucrats' hands to tell them what a great job he thinks they're doing.

That fucking smirk makes me want to scream.

He flip-flopped, to borrow a term, alternately praising and condemning government response to the disaster.

You know, in times of national crisis, you get an immediate, intuitive sense if the guy who's supposed to be running the show is well-informed about what's going on and has a handle on the situation, and at least knows where to direct his attention. I get the distinct feeling watching him that Bush is totally over his head; that he's being fed conflicting information; that he doesn't know who to believe.

In the private sector, I've seen lousy CEOs get fired for a lot less. I just wish it were that easy.