In the Eye of a Hurricane

In the aftermath of one our nation's most devastating natural disasters, a political storm is already gathering strength and has the potential to be as far reaching culturally as Katrina was geographically and economically. President Bush acknowledged that the initial results of the relief effort were "not acceptable". Certainly there is legitimate room for criticism when looking at the response to this unprecedented destruction caused by the force of this hurricane. Considering the ninety-thousand square mile area of destruction, it is easy to see how any government, even ours, could initially be overwhelmed when confronted with the question of where to even begin. It is interesting to note that Louisiana is a state with a Democrat governor, and that New Orleans is a city whose population is overwhelmingly Democrat, with a Democrat mayor. Of course too, prior mandatory evacuation warnings should have been taken more seriously by everyone, but state and local officials bear the brunt of responsibility in terms of the state's preparation, or lack thereof, for such disasters as Katrina.

Anyone tuned into the news this past week witnessed the tens of thousands of people, enduring virtually unimaginable conditions patiently waiting for relief. That the overwhelming majority of these victims at the Superdome and Convention Center were black did not go unnoticed by the nation's elite, infamous and far left-leaning pack of African-American politicos and entertainers. Not able to see human suffering as human suffering, regardless of the color of skin, this race-baiting band of misfits parsed a deeply human tragedy into an issue of race warfare, thus doing an immense injustice to the enormity and extent of human misery. Eager as ever to stoke the flames of racial conflict and division, societal luminaries such as the increasingly irrelevant Al Sharpton, the South American dictator-embracing Jesse Jackson and last but not least, the churlish adolescent-trapped-in-a-man's-body rap star Kayne West joined in the chorus, whipping up Bush hate rhetoric. In a profoundly thoughtful statement on live television, West stated, "George Bush doesn't care about black people". Right...Bush doesn't care about black people. My great and everlasting consolation when faced with such shocking exhibitions of hollow minds is to remind myself that, every time such ludicrous comments are made, Bush becomes more popular in the eyes of the everyday American. Let West revel and self-destruct in his own irrelevance and narcissism. He will one day be forgotten, while Bush will be remembered in the volumes of American history for his sturdy, unwavering convictions and compassion.



Judging by the force of their raging tantrums, individuals such as West and Sharpton seemed far more eager to hurl countless invectives against President Bush than to investigate how they themselves might be able to assist the seemingly endless mass of distressed and displaced souls in New Orleans. Someone ought to whisper into the ears of these bombastic characters that the most constructive thing they could do is to shut their mouths, open their checkbooks, and contribute something other than their counterproductive, feckless hyperbole to the host of organizations that are actually doing something in the relief effort. Americans from coast to coast, whether black, white, Hispanic, or Asian see this misery and suffering on the faces of their fellow Americans in the South and will rally to their aid. This is not a black or white tragedy, it's a human and deeply American tragedy that will no doubt be overcome by the strength of the American spirit.

The Left's irrational and unparalleled hatred for President Bush has once again manifested itself in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Most Americans are utterly disgusted by such poisonous vitriol. Despite losing election after election, and with their grip on power slipping with every election cycle and new court appointment, the Left refuses to come to terms with its own detachment from the majority of Americans. Call it a form of denial or maybe they are delusional... whatever the case may be, their downward spiral into political irrelevance only comes as welcome news to conservatives and mainstream America.