Assigning Honest Responsibility for Tragedy

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Many others besides yourself see all the complex principles involved in a massive and gigantic disaster such as Katrina.

I never blamed the pres for the hurrican. Not once. I never blamed him for all poverty. I never blamed him for the greedy, selfish people who did the looting. There are, in fact, an entire spectrum of evils in the world for which he is not responsible. He is a bad man; he is not "satan"!

His responsibility was to respond to genuine human need in a timely fashion, with the great power of the whole United States! I pointed out his sole responsibility: He scattered and wasted the material abundance of the U.S. in killing over one hundred thousand people in a campaign which he called "shock and awe." Iraqis love their children too. They are not to be dismissed as "foreigners," less than we; they are people like ourselves, and deserve the full spectrum of human rights. They
deserve life, and happiness.

By definition, it is impossible to "disagree" with something that was not said. Of course, you are free to set up a statement, and then, disagree with that, but that is not at all the same. This is what, in professional debating, is called "setting up a straw man."

You are, of course, free to believe anything that you wish. I am not here to control, or even to influence, your decisions. But I must, and can, also demand the freedom to express my own opinions. My opinion seems, in this case, to be supported by an entire galaxy of facts. But no claim to infallibility is made, implicit or explicit.

My opinion rests upon the rock-solid fact that the pres gathered and spent over two hundred thousand million dollars to murder people half a world away, in Iraq. This left the economy of the U.S., or at least, its emergency-funds, dry as a bone. Let's be even more specific: The man cut the funds actually requested by the Army Corps of Engineers to repair and strengthen the levies. This was nearly equivalent to attacking those poor, vulnerable people.

I accuse the administration of a lack of compassion and an absence of sincerity. Unless he is in a "photo op," the pres does not really seem to care for the average person. By all appearances, he truly cares for nly the rich and the powerful, walking the direct opposite of Jesus. Had the ones threatened been his rich pals, supplies would have been forthcoming immediately, within hours. This irresponsible president allowed American citizens to die the most horrible and excruciating, slow deaths-- from disease, starvation, and thirst-- that is, from neglect. His utter selfcenteredness, on vacation, cost innocent people, and perhaps thousands, their lives.

For this, the man is fully responsible. He is fully responsible for the deaths of 112,000 mostly innocent women and children in Iraq. He is responsible for the deaths of nearly two thousand girls and boys in uniform. And now, add to that bloody and dark sum the thousands of human beings and other creatures who needlessly suffered and perished in the floods of highly toxic water.

No, the "poor" are not all sweet, kind, good, innocent people. I know of no thinking person who is so naive and ignorant to suggest that they are. And all rich persons are not "evil." But wake up and smell the coffee! This fascist ruler has so much blood on his hands. And general agreement is beginning to be more consensual that he is incompetent, inept, and inexperienced. It is fairly obvious, to anyone with a particle of a brain or heart, that he has very little heart. He knows much about dollars, which always grab and dominate his attention. But when it comes to people-- especially those who are useless to his ever-increasing power and fortune-- he has a rock-hard spot in his heart.
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