And then it hit me: Katrina, Rita, a failing Republican Prez, and DENIAL

Maddy McCall

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Tue Oct-04-05 10:16 PM
Original message

And then it hit me: Katrina, Rita, a failing Republican Prez, and DENIAL

Edited on Tue Oct-04-05 10:17 PM by Maddy McCall

Everytime I have one of these epiphanies--well, I am so excited, and I come to DU to post my thoughts, and no one responds. So, this time, please bear with me, and take a moment to give me YOUR thoughts.

First there came the poll numbers. I mean, they were sinking fast. The prez was losing support even in his own party. That damned war. Gas prices. An economy that wasn't improving even though we kept hearing that it was.

Then came Katrina. FEMA fucked up. Well, FEMA didn't exactly fuck up, because it's nearly impossible to fuck up when you do NOTHING. Reports of cronyism...Bush appointing a buddy to head FEMA, even though the guy's most important position heretofore was as a horse show commissioner or some such muck. Oh, how Bush got ripped on that one, even by people in his own party.

Then came Rita. FEMA fucked up AGAIN. But Republicans became a little more hesitant to criticize FEMA this time. No, let's focus on that stupid Nagin and Blanco, instead. Stupid Democrats. The whole failure in NOLA was because of the Democratic mayor and governor, they said. Maybe that'll take the focus off of the problems in Texas.

But FEMA did fail. It failed in Mississippi. It failed in Louisiana. And it failed one hurricane later, in Texas. Even Republican city leaders in Texas were eager to voice their criticism of FEMA--and, by extension, George Bush, who had appointed a know-nothing to head it, a mistake that couldn't be quickly rectified, even after Brown's departure. By God, those Texas leaders' criticism sounded EXACTLY like the criticism we were hearing from Nagin and Blanco.

Ok, after the FEMA fiasco--in Mississippi this time, this week--came one of Bush's buddy's big mistake. Gov. Haley Barbour, a so-called pro-family conservative Republican (and former RNC chair) who's considering running for the Repub nod for prez in 2008, betrayed his conservative constituency by pushing for a new law allowing formerly water-based casinos to move inland 800 feet from the body of water. Well, his law passed.

Oh, how the Republicans are miffed with Pigboy Harbour. I listened to Matt Friedman's call-in radio show yesterday...if you don't know who Matt Friedman is, then google him. So, anyway, he was taking calls, and BOY WAS I LOVIN' IT! He said that he was no longer a Republican, that Bush was the worst president ever, that Bush talks the conservative talk, meanwhile heading the largest government in American history, and acting more like a liberal than FDR. He said that Mississippi's pro-family constituency had been betrayed by Haley Barbour, who claimed to be pro-family, but who was nothing of the sort. People were calling into the show left and right, saying that they would no longer vote Republican, that they'd just stay home at election time. It was delicious being a Democrat yesterday, listening to Republican despair.

Oh, but then there are those Republicans in denial. You know the sort. The ones at work who LOVED to rub it in your face when Bush was elected and then, ahem, re-elected. The ones who had a BUSH/CHENEY sticker on every vehicle. The ones who were so self-assured that no matter where you encountered them--at the post office, ball game, or even in Sunday School class--they extrovertedly boasted of their guy Bush. Proud Republicans.

I guess you could call it denial--maybe in their hearts they know that the Bush boat is sinking. But they won't admit it in public. They have no defense for Bush. There is no way that they can defend Bush in a friendly debate with a Democrat these days.

So what do they do? They attempt to deflect criticism of Bush by bringing up the easy targets. Blanco. Nagin. They use the same talking points. The 2,000 buses. All those "savages" looting in New Orleans. Nagain abandoning the city. Blanco being a "stupid woman" who has no business being Governor. You've heard it. I've heard it, too. It's so easy for "us" to argue back with "them" though that the same problems experienced in NOLA happened in Mississippi and Texas, too. You know, those other two states with REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS and city leaders? Those Proud Republicans' whole argument falls apart when you mention that.

Gas prices, Harriet Mier cronyism, hurricanes, FEMA, the war...how can Republicans EVEN BEGIN to defend Bush? They can't anymore, and they know it. They just won't admit it.

So what's this post about? Well, to put it in a nutshell, IT REALLY MUST SUCK TO BE A REPUBLICAN THESE DAYS. And it's way too easy (and delicious) to be a Democrat. Sure, our party has its faults. But can you imagine how pathetic it must be these days to claim membership in the party of the GOP?