September 26, 2005, The people under the umbrella
Two groups of people, both of whom expected (or probably didn't actually expect, but had a right to expect, legal, moral or otherwise...) the help of the United States government, and won't get it: (1) Gulf area residents who, thanks to Republican largesse, will find it difficult to impossible to take advantage of bankruptcy protections..., and (2) Iraqis, in general of course, Shiites specifically, of late, five schoolteachers rounded up and murdered, execution style, in their school, along with the usual day's atrocities, bringing American soldiers killed in the Iraq adventure ever closer to the 2000 mark, a grim death toll on its way to passing the War of 1812's 2,280 dead (though a much smaller number were wounded in the earlier war), and into 9th place all time (behind the Civil War, WWII, WWI, Vietnam, Korea, the Revolutionary War, the Spanish American War and the Mexican War) in casualties, moving well into its third year in length.
And there you have it. Prosperity with a purpose. The purpose, it would seem, would be to provide fewer and fewer assurances of security, financial or personal, or any, frankly, to a greater and greater number of people, be they here, or in our foreign protectorates.
In some sense, this is simply the way of the universe: security really is an illusion anyway. Of course, let us all remember that our current government secured its reelection in large part with the help of "security moms", or, in shorthand, people who knew that a party that they disagreed with as far its crass fiscal irresponsibility, environmental irresponsibility, regressive social policies, and dismal economic prospects as compared to those available from the more egalitarian "other party" would, nonetheless, somehow make them more secure from the (virtually nonexistent, of course) risk of (swarthy) foreigners committing further acts of terrorism here.
Reality has a funny way of asserting itself. Simple, plain old foul weather, of the kind we get in some variety every single year in this country, intervened, and revealed just how empty the promises of competent handling of "our security" were. And suddenly, millions of Americans woke up.
Of course, there is a core group that, no matter what, needs to believe... they seem to morph the former actor who turned into a creditable politician into the current actor who cannot morph into a creditable politician... nonetheless, the President must be competent: we voted for him, so therefore, it would be a reflection on our own incompetence if we admitted his imperfections (just as it would be if he himself ever did). One is reminded of the Monty Python routine where an apartment building stands solely on the faith of the residents; any wavering, and the building begins to collapse...
And there we are. Eastern mysticism takes its place, ladies and gentlemen. Prosperity with a purpose. The purpose of this government, it would seem, would be to remind everyone not to get too attached to anything...
Comments
The "right to expect help from the United States Government". Hmmm. . . from which article of the Constitution does that particular right derive? Apparently, if my house is destoryed one night by 100+ mph winds one night, and the government hasn't replaced it by the crack of dawn, that is proof positive that the heartless Bush administration doesn't give a damn about my security.
I know you hate to hear this, but it will take time to rebuild after the devastateion brought on by successive hurricanes. And as hard as this is to believe, the hurricanes were not brought about by a phone call from Carl Rove.
Congress has already voted to spend several billion dollars for recovery. Unfortunately, it will take longer than one news cycle to rebuild. And as far as the "right to security" goes, remember, if you choose to build your house below sea level in a city that is surrounded on three sides by water, you might want to invest in a little rubber boat, some batteries for your flashlight, and a couple of days worth of food. Or. . . trust the government to protect you from foul weather.
Posted by RockRib at September 27, 2005 1:34 AM
Well, I said "legal, moral or otherwise". And, in this case, you hit the ball to the forehand side. The people of Iraq have a LEGAL RIGHT to security from us, as the occupying power (and as long as we have 150,000 troops or so in their country, we remain the occupying power; indeed, Britain has proposed disbanding the Basra police without even ASKING the local authorities to do so... sovereignty schmovereignty...)
As to the other group I identified, Katrina victims likely to file BANKRUPTCY, the Constitution has a most explicit BANKRUPTCY CLAUSE.
The police "power" comes with the police "responsibility". Does anyone expect perfection? Certainly not. We do, however, expect that when we ring up the police department, fire department, or Federal Emergency Management Agency, that SOMEONE will be on the other end of the phone... and I DO think we have a right to expect THAT.
Posted by the talking dog at September 28, 2005 9:53 AM