Remember the old canard about "Clinton's haircut on the runway delaying flights?"

It's false, of course, but, even if it were true, it would pale in comparison to chemotherapy being denied to cancer patients because Bush was doing a photo-op instead of attending to Katrina!

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 30 -- The Naval Medical Center in San Diego's Balboa Park was shut down to accommodate a visit by President George W. Bush Aug. 30, RAW STORY has learned, forcing patients to cancel chemotherapy treatments and hundreds of scheduled patient visits.

"The pharmacy is closed. The emergency room is closed. Even chemotherapy patients will not be allowed on base," the daughter of one patient told RAW STORY shortly before the President's arrival. "My mother is a patient...She was contacted and told that her appointment had been canceled and would be rescheduled later…All civilian personnel and patients will not be allowed on base."

Hundreds of patient visits were cancelled as a result, she said. Patients and staff at the Naval Medical Center voiced concern over the shut-down of non-critical patient care services for a photo op that never even materialized. None were willing to go on record by name for fear of retaliation, such as loss of jobs or revocation of healthcare privileges.

One hospital volunteer expressed shock and disappointment at the apparent disregard for patient welfare.

"I think it's disgusting. People who are getting chemotherapy or radiation are on a very set schedule. They are not supposed to miss a session or put it off by even a day, because it's based on the life cycle of a cancer cell," the volunteer said, adding that some patients had waited weeks for appointments. "Some had to postpone for quite a while, because the radiation and chemo rooms were full on other days," she added. "They closed everything down just so he [Bush] could have his photo op in the lobby with the corpsmen."

I was always one who loudly complained whenever Bush I, or Clinton visited NYC; they inevitably caused huge traffic jams; in my opinion, if they were better public servants they'd need a whole lot less "security."

But this is such a callous disregard for human life.

It ain't an imaginary 2 hours on a runway.