Pattern of Depraved Indifference

Sound familiar?

Bush recently canceled an out-of-state presidential campaign appearance and spoke with family members and victims in the shooting at Fort Worth's Wedgwood Baptist Church.

But when Hurricane Bret threatened the Coastal Bend last month and thousands of vehicles were stuck on Interstate 37 trying to evacuate, there was no word from the governor.

Some Corpus Christi area officials have criticized Bush for his lack of action and comments about the evacuation issue during and after Hurricane Bret. Thousands of Coastal Bend residents trying to evacuate were forced to poke along Interstate 37 for six to eight hours to reach San Antonio.

[…]

Local and state officials are now trying to come up with an evacuation plan to prevent a repeat of the situation during Hurricane Bret. But Bush has not weighed in on the issue, despite several attempts by the Caller-Times to get comments from him.

Bush's staff did not consult him about the issue and he hasn't given his opinion about using all lanes of I-37 for northbound traffic during hurricane evacuations.

"It appears that the people of Texas and the Gulf Coast are not his priorities," said Molly Beth Malcolm, Texas Democratic Party chairwoman. But a spokeswoman for Bush said he relies on local officials to take care of such situations.

Some political observers say the evacuation isn't an issue for the governor. Others say any event that endangers lives is a viable situation for the governor to intervene.

"(Bush) has authority over the DPS and nothing happens with the plan? He's either distracted or it's poor staff work,'' said Austin political analyst Bill Miller, who works with both Republicans and Democrats. "His staff has to be attentive. He may be running for president, but his staff has to keep its eye on state business.''

That's from Sunday, September 26, 1999. Hat tip to PSoTD, who notes, “I'm a little surprised that this story about Governor George W. Bush and hurricane "management" in 1999 hasn't been posted anywhere to my knowledge... yet...” I haven’t seen it yet, either, which is why I’m calling attention to it, too.

This guy is a criminal. And, based on the article above, he’s a repeat offender. He recklessly engages in conduct (avoidance of leadership; appointing unfathomably unqualified hacks to positions on which people’s lives depended) which creates a grave risk of death to other people, thereby causing their deaths. He is demonstrably aware (see included weather bulletin, especially last line) of the risks which he then chooses to consciously disregard. The risks are of such nature and degree that disregarding them constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation (e.g. coming back from his fucking vacation and paying more attention to leadership and getting things done than how to spin the situation to deflect responsibility while people are still dying).

Guilty of second degree murder by way of depraved indifference. Court is adjourned.