OK to Stay Away

Unlike this guy, and many others, I think it is unfortunate that politics require that a president personally visit a disaster area. In this case, some complain that Obama didn't end his Europe trip early to go see the tornado damage in Joplin, Missouri. Previously, it was Bush going to New Orleans, etc., etc. I think a president is perfectly capable of understanding the scope of a disaster without being there on the ground. And when a president travels, it requires immense levels of logistics and security that distract from the tasks at hand, which include search and rescue, repair, and rebuilding. But if a president doesn't make the trip, he gets heavily criticized in the media. Even if a president merely flies over, that's not good enough, even though the view from the air is probably more telling than that from the street. So Obama went to Joplin Sunday, for whatever good it will do.