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Remember When the New York Times was “Liberal?”
Yeah, neither do I.
Every once in awhile, however, the newspaper most singlehandedly responsible for allowing DubYa to sell the phony rationale for his bullshit war (do a Google search for “Judith Miller” if you doubt me on that point) remembers that, once upon a time, it used to be a respected journalistic institution that featured a strong editorial voice, rather than parroting unedited administration talking points.
Apparently, this is one of those rare times, for DubYa’s pathetically inadequate response to the absolute carnage and horror unfolding in New Orleans was enough to get even the Times’ dander up:
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...........
It would be some comfort to think that, as Mr. Bush cheerily announced, America “will be a stronger place” for enduring this crisis. Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won’t acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal.
Perhaps DubYa’s decidedly underwhelming response to this tragedy may have been some sort of repressed guilt; after all, his administration’s slashing of federal aid to maintain sinking levees undoubtedly contributed to their failure. (Where did that money go? Take a wild guess. ) In a very real way, he is personally responsible for, if not the disaster itself, certainly its magnitude in terms of the loss of human life.
Of course, he’s already responsible for tens of thousands of American and Iraqi lives lost, and he’s never expressed a shred of guilt or remorse for any of those, so why would the monster change his tune now?
