President Bush, in a televised interview three days after Katrina hit, suggested that the scale of the flooding in New Orleans was unexpected. "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm," Bush said in a Sept. 1 interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."Source: Washington Post
"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." - George W. Bush
Source: Multiple including the Washington Post
Another classic by George Dubya:
We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is +óGé¼GÇ¥ and it's hard for some to see it now +óGé¼GÇ¥ that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house +óGé¼GÇ¥ he's lost his entire house +óGé¼GÇ¥ there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter)Source: Huffington Post
Now, here's one by Bush's mother, demonstrating that he came by his insensitivity and cluelessness honestly:
What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle) +óGé¼GÇ£ this is working very well for them.Source: Editor and Publisher
Another classic Barbara Bush quote. How the heck did this brain-dead, heartless Bush family become an American Dynasty?
But I really didn't hear that at all today. People came up to me all day long and said 'God bless your son,' people of different races and it was very, very moving and touching, and they felt like when he flew over that it made all the difference in their lives, so I just don't hear that.Source: CNN
By the way, idiocy and insensitivy like this has NOT been rewarded in this case. According to today's Washington Post, "...the winds of Katrina may have been the force that finally wrenched the Bush presidency off its moorings." The article, entitled "Katrina's Damage Lingers For Bush: Many See Storm as President's Undoing," explains how the image of "Bush staring out the window as Air Force One traversed the Gulf Coast thousands of feet above the devastation of Hurricane Katrina" pretty much "erased the memory" of "Bush with a megaphone atop the rubble of the World Trade Center."
Meanwhile, today's New York Times has an analysis article entitled, "Despite Steps, Disaster Planning Still Shows Gaps" one year after Katrina. For instance, according to the Times:
Despite calls by many FEMA critics, though, little has fundamentally changed about the agency itself, which still has less autonomy and power than it did in the Clinton years and a budget for its core mission that has not significantly increased.
More broadly, across the country, we still aren't prepared for catastrophic events, as we approach the 5-year anniversary of 9/11 and the 1-year anniversary of Katrina:
The Department of Homeland Security, FEMA+óGé¼Gäós parent agency, rated only 27 percent of the states and 10 percent of the cities evaluated as adequately prepared +óGé¼+ôto cope with a catastrophic event.
This, sadly, is not an aberration. Instead, it reflects the utter inability of the current Bush/DeLay/Allen Republican Party to govern effectively, competently, or with any degree of foresight or fiscal responsibility. This is illustrated over and over again, whether it's the out-of-control federal budget deficit; the Iraq debacle (Republican are now distancing themselves from Bush on Iraq); the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, the continued failure to secure the "homeland" or to prepare for a catastrophic attack; the utter inaction in dealing with global warming or in kicking our "oil addiction," as Bus calls it; the incompetence shown in dealing with two members of the so-called "Axis of Evil," Iran and North Korea; the bumbling and neglect of the Arab-Israeli conflict, etc., etc.
The bottom line here is that the current Republican Party is a cesspool of incompetence, ignorance, and idiocy. Not to say that the Democratic Party is perfect by any means, but it's our only other serious option in this country, and it also has shown its ability to balance budgets and keep the country at peace and prosperity (see the Clinton years). Why on earth wouldn't we want that again?
Well, in just over two months, we'll have our chance to start moving the country back in that direction, by turning control of Congress back to the Democrats. At the minimum, this will restore much-needed "checks and balances" in our system. At best, it will pave the way for a new beginning for America after the 2008 Presidential elections, when our long national nightmare may finally - FINALLY - come to an end.
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.