As Gustav, now a category 3 hurricane, bears down on the ill-conceived city of New Orleans, and will probably make landfall as a cat-4 on Monday, national politicians of both parties are jockeying for the best photo-op. Why?Clearly, Governor Bobby Jindal, Secretary Michael Chertoff, and even Mayor Ray Nagin seem to have the situation well in hand. Evacuations are going smoothly, the National Guard is present in large numbers to protect property from looting and enforce dusk-to-dawn curfews, and relief organizations are poised to leap into action the moment the danger has passed.
Given that, why does the Obamessiah and his faithful lapdog Joe Biden feel the need to be down there causing disruption? Why also do George Bush and Cheney feel the need to be down there causing further problems? That The One and Biden are going certainly explains why McCain will show up somewhere there are cameras but, what can they possibly think they are accomplishing other than posing with relief workers, National Guardsmen, or other VIP's for a photo-op to show America how concerned and personally involved they are.
National politicians don't need to be personally on site and involved with weather relief work. Things will go more smoothly if they stay out of the way and don't distract people from their tasks. Ever since Katrina I guess, no national politician will risk the political costs of not showing up to a natural disaster regardless of the uselessness of being there. Natural disasters happen. That doesn't mean the rest of the country should suspend life in solidarity with those affected. And it doesn't mean politicians should interrupt relief efforts to pose for campaign pictures.
6 comments:
I think this is terrible. I mean I don't blame McCain for going now that Obama is going, but I don't think that Obama should go at all. He clearly doesn't care about any of it. Look at what he did in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is going to boost his reputation. It is despicable.
Ed,
You nailed it: ill-conceived. All of it.
Capitalizing on tragedy should be a crime.
Kevin, politicians will always capitalize on tragedy for political gain. It's practically the American way.
Scalpers capitalize on tragedy by raising the prices of necessities as the demand goes up, and some conservatives would argue that they serve a valuable purpose. For instance, when Katrina hit, bottled water dealers increased their price and some were arrested for gouging. Plywood dealers get cited for price gouging every time there's a storm in their area. As do propane dealers, generator dealers, and hoteliers. Is this right, or does raising prices when demand rises, especially when there's tragedy, serve a purpose that benefits the greatest number of people? The answer isn't exactly intuitive and certainly the topic of hot debate but, there's an argument to be made in favor of price gouging.
Well capitalizing on something necessary isn't necessarily wrong. However, people like Alan Jackson who sing stupid songs about 9/11 and make millions doing it, all the while not donating to help people reshape their lives and such, they deserve to be in jail. People need food, shelter, gas, things like that. They don't need people to talk to or people to hear listen about the tragedy they already endured. They don't need to meet this year's presidential candidates, who are only there to get into the limelight and gain votes. It is criminal, because these types of people are gaining on other's emotions. It is wrong. Similar to trial lawyering.
"people to hear listen" should read "people to hear sing"
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