uberreiniger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
uberreiniger) wrote2005-09-06 03:09 am
uberreiniger) wrote2005-09-06 03:09 am
Entry tags:
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Enjoyable and largely correct article by Ben Stein:
http://www.americanprowler.com/util/print.asp?art_id=8693
Do I think George Bush is blameless? Absolutely not. He had an opprotunity to swoop in there, be the hero, and possibly redeem himself a little bit in a lot of peoples' eyes? Did he? No. As we all know, he showed up two days late and just sort of stood there mumbling something about it being "unacceptable." However, this op-ed piece makes a valid point.
This is a situation which has made people feel powerless. Having a Bad Guy to blame for it all makes people feel less powerless. But the ugly truth, chock full of ugly implications for this nation, is that every single city, state, and government official with the ability to fail in this situation, did fail. From the mayor of New Orleans with his failure to coordinate bus evacuations right on up to the Oval Office with their boggarting hurricane-proofing money for the Iraq war. You can set up one man as a straw target all you want to to take the blame for it, but it changes nothing. What we have here is a catastrophic failure of an integrated system of give-a-damns on a massive scale.
http://www.americanprowler.com/util/print.asp?art_id=8693
Do I think George Bush is blameless? Absolutely not. He had an opprotunity to swoop in there, be the hero, and possibly redeem himself a little bit in a lot of peoples' eyes? Did he? No. As we all know, he showed up two days late and just sort of stood there mumbling something about it being "unacceptable." However, this op-ed piece makes a valid point.
This is a situation which has made people feel powerless. Having a Bad Guy to blame for it all makes people feel less powerless. But the ugly truth, chock full of ugly implications for this nation, is that every single city, state, and government official with the ability to fail in this situation, did fail. From the mayor of New Orleans with his failure to coordinate bus evacuations right on up to the Oval Office with their boggarting hurricane-proofing money for the Iraq war. You can set up one man as a straw target all you want to to take the blame for it, but it changes nothing. What we have here is a catastrophic failure of an integrated system of give-a-damns on a massive scale.
Random added point...
Stein said this:
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.
My answer is this:
In many ways, that's exactly what his job description entails. His job is to make sure that Americans are cared for. That's the role of the fucking government and if they're not going to do that, we've got some problems.
Stein said:
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.
My answer is this:
Except that the money we've blown on that stupid war and all the troops that are there as opposed to here could all have helped tremendously.
Personally I actually think Kanye West had shit for brains when he said what he said on TV. It's not a question of whether or not Bush doesn't care about poor black people. He is in fact, not racist, as Stein said. The reality is that he doesn't care about any of his constituents, black or white. And why should he? He's gonna be gone in three years anyhow, no chance to return. For the next three years he has carte blanche to fuck up all he wants. He's more dangerous than he was in his first term.
Re: Random added point...
My answer is this:
In many ways, that's exactly what his job description entails. His job is to make sure that Americans are cared for. That's the role of the fucking government and if they're not going to do that, we've got some problems.
Actually, it would seem that way on appearance but it's not the case. If his job description were to provide everyone with a car, mobility, and health (good sense is beyond the power of any leader to provide,) we would be a socialist state. As we are a capitalist state, those things are quite simply beyond his purview. Bush fucked up saving the poor people of New Orleans, but he's not the one that put them there. They wound up there on account of over two hundred years of class, governmental, and racial interaction. The deck was stacked against many of those people from the start.
I had been getting the impression for some time now that Bush has the "it's my second term, so I don't care!" attitude going on. I never noticed that attitude in Clinton, but it seems to be there in Bush. That's a purely subjective observation on my part, though, so I could be dead wrong.
Re: Random added point...
You are exactly the kind of person that will bring America down.
The whole "gimme" mentality is so ridiculously lame that it barely deserves a reply. But I like flattening ignorance whenever it raises its ugly head so here it goes...
It has NEVER been, nor should it ever be the role of the Federal government to take care of you. To coddle you through life and make sure you have everything you need. You are NOT entitled to have a car, a house, or any other luxury or privilege that is earned by people who WANT to work and make life "livable" by earning it.
You see, New Orleans is a microcosm of what's IS wrong with this country...Liberalism.
My question is...WHY are so many of those people poor? We live in the greatest country in the history of mankind's existence. A land where people like Dr. Ben Carson can literally work himself out of poverty and become the first Neurosurgeon to successfully seperate siamese twins conjoined at the head. A place where anyone who has the desire and the determination to roll up his or her sleeves and apply themselves can pull themselves out of the mire and desperation of poverty and become more than they were told they could be.
But liberals like yourself (except with legislative power) believe that the government (i.e. taxpayers-a.k.a. people that work) has the responsibility to pay those who would rather be in poverty than go to work and make a living because they are lazy or they were taught through generations that you don't have to work because massa government will send you a check every month.
That is enslavement. There is an enormous difference between someone who CANNOT work (due to a debilitating disease or disability) and those who simply choose to be poor (like most of those who live off welfare).
Liberalism teaches that a socialistic society is the model for utopia. Yet all the places that are being "taken care of" by massa government are always wrought with drug abuse, gang violence, chid abuse and neglect and single moms whose "baby's daddy's" are nowhere to be found. What a "great society" indeed.
The good news is...your side is losing. Every election, every opinion poll, your side continues to lose ground. The reason is that you don't have a monopoly in the media anymore. The truth is out and it's available for everyone who seeks it. We don't have to have our opinions shaped by a bias adopted by Ted Koppel, Dan Rather, or Tom Brokaw. We have tipped the scales and have more balance now.
Losers always bemoan their circumstances, especially if they feel that "it's not fair", and then they hold out their hand and expect a payout from big government. Winners roll up their sleeves and say "How can I make my situation better?" and then they take action.
Only 13% according to a CNN USA Today gallup poll blame Bush for the clusterf*#% that was the aftermath of Katrina, so good luck on your theory that "the media and everyone in that area have had it." It's just not so.
As far as your hope that "Bush will get crucified for this" goes...keep dreamin' little dreamer. Most of America loves this President and only morons will hold him responsible for providing for the poor in this country.
Re: Random added point...
The government is supposed to ensure that its citizens are cared for. It should ensure it's people are in good health, it should ensure that they are educated, and it should ensure that if they slip or misfortune comes upon them, that they are capable of pulling themselves together again.
This is why programs like welfare, medicare, social security, and unemployment exist.
But the distribution of wealth in this country is fucked. If you want to sit here and toss Bush's salad while low income families eat dirt because he decided the only people who really deserved tax breaks were the ones who could afford them, you have my permission to choke on whatever you dig out of his ass crack.
The government is supposed to make the tools available for people to dig themselves out of poverty to go on to lead productive lives. As someone who lives in an area where a minority rampantly cornholes the system, I will admit it isn't perfect. But it's been there to help people. If the government isn't supposed to help us, then why the fuck should they be intervening in New Orleans?
I don't need some fucking red state Christian hick telling me I'm an idiot with the shit I've seen when it's clear to me all you do is swallow whatever you're spoonfed. Historically, liberals have dragged you whiny pussy conservatives into the future, and we made a better country for it. Things you take for granted now were fucking heresy to people like you decades ago. If everyone just shut up and listened to conservatives, women wouldn't have a right to choose, wouldn't have a right to vote, and you'd still be a slave owner.
(frozen comment) Re: Random added point...