It's a dark thought. But the subject has been broached: much of the New Orleans story has been race.
And I now believe it is race that has caused this entire situation. Which may lead to the deaths of many Americans.
The reason the Administration has been so slow is not incompetence. It's pure racism.
There is very little way to monetize the poor blacks in New Orleans for recovery work. They have almost nothing. Can't funnel billions in aid to that. This helps catch Bush & Co flatfooted - there's no game in this recovery.
Also, the Bush Admin didn't think some stranded blacks would be a big deal. Eh, couple thousand, they'll figure a way out and rebuild somewhere as migrant labor or the equivalent.
Then as the magnitude of the disaster became clear, Bush was utterly flat footed. His constituency coud care less about the victims. There's no corporate sponor. Bush couldn't make a decision. Rove couldn't figure which way to go.
Agencies are paralyzed by this. no one knows what the fuck to do. Finally, someone tells Bush: this is big. You have to do something.
It's too late. We have a huge fucking catastrophe on our hands. And one that shows a very, very dismal American face to the world. One that lets its black skinned citizens die.
This situation is EXPLOSIVE right now. They images of looting and the stories about shots being fired smack very heavily of being planted or greaty exagerrated. They know this could be very bad. So they're planning the groundwork for all the excuses.
Right now, the right is turning the plight of the blacks in New Orleans increasingly as a joke, Think about this folks. We haven't seen race much in the Bush years. This is a new thing in our discourse. No one knows how to handle it just yet. Watch as the media tries to figure it out.
My point. This is a pivotal moment in American domestic politics. Take a deep breath. This is big... not '04 election, but nevertheless, important.