http://www.radaronline.com/web-only/politics/2005/09/bungle-in-the-bayou.phpBungle in the Bayou
If the U.S. were a McDonald’s, and Bush was on fry duty, he’d have burned the place down twice by now.
by Adam Morgan
Before Hurricane Katrina cold-cocked the Gulf Coast—and took with it Sen. Trent Lott’s prized front porch—it seemed that nothing short of a Twin Towers-sized tragedy could dent Dubya’s perma-smirk. It was a fine time for the GOP, what with the liberal agenda sliding off of the national curriculum, Air America dipping in the ratings, and most Americans thinking Abu Ghraib was the name of that Hindu Squishy slinger from The Simpsons. But because Georgie’s boys handled the Katrina fallout with the same fumble-fingers they used to botch the Iraq occupation, it’s suddenly not as cool to wear that “W the President” golf polo. Not even tucked into Dockers.
The justifications for our present debacle in Iraq, you’ll remember, have long since been debunked. It has cost us 1,891 Americans lives, 14,362 wounded, and $200 billion to date. Here at home, the trail from the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity led all the way to the White House, but the president never even scolded likely leaker Lewis “Scooter” Libby and “Hot” Karl Rove. Those facts gradually changed the way folks responded to the president in polls, but they still said they’d like to share a near-beer with Dubya. Grieving war mom Cindy Sheehan took her criticism straight to Crawford, Texas, and managed to chip a few more points off of Bush’s popularity by demanding that he bring home other mothers’ sons before they, too, were killed. But Bush blew right past her on the way out like she was some tinfoil hatwearing, shopping cart-pushing street vermin begging for a nickel. The so-called outrage around all of Bush’s global warming non-policies, anti-nuke proliferation non-efforts, and tax cuts overwhelmingly skewed to the richest Americans? It has all been white noise buzzing in the background on the boob tube.
If the U.S. were, say, a McDonald’s, and Bush was on fry duty, he’d have burned the place down twice by now.
One bungle in a country that’s not even Christian, though—that’s forgivable to Bush supporters. But there’s a George W. Bush saying that goes, “Fool me once… shame on… shame on you. Fool me twice… If fooled, you can’t get fooled again.” Katrina has left behind a glimmer of hope, and not just the kind CNN features in survivor fluff pieces. The hurricane has made it nearly impossible to deny the Bushies’ criminal ineptitude and ideologically-blinkered behavior. Even those who still believe democracy is sprouting in the footprints of freedom’s march through Iraq must now question the impact of long-term Bush policies—from denying the existence of global warming to allowing greedy developers to destroy protective offshore islands and wetlands. All of which cleared the way for Katrina.
Canny administration critics have realized that they have to link their cause to the hurricane or risk getting drowned by it. “Katrina has sucked all the oxygen out of everything else,” says Derek Chollet, a former Democratic Senate staffer who is now an analyst at the Washington think tank, Center for Security and International Studies.
Katrina has left behind a glimmer of hope, and not just the kind CNN features in survivor fluff pieces.
At the outset of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ confirmation hearings, Senator Ted Kennedy observed, “that massive tragedy also taught us another lesson. The powerful winds and floodwaters of Katrina tore away the mask that has hidden from public view the many Americans who are left out and left behind. As one nation under God, we cannot continue to ignore the injustice, the inequality, and the gross disparities that exist in our society.”
About as subtle as a Tazer to the nuts, which, to be fair, we’re not sure Teddy would even feel these days.
The group United for Peace and Justice, one of the main organizers of the large anti-war rally set for September 24-25 in D.C., is taking the most direct approach: linking the failures of U.S. planning in Iraq to the failures in planning for Katrina. Think that’s over the top? How about Bush’s radio address from Sept. 10 that miraculously finds a connection between Katrina and Bush’s go-to justification for everything: 9/11. His speech is actually titled “September 11 and Hurricane Katrina.”
It’s not as if either the Katrina disaster or the trouble in Iraq weren’t predicted. Scads of commentators suggested that an invasion of Iraq would invite further carnage, fail to stabilize a country already threatened by religious and sectarian strife, and empower Iran, al-Qaeda, and their ilk. The fact that Bush’s bumbling team stretched our military beyond its capacity, failed to secure a gigantic weapons cache, and then left that cache to be looted by any old terrorist, was just icing on the shit cake.
But with the kind of short-term political and pecuniary profit Bush and his oil-and-war cronies stood to make, they must have figured that they could easily afford to blast a hole in the sand big enough to bury their heads in.
As for Katrina, computer modelling, climatic studies, and everything short of a movie-of-the-week anticipated that a major storm would flood New Orleans. And once the hurricane hit, even the talking boobs on cable TV proved to be better informed than Homeland Security and FEMA officials. Imagine if, instead of a natural disaster, the Gulf Coast had been hit by a terrorist attack. There would have been no advance warning, and the Bush administration would have been even less prepared than it was when a one-time Arabian show horse judge was still in charge of the rescue effort.
There are plenty of long-standing reasons to be angry and dissatisfied with our current leadership, but it took Katrina to get Bush to finally take responsibility for something. Anything. The force of nature has focused the nation’s attention on the shortcomings of this administration and, at least for the time being, it will be the most effective symbol for White House critics—a rallying cry that inspires a 9/11 level of tragic imagery. Maybe there is hope after the storm.
http://www.radaronline.com/web-only/politics/2005/09/bungle-in-the-bayou.php********************************************************************
The fry cook reference cracked me up. :)
I love the quote from Senator Kennedy. He is very smart and articulate. He always stands up for the poor and for the least among us. I suppose that's why the right wing hates him. :(
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