"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,"

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," is probably the most famous quote by any President in our lifetime.  President Bush's praise of FEMA Director Michael Brown during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 illustrated to ALL the American public exactly how out of touch the President was concerning the unfolding disaster in New Orleans.  The public was watching the disaster unfold, live, on television.  President Bush, briefed badly by incompetent advisers simply had no idea what was happening.

Bush rallied and by all impartial accounts did a masterful job in directing the efforts in the aftermath of Katrina, making over a dozen grueling trips and personally overseeing every aspect of the recovery*, but he is always remembered for that one quote.

Because we are now so used to President Obama lying about absolutely everthing, his stating that he's “not interested in photo ops" in defending his decision to not visit the border even one time will never receive the legendary status of the Bush "Brownie" quote.  Never-the-less it does illustrate exactly how horribly out of touch he is concerning the current border immigration crisis.

Fortunately ABC NEWS is covering the situation in depth.  Their report Here's What Obama Would See If He Visited the Border is frightening.  Be certain to read and watch the entire story at the link above. Below is a tiny portion of the report.

Children, wrapped only in Red Cross blankets, sleep on cement floors. Hundreds of young children apprehended at the border are crowded into sanitary but impersonal detention cells, their faces pressed listlessly against the glass.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told ABC News that the president risks looking “detached,” calling the optics “horrible.”

“If you go down to the border, he has to see the kids that I’ve seen, young girls, young boys, you know, that have come through very difficult situations. It is a humanitarian crisis, and he can either do two things,” Cuellar said. “One, as a leader, he can be defiant and say I’m going to roll up my sleeves and see the humanitarian crisis. Or he can look detached, appear detached and say I’m doing everything long distance.”

Today it is certainly Barack Obama who is out of touch.  And, unlike President Bush during Katrina, Obama isn't doing a damned thing to alleviate the situation,  Instead he demonizes Republicans.  He makes speeches calling Republican's evil.  He doesn't even try to win over popular public support. He seems more interested in making enemies than allies. He has yet to appeal to the American Public, who would, most assuredly, rally to the cause.

Today it is Glenn Beck of all people who is doing the right thing for all the right reasons.  It is Beck who is illuminating the crisis and it is Beck who is appealing directly to the American People for support, tolerance and understanding.  

The President ought to ask Glenn Beck for a ride and join him on the border.  The President ought to appeal to the public for donation, support and a willingness to take in refugees in their local communities.  The President ought to pretend, for just a few hours to be a leader.  Frankly, Obama needs a photo-op.

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* See and read how President Bush handled the aftermath of the Katrina Crisis in Jonathan Tilove's New Orleans Times-Picayune article written in October 2009.