We really shouldn’t be surprised by the looting and chaos in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. We’ve seen it all before when the Bushies are in charge, just not here in America. W. might not be successful in bringing democracy to Iraq, but he sure has brought the Third World lifestyle to New Orleans. All we needed was Donald Rumsfeld to show up in the Big Easy to remind us, when freedom reigns, "stuff happens."
W. has been playing catch-up again after a national disaster. The president who sat and read My Pet Goat to school kids for a full seven minutes after being told terrorists had attacked the Twin Towers was figuratively caught again after the disaster in New Orleans with his blue serge pants down around his ankles. We won’t need another 9/11 Commission to tell us why we were so unprepared for the devastation wreaked in New Orleans and parts of Mississippi. Four years after 9/11, it turns out the president and his party, which likes to brag about their competence, are as clueless as Charlie Manuel trying to speak the Queen’s English.
Is this assessment too harsh for you? You want to call this finger-pointing during a national tragedy? Well go ahead and call it what you want, but we need a little fixing of responsibility here, especially when this administration, which botched the war in Iraq, rewarded itself with freedom medals instead of firing the most responsible among them. Well we’re not going to stand for any pats on the back this time around. No banners in New Orleans telling us "Mission Accomplished." No appearances in jumpsuits and pilot gear. Not amid the stench of rotting bodies and floating garbage. This is the real no spin zone. Please, America it’s time for a little finger-pointing.
No, W. didn’t cause the historic storm. He didn’t build a good part of New Orleans below sea level. But his incompetence as the custodian of our nation’s security has been breathtaking. Here’s a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer (Sept. 1): "The experts, including a former Bush Administration disaster-response manager said that the government was not prepared, had scrimped on storm spending and had shifted its attention from dealing with natural disasters to the global fight against terrorism." In other words, Bush decided to fight terrorism with a $200 billion war in the wrong country, all the while he was cutting taxes. In order to cut taxes – the real number one priority of this administration above all else – they left us vulnerable to disasters here at home. So they shrugged off warnings of global warming and they cut funds for projects like strengthening the levees in New Orleans. And that didn’t stop the Republicans from passing all their favorite pork-barrel projects that would help them win the mid-term elections.
The Bushies responded to Katrina’s wrath by spinning their futile efforts to help the sick and the dying. Spinning is what the Bushies do best. But the public isn’t buying anymore. While W.’s poll numbers sag, his critics are popping up in the strangest places. Last week began with Pat Buchanan calling for articles of impeachment against W. for turning the country into a "flophouse" with his pro-business immigration policies. We all know how Cindy Sheehan spoiled W.’s five-week vacation. Then came the inept response to the disaster in New Orleans – two days before the president spoke publicly about the unfolding tragedy followed by a quick flyover and a self-satisfied pronouncement the next day in the Rose Garden. For these efforts, the mayor of New Orleans gave W. a public butt-chewing and columnist Andrew Sullivan, once a staunch Bush supporter, charged the president with "criminal negligence."
The Bushies like to "swift boat" their detractors, but there are just too darn many. They’re too busy covering their conservative flanks. Even Bill O’Reilly has fallen out of love with W. And they can’t run to Karl Rove for help because he’s been under cover ever since he helped "out" an undercover CIA agent.
Meanwhile, even Pat Robertson is off limits for spiritual guidance because he’s busy calling out hit squads to take out world leaders he doesn’t like. All the while the price of gas is going through the roof. It’s just not a good time for an oilman-turned-president to be in the White House. Why I heard one guy suggest we bomb Saudi Arabia and take over the oil fields until he was reminded we’ve already gone that route in Iraq where most people want out, not in.
W. was re-elected because folks trusted him to keep us safe. You ignored the nightly news reports that said Homeland Security was under funded, so now it should be re-named the Department of Homeland Insecurity. You ignored all those reports our ports are vulnerable and, four years after 9/11, our chemical plants are still woefully unprotected. You were thinking about other things when you were told no one is checking the cargo on airplanes, even though you’re emptying your pockets and getting patted down going through check-in. Now it turns out, despite forecasts the last two years of extreme hurricane activity, the administration was surprised again, but this time for once you shouldn’t be.
There is only one conclusion and it isn’t "stuff happens." This bunch running the country doesn’t know their rear end from an oil rig.
