Everyone who’s been really paying attention to the Bush administration has noted how inept the president and his staff are. From the budget to the war in Iraq, Bush and his minions seem pre-disposed to applying their anti-Midas touch to every situation the White House has confronted. It would be awesome were it not so awful. But considering the historic incompetence which will surely be Bush’s legacy, it’s hard to understand why people were so shocked by his mishandling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis.
Now that the mop up effort in New Orleans is underway, a variety of print, radio, electronic and television pundits alike have been frothing at their mouths and keyboards, sputtering contempt for all things Bush. It’s been positively surreal. All of them have acknowledged his past mistakes with tremendous fervor. Yet, they managed to keep their expectations high when it came to the Katrina catastrophe. As if somehow, Bush would suddenly rise to the occasion and actually accomplish something for the public good.
I’ve expressed before that when it comes to this particular debacle, the blame needs to be spread to all the governments involved, including local and state. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, and Senator Mary Landrieu have a lot of ‘esplainin’ to do. But these officials, as poor as their response was, at least had the confidence of the people in their state to take care of the situation and had proved able to deal with the duties of government. Bush hasn’t enjoyed that kind of trust from the American people since shortly after his second inauguration and the fact that Bush sat on his brains for a couple of days before making half-assed decisions about what to do in the Gulf Coast shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
Is Bush insensitive to the needs of poor minorities? Of course he is- he always has been. Bubble Boy Bush is the kind of guy who makes sure his limo driver takes the long way around the various ghettos that sit less than a couple of blocks from the US Capitol. He’s the guy who creamed over a hundred death row prisoners while governor of Texas. And look at how marvelously Bubble Boy has restored clean water, electricity, and infrastructure in Iraq. Yet the pundits blathered on and on, touting their indignation at Bush’s delayed response to a category five hurricane like his previous record didn’t matter. Assigning the FEMA Director post to a political hack? Shit, most of his political appointments have been to hacks with no experience except for lobbying against government regulation on business. Declaring he’ll run his own investigation into what happened? That’s just what he wanted to do after 9/11. Bubble Boy didn’t do a damned thing differently during the Katrina clutch than he has in any other of his critical junctures.
Article comments
1 - Cerulean
Exactly what would that be? I tend to agree with you but, the gov't has powers and has our money which they took from us so it doesn't seem quite that easy.
I'm at least glad that people are now critizing Bush as they should have been all along; it was the Emperor has no clothes moment. The fact that it took so long however, shows how hypnotized and ignorant the American people are. That's the real problem.
2 - Dave Nalle
Ah yes, a deluded response for a naive and confused post. It's a double-header!
Dave
3 - Nancy
Now that he's said mea culpa, the MSM & pundits are back to quiescence. Apparently, saying it's your fault if you're president really does mean never having to actually be sorry. And look at all the goodies he can now hand out openly to Big Business & Big Donors under the guise of 'rebuilding business', both as direct corporate welfare to such needy entities as Exxon (they chipped a figurative nail when one of their rigs got hurt; never mind they've been trumpeting record billions of profit the last several quarters at our expense), and to other crony-laden corporations such as Halliburton. No bids for THIS job, this time, either! Contrary to popular opinion, for Jr., Katrina is a windfall in disguise, and he's busy making the most of it, all the while mouthing the appropriate platitudes.
4 - DrPat
Gosh, yes, Nancy, let's make sure Exxon and those other nasty oil companies can't possibly prosper until every single poor person from New Orleans has been restored to their former digs.
Can I bum a ride from you to work. For the next year?
I commute from San Francisco to El Lay, by the way...
5 - Nancy
My point is/was, these big corporations (like Exxon) already are drowning in money; they sure as hell don't need additional government subsidies & outright gifts to repair the damages (if any) they've sustained, besides which, if anyone doesn't think Exxon doesn't insure (or self-insure, as many county & state governments do), they're hopelessly naive. Also, these rigs are constantly being repaired/rebuilt due to safety/upkeep requirements. The oil companies keep spare components around as a matter of course exactly because the rigs & refineries are constantly requiring renewal, altho seldom a preponderance of parts at once.
6 - Nancy
In fact, unless I misunderstood the report, they've already got most of their rigs back up & running, ditto the refineries.
7 - DrPat
Try this article, with its list of losses: 20 oil rigs, refineries, over "91 percent of normal daily crude oil production in the Gulf -- 1.5 million barrels", "more than 83 percent of natural gas production", tankers and platforms, and two tanker terminals that handle "20 percent of all the crude oil imported into the United States".
You don't wave a hand (or a profit) over that and make it go away.
8 - Larry A. Sakin
To Cerulean, comment #1- You're right, it isn't easy but it can be done. Aside from the example Solidarity provides, what American conservatives did after the Sharon Statement was completed in 1960 shows how non-political remedies can be applied to changing a system. The conservatives created communities of like minded individuals and sought fundraising through (at that time) the unconvential means of direct mail. They went to churches, academic institutions, DAV's and anywhere else they felt they'd find a sympathetic ear and mobilized the energy from each to create a movement. They bolstered their own media apparatus and created think tanks which sponsored scholars whose opinions they distributed in the mainstream press. And even conservatives like Dick Viguerie have said time and time again that these same methods can be effective for democrats, greens, what have you if they want to create change as well.
Nalle's masterful commentary aside, it is neither naive nor dilusional to think that non-political action can create political change. What is missing is our political spectrum today is boldness- there are no visionaries, no one to stand up against the feckless left or the blindly ideologic right. We need to inject boldness into our discourse again if what we've come to know as 'democracy' is to survive. And with all due respect, Dave, the libertarians surely don't fill the bills of boldness or visionary.
9 - Cerulean
Dave, sometime you'll tell us why you are so threatened even the mention of social justice or women getting out of their places.
10 - Dave Nalle
>>Dave, sometime you'll tell us why you are so threatened even the mention of social justice or women getting out of their places.<<
How you could possibly read anything negative about women into anything I've ever written is absolutely incomprehensible.
As for 'social justice', it's just a code word for the redistribution of wealth unrelated to merit and at the point of a gun. Come up with social solutions which are actually just and I'll take you seriously.
Dave