Sidney Blumenthal, a former assistant and senior advisor to President Clinton, speaks harshly in his criticism (originally written for Salon) of the Bush administration’s handling of disaster preparedness and relief in the southern US. Blumenthal’s timing and appropriateness may be out of line but his point is valid and well-documented.
[ Sidenote: Maybe Blumenthal was inspired by The Aristocrats — and Jeffery Ross discussing Gilbert Gottfried’s performance at the Hugh Hefner Roast, in particular. ]
Bush apologists point to Clinton as the trendsetter for the intelligence failures that contributed to 9/11, but Bush will have to shoulder the blame on this one. From cutting federal funds to SELA to pay for invading and siezing Iraq, despite a FEMA warning that this specific disaster was one of the three most likely natural disasters to occur, to rejecting an Army Corps of Engineers proposal to study saving New Orleans from flooding. This follows the Bush administration’s policies of ignoring Science and cutting taxes while increasing military spending and the payoff is a coastal region devestated more than it should have been and the (even greater) soaring price of gas.
It may be innapropriate to ask these questions now, but when does Bush get to answer them and address his responsiblities?
