In case you were wondering whether Irene sparked any discussions of climate change, here’s a moment from the panel discussion on ABC‘s This Week (8/30/11):
RON BROWNSTEIN (National Journal): Do we want to get into a global warming and a hurricanes discussion?
DONNA BRAZILE (Democratic Strategist): No.
BROWNSTEIN: I mean, I don’t know if we want to open that door.
Let that serve as a reminder to read Neil deMause’s piece from the last issue of Extra!
This was a laugh line, so I guess take it for what it’s worth. On the other hand, Cokie Roberts seemed to be serious when she said this about George W. Bush’s handling of Hurricane Katrina:
It was surprising to me, his reaction, because his father’s example with Hurricane Andrew had been such that you would think that he would, you know, understand that he needed to get out front on Katrina. But in his case, a huge part of his appeal post September 11th, was that he was keeping the country safe. And suddenly, people didn’t feel safe. They weren’t safe. They were in a very dangerous situation.
Back in reality, Bush’s job approval rating was hovering around 50 percent for about 18 months prior to Katrina–which would suggest quite a number of people weren’t sure about Bush’s “appeal” before that storm hit. More jarring, though, is to hear someone say that people liked Bush after the 9/11 attacks because “he was keeping the country safe.” Really?
I think if you substitute “propaganda” for “appeal” in Roberts’ remark, you move a goodly number of parsecs closer to reality.
But that’s why they pay her, and her Beltway buds, the big bucks, innit?
bush kept the country safe by climbing up a pile of rubble and talking thru a bullhorn….how quickly we forget….
here’s some thoughts on how the media pushed the “bush is keeping us safe” meme from edward wasserman of the miami herald
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This past decade, which is about to be commemorated exhaustively, has been bookended by the two most egregious instances of media failure in the half-century since Vietnam. Both have had historic consequence. The first, soon after the Twin Towers fell, was the media’s enlistment into the Bush administration campaign for public support for its invasion and occupation of Iraq and, more broadly, into its War on Terror.
The media’s complicity in that post-9/11 panic had many elements. Their endorsement â┚¬” with some notable exceptions â┚¬” of the administration’s lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was only the most flagrantly destructive.
More toxic, in the long run, was the continuing and largely unquestioning acceptance of a number of dubious and transformative propositions: That the country needs a permanent global network of forward bases and a colossal domestic apparatus devoted to protection of the â┚¬Ã…“homelandâ┚¬Ã‚ (itself a gauzy, post-9/11 linguistic innovation); that it can and should subject ordinary citizens to routine searches and surveillance, may imprison without arraignment and hold without trial, can torture with impunity and, in short, must behave as if it is on a perpetual war footing and, day in and day out, is fighting for survival.
That these propositions still seem even arguable â┚¬” in spite of evidence that the real threat this country, the world’s mightiest, actually faced was a small network of resourceful and murderous fanatics â┚¬” testifies to the lasting influence of media that, by and large, told us what they were told to say.
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/01/122395/commentary-media-independence.html#ixzz1WiVfmlk1
Has Cokie Roberts ever had an original thought? I’ve heard her blather on for minutes at a time and afterwards asked myself, “What did she really say?” Could never answer that question.
As the farmer would say…Sometimes it rains.Sometimes it don’t.It was that way long before The great money maker hoax that is global warming came along.
Katrina taught us a few things.The wetlands project(green) that kept the levies from being rebuilt decades after the money was appropriated were a huge cause of the magnitude of the disaster.Second….. it is unwise to trust an area that has been taught to rely on government assistance to react well in a disaster without that assistance.In hindsight and monday morning quarterbacking….Bush should of ran rough shod over that states rights ,and that governors rights to care for the people.In doing so he deserves the egg in his face.
Reply to Michael E.
The farmer’s maxim worked when the Earth’s climate was relatively stable – in fact that is why agriculture has been such a success. We no longer live in a ‘stable climate world’. Please read Bill McKibben’s book – Eaarth, Making a life on a tough new planet. And climate chaos (global warming) is not a money maker – just look at the insurance company statistics!
Everybody know global warming is a hoax because fat Al Gore bought a house by the ocean, it snowed last winter, it’s nice out today and Lord Mockery is smarter than all the libs in the world combined!!!!
Murray
Recently(relatively speaking)we have gone through a stable climate period.Unusual in the history of the world by the way.Although we are now experiencing a warm summer (after a very cold winter) we are I believe going to be moving into a general cooling period that some believe will harken the next ice age.Wether the concept of man made global warming (if it exists at all )can stove that off ,or act as an equalizer- is very debatable.Climate chaos is press induced .In a world of instant news one can get the feeling of being inundated with bad weather round the clock.in reality In one week I lived through an earthquake and a hurricane.One rattled my china .The other gave me a little dampness on my rug.Oh my.Heard about both of them as if the world were ending .For a week on the front end of one,and a week on the back end of the other.
Global warming WAS heading toward being a money maker.For people like Gore who played it into the hundreds of millions by investing in Green companies.For Dems who thought they could use it for carbon taxes and the eventual theft of one sixth of our economy.Green jobs?Have you seen last weeks stats?The promised holy land was a complete lie.The word as preached by the left was shot full of holes .Praise be we have differing opinions.It has opened a lot of folks eyes.
Michael A Hole
It is funny that Gore bought a 9 million dollar home in a place he stated would be underwater in 12 years.Or that George Bushes house quietly received the highest green rating while Gores received an F.or the size of Gores carbon footprint was like Bigfoot on steroids.Ah the hypocrisy of it all.
Actually…. YOU ALL!
Yes indeed, he kept it safe – safe for Big Oil and Big Coal and other Big polluters.