From It Affects You
Take a look, side by side, at the covers of New York's two major tabloids (I've only posted a thumbnail of the NY Post cover here - larger versions of both are posted below the jump to save bandwidth.) One gets it right while I have never been more embarrassed by the other.
(While the New York Post is the target of this rant - deservedly so - they are really a proxy representing all those who would actively try to promote the Katrina response as some sort of victory for Bush as well as those who passively help by insisting nothing is wrong.)
The text on the Daily News cover, which may be a little small in the image at left, reads as follows:
It is absolutely outrageous that the United States of America could not send help to tens of thousands of forlorn, frightened, sick and hungry souls earlier than it did. Who is at fault for what is nothing less than a national scandal?
The New York Post, on the other hand, pretends as if nothing is wrong. Worse than that, they have a hero shot of George Bush "compassionately" consoling a Katrina victim with an action figure-like exhortation "I'll fix it." Hero Bush is on the scene and he'll make it better, vowing, "Gulf Coast will rise again!"
I am deeply ashamed the New York Post would participate in such propaganda. Yes, I know, they are a Murdoch outfit and have always carried water for the Bush administration. But they are also a New York newspaper staffed, I would imagine, primarily with New Yorkers. How could New Yorkers stand by and watch the Bush administration do to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama what they did to the people of New York? Worse than that, the Post is an active participant.
In recent posts, I've discussed some of the myriad failures which have made the disaster in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast incalculably worse. I can comprehend a discussion on the degree of failure, but I cannot - and I say this without the slightest hint of partisanship - I cannot comprehend how any reasonable and honest person could possibly argue that the Bush administration has done everything it could. What happened in New Orleans after Katrina hit is, as the Daily News writes, a national scandal.
That some want to transform it into a political victory for Bush, the way 9/11 was transformed, is disgusting. That some will yell at critics to "stop politicizing the hurricane" as a means of shutting up people who don't want to go along with the real objective of politicizing the hurricane for Bush is disgusting.
As I wrote the other day, there is perhaps no other U.S. tragedy which has been politicized to a greater degree than 9/11. I won't rehash that entire post, but Conservatives have essentially transformed 9/11 into a sort of political hammer. I have been told by several out-of-towners that I have "forgotten September 11" for no other reason than disagreeing with Conservative policy. National Republicans and their boosters use the 9/11 card as casually as you might put on your shoes in the morning. Disagree with the invasion of Iraq? Your forgot 9/11 and you want the terrorists to win. Think Bush is doing a less than stellar job? It's because you don't think he should be fighting terrorism. And then there was the RNC, which took the exploitation of the city and 9/11 to unprecedented levels.
All the politicization of 9/11 would not be so bad (and I apologize - it seems I am rehashing quite a bit after all) if Bush truly was the post 9/11 leader his propagandists portray him to be. But he is not. After getting off to a solid start, it is difficult to imagine the war on terror being handled worse than it has. George Bush failed the people of New York. He failed America. It is a great source of bitterness among many New Yorkers that he uses us as pawns when the simple truth on the ground is he failed to do his duty. His popularity over the years has been based largely on his portrayal as a 9/11 hero, when the reality is he failed us. That is not lost on New Yorkers. It is why George Bush - who was welcomed here with cheers and hugs in the days after 9/11 - cannot make an announced appearance in NYC without drawing thousands of protesters.
Unlike with the response to 9/11, many of the government's failures in the wake of Katrina are immediately apparent. It cannot be argued by reasonable and honest individuals that Bush and his government have performed well. Indeed, DHS was built for exactly this kind of mission, and they did not just under perform, they outright failed. It makes you wonder - seriously wonder - just what DHS has been doing these last few years. And does it not represent another failure to respond to 9/11? We've spent $40 billion per year to build this department to react to exactly this kind of disaster, and in its first test it practically did not show up. What if, as would have been the case in a terrorist attack, the city was full and not partially evacuated? And what if, as would have likely been the case in a terrorist attack, we had no idea when or where the attack would have occurred? It is frightening to consider the scope of the failure we have witnessed.
So, while the New York Post was never a fountain of inspiring journalism, it is particularly appalling to witness them attempt to help George W. Bush and his Conservative allies do to the people of the Gulf States what he has done many of the very same people who read that newspaper. It is appalling to watch, particularly given NY Post editors had a front row seat of what has happened here, as they try to build George Bush into some sort of noble hero when in fact he has failed the people and the region he would like to use as political pawns.
While the Post is the target of my anger this particular post (deservedly so), they are really a proxy representing all those who would actively try to promote this as some sort of victory for Bush as well as those who passively help by insisting nothing is wrong. So, assuming this thread generates some comments, please don't confine them to this particular piece of propaganda.
From It Affects You