OK, this is directed at the marketing geniuses at Coa-Cola who came up with the idea of updating "I'd LIke to Teach the World to Sing" as "I'd Like to Teach the World to Chill": Chill on this, motherf*ckers! For cryin' out loud... "I'd Like to Teach the World to Chill." Someone ought to teach the marketing department how to pull their heads out of their collective asses, that's what ought to be taught.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Friday, September 09, 2005
What was that about "government... for the people?"
From today's edition of "All Things Considered," here's a two-part chronology of how contingency plans were originally envisioned as Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast, followed by how those plans completely fell apart.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Après moi, le déluge
Or not, perhaps.
So, it's been ten days since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast and left devastation in her wake. The dumbfounding missteps at all governmental levels have been well documented. And yet, I can't help but feel that the Bush administration is operating with the mindset that everything that has transpired has done so in the only manner possible.
If given the chance to reconsider decisions, should such decisions have been decided in a different manner? Of course. Certainly, the New Orleans city government should have had made contingency plans to evacuate its citizens in advance of Katrina's landfall. And yes, the system of levees that was supposed to protect New Orleans from just such a disaster to which we've just borne witness should have received funding from the Federal government for structural improvements. Would these same decisions have resulted in different outcomes that could have prevented this tragedy? Could they have resulted in different outcomes? It saddens me when I come to the conclusion that the answer is: No. Certainly at the Federal level, I don't expect any outcome other than the one we've experienced.
Welcome to Bushworld, where, as Maureen Dowd describes it, "It's their reality. We just live and die in it." In this best of all possible worlds, President Bush plays Candide to Karl Rove's Pangloss. Everything that transpires does so because it was meant to be so and cannot possibly result in any other outcome than that which has transpired.
We are so screwed.
So, it's been ten days since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast and left devastation in her wake. The dumbfounding missteps at all governmental levels have been well documented. And yet, I can't help but feel that the Bush administration is operating with the mindset that everything that has transpired has done so in the only manner possible.
If given the chance to reconsider decisions, should such decisions have been decided in a different manner? Of course. Certainly, the New Orleans city government should have had made contingency plans to evacuate its citizens in advance of Katrina's landfall. And yes, the system of levees that was supposed to protect New Orleans from just such a disaster to which we've just borne witness should have received funding from the Federal government for structural improvements. Would these same decisions have resulted in different outcomes that could have prevented this tragedy? Could they have resulted in different outcomes? It saddens me when I come to the conclusion that the answer is: No. Certainly at the Federal level, I don't expect any outcome other than the one we've experienced.
Welcome to Bushworld, where, as Maureen Dowd describes it, "It's their reality. We just live and die in it." In this best of all possible worlds, President Bush plays Candide to Karl Rove's Pangloss. Everything that transpires does so because it was meant to be so and cannot possibly result in any other outcome than that which has transpired.
We are so screwed.
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