The hurricane poses a major problem for those apposed to the Bush administration: how to correctly and justly point out how his ill-conceived policies exacerbated the damage without appearing vindictive or 'partisan.'
Here are the two major ways I see in which it is fair to apportion blame (and there are probably many more):
- Bush's war of choice in Iraq made us less safe at home by relying on national guard troops abroad. These troops were not available, as they would typically be, to help deal with a natural disaster.
- Bush prioritized both his war of choice and his unnecessary tax cuts at the expense of critical priorities such as maintaining the New Orleans levees.
These are legitimate and necessary criticisms. This disaster shows why it is dangerous to stretch our military so thin, and how giant tax cuts impact our safety by eviscerating necessary services. It illustrates the radical risks of both the war abroad and the tax cut at home.
In time, I think the facts will speak for themselves. So that, to me, means making sure the facts aren't swept under the covers or ignored by the MSM. On this issue we should wait before overtly or passionately criticizing the President - not out of respect for him, but out of respect for decorum and good taste.
But we can, neutrally, fairly and with carefully controlled dispassion, repeat facts and let people draw their own conclusions.
But, once some time has passed, we must draw the obvious conclusions and call Bush what he is - a fool who has left us in constant danger because refuses to plan.
We in the reality based community know you can't fix a dissaster by pretending it doesn't exist. President Bush's world just got a little more real. I suspect, as he has in the past, that won't threaten his administrations spin-creates-reality theory.
So, of course, he will continue to make decisions that leave us less and less safe.