A View from the Right: Team Bush & Friends on Hurricane Katrina

Jeeze, blame the victims, con them, or what?

The President is fortunate to have family, friends, and the lunatic fringe on his side:

Former Majority Senate Leader Trent Lott, visiting some young evacuees: ``Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?''

Barbara Bush: referring to the refugees in the Astrodome: "So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert on rebuilding New Orleans: "We ought to take a second look at it. But you know, we build Los Angeles and San Francisco on top of earthquake fissures and they rebuild, too. Stubbornness...I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me."

The President himself, after speaking with Nancy Pelosi concerning the termination of Michael Brown, Director of FEMA: "Why would I do that?"

Michael Brown, Director of FEMA, concerning his demotion (firing): "I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife and, maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep. And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims," Brown said.

Rush Limbaugh on "Mayor Nayger"...errr...Mayor Nagin.

Rev. Bill Shanks, conservative Christian pastor: "New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now. God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again. ... It's time for us to stand up against wickedness so that God won't have to deal with that wickedness. "

Robert Tracinski, Editor of The Intellectual Activist: "People living in piles of their own trash, while petulantly complaining that other people aren't doing enough to take care of them and then shooting at those who come to rescue them—this is not just a description of the chaos at the Superdome. It is a perfect summary of the 40-year history of the welfare state and its public housing projects.

A View from the Right: Hurricane Katrina's Aftermath

Jeeze, blame the victims, con them, or what? The President is fortunate to have family, friends, and the lunatic fringe on his side:

Former Majority Senate Leader Trent Lott, visiting some young evacuees: ``Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?''

Barbara Bush: referring to the refugees in the Astrodome: "So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert on rebuilding New Orleans: "We ought to take a second look at it. But you know, we build Los Angeles and San Francisco on top of earthquake fissures and they rebuild, too. Stubbornness...I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me."

The President himself, after speaking with Nancy Pelosi concerning the termination of Michael Brown, Director of FEMA: "Why would I do that?"

Michael Brown, Director of FEMA, concerning his demotion (firing): "I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife and, maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep. And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims," Brown said.

Rush Limbaugh discussion "Mayor Nayger"...errr...Mayor Nagin.

Rev. Bill Shanks, conservative Christian pastor: "New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now. God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again. ... It's time for us to stand up against wickedness so that God won't have to deal with that wickedness. "

Robert Tracinski, Editor of The Intellectual Activist: "People living in piles of their own trash, while petulantly complaining that other people aren't doing enough to take care of them and then shooting at those who come to rescue them—this is not just a description of the chaos at the Superdome. It is a perfect summary of the 40-year history of the welfare state and its public housing projects.

For this relief, much thanks...

Thanks to my student Joe Maki for adding the counter to my blog site. I had tried it myself and ended up with it in the wrong place.

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David Brooks: Conservative?

First there was his article essentially agreeing with Karl Marx. Now this editorial. How many conservatives do you know who DO NOT blame the poor for their own lives? Meet David Brooks and your head count goes up to at least one.

Arguing for Integration:

"Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. The only chance we have to break the cycle of poverty is to integrate people who lack middle-class skills into neighborhoods with people who possess these skills and who insist on certain standards of behavior."

Crediting Clinton:

"The Clinton administration built on Gautreaux by creating the Moving to Opportunity program, dispersing poor families to middle-class neighborhoods in five other metropolitan areas."

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Blame Game: You Heard It Hear First

I'd like to say the NYT's editors are listening to me.
"Blame game" is the wrong term, and discussing culpability is appropriate now.

Alterman States It Succinctly

"Readers of this site will know that we sometimes find ourselves at a loss as to whether we should be more appalled at the Bush Administration’s ideological obsession, its incompetence, its arrogance, its anti-intellectualism, or its dishonesty. In New Orleans, we see all of these forces at work in a manner that the mainstream media finally finds itself unable to ignore. "

Maybe you have to be a professional to state it this concisely. Here's the skinny on Homeland Security Director, FEMA director Michael Brown, and friends:

"If you're keeping score at home, under this administration, the Federal Emergency Management Administration has been headed by, in order: the president's former campaign bagma...er...manager, and a guy who was fired from his previous job managing a luxury horse federation for being incompetent, and that this last guy's deputy, of whom you will see a lot on TV, qualified for that post by being a campaign advance man and a local TV anchor."

Paul Krugman Rocks the House

I try not to miss an editorial by Paul Krugman, a real economist, not an Arthur Laffer curveball artist.

In this column, he lays the NOLA disaster on the President's and his party's disrespect for government. The President represents the worst of the FBR's. Ideology is the combination of "is" and "should be," and Mr. Bush has consistently come to depend on the latter to the detriment of the former. He has also hit a new low, with his beloved Turd Blossom [sic: a nickname for Rove, GW coined], in politics, i.e. getting what you want in society.

Krugman tells it better here:


"Killed by Contempt"

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html

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NYT: Elitism > Liberalism

I sent a letter to the NYT today.
The word "refugee" offended me before Jesse Jackson's comment hit the media. But the snotty tone of Scott Shane's article is really not objective. You can find it here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05blame.html?hp&ex=1125979200&en=755e637e66f8b02f&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Here's the letter:

Dear Editors,

I was dismayed by the condescending tone of Scott Shane's article "After Failures, Government Officials Play Blame Game." Mr. Shane’s choice of words makes it quite clear that he disapproves of the ongoing discussion about who is to blame for disaster. From the phrase “ blame game” to characterizations of “sniping” to his interpretative words “a clear slap at Mr. Chertoff,” Mr. Shane’s tone delegitimizes discussion of responsibility, disrespects the anger that naturally accompanies grief, and ignores the inevitable spin from an Administration that has used any means necessary to shift blame away from itself. Discussion of blame, contrary to the Administration’s spokesmen, does not harm ongoing evacuation, rescue, or fundraising efforts, and Mr. Shane should reserve his opinion for the editorial page or articles clearly marked “News Analysis.”

Here's a list of links from TalkLeft. You'll get the picture quickly. The Guardian's on the left. Don't know about the others. At least the American press is waking up to the nightmare that is President Bush.

International Views of Bush: He Panicked.
Sometimes it's good to see how others view us. The headlines say it all:

England: The Week Bush Failed America
Scotland: Bush Panics and Sends in the Marines and Katrina Reveals Truth About U.S. Poverty
France: Le Monde Editorial: Catastrophe Sparks New Debate Over Wisdom of Iraqi War; Le Figaro: A Distressing End to Bush's Summer Vacation
Italy: Storm Reveals Leader Who Divides America
Germany: German Minister Says Part of Blame for Katrina Goes to Bush
India: (Reuters) 'Bush doesn't care about black people, shame on America' and U.S. South Drowns in Bitterness
Australia: Survivor's Fury at Relief Effort
I didn't even bother with the more obvious ones coming from Cuba (calling Bush criminally insane) or the Middle East.