We - the American people - are in danger!
Remember how during the last several years, the mantra regarding another terrorist attack in the U.S. was
not a matter of if but when.
Katrina washed away any illusions of an efficient Federal response. Had the levees been breeched by a terrorist's bomb not kind enough to provide many days' warning, the death toll would likely have been 5 times what Katrina caused - perhaps more, but certainly not less.
What can we do? We can shut down the government until changes are made!
How is on the flip
(I thought DarkSyde was going to beat me to it, but he was talking about
holding the media to account.)
Remember earlier this year during all the "nuclear option" discussions before the Gang of 14's compromise. Part of that discussion was the Democratic retaliation, where Reid publicly threatened to shut down the Senate.
Even the Right acknowledged (and feared) this capability. The New Republic described it as "nuclear winter:"
[T]he scenario in which Democrats retaliate by exploiting Senate procedures to plunge the institution into chaos and prevent anything from getting accomplished. Think Mad Max Goes to Washington. "We will deny Republicans the bipartisan cooperation that allows the Senate to function effectively," says Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.
Demand:
- An independent investigation into government failures in the Katrina response.
- Exemption of Katrina survivors from the new bankruptcy law.
- Replacement of the staff and leadership in FEMA actually have demonstrable history of successfully dealing with emergencies. Perhaps with a search committee composed of U.S. representatives from , the International Association of Fire Chiefs, The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, and I dunno, maybe The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM)!?
No other new business, no making tax cuts permanent, no new tax cuts.
They threatened this response to the loss of the filibuster.
Well, we lost a great American city!
We lost somewhere between 10 and 40 THOUSAND Americans!
We lost what remained of our country's reputation.
We lost our illusions that our government works to protect its citizens!
Is that so much less to lose?
It may take courage our leadership does not have. They may fear that
it will be a politically losing move, as it was for the Repubs in 1995
(though they didn't lose Conress because of it).
Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong in the comments.