On one hand we have Bush going on national television, taking responsibility for what went wrong with Katrina relief efforts and launching an immense program for renewal, and on the other hand we have Senator Landrieu continuing her vow to punch out Bush, or anyone else for that matter, who dares criticize her state’s efforts. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be seeing this on ABC news.
What was that about irresponsible media contributing to a discourse of the absurd again?
(H/T Michelle Malkin)
Take a gander at this:
For all the media efforts to turn the natural disaster of New Orleans into either a racist nightmare, a death knell for one or the other political parties or an indictment of American culture at large, it was none of that at all. What we endured instead were slick but poorly educated journalists, worried not about truth but about pre-empting their rivals with an ever more hysterical story, all in a fuzzy context of political correctness about race, the environment and the war. Let ghoulish CNN file suit against the government to film all the bloated corpses it can find. Let a pontificating PBS “NewsHour” conduct more televised roundtables with grim-faced elites searching out purported national racism. But few any longer trust a frenzied media whose reporters and commentators continually prove as incompetent as they are disingenuous.
Was it too much to ask reporters to look to history to judge this recovery against other past disasters here and abroad? Could they have strived for accuracy instead of ratings — and at least ensured the images from their cameras did not refute their own predetermined scripts?
While I don’t really agree with the “one or the other political parties” part – as far as I could tell the script seemed to be that Bush was going to pay for the “poor response” to Katrina – it’s an awesome piece. I suggest you read the whole thing.
We’re not talkin an Escape, or Chevy Blazer. Nope, that’s your Big Boy right there. Do they make an SUV bigger than a Suburban?
I just read a letter to the editor of a local paper describing what the writer believes Bush will be remembered for. Good timing, considering my post below about what I believe will be Bush’s legacy. Included in the writer’s prediction was that Bush will be remembered for “destabilizing Afghanistan.” I wouldn’t normally comment on letters to the editor of a local paper except for the fact that opposition, or at least indifference to, U.S. involvement in Afghanistan appears to be held by a frighteningly large number of folks on the left.
My question is, “why?” In addition to the fact that the country played host to Osama’s terror camps, the Taliban regime was among the last century’s most brutal totalitarian regimes, ruling like it was back in the stone ages. While all were repressed, women faced constant terror at the hands of the morality police – women were routinely flogged for such benign conduct as showing their legs and they would face stoning or death for such indiscretions as making or falling in love without approval. Women were essentially “kept”, not being allowed to work or attend educational institutions. It was no wonder then that women came out in droves during their first elections, notwithstanding that they faced the threat of death in going to the polls.
Surely the belief that “destabilizing Afghanistan” is a negative thing is based on ignorance. And there’s no doubt that part of that ignorance stems from partisan bias – the desire to not believe that which conflicts with one’s own ideology. But there comes a point where such an ignorant belief should collapse under the weight of verifiable facts. Why isn’t this happening?
People lead busy lives. Most don’t have the time or inclination to go online or otherwise do research to inform themselves – they rely on snippets of articles, bold headlines, and thirty second sound bites to inform themselves of complex events happening thousands of miles away. The window of informational opportunity is small indeed. So when every sound bite, headline, or snippet of news (and I mean every one) looks like this, it’s no wonder people are ignorant.
I have no ill will towards the writer of that letter. He just doesn’t know any better. The media….well that’s another story.
Talk about legacy presidents. What will the world remember in fifty years from now – the partisan ankle biting and dishonest petty insults that “Bush lied about WMD’s”, or that the transformation of the Middle East into a democratic region was attributable to Bush’s bold doctrine of fighting terrorism by transforming terrorist breeding grounds?
Today Bush gave a bold speech in which he personally took ownership of the rebuilding of New Orleans. This is the first time in modern American history where a city has to be entirely rebuilt. Bush put his stamp on that undertaking tonight. In fifty years, or perhaps even fifteen years, if and when New Orleans has emerged as one of America’s greatest renaissance cities, do you think folks will still be parroting the “blame Bush” headlines, or reciting what Bush’s poll numbers were three days after the hurricane?
Me neither.
Lorie at PoliPundit continues with the subject of what we should have learned from Katrina. Here I posted about agenda journalism contributing to a decline of real meaningful discourse in our society. Lorie’s post provides a concrete example of this.
Agenda journalism isn’t just unfair, unethical or frustrating to those who want the whole story to be told. It has real consequences. Blinded by politics, the media reports what they want us to know, rather than what we need to know. We are left with an ignorant public, an inneffective representative democracy and ultimately bad policies.
Bill O’Reilly asked Condi Rice if she was hurt by Bush haters calling her a shill.
She said:
“Why would I worry about that? The fact of the matter is, Bill, I’ve been black all my life, nobody needs to tell me how to be black.”
Welcome Michelle Malkin readers! Please look around.
Welcome Anchoress readers! Please look around.
Welcome Polipundit readers! Please look around.
Ian Schwartz has the video
DirecTV has designated channel 100 for Hurricane Katrina.
This will be a channel for news, information and messages. To post a message, send an email to katrina@directv.com or send a text message from your text message capable cell phone to 48433.
Information available on the Hurricane Katrina Information channel includes:
• Transportation infrastructure – road closures throughout the Gulf Coast region
• Counties/parishes in the Gulf Coast region that are able to assist evacuees
• Special needs shelters – the location and phone numbers of special needs shelters in Louisiana
• Shelter openings throughout the Gulf Coast region
• Relief agency contact information, including phone numbers for the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and Feed the Children
• Insurance company contact information
Good for you DirecTV!
Fox News just reported an AP wire report that says that Mike Brown has resigned as Head of FEMA.
He is making the move in the “best interests of the agency and the best interests of the President”. (Via Shep Smith, Fox News)
From the Susan M. Torres Fund website comes this very sad news:
With great sadness, we are asking for your prayers for the repose of the soul of 5 week old baby Susan Ann Torres. She passed away last night after surgery for a perforated intestine. Please include in your prayers a request for the peace and comfort of her family, especially Jason Torres, who has had a very difficult past several months.
Via Michelle Malkin
Our prayers are with the family. Baby Susan and Mommy Susan are now together in heaven.
