When Mick and Keith sang, "We all need someone we can lean on," they were just little off the mark. Judging by people's behaviour after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina they would have been far more accurate to sing, "We all need someone we can blame on." - not as poetic perhaps, but a good deal more accurate.
Municipal officials blame the state, and the state blames the feds. The people on the ground blame everyone from the governor to the president. If you read the op ed sections of newspapers or a random sampling of blogs you'll find everything from foreign and economic policies to political partisanship under fire.
The only thing that anyone seems to have stopped short of doing is blaming anyone specifically for causing the hurricane. Even an apocalyptic Christian site has warned that comments about Katrina being justice served would not be tolerated. For that, I suppose, we should be grateful, even if it falls under the heading of small mercies.
Hurricane Katrina was horrible and the aftereffects are even worse. There are legitimate questions that need to be asked regarding response times to the crises and the condition that the levees were in prior to the storm. But is it fair to lay the blame for all of that at the feet of George Bush and his administration?
Mr. Bush has long espoused the current conservative mantra of less government is better. From the moment he threw his hat into the ring for his first run at the presidency everyone knew where he stood: tax cuts at the expense of government programming.
In the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, when Mr. Bush announced his intentions of beginning his War on Terror, did people not wonder where the money would come from? Or have they never asked how much does it cost to maintain two standing armies in the field in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Eric Olsen
very well done g-man - when people vote for their pocketbooks they take the chance that the structure will be inadequate for what arises, and it has arisen with a vengeance
2 - marc
"The only thing that anyone seems to have stopped short of doing is blaming anyone specifically for causing the hurricane."
Guess you missed Robert Kennedy Jr. blaming Bush for "causing" Karina because Kyoto wasn't signed. All the while forgetting it was Congress that turned down the treaty and the "science" behind the treaty and global warming is shaky, at best.
3 - RedTard
People are way too stupid to do anything for themselves. We need a very large government that controls every aspect of our lives. What we eat, how high the grass in our yard can be, and most importantly they must take our money away from us lest we choose to spend it on the wrong thing.
If we move to a socialist system and defer all our rights to government bureaucrats I feel certain we wouldn't have any more tragedy and death.
4 - RedTard
Continue to fear and the government, both right and left, will continue to take away your rights in your "best interest".
5 - Matthew T. Sussman
From Jonah Goldberg's column on "blaming Bush on the hurricane:"
Other than that, I'm pretty much on the same level in terms of "this is my governmnent so I won't cry when it turns to liquid shit." People in California who are not happy with Gov. Kindergarten Cop should really keep this in mind.
6 - steve
good post matt. I bet the governator is kicking back with a stogey-in-mouth with his shades on, cruising around on a HD fatboy motorcycle. HAH
7 - Sigismundo Celine
Some are speculating that the storm, though not created, could possibly have been "supercharged" through weather control techniques developed by China, the Former Soviet Union and the USA, too....such as HAARP....it's a long studied science dating back to the work of Nikola Tesla.
8 - steve
so let me get this straight. the democrats have run out of republicans to blame, so they are now blaming bush for creating this disaster through the kyoto protocol? excellent.
9 - Sigismundo Celine
For you conspiricy theorists, here's a story for that weather control notion...
www.rense.com/general67/waskatrinaamanmade.htm
notice it's "katrinaamanmade" with an a after katrina, as in "was Katrina a man made storm?"
10 - Silas Kain
Imagine if conspiracy theorists took their misguided energies and investigated facts and figures? It's not as if Katrina went to the drive up window at Beijing Laboratories and said, "super size me."
11 - Matthew T. Sussman
Katrina went to China and ordered the McCategory No. 4.
She was then asked if her order was "for here or to blow!" BWAHAhAHAHA lolol!!!1!1!1!oneone!!
This is why people think I'm so funny.
12 - Silas Kain
Matthew, THAT was awesome.
13 - Matthew T. Sussman
If you ever want to make someone laugh their bladder off:
1. Take commonplace phrase
2. Replace one of the words with a word that:
--Rhymes with the original
--Is topical
3. Profit
14 - Bob A. Booey
Puns suck :)
Take this humor test and let me know what you get, bitches:
here
That is all.
15 - Bob A. Booey
I did that wrong.
Try this link or just copy-and-paste above:
3-Variable Humor Test
That is all.
16 - Matthew T. Sussman
Per Bob's link, conveniently edited from second person to third:
Given my experience, I've found it's hard to argue with Internet tests. You have to like, not care what it says, which is hard because it came from the Internet.17 - Mark Schannon
I took the test and answered most of the questions honestly. Thanks, Bob. It just reaffirms what I've always known about how extraordinary I am after a number of shots of Irish Whiskey.
"Your humor has an intellectual, even conceptual slant to it. You're not pretentious, but you're not into what some would call 'low humor' either. You'll laugh at a good dirty joke, but you definitely prefer something clever to something moist.
You probably like well-thought-out pranks and/or spoofs and it's highly likely you've tried one of these things yourself. In a lot of ways, yours is the most entertaining type of humor because it's smart without being mean-spirited."
I like that last part. Particularly when I'm dealing with such pitiful, pond scum, low life, Cro-Magnon, troglodytes that frequent this incredibly over-rated wite. Woof. Woof. Woof.
(By the way, what does "mean spirited" mean?)
In Jamesons Veritas.
18 - Bob A. Booey
I took it twice and got two different results -- I took it the second time a few weeks later after the first:
the Wit (61% dark, 38% spontaneous, 15% vulgar)
your humor style: CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK
You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.
I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.
Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.
You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.
PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais
You scored higher than 73% on darkness
You scored higher than 29% on spontaneity
You scored higher than 3% on vulgarity
The cutting edge
your humor style: CLEAN | SPONTANEOUS | DARK
Your humor's mostly innocent and off-the-cuff, but somehow there's something slightly menacing about you. Part of your humor is making people a little uncomfortable, even if the things you say aren't themselves confrontational. You probably have a very dry delivery, or are seriously over-the-top.
Your type is the most likely to appreciate a good insult and/or broken bone and/or very very fat person dancing.
PEOPLE LIKE YOU: David Letterman - John Belushi
The cutting edge
You scored higher than 44% on dark
You scored higher than 72% on spontaneous
You scored higher than 0% on vulgar
What do you think, darlings? Does the glass slipper fit this Cinderella?
That is all
19 - Silas Kain
Yes, B.A.B. your glass slipper fits.
Now, MOI:
(42% dark, 69% spontaneous, 47% vulgar)
your humor style:
VULGAR | SPONTANEOUS | LIGHT
Silas Kain likes things silly, immediate, and, above all, outrageous. Ixne on the subtle word play, more testicles on fire, please. People like Silas Kain are the most likely to RECEIVE internet forwards--and also the most likely to save them in a special folder entitled 'HOLY SHIT'.
Because it's so easily appreciated, and often wacky and physical, Silas Kain's sense of humor never ceases to amuse his friends. Most realize that there's a sly intelligence and a knowing wink to Silas Kain's tastes. Silas Kain's sense of humor could be called 'anti-pretentious'--but paradoxically enough, that indicates Silas Kain is smarter than most.
PEOPLE LIKE Silas Kain: Johnny Knoxville - Jimmy Kimmel
I definitely like the Johnny Knoxville comparison. But Jimmy Kimmel?
20 - Bob A. Booey
I think Jimmy Kimmel is friggin hi-larious and very amiable. That's a compliment.
That is all.
21 - Bob A. Booey
Somehow I got much darker and less spontaneous in a couple of weeks, apparently. I went from Dave Letterman to Woody Allen -- I'm feeling awfully neurotic about this test result!
That is all.
22 - Matthew T. Sussman
I think it makes you a flip flopper.
23 - Bob A. Booey
Don't you Swiftboat Vet me Sussman!
I'll Willie Horton your ass :)
That is all.
24 - Bob A. Booey
Oh, great now I've turned into Al Franken.
Pretty soon I'll be playing the piano and singing stupid political parody songs like Mark Russell.
Oy, vey. I'm so conflicted! I lost 50% of my spontaneity and got 30% darker. No wonder my girlfriend's asking me why I'm wearing the Grim Reaper's shawl from Bergman's Seventh Seal in bed instead of foreplay. We weren't having sex, we were playing a game of existential chess to see if we'd get to have sex all of a sudden.
That was a parody of a Woody Allen joke which was not meant to be funny, so shame on you if any of you laughed.
That is all.
25 - Matthew T. Sussman
This has been a successful threadjack.
New one: Johnny Knoxville? EW!