A few years ago after George W. Bush took office I received a check in the mail for about $250 as a part of a tax rebate program - most Americans did. Multiply $250 by a 100 million citizen and you see how much money was refunded. Our government was apparently fully prepared for any threats to security … or any natural disaster.
In 2001, just months after I received my rebate check came September 11. I guess we were fully prepared for that, right? At the time, officials said the 9/11 scenario was unthinkable and had never even been considered. However, it had been - but nothing had been done about it. Now, 4 years later Hurricane Katrina hit’s the U.S. Gulf Coast and officials say that this scenario was unthinkable and had never even been considered. Luckily, like in the 9/11 hearings, the world has found out the truth.
Imagine if instead of refunding billions of dollars or spending additional billions on things like invading sovereign nations - we actually prepared for disasters that happen in our own country. Thousands will die in New Orleans, not because of Hurricane Katrina, but because of poor planning.
I’d like to thank our current Congress and Presidential Administration for making the United States a better place to live. Not since the Civil War have so many non-military Americans died than during George Bush’s watch. Perhaps Bush will consider awarding the Gulf Coast cleanup contract to Halliburton.
This was the first real test the Department of Homeland Security has been put to since it’s inception. It failed. The military had to be called in today to actually begin the job that never even began. Anyone calling for a re-org? Add me to the list. Not only should Michael Brown go, but Chertoff should be closely behind.
Since our government is too busy right now handing out corporate welfare, please consider helping out at the Red Cross.
September 3rd, 2005 at 10:09 am
thank you Matthew forthank you Matthew for speaking so plainly about the plain truth of the Bush agenda.
Unfortunately thousands will die in this GULF crisis because OIL in Iraq was more important than human life. But now if Americans do not see through the W spin to the blatent agenda of his empire to:
1-Reward the rich
2-Ignore the poor
3-Prefer platitudes to science
Then we americans have sown our fate to an oily machine of greed and tyranny.
September 4th, 2005 at 11:48 am
Vacation is Over… an openVacation is Over… an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush
September 11th, 2005 at 9:53 pm
Bravo. Fortunately theBravo. Fortunately the world knows what happened on 911 but americans don’t. Luckily unlike the 911 commission which was merely appointed, limited and undermined by theprez, this time he promises to do it (wherein the truth is obfuscated and fabricated) personally.
Technically because troops are there, halliburton is already there.
Of course your “tax rebate” is miniscule in comparison to the rebates received by the top ten percent of the nation that happens to own 80 percent of the wealth.
September 12th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
I was kidding. However, itI was kidding. However, it seems that the joke is serious, here.
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:14 am
Matt,
I disagree with thisMatt,
I disagree with this post.
You may disagree with the administration, but you should not disregard the facts supporting the invasion of Iraq. Please go to the United Nations website to research the UN Resolutions passed by the Security Council and supported by an international body through the United Nations.
Post 9/11, the administration had to act in the best interest of The People of the United States. If George W. Bush had done nothing, the same folks who do not support the war against terrorism, in any country, would be chanting that W was not doing enough. Also, The People, at the time of the invasion,
I believe that we could have taken a diplomatic course with Iraq provided 9/11 did not occur. Does it really matter? Saddam never observed the original UN Resolution he agreed with and signed ending the first Gulf War. All subsequent UN Resolutions were ignored too.
As far as the tax refund goes, who cares. Did you or others who feel the same way donate the refund check or pay extra taxes to offset the refund? Once again, evidence is there that indicates that the majority of all taxes are paid by a minority of workers.
Hurricane Katrina is a tragedy, but what about the local and state government? When is the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana going to take responsibility for there failures? New Orleans has an evacuation plan, but was not observed or followed by the state or local government.
Fingers can be pointed, but we are past that. It is time to stay positive and help those in need, now! I have donated just like many others to help those in need.
Brown took the fall because the press focused their efforts on discrediting the administration instead of the state and local authorities. Coincidentally, the authorities in question happen to be democrats.
September 24th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
Just for the simple factJust for the simple fact that you mentioned 9/11 twice in your reply discredits you. Starting to sound a little like the adminstration. Thank you come again! hehe…
September 24th, 2005 at 4:38 pm
If I had lived 40 years agoIf I had lived 40 years ago during the beginning of Vietnam, I would have opposed that war, as well. At the time there was enormous popular support to go into Vietnam. Now, almost 30 years after the end of that war, you’d be hard pressed to find a single person that thought Vietnam was a war we needed to fight. It certainly wasn’t worth a single death - Vietnamese or American.
The American people have been sold a brand and they are loyal to it - just as loyal as they are to any of their favorite corporate brands. It’s a tragedy that smart people are being lulled into compliance via simple, unambiguous lies and being sold patriotism in the form of absolutes. Critical thinking requires understanding the issues and reading history.
Most Americans believe they are informed by watching nothing other than the evening news. When was the last time you cracked a book on American foreign policy or on the history of the Middle East? How about reviewed the text of some of the bills flying through congress? Think critically and don’t just accept what you see on television. Sound bites and emotional rhetoric do not offer knowledge.
30 years from now you’ll be hard pressed to find a single person that thinks Iraq was a war worth fighting. Unfortunately, the dead will remain silent.
February 27th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
I agree with you Matt. I am not well read or well informed. I’d like to think I posses insight to know that I am right. The truth is I don’t. I have relied on my wits and own personal convictions. If I had a brain and read a book I’d be dangerous. What would one more dangerous person be in this world?