Le Sequoit

A Kinder, Gentler Thought

Bear with me, this will take a little setting up.

Remember the infamous seven minutes the President sat in the Florida schoolhouse while an unknown number of planes were out there continuing the attack of 9/11? I was mesmerized watching the president in Moore's film, wondering exactly what it was I was seeing.

And this is what I thought I saw. Anger. Not a stunned, then demanding of details and procedural options reaction one might expect. A knowing kind of anger. Why didn't he immediately head for the consul of his backers, of the nearby Rove et al? I saw a man who had been hoodwinked, a man who knew exactly who was responsible for the act and exactly who was responsible for telling him that a miscellaneous terrorist act or two would serve to further the Christian and neo-con agenda, as it certainly has. I saw a man who might explode if he were to confront the advisors who did not count on the murderous efficiency of the terrorists.

And so he sat and counted ten, and who could blame him? I think the reaction was something like, "This isn't the way I was told it would be, this is bullshit."

The other night Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show, made a big, goofy spectacle out of Bush apologizing and accepting the blame for his administration regarding the Katrina mess. Stewart was right, it was a big deal, and a strategy I don't think the party hacks liked it one bit.

And now the President comes on like the next FDR, for cryin' out loud, even with a program called the WRA. Conservatives are screaming and Bush just don't seem to give a golly. Listen to this:

I also want to know all the facts about the government response to Hurricane Katrina. The storm involved a massive flood, a major supply and security operation, and an evacuation order affecting more than a million people. It was not a normal hurricane -- and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to it. Many of the men and women of the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United States military, the National Guard, Homeland Security, and state and local governments performed skillfully under the worst conditions. Yet the system, at every level of government, was not well-coordinated, and was overwhelmed in the first few days. It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.

"Greater federal authority"? Holy crap!

Now, Rush Limbaugh and all those he inspires or marches with dismiss all criticism of the President as being hate driven. We hate the man, it's that simple they say. I don't hate him. I don't like the job he's doing, and I especially don't like the kind of philosophy that's behind him, but I see him sort of like the frat guy who gives you a hard time while he always seems to have a football player or two on his wing. I think he's running with a bad crowd, and I wonder if he may have more compassion that a lot of people give him credit for. It has been hard to tell.

I wonder if he's beginning to realize time is running short. I wonder if he's realizing that he has the power to put his compassion ahead of his conservatism. I wonder―and this is way out there―if he could be the anti-Reagan. And I wonder how long he could get away with it.

Stuff happens.

posted by sequoit @ 10:16 PM