OK...I don't even live in New Orleans. But I am offended by this statement George W. Bush made today:
"And so it's -- my attitude is this: New Orleans, better days are ahead.
It's sometimes hard for people to see progress when you live in a community all the time. Laura and I get to come -- we don't live here, we come on occasion. And it's easy to think about what it was like when we first came here after the hurricane, and what it's like today. And this town is coming back. This town is better today than it was yesterday, and it's going to be better tomorrow than it was today. And there's no better place to find that out than in the school system." ( Source:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070829-5.html)
Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but Bush seems to be saying that the people living in New Orleans can't really see the progress being made. But people like he and Laura who don't live in New Orleans, can see the progress.
What?
That, to me, just seems devoid of any reality. If you're in or around a particular situation every day, obviously you are likely to be keenly aware of any significant changes around you, good or bad.
What better people to judge the progress (or lack thereof) in New Orleans, than the people who are living there every day? Bush thinks that living on an entirely different coast from New Orleans, gives him more perspective on what's happening there, than New Orleans' residents themselves.