The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a remarkably snarky little editorial (well, it’s not really that remarkable, on reflection) just seething with Bush hatred:
Does anyone else feel like storming the Bastille? It’s hard not to, when faced with how the Bush family has responded to the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
In a serious let-them-eat-cake moment, first lady Laura Bush said that mothers must get their kids to school, as doing so gives children “a sense of normalcy.”
Sounds great, but, um, was she seriously asking people who had watched their homes disappear to get their kids in school within a week? We’re guessing most parents are putting hot meals and warm baths for the little ones above all else.
Then her husband made the unthinkably moronic remarks about his partying days in New Orleans and how he looks forward once again, to chillin’ at Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott’s house. “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.”
Well thank goodness someone said something about the devastation endured by the Lott family! Because of all the images we’d seen from this disaster — bodies floating face down in filthy streets, children bawling for food, people picking through trash amid violent outbreaks throughout New Orleans — it was the thought of Lott’s devastated porch that was keeping us awake at night.
Now, don’t get us wrong — we’re not happy the senator has lost his home. We’re just stunned (and we know we shouldn’t be) that our president is stupid enough to say something about one wealthy man’s home while surrounded by the poor, the sick and the displaced. His mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, seemed equally clueless, as she toured the Houston Astrodome where thousands of Katrina victims are being temporarily housed.
“This is working very well for them,” she said.
Which part, Barb? The part where they lost everything they’ve owned? She then added, “Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we’re going to move to Houston.” Well, of course they do. They’ve been living in their own filth, starving, fearing rape, or worse, for five days at the Superdome in New Orleans. But why let that image mar a perfectly good sound bite, eh?
So, the heroic revolutionaries of an almost-great Seattle newspaper–enraged that their cocooned existence drinking Chai tea lattes and acting the apologist for organized King County voter fraud has been upset by those very disturbing images from New Orleans–has decided it’s time for a real revolution. But, hey–after last year’s bloodless coup in the governor’s race, perhaps it’s time to move on to bigger and better conquests. Bring on the guillotines! Off with their heads! Hold the whipped cream!
Of course, one might expect that a newspaper would bring us news–but it is hardly news that the Seattle Left–and their mouthpieces at the PI–have a full-blown case of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Fine, so be it–you’ve got lots of company among those who not-so-secretly await with eagerness every disaster at home or abroad as yet another opportunity to bash the evil moronic fascist Bushitler–be it Iraq, or the tsunami, or the London bombings, or New Orleans. Bad news is good news in their world. This is good ol’ American politics, and hardly unique: there were lots of folks who detested Bill Clinton with an irrational passion. And there’s no doubt that Bush is not the world’s most eloquent spokesman–something we his supporters have been frustrated by as well, as the communication deficit has hurt his efforts in the war against Islamic terrorism home and abroad–not to mention his domestic agenda.
But seriously, folks: after the worst natural disaster in US history–bar none–this is the best topic the PI can opine about? The supposed elitisim of the Bushes? Talk about pot calling the kettle black. When Bush clears brush at his Crawford ranch with a chainsaw, he’s a dumb, uneducated Texas cowboy hick–but when he talks about sitting on Trent Lott’s porch, he’s a wealthy out-of-touch elitist. So which is it, guys? And, come to think of it, I haven’t seen any of the common folk from the PI down there mixing it up with the suffering masses at the Astrodome. No Starbucks nearby is my guess. But of course, in postmodern liberalism, it does not have to be one or the other: Bush can be a stupid cowboy hick and a wealthy out-of-touch elitist–all at the same time. Truth matters not–only attacking those in power–and only when it’s not your guys running the show.
No mention by the PI editorial staff about the emotive incompetence of Governor Blanco, or the potty-mouthed whining of Mayor “not my fault” Nagin. Why? Because they’re the “right kind of people” in the PI’s view, “compassionate” and “caring”–and liberal. Their incompetence and lack of preparation–widely acknowledged by disaster management experts across the nation–likely cost thousands of lives, and in no small part contributed to thousands “living in their own filth, starving, fearing rape, or worse, for five days at the Superdome in New Orleans.” But why let that fact mar a perfectly good anti-Bush editorial, eh?
God forbid the PI could write about something constructive–like the successes of handling the largest population dislocation in U.S. history, or the generosity of millions of Texans and others who have opened their homes, volunteered their time and efforts, and opened their pocketbooks to help absorb and assist the poor, the sick, the starving. God forbid they examine the emergency preparations and planning should a Richter 8+ earthquake or a tsunami make Seatlle look like New Orleans West, and hold local leaders’ feet to the fire to make sure they get it right. God forbid they should stop the hysterical hatred and political dungthrowing for even a few weeks in light of a calamity of this magnitude.
Yes, God forbid–but I hope He’s patient, because Trent Lott’ll be sippin’ julips on his front porch with W. long before the PI gets a clue.