Atrios as posted an editorial piece which mirrors a lot of my frustrations with the response to Katrina. Someting Atrios mentioned stuck with me; the commonly held feeling that even if we didn't vote for the President he's still our President. I know I spend a lot of time here ripping on Bush, but I want to be clear that I don't want him to screw up, particularly on something as important as the response to a major hurricane. Like him or not Bush is the head of the government and as such holds the reigns for some really important decisions like this. The buck is supposed to stop with him. I don't hate Bush, and I don't hate Republicans, not really. I want government to act like I think it should, doesn't everybody? It just so happens that I disagree with Republicans more than I agree with them on what should be done, and it just so happens that this particular administration keeps making move after move that, to my mind is the wrong move, but which seems to flaunt their complete disconnection from what has happened to people.
The word "opportunistic" gets thrown around a lot when people start discussing things like this, but I think it's important to draw a distinction. People using the existence of looting as support for racist ideology is opportunistic. I know that the mayor of New Orleans probably made mistakes and I know that the governor of Louisiana probably made mistakes, but they're not *my* government, they're the government of their respective areas. The government of the United States is *my* government, and I'm just frustrated that my government isn't better than it apparently is.
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I just want to add that I'm far more belligerent than MosBen. I don't know exactly how he identifies himself these days, but I've openly been a radical leftist since I was about 14. The exact form of this has changed from time to time, but the basic ideas are all still in place. I swear, I get pissed off, and I try not to shy away from justice just because your feelings might get hurt. It's what you think that I'm interested in hearing, and however excited I get, I'll always be engaging your ideas.
Do I hate Republicans, or conservative Christians, or Bush, or Catholics or northeastern Hoosiers? Please. Not qua Republicans, conservative Christians, Bush, Catholics, or northeastern Hoosiers. I hate racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti-intellectualism, and I think people who espouse those ideas are either deeply misguided, morally depraved, or both. Many members of the former groups seem to be inclined towards those ideas I can't stand, so I'm liable to get pissed off at them, but anyone who thinks I'm unable to be good friends with religious or conservative people has no idea what they're talking about.
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