Unjust or Absent Reaction

Catastrophic: the effects of Hurricane Katrina were truly catastrophic. During this time of fear and confusion, America turned to the government, whose ineffective initial response aroused issues of racial and socioeconomic injustice. On September 15, 2005, President Bush spoke to the nation from the ruins of New Orleans. In his speech, the President effectively used Aristotle's appeals to ethos-credibility, logos-logic, and pathos-emotion to convey that lack of government preparation, not racial and socioeconomic inequality, was the cause of slow, inadequate government response.

To provide the reasoning behind the ineffective response, President Bush first had to establish his credibility as a just and impartial leader. In order to depict him as such, he explained his decision to provide an objective investigation of the government's ineffectual response to Hurricane Katrina (Text 4). Although the government tried to work well under such horrible circumstances, Bush stated, "every level of government was not well coordinated, and was overwhelmed in the first few days" (Text 4). Bush also promised a "thorough review of the disaster plans of every major American city" (Text 4). Nedra Pickler of The Washington Post writes "Bush further establishes his credibility by assigning both parties' members to take part in the comprehensive review of the government's faulty response." The president assembles most of his credibility by his declaration of being "responsible for the problem, and the solution" (Text 4). "His readiness to accept this responsibility supported his ability to be an effective leader" states Patrick Martin of the New York Times. Throughout his speech, President Bush was able to establish his credibility effectively.

To continue building his credibility, President Bush utilized logos, or the appeal to logic, in his reasoning to the ineffective response of the government to Hurricane Katrina. The lack of preparation on the government's part was due to the underestimation of the colossal storm. "The storm involved a massive flood, a major supple and security operation, and an evacuation order affecting more than a million people. It was not a normal hurricane-and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to it" (Text 3). The aid being provided to all the victims of the hurricane was used as a tool to falsify the racial and socioeconomic discrimination that seemed to overshadow the government's initial response to the hurricane. "As of today, 500 thousand evacuees' families have received emergency help to pay for food, clothing, and other essentials" (Text 2). Bush also uses the logical approach to tell of the future plans regarding New Orleans. He describes a stronger community after the rebuilding of New Orleans (Martin 2). Throughout Bush's speech, logic was used as an effective tool to establish a sense of concern that the American government had for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. However, logic was not Bush's strongest appeal to the American people. To effectively convey his point, Bush used emotional appeal in his September 15th speech.

President Bush was able to effectively utilize pathos, the appeal to emotions, to show the government's genuine regret after the failure to respond adequately. The President utilizes strong emotions such as "sorrow and outrage" to describe the mood after the storm to relate to the victims of Hurricane Katrina (Text 3). Although President Bush notably avoids the racial and socioeconomic issues, he does state that "bold action" should be taken to