I wish they would gum up their mouths

President Bush was criticized widely on the Left for his response, or perceived lack thereof, to Hurricane Katrina. So, as Hurricane Rita approached the Texas-Lousiana coast, Bush went to Colorado Springs and Texas to closely monitor events.

It shouldn't surprise you that for some on the Left, there's nothing Bush could do to satisfy them.

On his radio program last Friday, Hugh Hewitt chatted with the Beltway Boys, that Dynamic Duo of Demosthenesian Dissuasion, about this point.

Hugh said:

HH: Okay. Let me ask you, the president of course, is at Colorado Springs. He didn't want to go into Texas to divert resources. Is he overplaying his hand here? Now he's being accused by Gregory of the White House Press Corps of overplaying, after underplaying, and Gregory was upset about that three weeks ago.

As another example, take this blog. The self-described Liberal Phoenix says:

He’s going to “look” at it? He’s going to “show support for the first responders”? That’s the lesson he learned form Katrina? He needs to “look” more? Please tell me there’s something more than that.
...
Going down there now is totally inappropriate and can only serve as a distraction to the first responders that he is going to “thank”. He has a job to do, and I only pray that his job is something more important than monitoring, looking, or thanking.

Blogs for Bush has this question asked by a reporter:

After President Bush briefed reporters on his intention to visit the area affected by Hurricane Rita as soon as possible, one reporter yelled, "Sir, what good can you do going down to the hurricane zone? Might you get in the way?"

I'm not sure what Bush could've done to satisfy these people. Perhaps they wanted Bush to lash himself to a tree on the Texas coast like Odysseus, take the brunt of the hurricane right in the teeth, and shout "Don't gum up my ears! I want to hear the siren call of the hurricane! Let it sing to me!"