George Bush's Unimpressive Return To New Orleans

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, George W. Bush returned to New Orleans to deliver a speech at Warren Easton High School. Along with an educational roundtable at the school, the event is the only one that Bush is reportedly participating in while in the city — but the location says a lot. Back in 2006, the former president delivered an impassioned speech at the school to mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. George W. Bush's unimpressive return to New Orleans has been met with much ire from its citizens, who haven't forgotten the Bush administration's slow response to a disaster that took the lives of 1,800 and displaced thousands more.

At the school, Bush praised the resiliency of the city, marveling that "the storm nearly destroys New Orleans, and yet now New Orleans is the beacon for school reform." Though many schools — Warren Easton included — have thrived under its charter system, the overall educational structure is a complex mess of public and private, as well as charter, which requires less oversight. Though President Obama also praised the mass education reform occurring in the city, the brief remarks from Bush feel more like an affront to citizens, considering his previous inactivity.

Needless to say, locals and the country as a whole are more than nonplussed with Bush's visit. Many have likened the trip to a guilty party returning to the scene of a crime, either out of guilt or as some type of pathological issue. This point is clearly not lost on the former president, who refused to address any controversies surrounding the federal government's response following the levee breach.

According to The New Orleans Advocate, Bush refused to answer questions from the media following his speech. Protesters were few and far between at Warren Easton, though one man was spotted with a "You're too early, come back next week" sign referring to Bush's delayed response and lack of presence on the ground of one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history.