Fox News Channel came to Canada’s cable and DBS systems about a month ago (just in time for the hurricanes). Watching this channel has taught me more about the total brainwashing of a large portion of the US population than anything else I have seen.

My personal favorite is Bill O’Rielly (oh really?). The guy runs a show called “the no spin zone”, and his first topic every night is “talking points”. Now, I don’t know about you, but talking points usually are a partisan list of topics to be used when addressing the media to put the right message out there. That anyone can (with a straight face) accept “no spin” and “talking points” at the same time boggles my mind (where is that smilie?).

Middle of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA and Brown were having a nap, the President headed to California to get a guitar, and O’Reilly is on the air blaming the governor and the mayor of New Orleans for FEMA not showing up.

No spin, indeed.

FOXNC and it’s “presenters” for the most part pick a very conservative / republican line to almost any story that comes up, only being critical of of Bush or others around him as a last resort, when they see that they are alone on the “pro-bush all the time” stand. Then they will make very weak and sanitized “Bush didn’t do enough” statements, and try to find a scapegoat to explain it (see Brown).

Between the crew of FOXNC (many of whom also do ultra conservative syndicated radio shows) and people like Rush Limbaugh, it is surprising that most Americans can go to the bathroom without help. These guys pile the crap on so thick that it is beyond understanding… Limbaugh still blames Clinton weekly for the economic mess in America today. “Dittoheads”… a nice way of saying don’t think, just agree with me.

The massive divide between reality and what a large part of the radio, press, and TV medias are putting out there only helps to encourage this mentality, and teaches people to pat themselves on the back for a job well done even if the job wasn’t well done.

It has been a very sad last 10 years watching much of America slip into a self righteous abiss.

Alex

Okay, it’s the Friday as Rita is coming to the LA / Texas border. The Levees in New Orleans are leaking again, and the 9th ward and st bernard’s parish are getting flooded out again, and this before the main part of the storm hits town. This proves, conclusively, that Mayor Ray Nagin’s plan to put 180,000 people back in New Orleans was a little bit pre-mature.

Ray, here is a hint: Unless the levees are completely repaired and secure, you can’t put people back in harm’s way. You can’t even really let them start to rebuild or anything, because, well, you can’t keep anything they do secure.

I have a suggestion for you (and not a popular one, I am sorry).

Except for the areas of New Orleans that have stayed dry, you need to plow the rest of it down, and allow the water to come in full time into those areas. Remove the levees from that side, let it flood out, and just let the lake be bigger. Use the dirt that you dig up from those areas to raise the overall land level of other areas of the city that are marginal, and raise them up before you rebuild them. Basically save the french quarter, the business district, the port area, and so on. Give up on the rest, the costs for keeping it dry in the long term is not a very good business investment.

You will end up with a smaller city, but one that is much more secure and much more willing to work for the future. This will also renew your city, and hopefully bring new investment and new money to your city, which will help all the people who come to live there.

Good luck to everyone in the path of the storm. Stay dry!

Alex

Nice! bush accepts responsibility for the slow federal response. He doesn’t seem to be going all the way to say “the federal government should have taken charge regardless”, but it’s getting cl0ser.

It has been a good week for Bush-boy. Michael Brown ressigns from FEMA after being recalled like a lost little schoolboy. Dick Cheney finally decided to end his vacation and visited the disaster zone, using empty platitudes and vapid political comments to explain the situation in simple terms to the collected (and likely very bored) press. Then, on top of it, it turns out that Bush / Cheney cronies are getting all the cleanup contracts without bids. It truly has been an amazing week.

The funniest story of it all? When the levees broke, you would be surprised where POTUS was “working”. “Bush, in San Diego for celebrations of end of World War II, is photographed smiling and playing a guitar given to him by a popular singer. Cheney remains on vacation in Wyoming.” timeline here of the fuckups

Yes, Dubya, now is the time to accept responsibility. Now is the time to admit your failures, and admit your VERY poor judgement.

All of this has brought to my mind a very clear picture of GW Bush as a leader, and as a man. I don’t like what I see.

The inaction of the President, who now suddenly is the New Orleans frequent flier of the month, is stunning to see. The areas were declared federal disaster areas before the hurricane even hit, but still he stayed on vacation. The hurricane hit and just about wiped out biloxi and other coastal towns and cities, and still he stayed on vacation. The levees broke, New Orleans filled with water, and Bush went to pick up a guitar at a public event on the west coast.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Bush strummed while New Orleans flooded.

The length and frequency of vacation to Texas, and the seeming desire to stay in Texas no matter what happens in the rest of the world is sort of stunning. Normally we get a couple of weeks off a year from work. Bush has spent a ton of time in Texas on the ranch, with 11 long term visits in the past 6 years (the current vacation was more than a month). He is the “commander in absence”, the guy in your office who is never at his desk. He doesn’t work late, he doesn’t get to work early, he exercises during the day, and basically limits his work time dramatically. This is the POTUS you see on TV on the West Wing, handling things day and night. This is the “Bank Manager” president, 10am to 3PM Monday to Friday, with long vacations twice a year to keep things in balance.

Everyone knows now that the war in Iraq was a crock. The proof was made up wholesale, the “reason” for the attack has slipped, and the US has moved from thwarting terrorism to nation building. There were no weapons, and even Colin Powell is embarrassed for having given that horrible misleading speech to the UN and to the world.

Bush has been the president of deception, misrepresentation, and inaction. As a Canadian, I can tell you that I feel less secure today, knowing that our big neighbor to the south has painted a target on it’s head. Nuclear fallout goes a long way, and I am just in the right place to get some. I am not impressed.

*sigh*