Iowa's Tragedy, just a photo op to "The Maverick"

"I can see my conscience from here!"

(AP Photo/LM Otero)

Here's McBush in Iowa yesterday, apparently wanting to be within hugging-range of Bush in case the "Decider-Signal" went up.

What's wrong with this?

Plenty:

An aide to Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state.

McCain toured flood-damaged sites in Iowa on Thursday, including the town of Columbus Junction in the southeast.

Patrick Dillon, Culver's chief of staff, said the governor was concerned that McCain's trip would divert local law enforcement from the flood recovery effort to provide security for McCain.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama canceled a scheduled visit to eastern Iowa last week at the request of state officials.

"As a courtesy — and as we did for Senator Obama — we privately made an effort to make sure that Senator McCain knew that state and local resources were still being deployed to support the flood fight and that now may not be the best time for a campaign trip," Dillon said in a statement.

Oh, and there's a lot else that's wrong:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain opposed legislation last year that included money for flood control in Des Moines, which shows he is wrong to push for reforms to the congressional earmark system, a Democratic lawmaker charged Thursday.

State Sen. Jack Hatch of Des Moines said the earmarked money was needed to relieve water problems on the city's north side, which were magnified over the weekend when a levee break forced an evacuation of the Birdland area and ruined several dozen homes and businesses...

President Bush eventually vetoed the bill, which authorized more than 900 navigation, flood-control and environmental projects across the country. A report on the bill said the Des Moines metropolitan area suffered more than $152 million in flood damage in 1993.

"The Birdland Park and Central Place levees on the Des Moines River failed during the 1993 flood event and do not provide reliable flood protection, placing nearly 200 homes and businesses at risk," the report said.

Every member of the Iowa congressional delegation voted to override Bush's veto, the first override of his presidency.

McCain strongly backed Bush.

The McCain camps galling response?

Hatch chose the wrong time to attack McCain, spokesman Jeff Sadosky added.

"We do not need to play politics with flooding that has brought so much harm and pain throughout the region," he said.

This from the guy who stopped in Iowa for no reason other than to get himself in a photo.

Fuck you.

Via Great Orange Satan diarist Dansac.