Obama's (Fill in the Blank)

When the conservative talking airheads or F-word news refers to something as being "Obama's (fill in the blank of major Bush fuckup here), those of us on the liberal side just tend to shake our head in bemusement. After all, just a few years ago, the same talking airheads were insisting that these things were NOT fuckups.

But what you have to remember is how THEY reported on those things as they happened.

For instance, take their referral to the Gulf Oil spill as "Obama's Katrina". Do they mean, as the majority of the media did at that time, that he was utterly abandoning the people who had been left dead or dying by this disaster, which was worsened by actions of his administration (diverting funds for levy repairs, etc.,). Or do they mean it as F-word news reported Katrina? A noble president doing his best in the fact of both a natural disaster and unfair attacks by the media?

I kind of think that it's not the second one.

So we have to assume the first. Is it "Obama's Katrina"? Well, let's look at the facts. I know that facts are to the far-right as sunlight is to vampires (possibly the most apt simile that I've ever made), but let's do it anyway.

Katrina was a natural disaster made worse by the warming of the waters in the Gulf of Mexico. It was during its transit across these waters that it increased from a category three to a category five. Easily linkable to the Bush administration's steadfast refusal to address global climate change. Katrina had massive loss of lives brought about by the breaching of the levies. As I stated earlier, the Bush administration diverted funds that were earmarked for levy repair. It took three days after the hurricane hit for National Guard troops to be dispatched to New Orleans. Bush seemed to take no interest in the idea that this city should be saved, or that future disasters of this magnitude could be averted if he just challenged the far right on a few issues.

The oil spill is a man-made disaster, exacerbated by nothing but human stupidity. For instance, I saw a BP exec being interviewed on TV the other day. He was asked why there was no contingency plan for something like this. His response? "It's never happened before." Right, stupid. That's why it's called a "contingency" plan. This oil rig was also owned and operated by a private corporation, BP. The far right doesn't want the government to interfere with private corporations, do they? Also, I can't help but wonder if this would have happened if we had the same regulations on big business in place that we had in 2000? Aside from the men killed in the explosion, I have no knowledge of any loss of life. The president hasn't dispatched the Guard, but there's really not a lot that they can do here. Volunteers and scientists are doing what they can and BP is doing what it HAS to.

So is this "Obama's Katrina"? Only in the sense that it's a disaster that effects the city of New Orleans. Aside from that, no.

So all I'm asking, brothers and sisters, is that when you hear this, you employ complex thinking beyond the black and white that the media presents.

One place that I DO agree with them, though. When they call Afghanistan "Obama's Iraq", I think that they hit the nail directly on the head. It's a military adventure with no set mission statement or path to victory that's going to drain our treasure, our lives and our ability to defend ourselves.

Peace.

Rev. Randal