MY COMMENTS TO BEN STEIN'S GET OFF HIS BACK ARTICLE
Ben Stein:Get Off His Backfont-
A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and care to know the truth:
1.) The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was an astonishing tragedy. The suffering and loss of life and peace of mind of the residents of those areas is acutely horrifying. Always start with an obvious point, to distract them when they drink from the trough of disbelief.
2.) George Bush did not cause the hurricane. Hurricanes have been happening for eons. George Bush did not create them or unleash this one.
A little less obvious for our religious wingnuts who view W through a Pharoric prism. What, ya mean he's not descended from God?
3.) George Bush did not make this one worse than others. There have been far worse hurricanes than this before George Bush was born. [Actually, there is considerable evidence that he made the EFFECTS of this one worse with his cuts to FEMA, his appointment of an incompetent, and his stopping to take guitar lessons before acting. Note, there were too many links on this to include...just check for yourself here. QUESTION: WHAT IS IT about republicans that prevents them from taking responsibility?]
4.) There is no overwhelming evidence that global warming exists as a man-made phenomenon. [There is clear circumstantial evidence of this.] There is no clear-cut evidence that global warming even exists. [Wrong, for those with ears and eyes and a mind to care. Where did I hear that?] There is no clear evidence that if it does exist it makes hurricanes more powerful or makes them aim at cities with large numbers of poor people. If global warming is a real phenomenon, which it may well be, [it may be? Didn't you say there wasn't anyproof? What's your position on the Toothfairy...since with the same statement of lack of proof you could then follow your logic to say, "But if there was one, that might explain the money under your pillow."] it started long before George Bush was inaugurated, and would not have been affected at all by the Kyoto treaty, Wow. That is great PR for the team. You managed to squeak in Kyoto. (I'm waiting to see if you get the Estate tax in too!) (considering that Kyoto does not cover the world's worst polluters -- China, India, and Brazil. In a word, George Bush had zero to do with causing this hurricane. To speculate otherwise is belief in sorcery. Who said W created, birthed, designed, deployed, directed, or otherwise manipulated this storm. What, um - I know this is a difficult issue - is your point?]
6.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and Louisiana.[Wrong again. His administration set the amount of funding for levies, Army Corp of Engineers, etc. ...] "In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory evacuation. [I love this logic. A had nothing to do with it, but on the other hand, A was instrumental in it. Hey Ben, Sesame Street called, they want their diploma back.] It is in no way at all George Bush's fault that about 20 percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It's not George Bush's fault that there were sick people and old people and people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has good sense, and is mobile. [Of course. If only we had used that logic about invading Iraq. It isn't America's job to make sure every adult in Iraq has freedom, good health, etc. By the way, as President of the US, isn't part of his job to protect all of its citizens? Even the not so materially blessed?]
7.) George Bush did not cause gangsters to shoot at rescue helicopters taking people from rooftops, did not make gang bangers rape young girls in the Superdome, did not make looters steal hundreds of weapons, in short make New Orleans into a living hell. [This did happen. It was W's job to provide security for the realm. Its pretty clever to say that, "Oh, I f*ucked up on one thing so I can't do the other things..."]
8.) George Bush is the least racist President in mind and soul there has ever been and this is shown in his appointments over and over. To say otherwise is scandalously untrue. [He may not be, but the GOP is. Remember the Southern Strategy? Remember Lott? How many times has W spoken to the NAACP? W clearly just does what Rove tells him to do.]
9.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can.[Did he start as soon as he could? Um...cleverly phrase retort there Ben!] He is not a magician. [We didn't ask him to be a magician, we asked him to be a PRESIDENT.] It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization. [There wasn't this lawlessness for the first THREE days of the disaster. W visits and ONE day later things happen. I know, its tough coming off your 40 day vacation.]
10.) There is not the slightest evidence at all that the war in Iraq has diminished the response of the government to the emergency. To say otherwise is pure slander. [Here's some slander for you BEN, YOU'RE WRONG. Here is just one excerpt: Echoing the official assurances, CBS News reported: "Even though more than a third of Mississippi's and Louisiana's National Guard troops are either in Iraq or supporting the war effort, the National Guard says there are more than enough at home to do the job."
But after New Orleans levees collapsed and the scope of the catastrophe became more clear, such reassuring claims lost credibility. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday: "With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces for rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and water-purification teams, among other units, and requesting help from distant states and the active-duty military."
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11.) If the energy the news media puts into blaming Bush for an Act of God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city authorities and the malevolence of the criminals of the city were directed to helping the morale of the nation, we would all be a lot better off. [You're right, let's start at the top, with the administration that can NEVER take responsibility for any of its actions. Isn't the real problem that this hurricane can't be blamed on Clinton? Or in your case, Mark Felt?]
12.) New Orleans is a great city with many great people. It will recover and be greater than ever. Sticking pins into an effigy of George Bush that does not resemble him in the slightest will not speed the process by one day. [Well, I did once buy a vodoo doll - with pins - in New Orleans.]
13.) The entire episode is a dramatic lesson in the breathtaking callousness of government officials at the ground level. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had gotten her way and they were in charge of your health care. [You mean we might have health care and might have avoided losing a war in Mesopotamia? Can't work Clinton got a blow job into this, so the fallback is attacking someone who tried to provide health care for everyone? Maybe she should have signed up for those guitar lessons herself.]
God bless all of those dear people who are suffering so much, and God bless those helping them, starting with George Bush. [Senior or Junior? I at least saw Senior on TV asking for Americans to help. All I saw W do was drive quickly by a Gold Star mother. Boy, thats the kind of courage God does need to Bless.]
Hey Ben, try this reference instead. Oh, and your logic about
Mark Felt causing the Cambodia holocaust, that seems to be a stretch too!
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