The Democrats did exactly what Democrats do, take a ounce of truth, and then interject whatever they see fit, and have it reported as news. And if there is no truth to even tamper with, they seek out to instill panic. You may be wondering what exactly I am talking about. Only the biggest news story since 9/11, Katrina.
As of this post, a total of 279 New Orleans residents have been found dead. Now sure as the sun will rise, that number will increase. However, I think Mayor Nagin could have overshot his original estimate by about 8 or 9 THOUSAND. And to go one step further, the media would have had us believe that New Orleans was leveled, never to be seen of again. However, the Army Corps of Engineers have done remarkable jobs in getting the levies secured, and water out of the city. So mush so that people who remained in the city have already started the cleanup. And once water is running again, some say only a matter of days, the city may really start to clean up.
What this all really means to me is that a lot of people, media, pundits even politicians all hoped to capitalize on other's suffering. The media for ratings, the pundits for show of intellectual reasons, and politicians for political gain. And it seems all the doom and gloom they spoke of were certainly overstated. Yes, people have lost their homes, their belongings, their loved ones, but this is not the tragedy they wish it to be.
I am tired of playing the blame game. I will let the politicians and pundits battle it out. Truth is, a lot of blame can be placed in many different areas, but think about this. In the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Jack Kelly looks at the federal response to Katrina. His article, The Federal Response to Katrina Was Not as Portrayed looks at other natural disasters and compares the help Bush sent to those previous. His conclusion:
"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."
Let's go back to the blame of Bush and his administration. They say he remained of vacation while others died. He didn't send help for four days. That he "doesn't care about black people." Yet, while on vacation, he had resources, manpower, and machines moving towards Louisiana. The help was there within three days. The fact is, a majority of people living in New Orleans, not just the poor, are black. And yet Bush set "unprecedented" speed in getting the help there.
Mike Brown stepped down today. Wrongly or rightly, he was the first (and hopefully last) victim to the hate speech the left sent out directly following Katrina's wake. The water hadn't even stopped flowing through the gap in the levees, and the leftist media had Bush strung up on a cross. Democrats and the left-wing media could not wait to try and pin this whole fiasco on the Bush Administration. Like moths to a flame, they centered on this tragedy to show the incompetence of Bush. After review of the facts, it seems that maybe they were a little misguided. But to be honest, you fly to close to a flame, you sometimes get burned.
September 12, 2005
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I think you give Dems way too much credit in suggesting that they can control media and all political conversations in this country. If that were the case then we would have a majority. And I promise you Bush wouldn't be president.
ReplyDeleteSo Bush's response was exemplary and swift?
Craig, you are very passionate in your beliefs and want to hold on to them. I don’t think the thinking people of this country need pundits from either side to tell them what happened and certainly not to tell them who was responsible. I think people are smarter than that.
ReplyDeleteI don’t even know kids my age that buy into it. I know some very liberal democratic students that, for instance, were appalled when rock the vote came to their school and some of the performers gave speeches. A good friend of mine, who was able to see all sides but still ended up voting democratic said basically, I loved the fundraising concert but if they don’t know of what they speak they should just shut up and play music. Even democrats like the facts and prefer not to listen to rhetoric. Maybe I just know smarter people that you do but please give people credit.
You say “ Dems” as if they were some kind of foreign parasite. This than is part of the overall problem that this country has had. People led to believe it is us and them. You seem smarter than to fall into that trap.
Taking it all in one large picture, the federal government performed abysmally, again, used poor judgment again.
Doesn’t matter who else should have done what, and we know that a lot of people should have done a lot of things. The bottom line is the bottom line and I don’t think we can survive a corporate run almost fascist government much longer.
MJ,
ReplyDeleteI would have to say yes. I mean, you are talking about a huge effort moving in less than 24 hours? That is unreasonable at the federal level. Also, the Democrats don't control the media, they just happen to benefit the most from the coverage.
Alice,
Thank you for the compliment about my passionate beliefs, just understand that I am not so passionate as to have lost my own self identity.
I hear the word fascist thrown around alot, and wonder if anyone truly understands what that is. Democrats are not evil or foreign, just wrong, haha. Acutally just kidding, I just feel that the Democratic party, for the most part, seems to trip over itself in accusations rather than attempts to build character. Again, Democrats are not evil or bad, just a little overzealous in their attempts to climb back into power.
I'm sorry, but I do not see where the federal government performed anything out of the ordinary, or at least worst than the ordinary. Mistakes were certainly made, but blaming our federal government proves how bad the left wants to taint the Bush Administration.
Craig, you know I have to totally disagree with your timeline concerning Bush's reaction. But I think I will save that for another post.
ReplyDeleteI think to totally criticize an entire political party is probably wrong on many aspects. If anyone who reads this site has any reason to hate specific parties it's me. And to be honest I do not hate the Republican Party. I think politics has to be looked at individually, with a person by person account. To group all Dems together and say they are wrong or whatever, or to do the same with Repubs isn't correct and actually does more harm for future political purposes than anything. And the talking heads and pundits do just that. It's wrongs and not good politics. It creates this with us or against mentality and leaves no room for compromise.
Party politics is nothing new for this country. And neither is compromise. Somewhere, some day, both have to be realized.
Back to Katrina briefly. For the most part this post on the main page is about how Dems want to pass blame onto Bush. I'm not sure that's the case. But if it is, then I'm not sure how, at least on my individual level, calling for the Bush administration to abide by the laws that they so made is considered "passing the blame."
But again, I must add, that had Bush not created Homeland Security with the mandate that it has, then I would agree with anyone who said that the federal government's responsibility was limited to individual reasoning as well. But the reality is that Bush increased the size and power of government for such times as these and it obviously failed. Or at least that's my take.
Sorry for such a long comment. It's late and I'm just rattling off. Have fun this week and maybe I will see you this weekend. You know I always enjoy our little conversations on here :)
Then not than…. just correcting a previous word error.
ReplyDeleteI do know what fascism means.
Not to go into the original doctrine of fascism written by Gentile, basically because I went to a concert in central park this evening and am behind n my work.. :)Used as an epithet it means unusually authoritarian ,stresses loyalty to a single leader, and submission to a single culture, engages in economic totalitarianism through the creation of a Corporatist State, where the divergent economic and social interests of different races and classes are combined with the interests of the State.
I shall correct my statement to new fascism if you prefer as it does not adhere to the single most often used academically accurate definition . As you know fascism and its definition has been mulled over, changed and expanded by academics as well as politicians over time. The term "fascist" is often ascribed to individuals or groups who are perceived to behave in an authoritarian or racialist manner; by silencing opposition, judging personal behavior, or otherwise attempting to concentrate power.
We know Fascism can be and has been looked at politically and economically and although not inseparable here. Those who focus on economic policies and state intervention in the economy, identify fascism as corporatism. In this corporatist model of private management, the various functions of the state were controlling and regulating trade, while maintaining de jure private ownership.
Never taken that seriously from an academic perspective there are some that have felt that this country has been somewhat fascist or neo - fascist since FDR. Since then, as I see it, we have come a long way toward a new fascism, possibly with a little back sliding when we got lucky.
Yes I have seen Noam Chomsky talk several times and I admit I love him and think he is crazy at same time.
Some writers claim that the United States now meets some or all requirements for a Fascist state. Cases have been made both for and against this allegation on all sides of the political spectrum.
I won't state the cases. Don't be so damn judgmental in regard to Democrats, they may have failed last time and they may appear overzealous to you because what you see happening is an expose of sorts and it does not bode well for your party.
As for building character....well a party doesn't really have character the people in it do. I for one do not see a good character in our current president or vice president nor do I see a good character in the Secretary of State, Karl Rove, should I go on. I do think that someone who went to Vietnam has character, someone who finds Jesus...well no not so much.