Posted on 09/08/2005 2:47:16 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Hurricane Katrina has left the Gulf coast devastated. Thousands are feared dead, homes are destroyed and lawlessness has gripped New Orleans. The tragic situation on the Gulf Coast, however, cannot be blamed on nature alone. The dominant political ideology in this country has exacerbated the problem.
This ideology is not racism, hate or greed. I am talking about good old Ronald Reagan conservatism. This ideology has permeated our country far too long, and as we now see has weakened our national cohesion and our ability to meet the needs of all Americans.
Conservative ideology promotes disregarding and alienating the poor and disadvantaged. Republicans use every opportunity they can to demonize minorities and those in poverty. They have effectively silenced the poor by consistently supporting laws that hinder their voting rights. The fact that officials reacted so slowly to a disaster that is affecting mostly poor black people is a byproduct of this same ideology. In this country, conservative leadership promotes a culture of individualism so extreme that it reaches the point of state-sanctioned selfishness. Many conservatives have no sense of community or responsibility for the less fortunate. Republicans are more likely to condemn victims of extreme poverty rather than sympathize with them. Under such leadership, this country has abandoned the most vulnerable members of society. Why should we expect them to efficiently handle a natural disaster that victimizes the same people?
More importantly, their lack of concern for the poor is what created this mess in the first place. Many of those who remained in New Orleans do not own cars and have no access to public transportation. Maybe if the people in New Orleans were not dirt poor they would have the means to be able to heed the warnings and evacuate the city. The right wing of this country has aggravated the effects of poverty by continually nibbling away at the safety net that aids the poor, while doing nothing about the lowest inflation-adjusted minimum wage in nearly fifty years.
The most crippling consequence of this conservative ideology is the way our resources are used. Conservatives support spending money to "liberate" foreign countries, rather than ensuring the safety and security of American citizens. Our involvement in Iraq has stretched us thin in terms of resources and funds. An editorial that appeared in The New York Times estimated that 30 percent of our National Guard and 50 percent of its resources are preoccupied in Iraq. I always believed that the National Guard should guard the nation, not secure a foreign country. Furthermore, the funds that are being spent in Iraq could have been used to ensure the safety of New Orleans. Last year, the Army Corp of Engineers requested millions to fix the levees and secure the city, but they were denied. The administration and the Congress chose not to make the security of New Orleans a priority.
Aside from the war, other conservative priorities have enhanced this problem. The conservative goal of giving more power to the states put control in the hands of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. The top priority of this incompetent woman is making sure officers "shoot to kill" when they face looters who are in desperate need of food, clothing and supplies. The fact is conservatives have decided to give billions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthy, rather than making sure our states can handle emergencies. Conservatives are more concerned with capital formation and economic efficiency than they are with ensuring that every citizen is taken care of.
While the American people are so obsessed with values, conservative policies are beginning to damage the security of our nation. Conservatives cannot say a word about the federal government's inability to handle this problem. When you support a party that advocates a weak federal government and allocates money to those who need it the least, you can point the finger at only one person - yourself.
Lost me on this one ... you don't know any conservatives. Bye.
"They have effectively silenced the poor by consistently supporting laws that hinder their voting rights."
Really? Like what? Saying that all people should have ID? Don't the poor need it to get free cheese?
"The right wing of this country has aggravated the effects of poverty by continually nibbling away at the safety net that aids the poor, while doing nothing about the lowest inflation-adjusted minimum wage in nearly fifty years."
And that gets these people out of the city in what way? Where was the public transportation the leftists are always touting?
"The administration and the Congress chose not to make the security of New Orleans a priority."
Neither, apparently, did the state of Louisiana or the city of New Orleans.
"Conservatives are more concerned with capital formation and economic efficiency than they are with ensuring that every citizen is taken care of."
That's right! Then every citizen can take care of himself, as he should.
The author is a dingbat, completely ignoring that the mayor and the governor are "compassionate and caring" dumblecrats who acted like most of them do: they bumbled, stumbled and mumbled their way into a tragedy then screamed that it wasn't their fault.
They are jerks and clowns who abandoned their constituency.
And idiots like this writer try to blame a philosophy that praises self motivation and self reliance.
Nauseating.
Matt, there's a net missing it's flufferby.
When did it become governments responsibility to take care of the needs of all Americans?
No,but your close.Probably by someone who will teach or has taught at a high school level
Doogle
Parents mourn children killed during protests***The unique pain that comes from losing a child is still fresh on the faces of Cindy and Craig Corrie.
And although it's been five years since environmental activist David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain was killed, his mother, Cindy Allsbrooks, still lives daily with her pain.
She lost her son, and the Corries lost their daughter, in separate incidents of what is called confrontational, nonviolent activism -- placing oneself in harm's way in fervent defense of a cause.
That level of commitment led to the death of Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist killed in March after she stood in front of an Israeli army bulldozer in an effort to protect a Palestinian home.
And it spurred Chain, a 24-year-old Pasadena resident, to confront loggers in California, where he was crushed by a tree felled by a logger working for a Maxxam Corp. subsidiary.
The Corries are in Houston for a series of events that local activists are holding to honor their daughter, who was a member of a nonviolent, pro-Palestinian peace group called the International Solidarity Movement. ...*** [go to thread to see a photo of the "non-violent" Rachel]
***....For these self-appointed social redeemers, the goal-"social justice"-is not about rectifying particular injustices, which would be practical and modest, and therefore conservative. Their crusade is about rectifying injustice in the very order of things. "Social Justice" for them is about a world reborn, a world in which prejudice and violence are absent, in which everyone is equal and equally advantaged and without fundamentally conflicting desires. It is a world that could only come into being through a re-structuring of human nature and of society itself.
Even though they are too prudent and self-protective to name this future anymore, the post-Communist left still passionately believes it possible. But it is a world that has never existed and never will. Moreover, as the gulags and graveyards of the last century attest, to attempt the impossible is to invite the catastrophic in the world we know.
But the fall of Communism taught the progressives who were its supporters very little. Above all, it failed to teach them the connection between their utopian ideals and the destructive consequences that flowed from them. The fall of Communism has had a cautionary impact only on the overt agendas of the political left. The arrogance that drives them has hardly diminished. The left is like a millenarian sect that erroneously predicted the end of the world, and now must regroup to revitalize its faith. ...*** Source
How to Explain Conservatism to Your Squishy Liberal Friends: Individualism 'R' Us
-Eric
simply remove the center word in the title and you have the hidden meaning. blame thought.
Red States who focus on individual responsibility or Blue State who demand Govt assume responsibility to take care of the individual?
YES, New Orleans did prove the complete bankruptcy of one modern political philosophy. Unfortunately for this ignorant twit, it is not Big Govt Statism but not Conservatism that failed.
I bet if a survey was done, you would see the majority of the nawlins residents in the superdome did not want to leave, because checks were coming the first of the month.Whenever the msm reporters were interviewing them they would state "how am I gonna get my check in here". They all assumed that this storm would blow over.
I bet if a survey was done, you would see the majority of the nawlins residents in the superdome did not want to leave, because checks were coming the first of the month.Whenever the msm reporters were interviewing them they would state "how am I gonna get my check in here". They all assumed that this storm would blow over.
This article is so breathtakingly stupid..
It must be so ridiculously frustrating for sensible dems to see their party cater to the moronic idiots that have essentially come along and destroyed the party.
In our local paper in the editorial section there are still complete moonbat maniacs who think 911 was a Bush conspiracy...
It's mindboggling.
Kind of makes you want a face to face with Matt, to see if he's as stupid in person as he is on paper. With such sound logic used in his emotional ramblings, it would be an interesting experience to see how he manages with something more than the paper being used as his medium to provide a second opinion.
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