a red-ringing victory (hidden by stupidity)
Now the beginning:
One year ago this week the Bush administration again proved completely unprepared for any kind of disaster, natural or otherwise, within the United States. They again proved themselves incapable or preventing or responding to even mildly catastrophic events. And once again, it has worked in their favor.
Let's recap: George Bush is appointed President by the Supreme Court in 2001 following a very uncertain election. The Nation is divided. Bush makes a few ripples with his "pro-life" jargon, but other than that, the waters are fairly quiet. By the looks of things during the first few months, he will float through four years and disappear into the sunset.
Then, following countless warnings from the CIA, FBI, and International Intelligence agencies (to which Bush literally replied that he was "sick of hearing it"), the attacks of September 11th 2001 take place. Any other President would have been chased to the city walls by a mob of pissed off New Yorkers. But not George Bush and Co. Somehow they took the focus off their mistakes and ignorance before 9/11 by employing the powerful methods of scape-goating, finger pointing, and above all, distraction. Their campaign was so successful, they managed to rally American support for a "War on Terror" that took us into a nation that was not presently, and was not planning on engaging in any terrorist activity. 500 billion dollars, 2,000+ American and 60,000+ civilian lives later and many Americans are still strongly supportive. Their finagling was a success.
We all know how things went from then. So we pick up in 2004, when George Bush rallies unbelievable support using fear tactics as a campaign strategy: "A vote for Kerry is a vote for the terrorists", anthrax attacks, soldiers on the streets of New York City, talk of mushroom clouds over Manhattan Island, reports of possible attacks on small US cities, water contamination, smallpox, and the list goes on. He is elected President in what will most likely become the second most hotly contested Presidential race in American history (the other being his former 2001 appointment to office).
Then, in 2005, it happened again.
Under the Clinton Administration, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) flourished. For the first time, a man who had actual emergency management experience, James-Lee Witt, was appointed Director of FEMA. Witt realized not only the need to be able to respond quickly to an event, but the immense importance of preparedness. He realized that one of the best things America could do to respond to a catastrophe is to forsee disasters before they strike, and prepare for them. Very clearly he saw that for every dollar the American government spent on preparation, they would save five dollars in the long run. Witt set about gauging the likelyhood of a range of occurrences from an earth quake in San Francisco, to floods in New Orleans, and a terrorist attack in New York City, and he began setting the wheels in motion to prepare for disaster before it struck.
Unfortunately, Witt's days were numbered. George Bush, who seems to give little value to thinking about the future, replaced him with a less qualified Michael D. Brown, whose official title was "Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response", and the administration immediately began breaking up Clinton's FEMA and bringing it back to its former glory: a parking lot for political apointees. Obviously, Witt's preparedness program was brought to an immediate halt as FEMA turned into an unorganized, underfunded, bureaucratic mess.
What Bush wasn't counting on, just as in August 2001, was that something might actually happen. Katrina hit New Orleans, and the city and the Federal Government were completely unprepared. No emergency transportation plan existed, no money was available, and there wasn't even a system of communication or a simple process in place for getting things done. Nobody knew who was in charge, what was going on, who to call, and whose job it was to do what and when. A good example: a request Michael Brown made for 500 busses to evactuate people from New Orleans following the storm "fell into a black hole" (Brown's own words).
For almost a week the citizens of New Orleans fried, starved, died of disease, or died of thirst, while the President continued about his way. His big "heroic" moment was flying over New Orleans in Air Force One. Thanks for the visit, George.
Now here is the catch. This time Bush had really screwed it up, and the flaws within his system were very apparent to everyone. Fox News could run all the degrading reports of looting and riots they could muster, but the bottom line was that Americans saw other Americans abandoned by their government. The result of it all was that the people of New Orleans would NEVER vote for any Republican ever again. In fact, even before the fumbled response to hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was one of the deep blue spots within in the red state of Louisiana. Furthermore, the political aftermath of Katrina has most likely spread throughout the state, with many Louisiana residents who were on the fence during the '04 elections now thinking heavily towards a Democratic vote in '08. So if the former residents of New Orleans are to move back into their city, Louisiana may very well become the next Ohio. Here is the solution for the Republicans: continue to make the response seem strong on television so the rest of the nation thinks the government is doing a great job down there, do lots of photo-ops (real or fake), and make lots of emotional speaches... but continue to do little to nothing in actuality.
What will this do? It will force the citizens of New Orleans, who cannot wait years for the paperwork to trickle down through the administration's incompetent system, to set up a new life somewhere else... Sell their property for a fraction of its original value and run. I am confident that once a large number of poor New Orleans residents have been forced to sell their property for a fraction of its original cost to real-estate giants, the levees will be promptly repaired, and construction on new up-scale housing, casinos, and hotels will commence. The former residents will most likely become residents in States already strongly held by either the Republican or Democratic party (Texas is a big one), essentially eliminating their votes all together (see the article I wrote called "Hopelessness Begins at Home" for a description of why their votes will no longer count). This, at least, is a fact: the Republican Party's main opposition in Louisiana will no longer exist. It may sound like a far-fetched conspiracy theory that they would allow thousands of people to suffer for the advancement of their political party, but when I consider that they have killed over 70,000 civilians and 2,000 soldiers in a war without a cause, it no longer seems far-fetched to me.
The conclusion is that following another debacle the Bush administration has pulled through. This time, much like the last time, it was accomplished by media manipulation (the citizens in New Orleans are violent criminals shooting at their rescuers!), emotionally moving speeches, and by dispersing those affected to avoid having to face their votes in the next election.
One year ago this week the Bush administration again proved completely unprepared for any kind of disaster, natural or otherwise, within the United States. They again proved themselves incapable or preventing or responding to even mildly catastrophic events. And once again, it has worked in their favor.
Let's recap: George Bush is appointed President by the Supreme Court in 2001 following a very uncertain election. The Nation is divided. Bush makes a few ripples with his "pro-life" jargon, but other than that, the waters are fairly quiet. By the looks of things during the first few months, he will float through four years and disappear into the sunset.
Then, following countless warnings from the CIA, FBI, and International Intelligence agencies (to which Bush literally replied that he was "sick of hearing it"), the attacks of September 11th 2001 take place. Any other President would have been chased to the city walls by a mob of pissed off New Yorkers. But not George Bush and Co. Somehow they took the focus off their mistakes and ignorance before 9/11 by employing the powerful methods of scape-goating, finger pointing, and above all, distraction. Their campaign was so successful, they managed to rally American support for a "War on Terror" that took us into a nation that was not presently, and was not planning on engaging in any terrorist activity. 500 billion dollars, 2,000+ American and 60,000+ civilian lives later and many Americans are still strongly supportive. Their finagling was a success.
We all know how things went from then. So we pick up in 2004, when George Bush rallies unbelievable support using fear tactics as a campaign strategy: "A vote for Kerry is a vote for the terrorists", anthrax attacks, soldiers on the streets of New York City, talk of mushroom clouds over Manhattan Island, reports of possible attacks on small US cities, water contamination, smallpox, and the list goes on. He is elected President in what will most likely become the second most hotly contested Presidential race in American history (the other being his former 2001 appointment to office).
Then, in 2005, it happened again.
Under the Clinton Administration, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) flourished. For the first time, a man who had actual emergency management experience, James-Lee Witt, was appointed Director of FEMA. Witt realized not only the need to be able to respond quickly to an event, but the immense importance of preparedness. He realized that one of the best things America could do to respond to a catastrophe is to forsee disasters before they strike, and prepare for them. Very clearly he saw that for every dollar the American government spent on preparation, they would save five dollars in the long run. Witt set about gauging the likelyhood of a range of occurrences from an earth quake in San Francisco, to floods in New Orleans, and a terrorist attack in New York City, and he began setting the wheels in motion to prepare for disaster before it struck.
Unfortunately, Witt's days were numbered. George Bush, who seems to give little value to thinking about the future, replaced him with a less qualified Michael D. Brown, whose official title was "Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response", and the administration immediately began breaking up Clinton's FEMA and bringing it back to its former glory: a parking lot for political apointees. Obviously, Witt's preparedness program was brought to an immediate halt as FEMA turned into an unorganized, underfunded, bureaucratic mess.
What Bush wasn't counting on, just as in August 2001, was that something might actually happen. Katrina hit New Orleans, and the city and the Federal Government were completely unprepared. No emergency transportation plan existed, no money was available, and there wasn't even a system of communication or a simple process in place for getting things done. Nobody knew who was in charge, what was going on, who to call, and whose job it was to do what and when. A good example: a request Michael Brown made for 500 busses to evactuate people from New Orleans following the storm "fell into a black hole" (Brown's own words).
For almost a week the citizens of New Orleans fried, starved, died of disease, or died of thirst, while the President continued about his way. His big "heroic" moment was flying over New Orleans in Air Force One. Thanks for the visit, George.
Now here is the catch. This time Bush had really screwed it up, and the flaws within his system were very apparent to everyone. Fox News could run all the degrading reports of looting and riots they could muster, but the bottom line was that Americans saw other Americans abandoned by their government. The result of it all was that the people of New Orleans would NEVER vote for any Republican ever again. In fact, even before the fumbled response to hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was one of the deep blue spots within in the red state of Louisiana. Furthermore, the political aftermath of Katrina has most likely spread throughout the state, with many Louisiana residents who were on the fence during the '04 elections now thinking heavily towards a Democratic vote in '08. So if the former residents of New Orleans are to move back into their city, Louisiana may very well become the next Ohio. Here is the solution for the Republicans: continue to make the response seem strong on television so the rest of the nation thinks the government is doing a great job down there, do lots of photo-ops (real or fake), and make lots of emotional speaches... but continue to do little to nothing in actuality.
What will this do? It will force the citizens of New Orleans, who cannot wait years for the paperwork to trickle down through the administration's incompetent system, to set up a new life somewhere else... Sell their property for a fraction of its original value and run. I am confident that once a large number of poor New Orleans residents have been forced to sell their property for a fraction of its original cost to real-estate giants, the levees will be promptly repaired, and construction on new up-scale housing, casinos, and hotels will commence. The former residents will most likely become residents in States already strongly held by either the Republican or Democratic party (Texas is a big one), essentially eliminating their votes all together (see the article I wrote called "Hopelessness Begins at Home" for a description of why their votes will no longer count). This, at least, is a fact: the Republican Party's main opposition in Louisiana will no longer exist. It may sound like a far-fetched conspiracy theory that they would allow thousands of people to suffer for the advancement of their political party, but when I consider that they have killed over 70,000 civilians and 2,000 soldiers in a war without a cause, it no longer seems far-fetched to me.
The conclusion is that following another debacle the Bush administration has pulled through. This time, much like the last time, it was accomplished by media manipulation (the citizens in New Orleans are violent criminals shooting at their rescuers!), emotionally moving speeches, and by dispersing those affected to avoid having to face their votes in the next election.
posted by adampaul at
12:08 PM
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