While browsing through the many diaries and blogs on Katrina, the news stories, the televised suffering on the television, and the selfless efforts by many to help the victims, one troubling question keeps popping up over and over again in my admittedly pessimistic mind.
What do the Republicans get out of this?
We all saw how they started exploiting 9/11 almost before the last bodies were carried away, and I saw no reason to believe they would not stay true to form now.
There was the Roberts stealth nomination of course, the inheritance tax repeal, tax cuts, even padding the Justice department with a few more torture apologists.
But what else could we have missed?
I tried to put myself in the mind of your typical Republican Politician.
Thousands dead, millions homeless, gas and oil production hit, billions in damages...so (assuming I have zero moral scruples) how do I make a buck off of this?
For starters, if I was someone like Trent Lott, I'd take advantage of all the aid and breaks being given to the people who lost everything in order to feather my own nest.
Lots of property undoubtedly about to go on the market now that the owners are dead/missing/refugees. Heck, if the records are gone, just paying off some property taxes might be enough to get it for a song.
Rebuilding contracts? Why, Haliburton may have gotten the clean up, but rebuilding should go to dear old GOP donor X.
Religious Donor Y needs more money to support refugees...even if some of that money wanders off to support cough*Robertson's*cough blood diamond trade.
And Big Oil needs billions more in tax breaks to get new oil platforms running, energy security means more drilling.
And look on the bright side for the GOP, Rove and Iraq are completely off the radar now. Memos? Yesterday's news.
High Gasoline Prices? Blame the Hurricane.
Economy hurting? Blame the Hurricane.
Runaway Inflation? Blame the Hurricane.
I'd like to think these speculations are wrong. I really do. But I fear they're not far off the mark.