It's now official: Katrina will mark the beginning of the end of Neo-conservatism. Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Bush, the collective Asses of Evil, have long held the view that America needs to project its power in the world and let its military do the talking, damn world opinion and international law. Well, Katrina has brought them back to reality.
The glaring lack of preparation for the scope and scale of this tragedy, and the apparent lack of US military resources in the days following Katrina's landfall have blown a huge hole in the neoconservative mindset which holds that America needs to spend billions of dollars abroad projecting its power. How about projecting that power here at home?
Think of the difference a rapid response by the US military wouls have made in the Katrina ravaged areas. But no, they have a more noble duty: projecting our glorious power in Iraq. As we see third world images flashed on our first world TV screen, and as our fellow American citizens swim and drown in dirty waters in N.O., its military and National Guard are fighting in a country that doesn't want them there in the first place.
Dennis Hastert wonders aloud whether it's even wise to rebuild New Orleans. Meanwhile, Bush "will spend whatever it takes" to rebuild Iraq and any other countries he might choose to invade at a later date.
Katrina has become a national disgrace. Although Bush has been reliably disgracing himself and our country for five years now, I think the Katrina disgrace will linger the longest. By the time all this is over, ie, in the next several years, it would have become crystal clear that the neoconservative, and by extension, the Republican idea of "spend abroad and cut at home" isn't what is needed in this country.
I don't want to politicize this national tragedy, but I certainly hope the events of the last few days will serve as a turning point in American politics and hopefully lead to the election of pacifist Democrats into office. It will be interesting to see what new justification the the GOP still has for blowing hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign countries while an American city sinks into oblivion. Also, this disaster should sink the presidential aspirations of any Democrat who voted for the Iraq war.