I watched the press conference of Presidents Bush and Talabani and I have to say that today my opinion of G.W. Bush has gone up a couple of percentage points. If the commentary from these two political leaders is based in fact then there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the Iraq mess. But what impressed me more is that the President took responsibility for the governmental blunders which took place in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Here’s how some media is reporting the news around the globe:
INDIA: Katrina blunders: Bush owns responsibility - US President George W Bush today took "full responsibility" for government failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina He said the disaster raised broader questions about the government's ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terror attacks…
CANADA: Bush: 'I take responsibility' for hurricane failures - Bush: 'I take responsibility' for hurricane failures…
SOUTH AFRICA: Bush takes the blame - Washington - US President George W Bush on Tuesday said he took responsibility for the federal government's slow response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster…
IRELAND: Bush takes full responsibility for Katrina blunders - US President George Bush today took “full responsibility” for government failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and said the disaster raised broader questions about the government’s ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terror attacks…
BELFAST: Bush tours New Orleans to repair damaged presidency - Facing the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, George Bush took his first close-up tour of a devastated New Orleans yesterday in what appeared to be as much a political damage-limitation exercise as an opportunity to size up the physical damage from Hurricane Katrina…
You get the drift, right? Americans are a forgiving people. When our leaders own up to making mistakes we have a tendency to put it all behind us and move on. Sometimes we learn from our transgressions, sometimes we don’t. The President has taken on the role of point man only after Mr. Brown resigned from FEMA. Let’s face it, the President appointed Brown to the position so that, in itself, is his fault. The President made a monumentally poor choice in hiring Brown to be director of FEMA – that’s a given. But, let’s face facts. People work very hard on behalf of political candidates and are rewarded for their efforts. Mike Brown was an ardent Bush supporter. He probably accomplished a lot during Bush campaigns. In our political system where patronage, cronyism and corporate greed rule the political world, we can’t expect our elected officials to do much different.
Article comments
1 - Nancy
Maybe he found Harry Truman's 'Buck Stops Here' desk motto in a back drawer someplace. It's about time he took responsibility for something. God knows he normally never takes anything but credit. Whichever flunky or party comrade talked him into this will deserve a medal, because I can't think of anything that will deflect worse criticism more than this move. Very clever - and long overdue. I won't look for any repeats, tho. Sorry, Silas: I'm not as inclined to forgive & forget as you seem to be.
2 - ss
I'm with Nancy on this one. If the 'Don't play the blame game, O'Reilly, you blame the Govenor' gambit
would have worked, I don't think he would have taken responsibility for the appointments at FEMA. If the positive images of the clean up would have boosted his approval rating, I doubt he would have taken any responsibility. He finally took responsibility because the first two approaches weren't working.
I would have to agree with SK that this whole phenomena isn't entirely Bush's fault. When the American people demand he stops wriggling and acts like a leader, he will. If they buy his foot soldiers' smear tactics, he won't.
3 - gonzo marx
ahem..the National Response Plan, part of the Homeland Security Bill, signed into action by the Pres in 2004...
"The President leads the Nation in responding efficiently and ensuring the
necessary resources are applied quickly and effectively to all Incidents of
National Significance."(NRP, 15)"
this shows he holds FULL responsibility...
another tasty tidbit...
"Federal departments and agencies are EXPECTED to provide initial and/or ongoing response, when warranted, under their own authority and funding; alert, notification, pre-positioning and timely delivery of resources; proactive support for catastrophic or potentially catastrophic incidents using protocols for expedited delivery of resources. (NRP, 6)
Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination
process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical
resources."
this leaves room for NO excuses, or any chance to lay blame anywhere else..
just tossing that out there, cuz it seems it was forgotten up until today
Silas, ya know yer my "brother" on many things...but not this one...this was a PR move, NOT a mea culpa...
no points from the gonzo...too little, too late
Excelsior!
4 - Natalie Davis
Agreed. Nice move, but too little, too late. And however laudable the words, how could one statement likely motivated by self-interest possibly make up for ALL the wrong the Shrub has caused and will cause?
5 - The Fifth Dentist
I'm glad that he took responsibility. It was the right thing to do. I can't say anything bad about it. In my opinion, he has just surpassed James Buchanan to become the 42nd greatest president in history. Look out Franklin Pierce.
6 - Silas Kain
Gee, G.W. and Franklin Pierce next to each other. There's something poetic there considering ol' Franklin is Georgie's ancestor.
Perhaps I sound too forgiving and I agree it was all PR but it was good to hear him take the blame nonetheless. That doesn't let the rest of us off the hook. There needs to be an investigation of the facts for posterity. Beyond that, the lessons to be learned are many. Americans need to recognize that we all share in the blame no matter how insignificant the individual contribution may be. The questions that remain which need to be answered seem pretty apparent to me:
7 - Dave Nalle
>>I'm glad that he took responsibility. It was the right thing to do. I can't say anything bad about it. In my opinion, he has just surpassed James Buchanan to become the 42nd greatest president in history. Look out Franklin Pierce.<<
Now hold on a second here. I can catalog a bunch of presidents who were worse than Buchanan and Pierce and Bush.
John Tyler - signed not a single piece of meaningful legislation and caused his entire cabinet to resign. Then later as a state rep in Virginia voted to secede from the union.
William Henry Harrison - was in a coma for his entire presidency which lasted for 30 days.
Andrew Johnson - hideously corrupt and opportunistic and got impeached for it.
Warren G. Harding - makes Bush look like an amateur when it comes to cronyism and inside deals, plus he makes Bush look like Demosthenes as a public speaker.
Pierce was an intellectual and a pretty smart guy to his credit. He just didn't have any kind of agenda or motivation. I'd say Bush and Pierce are both up in the lofty low 30s realm occupied by such luminaries as Chester A. Arthur, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter and Benjamin Harrison. Bush might even be challenging Ulysses S. Grant and Martin van Buren for a coveted spot in top 25.
Dave
8 - Silas Kain
Is there not one among you who will even attempt to answer the questions posed on comment #6?
9 - Georgio
I love the history lesson Dave..I love to learn things ...
...I wish someone did have answers to comment #6..without the politics
10 - Bob A. Booey
Dave, where would you rank Clinton, Reagan, Nixon, JFK, FDR and Bush the Elder?
Who are your top 5 Presidents?
That is all.
11 - gonzo marx
ok Silas..i'll take a whack at it
1) remove the hyphens first...no more (fill in the blank)-Americans....just everyone as an American, the only way you get a hyphen is if you yourself are a legal Immigrant, your kids, if born here, do not. this is only the beginning, but it is an important step
2)this one is very difficult, and some aren't going to like it...set the Standards for passing each grade level in the public educational system, and then stick to them...unify and codify the learning Texts to be used so that each District and classroom has the same textbook and resources to be taught and learned...sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the True Culprits in this fiasco are the local School Boards..they are the ones that set the Policy and spend the money, and they have done a shit job of it for the most part...MAKE THE SCHOOL BOARDS ADHERE TO UNIVERSAL STANDARDS!..that's the start
3)nobody gets to buy the land out, unless the owner of record is willin gto sell, they get the "insurance" for the damaged assets as per whatever regulations/insurance(flood) codes are in effect, and then the owner chooses what is to be done with their property
4&5) these two go together and sit at the Nexus of our problems...make it illegal for ANY contributions to ANY politician/campaign by anyone other than a US citizen who is a registered voter...
that's right, no PACs, no corporations, no foreign interests...just American voters...stop the money/profit/lobby cycle, and the rest will work itself out ...if those Interests want to get in the game...they can, run ads...but clearly show they paid for them, all the while, they are not allowed to trade their cash for Influence
none of the above are be all end all answers...
but hell, it's a start...
Excelsior!
12 - Silas Kain
Thank you, gonzo. I love your insight. I think you should run for office on the platform you present. So, BC fans, who's next?
13 - Nancy
I'm all for stopping this ridiculous fiction that corporations are "persons" with all the rights etc. thereunto. They aren't, never have been, and never should be. Gonzo is right: this gives them a helluva lot more power than they deserve or should ever have.
I'm nowhere near as sharp as the G-man, so I'll pass at the moment; my brain is wrung today. Maybe later I'll take a shot at saving Civilization As We Know It. Thanx anyway.... {=/
14 - Nancy
When did some venal politician grant corporations 'personhood' status anyway? Is this specific to the US or is it worldwide?
15 - Dave Nalle
>>When did some venal politician grant corporations 'personhood' status anyway? Is this specific to the US or is it worldwide?<<
It's a fundamental principle of a government which recognizes the validity of contracts. It should be an operating principle of law in any democratic, capitalist country. When a group of people form a relationship like a partnership or a corporation, that contractual entity has an existence similar in many ways to a person. This is why and how it is possible to tax and regulate its activities as the government would tax and regulate the activities of a person. It's also how it can be held liable as an entity for damage it does or crimes which it commits. These are all very desirable things.
Dave
16 - gonzo marx
Mr Nalle, i am all for the recognition of contracts...they are a required tool of business since the stone age, and their enforcement is all that allows a modern economy...
but that is NO reason to legally treat a Corporation, which has at the heart of it's Intent the desire to remove personal Responsibility in ANY legal faction from those involved in the ownership and management of said company...
that being my baseline Axiom, what i find disturbing is that this collective totalitarian socialist structure known as the "corporate entity" is allowed more Rights than an Individual Citizen with NONE of the personal Responsibility or Accountabilty required of a living human under the Law
you don't think that is accurate?
an example...if, via accidental misadventure, you strike someone with your automobile, you are charged and brought into criminal court where a judge and jury utilizing the adversarial advocate process of Defense and Prosecution will determine your culpability and punishment, if any, under the Law..which could range from a dismissed charge to life imprisonment/death penalty, depending on the Facts found
on the other hand, if the car you were driving was found to be the Cause of the accident due ot mechanical failure stemming from a faulty bit of engineering that the corporate actuarian determined would happen in a small percentage of the time that fell within an acceptable cost/risk ratio for lawsuits and was thus left unchanged...ALL the Company can face, from the engineer to the managers/executives/board of directors/CEO who signed off on it, is..
pay a fine
NO criminal Prosecution...monetary only, even if Willful Neglect is found
Governments, Corporations,PACs on and on...these are NOT FUCKING PEOPLE...they are legal fictions, and should be treated as such
funny how a multinational Corporations is structured and run the same as Stalin's Russia, but we think of it as the "engine of capitalism"
fuck oligarchies of all kinds, Individual Rights supercede all save the public safety...this is especially important to note when the FCC can fine a performer and media outlet ut to $550k per incident of "obscenity", and yet a Corporation can be fined no more than $25k a day MAXIMUM, for ANY infraction of EPA rules...
that's right kiddies, a Corp can go and flush radioactive arsenic by the ton(they don't that i know of, just an example) into your water resevoir and be fined no more than $25k...but saying "fuck" on the air or showing a woman's breast is $550k an "incident"
this seem "sane" to anyone?
Excelsior!
17 - Dave Nalle
>>that being my baseline Axiom, what i find disturbing is that this collective totalitarian socialist structure known as the "corporate entity" is allowed more Rights than an Individual Citizen with NONE of the personal Responsibility or Accountabilty required of a living human under the Law
you don't think that is accurate?<<
Not even vaguely. In fact, the corporate entity concept makes it much more pracical to hold a corporation responsible for things like personal injury and death. It means that there IS someone specific to sue in case of an accident or negligence or situation which might not be the fault of any individual.
>>that's right kiddies, a Corp can go and flush radioactive arsenic by the ton(they don't that i know of, just an example) into your water resevoir and be fined no more than $25k...but saying "fuck" on the air or showing a woman's breast is $550k an "incident"<<
This and your previous examples are exactly and totally incorrect. You're only thinking in terms of government administrative and regulatory penalties. What about tort actions against the corporation? Every single person impacted by the bad water can sue that company and clean their clock. This would not be possible if it were not accorded status similar to that of a person.
Dave
18 - gonzo marx
oh Mr Nalle..ever the Apologist..
you HAVE read the Administrations tort reform stuff, yes?
what is the limit for corp caused "accidental death"?
that's right folks, your Life is worth $250k according to Shrub and co
as always, take my mad peckings at th ekeyboard for what they are worth, look it up for yourself from multiple sources...
then make up your OWN Mind...
nuff said?
Excelsior!