This is brilliant...

[Mac in SD]

By Newton Emerson, Irish Times

As the full horror of Hurricane Katrina sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if this is the end of George Bush's presidency. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that every copy of the US Constitution was destroyed in the storm. Otherwise President Bush will remain in office until noon on January 20th, 2009, as required by the 20th Amendment, after which he is barred from seeking a third term anyway under the 22nd Amendment.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if the entire political agenda of George Bush's second term will not still be damaged in some terribly satisfying way.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that the entire political agenda of George Bush's second term consists of repealing the 22nd Amendment. Otherwise, with a clear Republican majority in both Houses of Congress, he can carry on doing pretty much whatever he likes.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if the Republican Party itself will now suffer a setback at the congressional mid-term elections next November.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that people outside the disaster zone punish their local representatives for events elsewhere a year previously, both beyond their control and outside their remit, while people inside the disaster zone reward their local representatives for an ongoing calamity they were supposed to prevent. Otherwise, the Democratic Party will suffer a setback at the next congressional election.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if an official inquiry will shift the blame for poor planning and inadequate flood defences on to the White House. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody admits that emergency planning is largely the responsibility of city and state agencies, and nobody notices that the main levee which broke was the only levee recently modernised with federal funds. Otherwise, an official inquiry will pin most of the blame on the notoriously corrupt and incompetent local governments of New Orleans and Louisiana.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush contributed to the death toll by sending so many national guard units to Iraq.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody recalls that those same columnists have spent the past two years blaming George Bush for another death toll by not sending enough national guard units to Iraq. Otherwise, people might wonder why they have never previously read a single article advocating large-scale military redeployment during the Caribbean hurricane season.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnist are asking how a civilised city can descend into anarchy.

The answer is that only a civilised city can descend into anarchy.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush should be held responsible for the terrible poverty in the southern states revealed by the flooding.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody holds Bill Clinton responsible for making Mississippi the poorest state in the union throughout his entire term as president, or for making Arkansas the second-poorest state in the union throughout his entire term as governor. Otherwise, people might suspect that it is a bit more complicated than that.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush should not be concerned by accusations of racism against the federal government.

The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody remembers that Jesse Jackson once called New York "Hymietown" and everybody thinks Condoleezza Rice went shopping for shoes when the hurricane struck because she cannot stand black people.

Otherwise sensible Americans of all races will be more concerned by trite, cynical and dangerous political opportunism.

As the full horror of that sinks in, this columnist is simply glad that everybody cares.

[bruce]

Originally Posted by Mac in SD

By Newton Emerson, Irish Times
As the full horror of Hurricane Katrina sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if this is the end of George Bush's presidency. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that every copy of the US Constitution was destroyed in the storm.

That article should be made a Stickie.

[Red Regal T]

Ya know these liberals are really low lifes. Right after the hurricane, when the first responders failed to respond, every media outlet was bashing the President with all their might. They didn't care if it was his fault or not, it was just a reason to bash the Bush. Cindy Sh!thead didn't work, so here we go again. When the right realized it was the total incompetance of the Mayor of New Orleans, and the Governor of Louisiana, and said so, it now became the blame game.......Bush's fault. Obviously, Bush should have accepted complete responsibility for the failure of the first responders, the mayor and governor, and fell on his sword.

[SFITurbo]

Excellent post!! Want to bet a few "regulars" are scrambling to find some type of fodder againt this one?

[Mac in SD]

I really do think the shrillness of the left is going to blow up in their faces once the whole story settles out. Check out Nancy Pelosi's melt-down on CNN (forget where I read it: check out the good blogs.) Think about it, after MAYBE 24 hours delay, the relief effort is going gangbusters. You know the power is back on in well over half of N.O.? Nine days afterward, and the lights are back on. Pretty impressive, IMO.

[bruce]

Originally Posted by Mac in SD

I really do think the shrillness of the left is going to blow up in their faces once the whole story settles out. Check out Nancy Pelosi's melt-down on CNN (forget where I read it: check out the good blogs.) Think about it, after MAYBE 24 hours delay, the relief effort is going gangbusters. You know the power is back on in well over half of N.O.? Nine days afterward, and the lights are back on. Pretty impressive, IMO.

It's really comical how some people think. The Police Chief, of N.O. was on last night, saying the city didn't have unlimited resources, ie implying the Feds did. Does anyone remember how long it too to get the logistics into SA, for the invasion into Kuwait?. Ya, just ring up Ft Hood, and tell we need a couple million meals, and BTW by the close of business would be fine. No need to try and air lift them, since the city is under water, just fire up a few trucks, and run them over here. It's incredibly funny, how people that haven't a clue about what logistics are, are trying to act like they have any clues about it. Health care workers, security, meals, clothes, health care materials, water, for all take time to coordinate (unlike the arm chair experts, they didn't have the benefit of hindsight to figure things out). Did anyone remember that the mayor said to take 3-4 days food, if *they* were evacuating to the Dome, did anyone see anyone bringing any food?. It's really sad seeing so many people just jump on the tactic of villianizing folks that were trying. Maybe Brown wasn't the best man for the job, but, in all honesty, who has been in charge of such an overwelming event, before?. What US agency has had to deal with any numbers approaching what Katrina generated?. IMO, while not perfect, think about what things would have been like with Gore, or Kerry in charge. They'd still be wanting to form committees before taking any action, and who can say their nominees for any of the related positions would have been any better?.

For a City the size of N.O. to be flooded out, and only lose ~300 lives, is no less then a miracle, in my book. While the system wasn't perfect, IMO, that's an incredibly low number of deaths, for what happened.