
We have all seen the images on nightly news broadcasts. Flames leaping hundreds of feet into the air and embers floating to new areas setting them ablaze as well. Thousands of people forced to evacuate, homes burned to cinders, people needing help. For a presidency still haunted by memories of Hurricane Katrina, the forceful round-the-clock response to the California wildfires was a political no-brainer.
“It was not quite 2:30 a.m. in Washington on Tuesday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California asked President Bush to declare an emergency because of the wildfires raging in his state. An hour or so later, the request — pre-approved by Mr. Bush before he left the Oval Office on Monday evening — was granted.”
“By the time most Californians awoke on Tuesday, the Pentagon had sent helicopters and troops to California and the homeland security secretary and head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on their way. By Tuesday evening, the White House announced that Mr. Bush himself would go on Thursday. He canceled a trip to St. Louis, planning to send Vice President Dick Cheney instead.”
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