“George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
This was the statement made by Kayne West (whoever the hell that is)– in the manner of a schoolboy stiffly reciting his lines in a play– that has everybody talking. For the record I want to say that I don’t believe that. Sure it may seem that way on the surface especially in the black community. Heck, I’ve even said it a time or two myself. But there are a lot of poor whites suffering in Louisiana right now too.
So maybe it’s the poor he doesn’t care about. But you know I don’t think that’s it either. A large percentage of the poor are fighting his groovy little war for him so he’s got to care... at least a little. I was thinking about it a lot as I watched CNN this weekend. Then it finally crystallized for me… George doesn’t care about people who are not useful to him.
It has nothing directly to do with the color of their skin or their income level. It has to do with their usefulness to him. It’s a matter of profitability. We’re always hearing about low voter turn out among the poor so you know his party can’t rely on their votes. And even though there was slightly better turn out from the poor in the last presidential election it still wasn’t that high. Maybe it was because so many of them were turned away at the polls. But you know all that’s just anecdotal, right? Yeah sure it is. What do you expect? They all had the same names as criminals.
Also if you are below the poverty level you don’t pay taxes. If you are getting any kind of government aid you are just draining the system. If you were an employee in a company it’d be like you were getting a paycheck while … I dunno… blogging all day. You have to contribute to the bottom line. If not, you’re fired!
I think that’s why he didn’t crack the whip over FEMA’s head within the first 24 hours of Katrina. The value of the people the affected and of New Orleans in particular had not yet been established. But he underestimated the love of this country for New Orleans. Hell, the world loves New Orleans. His flyby on Monday was an insult to every human being who has ever donned Mardi Gras beads. He just figured, “well that’s what I got FEMA for, so I don’t have to deal with this mess.”
And in a way he’d be right. FEMA should have responded faster. At least that’s what it looks like right now. We’ll know more as more is revealed. But HE IS the President. He HAS to get his hands dirty no matter what FEMA is doing. And if they are moving too slowly, then he ought to step in and kick some ass.
But the people in Katrina’s wake didn’t manifest their value until he began to get criticism for his neglect of them. Then suddenly he knew exactly what their value was. They’ve got P.R. value – BIG TIME! This kind of thing can derail a legacy. Heck, it could derail a political party. And George knows what side his bread is buttered on. If wants to keep whatever retirement plan his oil buddies have set up for him, then he’d better leave a strong Republican Party behind in 2008.
So my response to Kayne is: You’re wrong, brother. It’s not that our President doesn’t ‘care about black people.’ It’s that he doesn’t care about anyone who’s not useful to him. Black, white, brown, rich, poor, middle class; if you’re not useful, you have no meaning to him. Now isn’t it comforting to know he’s not a bigot? Sure makes me feel all warm inside.
When we were kids we used to dismiss someone we didn’t care about with the words, “Forget You!”
Don’t support his war – “Forget You!”
Don’t support his agenda – “Forget You!”
Don’t believe in his version of Christianity – “Forget You!”
Think he lied about WMDs - “Forget You!”
Think he’s raping the environment for oil – “Forget You!”
Think he’s ignoring global warming to our peril – “Forget You!”
You don’t vote Republican – “Forget You!”
Think he’s botched the handling of this disaster - “Forget You!”
Hate his Social Insecurity proposals – “Forget You!”
Rich Democrat who wants him out of office – “Forget You!”
Poor Republican who wants him out of office – “Forget You!”
Grieving mother who wants answers on why he lied about Iraq.– “Forget You!”
Dying hurricane victim whose been waiting for rescue for a week on a rooftop. “Forget You!” … oh wait, is that a CNN camera beaming your desperate visage into the homes of people across the globe?…the response to this crisis is “Unacceptable!”
4 comments:
Hey Jacob- Thanks for that link. Great posts! And Ubermilf & I must be on the same wavelength today. Of couse she is a very smart lady and so am I... you know what they say about great minds. ;)
Maybe it's because it's TRUE.
Let me run upstairs to get the newspaper...
Okay, Barbara Bush, after touring the Astrodome and meeting hurricane evacuees: "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them."
Allow that to soak in for a moment.
That's funny Uber, I was just preparing another rant on that very subject.
I'm kind pissed at people on all sides. People with no compassion and people who apologize for bad behavior. I guess I'm reacting a bit out of pain seeing so many people suffer day after day.
I think something key to remember is that George doesn't think, he does what he's told. Usually badly. It's not that they aren't of use to George, it's that they aren't of immediate use to Karl Rove or Dick Cheney.
I'd almost think this could be a stain on the Neo-Con's image... except that the George's base has faith, which rules out reality having an impact.
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