here's a brief backdrop on the story...
I sent out an article after Hurricane Katrina about how New Orleans' mayor and Louisiana's governor dropped the ball with the advanced warning they had and how there were several dozen empty buses under water as thousands of people were rendered helpless and homeless... Evidently my friend took it upon himself to respond, which would have been fine if he would have written to me, but he hit "reply to all" and it started a mess of e-mails criss-crossing cyberspace. His response to the article...
"The president should have been impeached after the WMD, thousands upon
thousand of inoccent iraqi's dead from his words, now his neglagenace has
directly effected us at home. He only reviewed the disaster 2 days
afterwards because a member of his staff burned a dvd of news cast to show
him while he was on vacation. 2 wars rage and the american public elected
him on moral values, we deserve what we get."
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for healthy dialog but this didn't fit that description. First off, his spelling made me sad (it caused a whole other blog on the American education system); and where did we jump into WMD's? Oh well... here's my rebuttal.
ROFL...How have you been? you are a piece of work my man. Interesting views, obviously shaped by the media (and dare I say it appears you have watched "Fahrenheit 9-11"), but nonetheless interesting. While I didn't send the e-mail for your diatribe, I welcome it. After all, if two people can't have an intelligent conversation, why have a mind? For the record, I am neither Democrat nor Republican, I make my mind up with informed views and extensive research before I vote for the least evil, being as neither candidate is ever a "good" one...
That being said...here's my rebuttal
You know how Bush knew Iraq had WMD's? Because the Pentagon has the receipts from 20+years of selling them to him. Not Bush's problem, it has been a bi-partisan affair for a while now. You should know that America has a history of supplying regimes/ governments we perceive we could somehow benefit from. Remember the Cold War? I'm sure you've heard of it. America-Soviet Union(ring a bell?) Well during that time, a scuffle broke out in the Middle East and we sent literally billions of dollars to the Afghans in their fight with Russia, now it appears as if the Russians are more allied with us than the Afghans/ Taliban (who incidentally still operate in Afghanistan)... Iraq? They were fighting Iran for a time. I could keep going, but that's not your argument.
Innocent Iraqi's are dying at the hands of their own people. Last time I checked, and you being in the military know I am right... we do not attack civilians. Take a look on any given day and you'll see suicide bombers attacking Iraqis, and where do these people come from? America? I think not. Syria, Iran, Turkey and even Iraq. The problem is not America vs. Iraq. We were/ are fighting an ideal. It's a war unlike any other because there will be no winner. You cannot force people to change their views. To further complicate things, Terrorists have no views, unless you buy into the argument that they hate all non-Muslims. They are merely seeking to "terrorize" and create mayhem. On that front, they are doing a right fine job. Again, I could keep talking but I don't feel like this is your perceived argument either.
On to the meat of what I feel led you to write me back...and "reply to all" to propagate your theories.
As for the hurricane, I am sick and tired of hearing people criticize the POTUS for something he doesn't/ shouldn't have any control over. There is a reason we have State and local government agencies. If the President were meant to control all aspects of America, do you not agree there would be no need for them? Seems to me that only last year Florida was hit with no fewer than four hurricanes last year, and that's only the major ones. As you should know, Florida gets hit almost weekly with some sort of major rain/ storm that affects people daily. However, for a state that actually has a plan, they did not have such an event as New Orleans (and I'm not even speaking on the various sea levels of the cities). We're talking about the response, are we not? Ask yourself why N.O. had their problems and you'll understand why. On every flyover from a helicopter you'll see dozens of buses lining the streets, flooded and unused. Why? Because the Mayor dropped the ball. As I have read (and heard from people I know in N.O.) they did, in fact, release people from jails so they would have a fighting chance. Look at the nursing home owners being charged with negligent homicide and you'll better understand the thinking. Although they would have been better served placing said inmates on buses and sending them inland. Mayor Nagin obviously panicked and the aftermath overwhelmed him. So what did he do? He called out the President? Is there not a chain of command similar to the military? Why would the mayor of a city call out the leader of the free world? Should he not contact his own governor? Who I might add did her own spin on the matter. She sat there criticizing Bush for not sending in the Guard, who I will remind you is under control of the state. Funny how a state that can't even punch a chad correctly to vote for a president gets it right when a disaster hits, But not N.O. They want to sit back while their own citizens die and blame others. Sounds just like a welfare state. Blame others for your mess. If people would learn to think for themselves and stop letting their 10 o'clock news tell them what to think, eyes would open and the people of N.O. would be blaming their own local/ state governments for grossly misrepresenting them. I truly feel sorry for the innocent people there, but there are countless others waiting for their government handout, as usual. We have created this by rewarding those that choose not to do anything for themselves...that is what we deserve as a country, for allowing this to happen. The storm just brought the problem to the forefront. Now we have the mayor trying to send people back in despite warnings of serious health risks. He is ignoring, once again, smarter people than himself. It makes you wonder about the voters who put a guy like that in office? You question Bush, who is taking the blame for this fiasco, even though the blame is not his to take? And you know who will get blamed if people listen to their wonderful mayor, move back in, and an epidemic sprouts up...
Welcome to Reality.
Well, that's all I have for this post. Til next time...
The knowledge and the talent that my mother had born to her...
