OT - Some good questions
Get Off His Back (Updated)
By Ben Stein
Published 9/2/2005 11:59:59 PM
***UPDATED: Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005, 2:13 p.m.***
A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and
care to know the truth:
1.) The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi
and Alabama was an astonishing tragedy. The suffering and loss of life
and peace of mind of the residents of those areas is acutely horrifying.
2.) George Bush did not cause the hurricane.
Hurricanes have been happening for eons. George Bush did not create them
or unleash this one.
3.) George Bush did not make this one worse than
others. There have been far worse hurricanes than this before George
Bush was born.
4.) There is no overwhelming evidence that global
warming exists as a man-made phenomenon. There is no clear-cut evidence
that global warming even exists. There is no clear evidence that if it
does exist it makes hurricanes more powerful or makes them aim at cities
with large numbers of poor people. If global warming is a real
phenomenon, which it may well be, it started long before George Bush was
inaugurated, and would not have been affected at all by the Kyoto
treaty, considering that Kyoto does not cover the world's worst
polluters -- China, India, and Brazil. In a word, George Bush had zero
to do with causing this hurricane. To speculate otherwise is belief in
sorcery.
5.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane
contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and
Louisiana. In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory
evacuation. It is in no way at all George Bush's fault that about 20
percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault
that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how
dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It's not
George Bush's fault that there were sick people and old people and
people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include
making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has
good sense, and is mobile.
6.) George Bush did not cause gangsters to shoot at
rescue helicopters taking people from rooftops, did not make gang
bangers rape young girls in the Superdome, did not make looters steal
hundreds of weapons, in short make New Orleans into a living hell.
7.) George Bush is the least racist President in mind
and soul there has ever been and this is shown in his appointments over
and over. To say otherwise is scandalously untrue.
8.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to
New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can. He is not a
magician. It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they
are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the
lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization.
9.) There is not the slightest evidence at all that
the war in Iraq has diminished the response of the government to the
emergency. To say otherwise is pure slander.
10.) If the energy the news media puts into blaming
Bush for an Act of God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New
Orleans city authorities and the malevolence of the criminals of the
city were directed to helping the morale of the nation, we would all be
a lot better off.
11.) New Orleans is a great city with many great
people. It will recover and be greater than ever. Sticking pins into an
effigy of George Bush that does not resemble him in the slightest will
not speed the process by one day.
12.) The entire episode is a dramatic lesson in the
breathtaking callousness of government officials at the ground level.
Imagine if Hillary Clinton had gotten her way and they were in charge of
your health care.
God bless all of those dear people who are suffering
so much, and God bless those helping them, starting with George Bush.
****
UPDATE: Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005, 2:13 p.m.:
More Mysteries of Katrina:
Why is it that the snipers who shot at emergency
rescuers trying to save people in hospitals and shelters are never
mentioned except in passing, and Mr. Bush, who is turning over heaven
and earth to rescue the victims of the storm, is endlessly vilified?
What church does Rev. Al Sharpton belong to that
believes in passing blame and singling out people by race for opprobrium
and hate?
What special abilities does the media have for
deciding how much blame goes to the federal government as opposed to the
city government of New Orleans for the aftereffects of Katrina?
If able-bodied people refuse to obey a mandatory
evacuation order for a city, have they not assumed the risk that ill
effects will happen to them?
When the city government simply ignores its own sick
and hospitalized and elderly people in its evacuation order, is Mr. Bush
to blame for that?
Is there any problem in the world that is not Mr.
Bush's fault, or have we reverted to a belief in a sort of witchcraft
where we credit a mortal man with the ability to create terrifying
storms and every other kind of ill wind?
Where did the idea come from that salvation comes from
hatred and criticism and mockery instead of love and co-operation?
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer
living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He also writes "Ben Stein's Diary"
in every issue of The American Spectator.
--
Carl A. in FL
Enjoy photo-journals of my travels
http://sky.prohosting.com/chainfl/index.htm
.
Relevant Pages
- (off topic) A stupid place to build a city?
... Quarter in New Orleans and evacuated to North Carolina. ... Mississippi River and the other is hurricanes. ... The city was first built on the bits of high ground. ... next to the river channel to form a natural levee. ...
(soc.culture.thai) - Not His Fault
... The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was ... George Bush did not cause the hurricane. ... God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city ...
(rec.music.gdead) - Bueller....Bueller...Bueller
... The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was an ... George Bush did not cause the hurricane. ... George Bush did not create them or unleash this one. ... That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle ...
(alt.vacation.las-vegas) - "Get Off His Back!"
... The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was ... George Bush did not cause the hurricane. ... God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city ...
(misc.transport.trucking) - Re: Fats Domino ok.. but going OT
... >>Is it just Florida is more prepared for stuff like this? ... Hurricanes hit us so much that we are definitely better ... > hit us last year (3 hit my city directly) were category 5's, ... > New Orleans has hardly any roads and no power. ...
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