Caution! Unrestrained Outburst Follows

First, the Katrina timeline from Daily Kos.

The absolutely maddening inefficiency of the federal government as demonstrated this past week is leaving me exhausted.  I cannot imagine how people in the affected areas must feel, having lost their homes, possibly some of their family members, their worldly possessions and their livelihoods, only to be told by Barbara Bush that they are now better off for having experienced the horror of Katrina and government neglect; after all, they were underprivileged before, but they’re now livin’ the life in Texas.  However, it is quite "scary" (Bab’s word, not mine) that the evacuees might want to move to Houston.  What does that mean, Mrs. Privileged Bitch?

I can’t keep silent any longer.  To say that this is not because of class or race, to say that the victims are at fault for having lived in such a vulnerable place, to fall back to the talking point that now is not the time to play the "blame game" (how many times did Scott McClellan say that phrase?), is to ignore that the government fucked up, and in a glaring manner.  Science and reason were ignored in favor of sending troops and money to a war fought on false pretenses; Dubya played a guitar before even flying over the Gulf coast; FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security were praised for their unorganized "efforts" which kept help away for days and caused more deaths.  Someone needs to take responsibility; the media cannot soften its tone; figurative heads should roll as New Orleans is literally drained and the muck reveals more terrible images.  The government turned its back on a section of the country that Dubya refers to as "this part of the world."  Newsflash, asshole: It’s not just a "part of the world," it’s part of the United States.  A country that in theory takes care of its own, but failed to do so when challenged by Mother Nature.  Type "this part of the world" into Google and recent headlines with the Shrub spouting off his party lines in regards to Katrina will appear.

Then again, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff thinks that Louisiana is a city.  What else but this idiocy can I expect from these wankers?

As I ran today, I listened to the Squirrel Nut Zippers’ "Hell" and couldn’t help thinking of Bush and Company when I got to these lyrics:

In the afterlife,
You could be headed for the serious strife
Now you make the scene all day
But tomorrow there’ll be hell to pay

Taking into account that an afterlife might not even exist, someone should have hell to pay now.  I hope to God that accountability comes into play, and I hope to God that future historians look at this time in the nation’s history as one of the most deceitful and shameful ever.  I hope to God that the course of this history is nearly run.  The fact that people continued to die and Bush didn’t seem to care (I think, in this case, Kanye West is right) has to be acknowledged, and our self-appointed savior (yes, I’m being highly sarcastic) has to answer for it.  For a party that seems to value life so highly, many Americans have died under the "President’s" tenure, and needlessly, it seems.  And now, like Iraq, the government wants to limit photos of the dead.  As hard as they are to see, cover ups are not needed now, especially not when any investigation done by the executive branch will be biased and full of falsehoods.  With respect to the tragedy and to the dead, journalists should show the dire consequences of the government’s tortoise-like response.

Part of what prompts this outburst is not only due to what I read and see, but what I’ve experienced on a daily basis.  My work has asked us to donate money, but refuses to answer my question as to whether the company will match our contributions; a friend ignored my claim that science was brushed aside and cited the fact that "they chose to build below sea level" (grrr, blame the victim mentality pisses me off so much, especially hearing it from an intelligent friend); someone close to me refuses to recognize the inability of New Orleans’ poor to secure a way out of the city before Katrina struck.  It’s all been so infuriating, the blind eyes and manipulation and repetition of Republican talking points.  I am fed up by all of this crap.  Why can’t people see that people were and are hurting due to the massive mismanagement of the crisis by this administration?  Why do people continue to excuse Bush, who talks about sitting on Trent Lott’s new porch once the senator from Louisiana rebuilds?

I hate them all.  I truly loathe them with all of my soul.  Fuck them all and I hope they go to hell.