ash addresses the consensus message of conservatives in the Hurricane Katrina fallout:
While I may not speak for all “Bush haters,” I think I can address the emerging liberal consensus on how the administration has mishandled Hurricane Katrina.
While President Bush couldn’t control the force, timing, location, or devastation of that merciless storm, here’s what he could have done:
He could have not dismissed Global Warming as insufficiently faith-based to take seriously.
He could have not refused to renew the Kyoto Treaty.
He could have not launched an unprovoked war so that National Guard members are currently deployed “there” thus unavailable “here.”
He could have not cut funding for FEMA while appointing the haplessly unqualified roommate of a crony to run it.
He could have dropped the guitar he was playing when the storm hit instead of hoping willful obliviousness would minimize its impact.
He could have landed the plane over New Orleans en route to Washington rather than scanning the damage from a distance of several thousand feet only to backtrack long after he should have begun paying attention.
And, my personal favorite, he could have advised his regal mother to refrain from remarking that the disadvantaged, ailing people taking refuge in a Texas stadium were no worse off than they ever had been, lest life’s less fortunate wonder whether she fancies herself the reincarnation of Marie Antoinette.
That’s a partial list of how Bush might have prepared for and responded to the tragedy to affect a better outcome. While others involved in the catastrophe – from state and local officials to the victims themselves – are hardly exempt from criticism of their own behavior, it doesn’t exonerate the President from what he did - or mostly didn’t - do.
A recent letter writer notes that as of her input to the discussion, most of the letters to this paper have denounced Bush’s performance to date. Since anger motivates action, it is natural that outraged readers would weigh in first, followed by the Bush supporters outraged by the outrage. There are still plenty of people defending Bush, though their numbers are shrinking as we speak, due in large part to his perceived indifference to the poorest among us blatantly displayed around the planet.
To those still eager to give Bush the benefit of any doubt, I suggest you cease repeating the phrases “blame game” and “finger-pointing” immediately. They’re straight out of Scott McClellan’s mouth, and every time you parrot him you make him smile. Scott McClellan is too occupied making a fool of himself at press briefings to exacerbate his lack of credibility with a goofy grin.
A final thought: Freedom of speech is not contingent upon contributing to the relief effort, monetarily or otherwise. Neither, apparently, is blind loyalty to an utter failure also known as our President.