[Former Bush speechriter Michael Gerson] recounts meetings in which Cheney's office tried to kill proposals to increase... aid for Hurricane Katrina victims.
"The storm had also revealed a political and moral chasm in the Republican Party," he writes. "The president and I saw Katrina as an opportunity to open a debate on race and poverty. Anti-government Republicans saw Katrina as an opportunity to cut off medicine to old people. It confirmed the worst image of Republicans as the party of shriveled hearts."
In his famous Jackson Square speech, Bush told the nation that we had a "duty to confront" poverty (rooted in racial discrimination) with "bold action". That plainly didn't happen. No national debate on race or poverty ever occurred after Katrina. I guess the "anti-government Republicans" won the day. After the largest disaster in U.S. history, right wing bloggers suddenly mobilized to fight... "pork".
Bush's famous speech in Jackson square concluded with the following paragraphs, which I believe were penned by Michael Gerson:
These trials have also reminded us that we are often stronger than we know – with the help of grace and one another. They remind us of a hope beyond all pain and death – a God who welcomes the lost to a house not made with hands. And they remind us that we are tied together in this life, in this nation – and that the despair of any touches us all.
...
In this place, there is a custom for the funerals of jazz musicians. The funeral procession parades slowly through the streets, followed by a band playing a mournful dirge as it moves to the cemetery. Once the casket has been laid in place, the band breaks into a joyful “second line” – symbolizing the triumph of the spirit over death. Tonight the Gulf Coast is still coming through the dirge – yet we will live to see the second line.
As I said at the time
First, and foremost, the text of Bush's speech should not be filed away. It is a grand, soaring text with promises of enormous scope; Louisianans should remind the country about Bush's words at every opportunity.
And this is from a speech at a church on Sept 16, 2005:
Through prayer we look for ways to understand the arbitrary harm left by this storm, and the mystery of undeserved suffering. And in our search we're reminded that God's purposes are sometimes impossible to know here on Earth. Yet even as we're humbled by forces we cannot explain, we take comfort in the knowledge that no one is ever stranded beyond God's care. The Creator of wind and water is also the source of even a greater power -- a love that can redeem the worst tragedy, a love that is stronger than death.
...
In this hour of suffering, our nation is also mindful of the work ahead. Through this tragedy great duties have come to our nation. The destruction of this hurricane was beyond any human power to control, but the restoration of broken communities and disrupted lives now rests in our hands. And we accept this responsibility not as a burden or a chore, but as an opportunity to serve our fellow Americans, as they would do for us.
This task will measure our unity as a people. Americans of every race and religion were touched by this storm; yet some of the greatest hardship fell upon citizens already facing lives of struggle -- the elderly, the vulnerable, and the poor. And this poverty has roots in generations of segregation and discrimination that closed many doors of opportunity. As we clear away the debris of a hurricane, let us also clear away the legacy of inequality. Let us deliver new hope to communities that were suffering before the storm. As we rebuild homes and businesses, we will renew our promise as a land of equality and decency. And one day, Americans will look back at the response to Hurricane Katrina and say that our country grew not only in prosperity, but in character and justice.
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Some edits have been made to this post for clarity.
Labels: Big Time, Bush, Federal Flood, YRHT
