Sadly Surprised

Even this long-standing Bush denigrator is surprised by the extent of the heartlessness and ruthlessness of the Bush administration's response to Katrina. As much as Bush likes to stick it to the poor, as idiotic as he is to think that killing overseas is going to do anything but exacerbate terrorism, as ruthless as he is in his tax cuts to the rich and his granting of pork-belly contracts to friends, I still never imagined for a second that Dubya was so bloodthirsty and so negligent as to let thousands of Americans in Southern States die in squalor in the aftermath of a totally forseeable disaster, a disaster created by the war in Iraq, by the gutting of funding for basic services and by federal ineptitude. I start to wonder, even, about the sanity of this man and about the groupthink that engulfs his entourage.

After all, what can you possibly think about an administration that is constantly on vacation. Our beloved leader has set the tone: after his 5-week vacation at the ranch where he chose to ignore Cindy Sheehan at his doorstep, Dubya waits 5 days before visiting the disaster area, and then under extremely controlled conditions, we can be sure, although CNN and other media have chosen not to bring to light the details. I saw an interview on CNN of two young black girls in Mississipi who were gushing over see Dubya, about he he reassured them: this well-picked audience said nothing about anger, fear, disappointment, just about how reassured that it was.

The CNN anchor did not ask them what they thought about the Secretary of State who was still on vacation in NY. Condi was not going to be put out by the problems in the South: she spent evenings on Broadway and her days in Fashionable Shopping, expelling dissenters manu militaris.

"Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan). A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman."

As much as we may admire Condi and her husband (er, boss) for their cool headedness in the face of such tragedy, it is perhaps their carelessness which comes to mind the most: not caring about the worst natural disaster in recent American history, not caring enough to do the job that they were given, which is to say protecting this country.

This is when I start questioning their sanity and I start wondering if the recent winner of the Faux Faulkner competition wasn't even closer to the truth than we could have imagined.

“You give him that gun back, right this minute,” Condi said. Rummy gave me Saddam s gun back and I held it my hands. It was hot like a horseshoe.

“You got the gun, now you stop that hollering,” Rummy said.

Condi patted me on the back. “It sure is hot in here,” she said. She fanned herself and took off her jacket. She smelled like perfume.

Now Condi is Dubya's trump card when it comes to getting out of the racism stigma that natural follow bloodthirsty faux southerners: in a way, Condi, as was Powell, is Dubya's Ace of Spades that he can pull out to trump critics like Rapper Kanye West who says "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People". However, I confess that I don't believe that Dubya is a racist, only an oligarchist for whom poor whites are just as bad as poor blacks. After all, the Bush clan is able to represent so-called minorities very well, as long as they are fabulously wealthy. Wealthy Jews and wealthy Arabs are all welcome at the Bush table. Bush even likes wealthy Europeans, having a weakness for Germans ever since Granddaddy did good business with the Nazis.

Carelessness and recklessness are more than the hallmarks of this administration: they have become a badge of honor, and this is the heart of bubbalogic. Yes, this is where guys like me who, unlike the faux-Texan commander-in-chief, grew up in the great state and even went to school there. I know that particular bubba mentality that goes along with the marvelous Waylon and Willie song "Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys"

"He ain't wrong, he's just different, but his pride won't let him do things to let you think he's right."

But what's OK for a cowboy is not OK for the president of the USA. We like the cowboy when he's Slim Pickens riding the bomb as it falls from the plane, but we don't want to see that in an ideological psychopath that we happen to have voted as President. Pride is a sin, and Dubya's pride is his downfall: it's the blinders that keep him from seeing the reality of the US situation, perhaps even more than do his "handlers".

The reality that he doesn't see, but which has been made even more clear to the rest of the world, is that the US is already a kind of hell, a deeply depraved state with a violent streak running through to the core. We see that being "evacuated" really means "everyone for himself" with the poor left to die without a thought. We see that being "violent" is a term that is applied to "looters", who are people that have been left to die but have decided to live: survival is the name of the game. These people are "put down" by Police and the Army with a "Shoot on Sight" order that is worthy of the London Police. The situation is so bad that a lot of New Orleans police had "deserted". Watching a segment on CNN, one New Orleans police officer was taunting his "deserter" camarades for cowardice.

This is the legacy for which Dubya will be known: destroying the image of the US abroad and, now, at home as well. This is the beginning of the end of the Bush honeymoon in the media. This is where we realize, finally, that Dubya makes Dick Nixon look like a humanitarian, makes Reagan look like a genius, makes the US press look like the jerks that they are.

I think that this is it for Dubya. If he isn't impeached by this Republican congress, then they will be replaced by Democrats. Not that the Democrats deserve this windfall, being the lapdogs of power and neo-con wannabes in general.

September 11, 2005, will be Dubya roasting day in the press. Four years later, we will celebrate the triumph of BubbaLogic over freedom and dignity. "We won't be fooled again!"