President Bush, in full damage control mode, went to the Gulf Coast this week to observe the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and demonstrated once again how out of touch the Republican Party is with reality. Bush, as many polls have noted in recent days, has never recovered from his administration's disastrous response to perhaps the country's worst natural disaster, and certainly the costliest. Who can forget the images that dominated television screens last year, when people were literally fighting for their lives – either struggling to stay on rooftops, waiting for help that took too long to arrive, or crammed into a damaged Superdome. Meanwhile, the president, returning from his August vacation, was seen peering out the window of Air Force One, 30,000 feet above it all. That's a picture that's worth 1,000 words.
For LGBT people and people of color caught up in Katrina's aftermath, things were even more difficult. Louisiana and Mississippi are not California. Stories trickled out about homophobic responses by relief organizations, and other discrimination experienced by people seeking food, shelter, and medical care during this dire time.
But this week, the president is on a mission to rehabilitate his image as a leader who's more preoccupied with politics than with people. He delivered speeches in Mississippi and New Orleans under sunny skies and against carefully choreographed backdrops. Just out of range of the television cameras, of course, were the images of devastation – gutted houses and other debris. Bush also has acknowledged that the government's response to Katrina was unacceptable, but a year later, rebuilding in much of the Gulf Coast is spotty and federal money has yet to be distributed fully.
But one of Bush's comments Monday caught our attention. He was in Biloxi, Mississippi, when he said, "Optimism is the only option."
Really?
As much as we appreciate seeing the glass half full, so to speak, the president's insistence on "optimism as the only option" sounds insulting and incredible. There is still a massive amount of damage in many Gulf Coast communities, and in New Orleans, which suffered from the floods that engulfed the city following the failure of the levees, optimism just doesn't seem to strike the right note with us. Optimism, after all, isn't going to pay people's bills. Optimism isn't going to get the crud out of the streets. Optimism isn't going to create jobs magically.
While the gay community is on the rebound – as are others in the city – we know there is still much work to be done. That's the reality. Optimism is not enough.