Posted on 09/14/2005 9:25:59 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
Fearing that he has appeared to be out of touch with the people suffering from the disaster along the Gulf Coast, President Bush has promised to investigate why his government did such a poor job of responding to the devastation.
I can hardly wait to hear what Bush's investigators find out about Bush's government. And, because I know it can be tough to get to the root of such complex problems, I'd like to help by offering a short list of questions that might serve as a starting point.
Why didn't we embed those darned reporters?
This may be the most worrisome question for an administration known for its masterful spin doctoring. Since the National Guard came late to this party, the news media managed to get to the scene first. That means the reporters saw what really happened, rather than hearing what Bush wanted them to hear. Bush certainly won't want that to happen again.
What didn't Michael Brown know, and when didn't he know it?
Perhaps the most revealing comment in this entire debacle came from Brown, the bumbling, underqualified and now deposed FEMA chief, when he admitted on television that no one at his agency knew about the mess at the New Orleans Convention Center. Apparently FEMA workers had missed the ubiquitous reports from the media, which arrived ahead of the military. The answer here may be allocating more money in the federal budget to pay the cable bill.
Did Barbara Bush's media training lessons wear off?
Now that she is hidden from the constant glare of the television cameras, the motherly Mrs. Bush seems to have forgotten herself. She may have believed those poor souls were better off in the Astrodome than they were in their old housing projects, but didn't she take a media training course where she would have learned never to say it while speaking into a microphone? While they're at it, the investigators might want to investigate the need for training future FEMA leaders what not to say to reporters as well.
Why didn't all those poor black people use their tax cut to buy their way out of poverty?
This, of course, is a question too big for any one investigation, but it would be helpful to start with the knowledge that poor people didn't get tax cuts. Those went to the people who already owned cars, could afford hotel rooms and had somewhere else to go -- the summer house in Vail, for example.
Should we spend hundreds of billions to rebuild a city below sea level?
We already know the answer to that. Bush doesn't need to ask the questions, he has already made the promise. We'll be rebuilding southern Mississippi, too. If we don't, Bush wouldn't be able to fulfill his promise to join Republican Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) for drinks on his new front porch.
OK, maybe those questions won't prove helpful to the people Bush appoints to investigate the other people he has appointed.
So let me try another way to help -- by telling you about a new venue for donating goods and money to help hurricane victims without wondering whether your money is going to some shyster.
Nick & Tony's Restaurant, 1 E. Wacker Dr., Chicago, today will begin collecting donations of new and gently used clothing, toys, books, towels and linens as well as anything else we all need and use daily.
The collection is part of a new effort set up by the respected Chicago Foundation for Women. The foundation, one of the largest women's funds in the country, joined with a new fund in Chicago, the Sistuh Fund Giving Circle, to create the Chicago Katrina Relief Fund for Women and Children. The money and goods will go to women and children who have been relocated to the Chicago area.
If you can't get downtown to drop stuff at Nick & Tony's, you can send checks to Chicago Foundation for Women/Chicago Katrina Relief Fund for Women and Children, 1 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 1620, Chicago IL, 60601, or contribute online at www.cfw.org.
mailto:cindyrichards153@hotmail.com
The response is very similar to the state and city response in the NOLA area.
Just sent off a nice, little note to 'Cindy'.
"Why didn't all those poor black people use their tax cut to buy their way out of poverty?"
For the same reason they won't use their debit cards for many reasonable purchases.
Of course, the same media was saying Monday night that NOLA had dodged a bullet. And were dead wrong.
So I can see why the government stopped watching their TVs.
Cheap shots from a cheap tramp.
I don't think I like people named "Cindy" any more. I know I shouldn't, but I just can't help it.
The left, especially the left that pretends to be journalists, will always find fault with its political adversaries, even when acts of nature are involved. The problem becomes, as it has with the wild-eyed environmentalists, when there really is a failure or a risk, how will thinking people know it? The shrill hysteria of political rhetoric has drowned out the voices of reason, and the masses are no longer capable of discerning the truth from political fancy. If global warming really was manmade, a rational, reasoned discussion of any scale is no longer feasible.
Johnny,
Post your e-mail, and I'll send it too....
EVERYONE SEND HER AN E-MAIL!!!
WHY? Probably because they aren't paying taxes in the first place - a per centage of zero is zero!
Welcome to FreeRepublic.
The "Sistuh Fund Giving Circle"??? Sistuh? So it's come to this-Ebonics has become "mainstreamed"?
Done seem like it be's time ta trow in da towel on dat English, baby!;)
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