S U N D A Y , A U G U S T 1 5 , 2 0 0 4Hurricane A Blessing For Bush?by Michael in New York on 8/15/2004 03:44:00 PMThis is deeply cynical -- and I have many friends in Florida whoworried their homes might be destroyed -- but I can't help thinkingthe natural disaster Hurrican Charley is a blessing for Bush.</p><p> It comesright before the election and he gets to tour the state, hang with hisbrother Jeb and pour oodles of money into the state.</p><p> He's certain todo a better job than his dad, who famously dragged his feet ingetting support to Florida after the devastating Hurricane Andrew.</p><p> SoBush gets to hand out cash and look Presidential? That could be adeciding factor there.Note to Kerry: laud Bush for acting promptly and then damn him forbacktracking on his promises to New York -- New York has nevergotten the funds Bush promised and his national plan to defend thecountry has been turned into pork barrel, with states that face littleor no threat getting a LOT more money per capita than obvioustargets like New York and Los Angeles and DC that are stilldesperately underfunded, have virtually open ports, etc.Note to bloggers: I address one blogger's complaints at length in thecomments.</p><p> But let me restate the obvious: I'm noting anuncomfortable but real political fact, just like all the commentatorswho talk about the "bounce" Bush might get if there was an attack onAmerican soil before the election.</p><p> That isn't politicizing a terroristattack; that's discussing the political ramifications of a real orpotential tragedy.</p><p> If I had suggested Bush had engineered thehurricane to gain political points, that would be politicizing somethingbeyond his control. (We all know only Pat Robertson can control theweather.) Politically, all I did was say Kerry should continue to pointout the many times when Bush has not responded rapidly in a time ofnational tragedy.</p><p> Add New Comment Logged in as AnonymousUser Logout from DisqusLogged in asusing Facebook Connect (Logout)Type your comment here.</p><p> Daily KosGoons at Cincinnati "tea party" bullied, intimidatedmedia - WKRC-TV, the CBS affiliate in Cincinnati,reports that in March one of their reporters wasforced to leave a so-called "tea party" protest aftera small ...11 minutes agoThink ProgressSenate Should Ignore Nutty Glenn Beck ConspiracyTheories And Appoint Harold Koh - Our guestblogger is Henry Fernandez, a Senior Fellow at theCenter For American Progress Action Fund.</p><p> AsThinkProgress recently noted, a small number ofc...16 minutes agoHuffPost PoliticsZP Heller: Why Dr.</p><p> King Would Break the Silenceon Afghanistan - We must invest in our owneconomic recovery and in fixing Afghanistan'shumanitarian crisis.19 minutes agoFiredoglakeOperation Stonewall Stalls Johnsen and Koh -While we wait for the last ballot count in theFranken-Coleman contest, I thought I'd tie inOperation Stonewall to the Republicans' bizarreand seemingly ...21 minutes agoPaul KrugmanOne more time - Brad DeLong is, rightly, horrifiedat the great Ricardian equivalencemisunderstanding.</p><p> It's one thing to have anargument about whether consumers are perf...42 minutes agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S Do Emergency ManagementJoin The Weekend Master Course Of Threat and Response Management.GrahamSchool.UChicago.edu/mstrm www.TheGodMovie.comAds by Google AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Hurric...http://www.americablog.com/2004/08/hurricane-blessing-for-bu... 1 of 64/6/09 8:15 PM
