I’m Weary.
I began to write something that I thought might be moderately interesting and/or amusing. However, in short order, I realized that my heart was not in it.
I must confess that, for quite some time, I have been unsettled by the seething, rabid hatred of the President – a loathing so deep that, in my view, it strips otherwise reasonable people of their good sense and their ability to view him as “Our President.†There are not many people who disliked and disapproved of President Clinton more than I did, but, for better or worse, when he was in office, he was “My President,†and when it came to matters that affected all of us all as Americans, I was on his side.
That’s why the current clamor to blame the President, or to otherwise cast aspersions on his administration in the face of a catastrophe that is common to all of us as Americans saddens me so. Of course, this kind of criticism only begets an angry responses from the other side (in the interest of full-disclosure, my side), which leads us all into name calling, when our time could be much better spent dealing with the issue at hand, which was placed on our doorstep in the form of Hurricane Katrina.
Can’t we all just agree that, at least for now, as Americans, we have an immense problem on our hands, and that, as Americans, we should join our hands and hearts so that we can collectively get about making things right for other Americans?
You have, I suspect, hit on something so simply profound that it will never occur to most people… Politics plays a bit too large a part for many…
Comment by Tim — September 1, 2005 @ 10:31 pm
What He Said…
Yep……
Trackback by Backstage — September 1, 2005 @ 10:32 pm
Yep, blame is the name of the game now. It doesn’t matter if it were possible to unite and try to make things right anymore… it’s much better to make the “others” look bad.
Freakin’ sad.
Comment by That 1 Guy — September 1, 2005 @ 10:42 pm
I understand that it is human to want to know WHY things happen, to fully grasp them, to fully understand.
But blaming a man for a natural disaster? THAT is obscure and totally out of line. Especially when that man is OUR President. A man who is leading a war…a man who is fighting for freedom. As if he hasn’t had enough to deal with in the last several years.
It is very unfortunate that blame has to be placed at all. As for OUR President, I am grateful we have a compassionate, God-fearing man who will do just as he did during 9/11 – He’ll come down to “our level” and meet us, face-to-face to extend his love and wishes.
He doesn’t deserve the rap he is getting. Just like none of those people in the gulf deserved the wrath of Katrina. Sometimes, things happen…and sometimes, there is no one to blame.
Comment by Dana — September 1, 2005 @ 11:44 pm
Jim at Parkway Rest Stop is…
Weary and frankly so am I…
Trackback by New Jersey Weblogs — September 1, 2005 @ 11:44 pm
To be honest, I’m at odds with much that President Bush has done, but for some reason that really does escape me, the rabid left has really become pathologically fixated on denigrating him not only as an elected official, but as a person. Correction, it’s not only the rabid left, but now it’s also otherwise sensible people who derive some form of twisted satisfaction from insulting him at every turn. It’s “fashionable” to attack him.
I guess it has a lot to do with the left’s inability to accept the existence of any viewpoint other than their own. I’m sure you’ve seen the Sorry Everybody website and others of that ilk. How is something like this helping the country? How is it even helping democrats? Over the years my views have been drifting further and further from the conservative side, but it’s gotten so that I can’t stomach the left. Do they realize how many potential ‘converts’ they’re driving away with their childish attitudes and insults?
Cheers,
Ed T.
Comment by Ed T. — September 2, 2005 @ 1:29 am
Oh how I hate CNN, let me count the ways…
Unfortunately, this is the only farookin news channel I get here. It seems most of their reporters only have one question for the survivors or the even the volunteers assisting there: Do you think that FEMA is doing enough to assist in this crisis? Evertime I hear this I question I would like to ask them if “they” have stopped abusing the little kids next door!
I don’t know what is going on in New Orleans. I do know that I’m surprised (and disappointed)at what appears to be a general apathy in that city toward helping each other out. I hope it’s just CNN’s crappy reporting. I do know that just like 9/11 or any other major even, it takes time to assess the real damage and then mobilize the appropriate resources needed. We’ve never had a city that size flood before. These situations don’t make or break us, they prove who we are. We’ll do fine.
P.S. “you know who” (I can’t mention her name for fear that you will beat me unconscious when you see me next) has remained conspicuously silent. When she’s President, I expect the “Our President” notion to return rather rapidly.
Comment by Dan — September 2, 2005 @ 1:59 am
It does not matter what the man does or does not do, they can always find SOMETHING to foam at the mouth about specially if they ignore their own past actions.
Bobby Kennedy Jr wrote a little tome on Huffington all but blaming Bush for global warming and Katrina
as did some German Environmental Minsister.
Course neither of them had a word to say about the Vote in the US Sentate before Al Gore went to Tokyo.
Nothing about the fact that the Clinton Administrarion never bothered to send the Treaty to the Seante for ratification because they had ALREADY voted 95 to 0 NOT to.
Some familiar names voted to reject that Treaty.
Names like
Kennedy, Kerry, Durbin, Boxer. Carol Mosley=Brown. Daschle. YOU get the picture.
Wonder if Bobby Boy had a talk with his Uncle Teddy after he wrote that article?
http://www.angelfire.com/ky/kentuckydan/CommitteesofCorrespondence/index.blog?entry_id=1076365
Comment by Dan Kauffman — September 2, 2005 @ 7:09 am
I feel similar frustration, but there is no substitution for clarity regardless of what others say. Please see my post on http://www.njweblogs.com it was focused on energy, but it could have been on any number of highly charged topics.
Tom
Comment by Tom — September 2, 2005 @ 11:21 pm
It doesn’t matter who YOUR president is. All that matters is that he isn’t OUR president, the president of the correct, intelligent people who should be making the decisions in our country’s best interest. We know who we are. Nothing else is of any concern, if you see the picture properly. You are clearly an idiot. That much is obvious because you support Bush. You are a sychophant, a war-monger, a heartless capitalist, a liar, and a traitor. These flaws are undermining your judgement – assuming you ever had any to begin with. Because of this, your rights are forfeit and your “values” meaningless. Therefore, it is well within our rights (indeed it is our Duty) to do whatever is necessary to undermine any undertaking of this nation’s elected leaders. Frankly, they were not really ‘elected’ anyway, as they were not the choice of the proper, enlightened people, and it grates on us to be obliged to apologize to the enlightened rest of the world for your benighted decisions. We are patriots for wanting to destroy an evil leader, and it is only because of your wretched narrow-mindedness that you cannot accept this. Frankly, the country would be better off without you, because you cannot fathom that any attack, any course of action to reverse an unfair election and destroy clearly evil men is proper, just and patriotic. ‘Support’ is for losers and wimps. You probably molest children.
Any counter-argument you make is only to take us off-point. We will not listen. We are on to your tactics, and will not be put off our mission.
Agree with this or be properly branded as the ignorant, useless right-wing warmongering scumbag you are. We are saving you in spite of your own ignorance. Thank us. Swear allegiance to the New McCarthyism and let the enlightened elite do your thinking for you (since you have failed so miserably at it). It’s for your own good.
Comment by Mr. Snitch! — September 3, 2005 @ 12:07 pm
Mr. Snitch, you have encapsulated the liberal POV so much better than I could ever have hoped to. You need to put this on your own blog so that I can link to it.
Cheers,
Ed T.
Comment by Ed T. — September 8, 2005 @ 9:59 pm