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Unlike any member of our current administration, I am fully capable and willing to admit when I am wrong. That Chicago Tribune quote I posted yesterday (about the Bush administration denying funding for hurricane preparation and flood control) was entirely correct. However, what I learned from NPR this morning is that every president since the 1960s has largely ignored the warnings from experts regarding storm preparation. (Still, according to Salon.com: "In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut... flood control funding by 44% to pay for the Iraq war.")
While NPR's report doesn't absolve Bush of his neglect, it does acknowledge that he's not alone in his failure to safeguard the region. Of course, his utter failure to provide adequate assistance to them in their desperate hours since Monday is completely inexcusable. Click here to read a piece which addresses this incompetence with more humor than I could muster.
Meanwhile, here's an excerpt of an email from my cousin Lilah, currently exploring our family's roots in eastern Europe:
"Being an american in Europe is quite interesting, as we have a serious public image problem here. Europeans see Bush as an idiot and his war being illegal, based on resource exploitation and political motivations. They feel his war has made the world a more dangerous place. Perhaps one of these days I will meet a european that has a positive image about us."
I do hope that's possible, Lilah. For now, I wonder how the Bush administration is treating France's offer of assistance to hurricane victims? Think the White House cafeteria menu will finally return "Freedom Fries" to their original name? Think those idiots who boycotted French goods a few years back will decline their generous offer of help now? Somehow I doubt it.
With the weekend upon us, I'll be thinking of those who are suffering along the Gulf Coast, trying to imagine their pain and hoping our government comes through for them the way we have for other nations in need over the decades.
Posted by ayelet at September 2, 2005 10:09 AMI think the "freedom fries" thing reverted back to normal, quietly, a while back. I emphasize "quietly" because with all the fanfare that greeted that news, you'd think there'd be just as much on the tail end
Posted by: james at September 2, 2005 04:30 PMNixon said "never apologize, it's a sign of weakness." Haldemann said "don't complain, don't explain." Amir said " never marry a blonde whose mom gets a fucking tatoo at 45 and who runs back to her jackass high school boyfriend at the first sign of trouble. Clearly, these are jew haters and they'll get theirs when the Big Scorer in the sky takes inventory of their misdeeds and punishes them accordingly...
Posted by: amir at September 2, 2005 11:18 AM