Babies dying of dehydration; a dead woman lying in a street being eaten by rats; a significant portion of the population of a major urban area left for dead. I am bitterly ashamed that this is happening in my country. Fidel Castro today made an offer of a significant amount of assistance. Have we reached the point that Fidel Castro is more effective at coordinating disaster relief for our taxpaying citizens than our own President?
I am absolutely enraged that this man continued his vacation while a category 5 hurricane made its way toward the United States. I don't care if there is absolutely nothing to be done by doing it, but when there is a major threat to this country, I want to see the President cut short the damn vacation and haul ass back to Washington. I sure as hell don't want to see him go golfing as citizens of his country are dying, then off to a ballgame and photo op after photo op.
This is the man who made "security" the centerpiece of his reelection campaign. Who feels more secure now? Who could view this week's events and seriously entertain the notion that we are even remotely prepared to deal with a major terrorist attack?
I live near a major fault line. I have always thought that should a major earthquake occur, my government would soon arrive on the scene to begin the process of restoring order and providing medical care and the basic essentials necessary for survival. No more. I fully realize now that if the big one strikes, we had better be prepared to pull ourselves out of the rubble and make it on our own, or we are truly screwed.
I am more scared of what the President of the United States has done to my country than by anything a terrorist could potentially do to us.
For those who think politics does not matter, this is life under a conservative philosophy - Make it on your own or die. We are seeing how a "compassionate conservative" responds to those in need. A warning to flee danger, and that's enough for coordination of an evacuation effort. Those who have the means to flee can then do so; those who don't are blamed for their lack of resources. Then, after the disaster strikes, there is first a disconnect from reality, and then - Talk. Lots of talk about help coming, and denigration of the victims when they become outraged that babies are dying from dehydration.
This is what your votes bought you Bush folks, or more accurately, this is what your votes bought the folks of New Orleans. If you have a shred of decency about you, you should be sending every penny of tax cut you might have received to those who have been truly screwed by the "compassionate conservative".
Politics does matter. The Democratic philosophy, at least the one that I want to think is still the Democratic philosophy, is that "we are only as strong as the weakest among us". Government has a responsibility to its citizens, and its citizens have a responsibility to help provide for the common good by paying their fair portion of taxes. Those are not dirty words and we are now seeing the effect of being cowed into pretending they are.
I hope that Democrats are not afraid to talk about this, but I am not encouraged. I was sickened by Mary Landrieu's fawning performance during her interview with Anderson Cooper last night, and he was right for calling her on it. Why would she be afraid to express outrage over the poor treatment of the constituents who sent her to be their representative? If ever there is a time to exorcise that fear and speak to real people as a real person, this is it.