Mountain of Judgment

Mike Reagan is just another right-wing bottom-feeder hatchet-man--using his father's name to pass along the vilest, stupidest version of White House spin. He's best ignored. Today, however, he can't be avoided. His column "Who Will Say "Thank You?"" is devoted to the proposition that "liberal scoundrels" are too cowardly to give Bush (and the first responders he hides behind in photo ops) effusive praise for his wonderful response to Hurricane Katrina. As far it goes, it's just typical demented Bushism. But in an aside, Reagan reveals just how fundamentally unserious he, his movement and his president are about the most serious issue facing the country. Here's how that section appeared in my morning paper (as well as a number of Web sites for conservatives with rabies, like Free Republic and NewsMax):

When my wife asks me to vacuum the house, I inevitably miss a spot. She doesn't jump all over me because I messed up, but, understanding what klutzes husbands are when it comes to domestic chores, she simply thanks me.

Just think about the 45 old people found dead in their hospital beds yesterday as you consider that as an analogy for Katrina. Now compare the above to how the same article appears at the radical conservative FrontPage.com:

When my wife asks me to vacuum the house, I inevitably miss a spot. She doesn’t jump all over me because I messed up; she simply thanks me.

Notice anything? Looks like somebody at FrontPage stopped opening coconuts with his forehead long enough to realize that explicitly comparing Bush to a "klutzy husband" when it comes to domestic responsibilities might not be the best argument. But of course the Bush right doesn't have any good arguments about Katrina. Reagan is caught in a position where he has to glorify his infallible leader, yet trivialize the scale of the disaster. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the destruction is self-evident, and the implications of the federal government's failure to adequately address it--for future natural disasters or terrorist attacks--are obvious, damning, and quite frankly terrifying. This administration's central selling point has been its commitment to securing the nation, and in its first real test, with ample warning, it was caught with its pants around its ankles. FEMA, the most critical agency for saving American lives in the event of a calamity, has been loaded with inept political appointees. Bush refuses to hear bad news. Budget cuts and tax cuts trump funding for security, always. The Administration's official answer, when asked if we're prepared for a terrorist attack, is to say "that's why we're fighting in the Middle East". In other words, "no."

Bush partisans are losing the battle for public opinion badly. Thank you, Michael Reagan, for showing us exactly why.