Friday, September 16, 2005
The Great New Society Deal
I seem to have missed something, some crucial step in George Bush's journey. Not the part of his trip from a distracted, indifferent, insulated, boozy young manhood to a distracted, indifferent, insulated, dry drunk presidency. It's the section where he's transformed into Franklin Roosevelt Builder of Human Hopes & Public Projects that's blank. Could this have really happened in the space of two weeks, from the absurdity of "You're doin' a great job, Brownie" to last night's "..we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." Quite a promise. Of course, he's made similar ones to the People of Iraq. But now he's telling America that we can rely upon the very Federal agencies & services that he & his fellow true faith believers have been dismantling for years through cronyism & neglect. & I thought we had to elect a different president & congress to receive blessed political assurance & the annointing of renewed committment to the poor & disadvantaged.
"So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday and let us rise above the legacy of inequality." Who is this guy? Is he also possessed by the spirit of Lyndon Johnson circa 1964? You have to pardon me if I have doubts. Only a small portion of the President's core political base was hurt by the hurricane, & not everyone can get a job with Halliburton. It won't be long before the Republicans are jawing about more tax cuts for the rich folks at home & griping over the expense of rebuilding a Democratic city in a swing state they may not need to win in 2008, & the Christian mullahs demanding Jehovah Not Jazz in the Ruins of their American Sodom. & if lame duck President Bush (& Dick Cheney looking forward to a Chesapeake Bay retirement) cannot maintain the will to buck that resistance, because he doesn't really believe in what he's being forced to do, will we be surprised?
We can look forward to a great 2006 Mardi Gras. The problem might be holding down the number of people who want to help the recovery by traveling to New Orleans from all over the world & partying as hard as they can. All the Bush Family kids are gonna do their part.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
"So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday and let us rise above the legacy of inequality." Who is this guy? Is he also possessed by the spirit of Lyndon Johnson circa 1964? You have to pardon me if I have doubts. Only a small portion of the President's core political base was hurt by the hurricane, & not everyone can get a job with Halliburton. It won't be long before the Republicans are jawing about more tax cuts for the rich folks at home & griping over the expense of rebuilding a Democratic city in a swing state they may not need to win in 2008, & the Christian mullahs demanding Jehovah Not Jazz in the Ruins of their American Sodom. & if lame duck President Bush (& Dick Cheney looking forward to a Chesapeake Bay retirement) cannot maintain the will to buck that resistance, because he doesn't really believe in what he's being forced to do, will we be surprised?
We can look forward to a great 2006 Mardi Gras. The problem might be holding down the number of people who want to help the recovery by traveling to New Orleans from all over the world & partying as hard as they can. All the Bush Family kids are gonna do their part.
