it is not mere incompetence, it was all planned to work this way
The horror of New Orleans is directly and explicitly the result of planned Bush administration policies. And George Bush is directly responsible for the needless death and destruction, the same as if he had given an execution order.
The lives and property lost in New Orleans - and the corollary devastation affecting the entire nation - were the purposefully planned foreseeable and willingly paid price given in exchange for Republicans to give tax breaks to wealthy people, and so George Bush could pay for his war in Iraq.
There is no other way to explain it. Yes, they are incompetents. And sure, willful disregard of one's responsibilities is not exactly the same as conscious malice aforethought. But the foreseeable results of explicit policy planning which expressly chose to ignore expertise recommending other priorities amounts to the same thing, in every practical real-world sense of meaning.
George Bush signed New Orleans' death warrant on purpose. It was a natural and logical result of Republican ideology and the conservative policy agenda. A direct causal relationship exists with a plan and it's logical outcomes. They got exactly what they had planned for. By definition, this is what THEY WANTED.
Posted by bz at September 2, 2005 12:00 PMI just saw Laura giving a news conference in Lafayette, talking about how well things are going. LAFEYETTE!!! Let's see her go the the Convention Center in New Orleaans and talk about how damned well things are going. This administration's arrogance, detachment from reality, and complete lack of compassion for the helpless and the powerless is raising the bar daily. It's not just incompetence anymore, it's criminality. And...if this country allows Bush and his gaggle of rightwing cronies, who care more about government contracts than aid to the desperate, wiggle out of this with a few photo-ops, then maybe we deserve him.
Posted by at September 2, 2005 12:05 PMpolls are not important now...the reality is that the Federal Government under George W. Bush has once again miserably failed. And once again, who did he call to take over - Bill Clinton.
Posted by T2 at September 2, 2005 12:14 PMWhat the Left and Right blogs are saying
Posted by muckdog at September 2, 2005 02:00 PMDubya is doing a knees job on CNN...too bad the idiot son only reponds to calamities once the screaming starts.
Posted by Goyo at September 2, 2005 03:07 PMthere's so much talk out there in mainstreamland that this is a test of bush.
well, this WAS a test of bush.
and the test is over.
he flunked.
but present tense, this is really a test of mainstreamland--media, that is.
so far, the results are middling. there are indeed examples out there of good reporting and stinging analysis. but, the results of this surveyusa polling highlights the problems confronting us with the message machine. the media having been typically compliant the first few days of the week, spinning as the administration wanted them to spin--cut short his vacation, unprecedented response, blah blah blah--and look at the public's initial reactions. not bad (for bush & co).
but then the alternate reality boys had major message levee failure, and the tsunami of images and stories coming out from witnesses on the ground tipped the coverage. and oops! the public is starting to think differently.
who could be more surprised that paula zahn--paula zahn!--actually thought on her feet well enough to hold michael brown to account? who could be more surprised at even boot-licker nonpareil, wolf blitzer, saying such harsh things. (of course with cafferty feeding him searing on-site reporting, what was he going to do?) etc.
but, compare that to diane sawyer, say, continuing to sit with that plastered expression of sycophantic concern as bush lied to her face about noone anticipating levee breach. or compare it to, say, elisabeth bumiller of the nytimes, continuing today (poor, corrupt dear) to work her fellatio muscles overtime on the cybex machines, trying to spin away the san diego guitar playing photo op, or the fact that "democrats AND OTHERS" are criticizing bush, with the ole whore, ed koch, as her piece's coda, reminding everyone that democrats are just positioning to reclaim the House. or what is actually all this talk about getting in touch with the people, and LOOKING more connected, and SEEMING to really care--or know what he's talking about. (and just what's up with all this concern about IMAGE? what? when he gives his next press conference and goes into his "more tears, meryl" routine, and gives us all this palm of the hand pressed to his breast and dewy eyeballs and catch in the throat--suddenly THEN he's going to be deemed as having passed his test?)
old habits don't just die hard.
sometimes, they just don't die.
no, this is not nearly so much a test of bush. WE at least know what a spoiled, petty, vengeful incompetent scoundrel he is (and always has been).
but, of what or whom this is a test is the media.
the future of our democracy is much more hinged on THAT test. and that test is still playing out.
right now, bush has taken his hits.
but, hold on, let's see what's happened 30 days from now. when bush & co. have finally been able to throw some money at the refugees. and when they've finally been able to jerry-rig enough pleasing good news photo ops for the move america forward crowd. and when the rightwing (which is to say mainstream) media crowd has had a chance to co-ordinate getting back on message.
If you ask me, Bush has not done enough, and i disapprove of what he has done. I disapprove because he hasn't done nothing. Wow he went and "comforted" the victims. And that also goes with he hasn't done enough. He also vowed to rebuild the city. So all Bush has done is vow and "comfort". Damn hes done alot. But if he hadn't cut the funding for levee repair then he wouldn't have to vow to rebuild the city. The country is going to have to pay more now to rebuild the city, then it would have to repair the levees.
Posted by jimmy at September 2, 2005 05:01 PMIMPEACH GEORGE BUSH!
Posted by at September 3, 2005 05:14 AMI for one think Bush has done enough. Now that the photo op is over for him, Trent Lott and Tom Delay, he needs to get his ass out of the way and back back to Crawford so the rescue workers can complete their jobs.
Posted by Hank at September 3, 2005 06:41 AMIt's hard work being this incompetent.
Posted by angel at September 3, 2005 07:21 AM