Now They Tell Us
Do some of you feel like you have been through a wringer? I know I do. It is very difficult to tolerate the usual NeoCon babble that comes out of the White House in light of the suffering in New Orleans. And all too often people express racist attitudes which seem especially offensive now. I hope that the Republicans feel as burned out and depressed as Democrats do, but somehow I doubt it. Remember that old joke, "Stop the world, I want to get off" Well, it doesn't seem to be much of a joke any more.
There has been a lot of talk about companies receiving contracts for cleanup and reconstruction efforts in the hurricane disaster area because of their political ties to the administration. Halliburton is especially scrutinized because of the costliness of their work in Iraq on a non-bid contract. The government is allegedly investigating.
What do you want to bet that the first thing rebuilt will NOT be public housing? It would be only fair to allow some of the displaced people to work, but apparently they are not going to. Though Bush has been very definite about tax cuts to the rich, he has issued an order that the companies do not have to honor the prevailing wage. Tell your union activists.
Almost from the beginning there have been rumors about places being found in the levees where explosives were used to take them down.
There was news today that Bush has accepted responsibility for what happened in the hurricane to the extent they were involved. And I did see a picture of Bush walking through New Orleans -- he looked almost human in the picture I saw. However, I cannot imagine his changing his stripes. Compassion and understanding do not happen over night. Several women posting on the internet said that he looked EXACTLY like their kids that they were teaching to apologize. The mother of the two year old said she couldn't tell if the kid didn't want to apologize or didn't know what it meant.
© Virginia Metze
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, September 12, 2005; 1:33 PM
Amid a slew of stories this weekend about the embattled presidency and the blundering government response to the drowning of New Orleans, some journalists who are long-time observers of the White House are suddenly sharing scathing observations about President Bush that may be new to many of their readers.
Is Bush the commanding, decisive, jovial president you've been hearing about for years in so much of the mainstream press?
Maybe not so much .
Judging from the blistering analyses in Time, Newsweek, and elsewhere these past few days, it turns out that Bush is in fact fidgety, cold and snappish in private. He yells at those who dare give him bad news and is therefore not surprisingly surrounded by an echo chamber of terrified sycophants. He is slow to comprehend concepts that don't emerge from his gut. He is uncomprehending of the speeches that he is given to read. And oh yes, one of his most significant legacies -- the immense post-Sept. 11 reorganization of the federal government which created the Homeland Security Department -- has failed a big test. [...] Read it all at: http://tinyurl.com/7aaay
There has been a lot of talk about companies receiving contracts for cleanup and reconstruction efforts in the hurricane disaster area because of their political ties to the administration. Halliburton is especially scrutinized because of the costliness of their work in Iraq on a non-bid contract. The government is allegedly investigating.
What do you want to bet that the first thing rebuilt will NOT be public housing? It would be only fair to allow some of the displaced people to work, but apparently they are not going to. Though Bush has been very definite about tax cuts to the rich, he has issued an order that the companies do not have to honor the prevailing wage. Tell your union activists.
Almost from the beginning there have been rumors about places being found in the levees where explosives were used to take them down.
There was news today that Bush has accepted responsibility for what happened in the hurricane to the extent they were involved. And I did see a picture of Bush walking through New Orleans -- he looked almost human in the picture I saw. However, I cannot imagine his changing his stripes. Compassion and understanding do not happen over night. Several women posting on the internet said that he looked EXACTLY like their kids that they were teaching to apologize. The mother of the two year old said she couldn't tell if the kid didn't want to apologize or didn't know what it meant.
© Virginia Metze
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, September 12, 2005; 1:33 PM
Amid a slew of stories this weekend about the embattled presidency and the blundering government response to the drowning of New Orleans, some journalists who are long-time observers of the White House are suddenly sharing scathing observations about President Bush that may be new to many of their readers.
Is Bush the commanding, decisive, jovial president you've been hearing about for years in so much of the mainstream press?
Maybe not so much .
Judging from the blistering analyses in Time, Newsweek, and elsewhere these past few days, it turns out that Bush is in fact fidgety, cold and snappish in private. He yells at those who dare give him bad news and is therefore not surprisingly surrounded by an echo chamber of terrified sycophants. He is slow to comprehend concepts that don't emerge from his gut. He is uncomprehending of the speeches that he is given to read. And oh yes, one of his most significant legacies -- the immense post-Sept. 11 reorganization of the federal government which created the Homeland Security Department -- has failed a big test. [...] Read it all at: http://tinyurl.com/7aaay
Starmail - 15. Sep, 01:04
