Junkies Speak

archived: 18 - 24 Sep, 2005 Back Next

UPDATED: September 20, 2005

JAY GREENE
“A Sense of History”

Writing in the New York Times today, September 18, 2005, Frank Rich said

... Hurricane Katrina, which is likely to endure in the American psyche as long as L. Frank Baum's mythic tornado...."

This is the second time this morning I have heard this thought - that Katrina will have a lasting impact, will resonate longer than do most items in the 24 hours news cycle.

Would that it were so, but I am not that optimistic.

Katrina is everything Rich and others have said, some with their anger less cold and controlled as Rick's, but as to its durability as a lesson and a rebuke and an exposure of the failings, on every level, of this administration, I am not so sure.

We are a fickle people, with a short attention span and we lack a collective sense of history. While everyone remembers 9/11, certainly more than any other event in recent memory, not everyone seems to have learned anything from it. Indeed, 9/11 has for some become a mantra, followed by the expression "you just don't get it." I wonder if Katrina will become a mantra, and similarly be misunderstood, employed as an accusation by Bush defenders.

Rather harder to do in the case of Katrina, since the abject poverty of both policy and execution were and are so obvious. The best we can hope for is not the persistence of the specifics of the many administration’s shortcomings and neglect, but rather a residual but vague memory of horrific failure.

____________

Junkie: Jay Greene may be entirely right – Bush’s failure to understand what was occurring in New Orleans and to react to protect citizens may become but a “vague memory of horrific failure.”

Let us “reframe” the catastrophe – not as policy, but as values. The most horrific images arising from Katrina may not be the bodies of the dead, but the image of a President ensconced in the White House, oblivious to the extent of the emerging disaster and the horrifying scope of the human tragedy, being shown video tapes of the death and destruction by aides desperate to cajole a President to act.

If you read BUSH WATCH today you will learn that leaders in national emergency management were warning the Republican leadership well prior to Katrina that FEMA funds had been “raided” and Republican reorganization of FEMA threatened its viability to meet future catastrophes. The clarion warnings were, perhaps predictably, ignored.

The messages that must survive Katrina are these: WHAT VALUES does a Republican Party hold when its President traveled about the United States to a birthday party and a political fundraiser then rested in the sanctuary of the White House while obvious danger approached and engulfed tens of thousands of its citizens? WHAT VALUES does a Republican Party hold whose leaders “raid” the very funds that were set aside to protect its citizens?

We believe that America is filled with citizens of good will. People of good will can and will counter the terrible weight of a callous, radical ideology that holds such values. We will remember.

Junkie Editor Michael Carmichael makes exactly this case today in his section of TPJ. A must read.

_____________________________________________

DOUG JOHNSTON
“Why should the NEXT American die in Iraq?”

I gave this to Cindy Sheehan last night and told her that she has two tasks:

She must win over the spouses, parents, and children of those who have died and who do not share her views. Human nature makes it hard to accept that a loved one died in vain, much less for a worthless cause. My suggestion to her is to address the honor question simply by saying they did all that was asked of them. As to the purposes and principles of their death question, I urged her to adopt the tactic that their children, spouses, and parents did what was thought to be needed at the time. That was then, this is now.

She must then change the conversation to one in which she is not talking now about those who have already died. Cindy Sheehan is not talking about her son or about her loss. She and all the others like her are talking to the children, spouses, and parents that will soon join them when their loved ones perish in Iraq.

“Why will the NEXT American die in Iraq?”

History will tell us why Americans have died in Iraq. The existing rationales have passed their sell-by date. Now, we must know why the next parent, spouse, or child will die there.

             ● Not to find WMD. (There are none.)
             ● Not because Saddam supported Al Qaeda. (Not now, if ever.)
             ● Not because Saddam was an evil dictator. (Not any more.)
             ● Not to keep terrorists from our shores. (That’s not our doing. Al Qaeda met its objectives here with 9/11 and for the moment has turned its
                 attention elsewhere, allowing our complacency to grow.)
             ● Not for oil. (Not even to pay for the war. Now Americans are paying for the war and for the oil.)
             ● Not for the nation’s honor. (Our honor is not at stake. Our service members have done all that has been asked of them and then some.)
             ● Not so that we can afford to be the world’s policeman. (Ask Greenspan the war’seffect on the financial future of our children. Ask pension
                 managers about its effect on everybody’s retirement.)
             ● Not for Iraq to become a beacon for democracy. (Some beacon; some democracy)There other much more effective ways to spread
                 democracy. For example, a stronger America with resources to meet tomorrow’s needs and the consequences of the next terrorist act
                 wherever it might be committed.)
             ● Not because it will be too messy to get out. (It’s too messy to stay.)

In the past some were careless with the truth, heard only what they wanted to, were carried away by military enthusiasm, or were fooled. Now, further argument and recrimination distracts us from confronting the real question for Americans, their service members and their families.

Let us respect the sacrifice of those who have died. Let us honor them with our demand to know, “Why should the NEXT American die in Iraq?”

__________

Junkie: Wonderful piece. TPJ would suggest that the question is “Whey should the NEXT person die in Iraq?”

ANONYMOUS
“Gonorrhea Lectim”

The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of Sexually Transmitted Disease. This disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior.

The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim (pronounced "gonna re-elect him."). Many victims contracted it in 2004, after having been screwed for the past 4 years, in spite of having taken measures to protect themselves from this especially troublesome disease.

Cognitive sequelae of individuals infected with Gonorrhea Lectim include, but are not limited to:

             ● Anti-social personality disorder traits;
             ● Delusions of grandeur with a distinct messianic flavor; chronic mangling of the English language;
             ● Extreme cognitive dissonance;
             ● Inability to incorporate new information;
             ● Pronounced xenophobia;
             ● Inability to accept responsibility for actions;
             ● Exceptional cowardice masked by acts of misplaced bravado;
             ● Uncontrolled facial smirking;
             ● Ignorance of geography and history;
             ● Tendencies toward creating evangelical theocracies; and
             ● A strong propensity for categorical, all-or-nothing behavior.

The disease is sweeping Washington. Naturalists and epidemiologists are amazed and baffled that this malignant disease originated only a few years ago from a Texas bush.

__________

Junkie: This came from an email circulating on the net that was forwarded to TPJ. A hoot!

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Last Update: 03/23/2006