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The Sham Continues*Paraphrasing William Shakespeare, for members of the Bush Administration "The world is a stage and they are all its actors".Disgust was what I felt as I read Josh Marshall's blog about use of volunteer fire fighters as stage props for photo opportunity during the president's visit to Louisiana. The Bush administration's cynical manipulation of the media and use of props are well-known facts. But this is a bit too much. You feel like exclaiming "have you no shame"?" Of course, they don't. The full power of the administration is focused on image control. They are good at it.See Talking Points Memo - Josh Marshall Sept.4, 2005Following is from an article in The Guardian,UK:"Look at him: he's lost. He can't rail at Katrina for opposing "freedom" and "democracy," even if the bloody storm does have a girl's name. He can't decry the "axis of evil" comprising Iran and North Korea and then throw in a hurricane without somebody piping up, "What doesn't belong in this picture?" Since it's a stretch to blame Osama bin Laden for the weather, his speechwriters are stymied."Lionel Shriver, The Guardian,UK, Sept.6, 2005

Memorable StatementsFirst prize goes to President Bush"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."G.W. Bush to FEMA director Michael Brown, White House Press Release Sept.2, 2005Second Prize: Again, the winner is President Bush"The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."(Laughter.)White House Press Release Sept.2, 2005Third Prize: Mrs. Barbara BushBarbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them." What I’m hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality."Editor & Publisher, Sept.5, 2005Consolation Prize goes to Ms. Condoleezza Rice"The Lord is going to come on time — if we just wait," she said.San Francisco Chronicle Sept.6, 2005The irrepressible sense of humor"Here's what I believe. I believe that the great city of New Orleans will rise again and be a greater city of New Orleans. (Applause.) I believe the town where I used to come from, Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself -- occasionally too much -- (laughter) -- will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to. "President G.W. Bush, White House Press Release Sept.2, 2005Think Cover-Up - President to lead an investigation"What I intend to do is lead an investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong,'' Bush said. ``We still live in an unsettled world. We want to make sure we can respond properly if there is a WMD (weapons of mass destruction) attack or another major storm."San Francisco Chronicle Sept.6, 2005 Comments Unknown — 2005-09-07 fucking out of touch elitist morons. Musafir. Where is the tenderness? It's in the people. The average everyday people. The government regime? It's full lies, priviledge and complete lack of care and/or understanding. I hope the LEFT will USE this the way Monica Lewinsky was used to take down a good President.

A cartoon from The Guardian,UK*Martin Rowson Sept.5,2005 on Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina

The shameful failure to offer aid to Katrina victimsIraq's WMD - The Mother of All LiesIf 9/11 gave President Bush an opportunity to follow his agenda, Hurricane Katrina has made the country take a look at the hollowness of the Bush Administration--its failures, lapses, and its skewed priorities. Katrina could not have been prevented but there is no question that authorities at all levels failed to respond to the emergency and offer timely assistance to those who needed it. Their failure greatly exacerbated the suffering of the people in the affected area, especially the residents of New Orleans.In another part of the world, the death toll for U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq has reached 1887 (as of Sept.5 - Icasualties.org) . Many more will lose their lives before we bring them home. The nation will again hear about their sacrifices for a cause although it is no longer clear what the cause is."Piecing together the story of the weapons that weren't"Charles J. Hanley's brilliant exposé in USA Today, September 2, 2005, covers the Bush Administrations orchestrated efforts to sell the war to the American people. It succeeded in the deception mainly because the country was reeling from the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Now the administration is scrambling to control the backlash from Katrina. What goes around comes around.

*On Sept.2nd I quoted excerpts from Mr. Robinson's post about cannibalism in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A link to the original post was included. Further investigations on the subject have made me doubt the veracity of Mr. Robinson's comments.I thought of deleting my September 2nd entry but decided to let it stay. However, until Mr. Robinson presents facts in support of his comments I take the position that his post contained untruth. Perhaps he got carried away by his emotions. Very simply, human beings do not reach the stage of starvation to resort to cannibalism in the few days since the onslaught of Katrina that Mr. Robinson wrote about.

And who can blame him*"What an impressive crowd: the haves, and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite, I call you my base.” Who said that? G.W. Bush October 19, 2000Where did he say it? Al Smith Dinner, Waldorf Astoria, New YorkThere you have it. The answer to what makes our president tick. To his credit, he never made a secret of his fondness for the rich and famous.Things were going well (oh, relatively well) in the second term. Lost some points in public opinion polls but the president says he never pays attention to them. With Republican majority in the House and Senate, the president was sitting pretty. Iraq has become a thorny issue but speeches about patriotism and national security usually keeps the kettle from boiling over. The Christian right happy with his nominee for the Supreme Court and position on other moral values issues---intelligent design, stem cell, morning after pill, abortion, sex education, gay rights. Anniversary of 9/11 coming up; the president was getting ready to give another speech about the great progress made in Iraq and the need to remain vigilant. In addition to riding his bike, clearing brushes, and fishing, he was doing some heavy reading to exercise his mind during vacation. He was like the cat's whiskers.Then comes Hurricane Katrina and the president finds himself, literally, in troubled waters. He is beyond his depth. He has no explanation for the mismanagement of relief efforts and admits lapses. More and more facts surfacing about lack of funds to maintain the levees due to diversion of money to war efforts and tax cuts; lack of equipment and personnel (National Guard members) because of deployment in Iraq. He makes a quick trip to the devastated area, praises FEMA's Michael Brown (more about him follows) for his work and then flies back to Washington.What a bummer. First, that busybody Cindy Sheehan and the peaceniks put a crimp in his vacation. Then the damn hurricane forced him to cut his vacation short---by two days. Drat, now the 9/11 speech needs to be revised. More time needed to rehearse. The job is no longer fun.Who is Michael Brown and what did he do before appointment to FEMAMichael Brown was an executive (Judges and Stewards Commissioner, whatever that means) of the International Arabian Horse Association. The organization is no longer in existence. Prior to that he served as manager of G.W. Bush's first campaign for presidency."Steps we're taking will help address the problem of availability, but it's not going to solve it. Americans should be prudent in their use of energy during the course of the next few weeks. Don't buy gas if you don't need it.---President G.W. Bush,Washington, D.C., Sep. 1, 2005

*Stage props lined up by his handlers or a spontaneous act? The president hugged two black girls today during his brief stop for a first-hand look at devastation wrought by Katrina. The event was widely photographed. This time, however, the photo opportunity failed to earn him much capital.Lack of Money for Hurricane and Flood Control, the Ugly TruthExcerpts from an article in Editor & Publisher Aug.31, 2005: Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA (SouthEast Lousiana Urban Flood Control Project) dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars. Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation." In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness. On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

He Cannot Help It *I did not watch him on TV when President Bush spoke on August 31st about disaster relief for Katrina victims but I'll take The New York Times editorial to be factual. He grinned. He has been grinning (smirking) long before he became president. It is hard to give up a habit. After all, most of the victims are poor and black. He has more important things on his calendar.From The New York Times, Sept.1, 2005: Waiting For A Leader"George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end."

*From The Huffington Post: "It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive. Four days after the storm, thousands of blacks in New Orleans are dying like dogs. No-one has come to help them.I am a sixty-four year old African-American."Randall RobinsonPostscript: Readers, please note that on September 3rd I published an entry stating "I doubt the veracity of Mr. Robinson's comments".What if it were the San Francisco Bay AreaA friend e-mailed "Just think what the Christian right leaders would have said if Katrina had swept through the San Francisco Bay area! Punishment for decadent, immoral life style."Yes, I can imagine Falwell, Robertson and others having a grand time on the pulpits. Comments lumberjack — 2005-09-03 Nothing strikes you as a little off in this story? After 4 days of hunger people would stoop to eating rotting human flesh? It's silly. musafir — 2005-09-03 You make a good point. I admit to second thoughts about the link to Huffington Post.

New Orleans lies griveously wounded *Now is the time for the president to put his money where his mouth is. How President Bush and his team handle the crisis in Louisiana will either help him regain broad support of the American people or shed a harsh light on the reasons for failure. The beginning has not been praiseworthy. FEMA has come under some criticism for being disorganized. But there is no question that the havoc caused by Katrina is unprecedented in scale. Infrastructures collapsed; communications sytems completely broke down. The fact that most of New Orleans lies below sea level made it especially vulnerable. All resources of the Federal Government have now been unleashed to provide aid.President Bush, who stays away from funerals of dead soldiers and does not permit publication of photographs of caskets arriving from Iraq, will now have to appear among the displaced. He will smell the stench and see the detritus at close quarters---at least that is the impression given by statement from the White House. The atrocities of 9/11 gave him the opportunity to obtain a carte blanche from the legislature to pursue the neo-conservative agenda both at home and abroad. Now the nation will give the president complete support to deal with the aftermath of Katrina. This, however, is an entirely different scenario---one in which the president's handlers cannot even think of staging a "mission accompished" appearance. News about relief efforts and rehabilitation of the displaced people will remain in focus of the media for a long, long time. Time for rhetorics is over. Successes will be noted; failures will not be allowed to be covered up.Most of New Orleans, including the Desire area, is under waters. The French Quarter has escaped major flooding. Number of dead cannot even be estimated. There are doubts that the city can be rebuilt. The human spirit, however, has tremendous capacity for survival. The people of Mississippi Delta will eventually emerge from this nightmarish situation to begin a new chapter. They deserve all the help that our country can provide; they must not be let down.Note: Edited Sept.3,2005