Democrats should do more than gloat over the rumblings that made their way into executive action, as FEMA director Michael Brown's resume has been exposed as the kind of background you'd expect of an executive who could cluster-fuck relief efforts for the most devastating natural disaster in American history. Michael Brown returns to Washington to either A) hide under Bush's desk until his very own firestorm blows over (only to be rewarded at a later date), or B) sacrifice himself as the imposter who failed his President.
As Democrats rail against Brown and the President's incompetence will they also criticize their own, who also bear responsibility for their neglect of New Orleans' untouchables? There are four prominent Louisiana Democrats who should be held accountable for the pre and post-Katrina catastrophe: Governor Kathleen Blanco, Senator Mary Landrieu, Mayor Ray Nagin, and former Senator John Breaux.
Southern Democrats have won elections since the Civil Rights era in decreasing frequency. Southern Democratic politicians who do win elections are rarely more than heirs to a previous generation of segregationist Democrats who haven't yet switched parties. They're conservatives in the worst possible way. While they rely on every black vote they can get, they won't risk their political necks promoting African-American issues. They support every gun fetish imaginable. They court the insanely religious with every conceivable violation of the First Amendment's establishment clause. There is no war or military action they won't sign on to, regardless of rationale or dubiousness. And worst of all, they can be bought and used by any corporate or trade entity willing to belly up. All told, they are virtually indistinguishable from their Republican counterparts.
The extent of Governor Blanco's responsibility will be uncovered in time, but her initial reaction said much about her. None of it good.
Senator Mary Landrieu was quite capable of delivering pork projects to her state, why not proper levee construction? The hurricane winds and flooding waters will pale in comparison to the very unnatural wrath of creditors who will descend upon the destitute of Louisiana. What will their Senator say when they realize that she dismantled our bankruptcy laws, that they will have no protection from the greatest killer of all? Has the South abandoned all its lynching habits?
Former Senator John Breaux was Landrieu's role model. As a "moderate" Democrat he could ensure that "free trade" agreements would be passed without dissention. As Louisiana stagnated in poverty, John Breaux would vote regressive tax cuts to those who would shut down their factories for wages even cheaper than non-union Louisiana. Breaux did everything the Republican establishment could ever wish of him and precious little for his constituents.
And now to Mayor Ray Nagin. What exactly were his qualifications to be mayor? What were his qualifications to be a Democrat? Oh yeah, and where the fuck is he?
Before Democrats rush to defend this man, consider that he only joined the Democratic party when he ran for mayor. Since Republicans aren't electable in a very African-American city like New Orleans, this was not exactly a principled position. He was elected with the support of business interests and has worked tirelessly to protect them and only them. He has not done anything for the third of his city who live in poverty except to try to push them out. The Mayor presides over a rather cowardly police force, afraid of its own population. The Mayor and his staff have been primarily responsible for spreading the rumors of armed gangs and raping thugs; Such contempt for the poor is likely responsible for the deplorable Superdome and Convention Center quarantines: managing to both abandon and imprison the city's poorest residents in a central location.
There needs to be a blame game and there needs to be a severe reckoning. Hopefully Democrats can get their own house in order and remove these scumbag politicians before they do any more damage.
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