How Natural Disasters Aggravate President-Worship

Of the controversy surrounding President Biden’s reluctance to comment on the devastating wildfires in Hawaii, Jeff writes:

Informed by a memory of, among other things, George W. Bush’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina and the resulting pile-on, Jeff admits to a position of sympathy with Biden here. Loath as I am to confess to something similar, I nonetheless do. I think, moreover, that there is something deeper, perhaps even primal, in this reflexive desire for presidents to be seen as somehow involved or caring when faced with a natural disaster somewhere in the country.