Thank You, Laura Bush

Like most people, I've been in an emotional maelstrom since the flooding of the gulf coast. Profound sadness, disbelief, rage, and fear battled for prominence as I watched Americans dying because our government is so very good at keeping us safe. I mean, that's what they promised, right? They would keep us safe. They would act quickly and decisively in case of disaster. If not for the loss of American lives, those claims would be laughable now.
I watched those in power, and those who desperately want to believe in that power hang on to the most convenient bits of the original European-American buckle-head philosophies;
1)Buckle-heads are God's elect, and therefore everything done in America will turn out just fine because God likes us best.
2)Wealth is an outward indicator of God's Grace. Poor people need not be fussed about too much, even in crisis, because God doesn't like them as much as He likes the wealthy.
3)God will smite those who disagree with Him, or the wealthy who represent Him on earth. (Also, anybody who happens to be nearby)
4) Paradoxically, God also "tests" his elect, to make them stronger. So, if you haven't died in recent floods, you either hated God, or He loved you extra, or He loved your leaders extra, or you were just one of the undeserving poor.

Now, I may not be the best person to speak to some of these philosophies because in the church I attended while growing up Schadenfreude was not considered a "Christian Value". So, when I see self-proclaimed Christians saying that God sent the hurricane to stop a gay-pride parade or to close women's health clinics, I have some difficulty accepting that. The Jesus I was taught about was a bit of a hippie, and didn't really go around attacking people at will.
I watched Barbara Bush say that the poor of New Orleans were better off for having a government handout, a thought which amused her greatly. I watched her nincompoop son declare that his unsuccessful horse-breeding friend was doing an excellent job doing NOTHING to help the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Of course, I watched the same nincompoop use Trent Lott's lost house as a metaphor for the lost homes and lives of the people of the gulf coast. (People who had only one home, to Lott's minimum of two.)And then, of course, we could see the victims being blamed. How dare one live in a city below sea-level near the sea. They had it coming. Rick Santorum, that intellectual giant, declared that we needed harsher penalties for those who stay behind in natural disasters, because drowning in a sea of sewage, toxic waste, and refuse is not a harsh enough penalty. And then there's the young black man who stole an abandoned bus, and saved 100 of the residents of New Orleans. Instead of handing him a medal on arrival, the people of Texas thought about whether or not they should charge him with grand theft.

Enemies of the United States, poverty-stricken countries, and "Old Europe" all responded to OUR crisis before OUR government did. An airplane full of food and water sent from Germany was turned back because there was no "authorization" to accept the aid. The Mexican army has rolled in to help. Castro has offered medical staff to help. All this while George "Nero" Bush continued on his vacation after the levees broke in NOLA, coming back only after the people of the city threatened to riot in the streets, and several newsreporters had emotional breakdowns on air. And now Laura Bush declares that Kanye West's and Howard Dean's criticisms of her husband are "disgusting". And I guess that's the word I was looking for to sum up the emotional maelstrom of the past several days.

This government's response to this tragedy shows just how DISGUSTING her husband, his cronies, his mother, and this entire shabby crew are. Now, my one question is this: How many counts of criminally neglegent homicide and/or depraved indifference does it take before they begin to count as "High crimes and Misdemeanors"?