As Mitt Romney joked about rising waters the eighth tropical storm of August grew in the Atlantic and the eyes of the deep south were fixed on Isaac's rains and the rising waters around them. As the ghost of Clint Eastwood battled his bizarre vision of Barack Obama the people of the Mississippi delta were battling visions of Katrina's dead, praying they would not suffer the same fate. And the people of New Orleans were thanking God that the federal government had strengthened the levees around the city.
"No one's an atheist in a foxhole" say conservatives. Perhaps. But no one's a conservative in a hurricane.
No one wants small government when a hurricane hits and the waters are rising. When the cranky conservative, who stayed behind despite government orders to evacuate, is clinging to his chimney he wants the government to save him. Flood after flood, tragedy after tragedy, made the people demand Federal control of the Mississippi River system. Individualism and conservatism failed time after time. Guns and bullets won't stop a flood from breaking into your house. People want strong government when the rains come, when the waters are rising, when the hurricane hits.
Romney and Ryan talk about God and country but the wind cries Katrina.
Romney-Ryan budgets would eliminate weather satellites, cut funds to the weather service and degrade hurricane forecasts. Federal capabilities to respond to hurricanes and floods would be slashed. Under Ryan, for the first time, Congress delayed authorizing emergency funds after a disaster. With the ongoing Republican federal budget blocking led by Paul Ryan, FEMA may not be able to secure funds to clean up after hurricane Isaac.
Romney-Ryan are doubling down on Katrina.
The Romney-Ryan-Rand philosophy is Katrina.
Help the rich, the powerful, the white, the young and healthy. Let the old, the poor, the black, the brown and the sickly drown. And if the black and brown try to cross the bridge to high ground - shoot them.
Look at the Romney-Ryan budgets. Spend much more for defense. Give granny a coupon for when she gets sick. Slash science, education, health and community. Give the rich and powerful more tax cuts and loopholes so that they can buy fourth, fifth and sixth houses to escape to and yachts to party in when the hurricane comes.
They do it on a global scale.
As this year's heat and drought decimate food production, Romney and Ryan plan to burn more coal, subsidize big oil more and slash funds for wind and solar power. Climate scientists have warned that summers like this one will become the new normal if carbon emissions are not cut dramatically, but Romney-Ryan plan to emit more carbon and buy more weapons systems.
That's globalized Katrina.
Let the poor starve. Let the poor drown in floods. Let the old and sick die in the heat, in the drought, in the floods. And if they try to cross the bridge, shoot them. Only they would do this on a scale so large that most people would not be able to imagine it.
They cloak themselves in religion but they believe in Mammon. Their prophet is Ayn Rand, not Joshua or Jesus. They love money, not humanity.
They talk about values but the wind cries Katrina.