More On The Odious Administration
posted by Will
WaPo's Harold Myerson on Iraq, Katrina, and Medicare. It's just despicable. There was actually a memo that might as well have been titled "Hurricane Katrina Determined To Attack Inside The United States". Now they won't release all their documents. Executive privilege can be so convenient when you have pesky, embarrassing things you don't want to talk about anymore--like a major city being destroyed. I can only imagine what conservatives would be saying about a (purely hypothetical) Democratic president who had bungled all this so badly. There would be a coup--or at least an attempt at one. Chances are they wouldn't plan it very well. I guess it's the thought that counts.
Then there was the Kansas speech, especially the part the Daily Show focused on, showing the president unable to recall whether the Republicans had cut 12.7 billion dollars from higher ed loans. Amazing. He sure can talk and talk about coyotes, though.
Meanwhile, there are much more desperate situations all around the world that make even our domestic catastrophes pale in comparison. What good is American power if we cannot at least attempt some solution to all major crises? How about a new dawn of liberty--"freedom spreading like a sunrise"--in Sudan?
As for health care: a billion here, a billion there... At least there's an attempt to address one part of the problem. It's a start. Good luck. Now get busy with the rest of federal policy.
Then there was the Kansas speech, especially the part the Daily Show focused on, showing the president unable to recall whether the Republicans had cut 12.7 billion dollars from higher ed loans. Amazing. He sure can talk and talk about coyotes, though.
Meanwhile, there are much more desperate situations all around the world that make even our domestic catastrophes pale in comparison. What good is American power if we cannot at least attempt some solution to all major crises? How about a new dawn of liberty--"freedom spreading like a sunrise"--in Sudan?
As for health care: a billion here, a billion there... At least there's an attempt to address one part of the problem. It's a start. Good luck. Now get busy with the rest of federal policy.
3 Comments:
"Hurricane Pam" showed that a Category 4 hurricane would flood New Orleans and cause problems with the levee. Now what was Gov. Blanco thinking when she tried to decide whether or not to call for an evacuation? Bush declared it an emergency and she tried to decide what to do. After the levees failed, Ray Nagin says the government is coming after him and Gov. Blanco is in tears. It's still all Bush's fault, right?
Excuse me, that was a Category 3 that the theoretical "Pam" was. Katrina reached NOLA as a Category 3 and was a monster in the Gulf and nobody paid attention.
The leaders of Louisiana are more concerned with buying imported marble to put in the new Capitol building offices and spending money on the Mardi Gras statue than taking criticism of their own actions. They just defer to President Bush every time.
Well, of course the hurricane was not Bush's fault. It would be ridiculous to think he controls the weather--unless you happen to be part of the slim majority in this country that apparently considers him to be infallible. Do you think he has godlike powers? He should use them more often, but for a change, he could try using them for good.
No, here's what was his fault: the failed response was a direct result of the larger program of gutting the federal government from the inside, making it incompetent on purpose, only to turn around and say "Look! It's incompetent! Time to privatize Social Security (and everything else)!"
Michael Brown (and his ilk) was Mr. Bush's fault. Brown was the result of a carefully considered posture the right takes in this country to government--they claim that it isn't necessary, and then when it (predictably and tragically) fails, simply blame their political opponents. (Would they have blamed a Republican governor of LA?)
FEMA is a federal program. Full stop. Any attempt to pass the buck is shameful. Where's the often-bragged-about leadership we keep hearing this administration has a monopoly on?
Post a Comment
<< Home