No Direction Home

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Wed, 14 Sep 2005 16:22:24 -0700 (PDT)

No Direction Home

 

 

 

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/09/120.html

 

Global Eye

 

No Direction Home

 

By Chris Floyd

Published: September 9, 2005

 

Let's be clear about one thing. Nothing that happened last week -- the

mass destruction in the Mississippi Delta, the obliteration of the

city of New Orleans, the murderous abandonment of thousands of people

to death, chaos and disease -- will change the Bush Administration or

American politics at all. Not one whit. President George W. Bush will

not reverse his brutal policies; his Congressional rubber-stamps will

not revolt against the White House; the Democrats will not suddenly

grow a spine. There will be no real change, and the bitter corrosion

of injustice, indifference and inhumanity that is consuming American

society will go on as before.

 

One indication of this can be found in the first polls coming out

after the disaster, which show that some 45 percent of the American

people approve of Bush's handling of the relief effort. It seems

inconceivable that any sentient being could witness the agonizing

results of the Bush team's dithering, dilatory response -- an agony

played out in the full glare of non-stop media coverage -- and not

come away with a sense of towering anger at this criminal

incompetence. But it's obvious that nearly half the American people

have now left the " reality-based community " altogether; they see only

what they want to see, a world bathed in the hazy, golden nimbus of

the Leader. The fact -- the undeniable truth -- that behind this

carefully-concocted mirage lies nothing more than a steaming pile of

rancid, rotting offal means nothing to these true believers. The Lie

is better, the Lie is more comforting, the Lie lets them keep feeding

on the suffering of others without guilt or shame.

 

 

This painful split between obvious reality and popular perception is

nothing new, of course. Today we look at old footage of Adolf Hitler

and wonder how on earth such a pathetic and ludicrous creature could

ever have commanded the adoration and obedience of tens of millions of

people. Yet he did. As T.S. Eliot once wrote, " Human kind cannot bear

very much reality. "

 

The fact that a few conservative commentators and politicians are

making mild criticisms of Bush means nothing. Their " attacks " amount

to no more than this: Gosh, old George really dropped the ball on this

one. He'd better turn the PR thing around, or he might lose some of

the " political capital " he needs to " advance his second-term agenda. "

That's it. That's as far as it goes.

 

After all, they fully support the " agenda " -- more war, more tax cuts

for the rich, more impunity for corporations, more welfare for the

energy barons, more coddling of elite investors, more state power for

Christian extremists, more media consolidation, more kickbacks, more

easy money for greasy palms. And now that Karl Rove has finally

figured out his response -- employing brazen lies to smear state and

local officials -- you will very quickly see the conservative critics

fall into lockstep with the porcine counselor's program. By the time

Congress holds hearings into the disaster, they'll be singing love

songs to the Leader.

 

The hearings themselves will doubtless turn into a pageant of heroic

tableaux -- glittering stories of the federal effort to rescue the

perishing, all of it driven by the steady hand of the Commander in

chief. Oh, there might be a scapegoat or two for the Congressmen to

pummel with puff-cheeked righteous rage for the cameras. But anyone

hoping for a fearless, presidency-shaking probe will be disappointed.

 

Just as the media have always overhyped Bush's popularity, they are

now overhyping the " political crisis " he is supposedly facing. There

is no political crisis whatsoever, if by that phrase you mean

something that will cause Bush to alter his policies. The war in Iraq

will go on. The war against the poor will go on. The slow destruction

of middle-class security and stability will go on. The long and

ferocious right-wing campaign against the very idea of a " common good "

will go on, unabated -- perhaps even strengthened -- as it faces a

backlash from the half of the American public that does accept the

reality of what they saw in New Orleans and all along the Gulf Coast.

 

This is what you must understand: Bush and his faction do not care if

they have " the consent of the governed " or not. They are not

interested in governing at all, in responding to the needs and desires

and will of the people. They are only interested in ruling, in using

the power of the state to force their radical agenda of elitist

aggrandizement and ideological crankery on the nation, and on the world.

 

They have a large, hard core of true believers who will countenance --

even applaud -- any crime, any corruption, any incompetence of the

Leader and his minions. With this base, and with all three branches of

government in their hands, the Faction need only procure the support

of a small percentage of the rest of the population -- through

fearmongering, through smears and lies, and, as we saw in 2000 and

2004, through the manipulation of election results via politically

connected voting-machine corporations and politically partisan

election officials.

 

None of this will change because of what happened in New Orleans. If

the Bush Factionists could be touched by suffering and injustice, by

death and destruction, by corruption and incompetence, then they would

not be where they are today. If there was a viable opposition in the

American Establishment to Bush's policies, it would have stood up long

ago. Like the people left behind in New Orleans, we're all on our own

-- " with no direction home. "

 

Annotations

 

 

The Perfect Storm

Empire Burlesque, Sept. 1, 2005

 

Bush and Katrina: So Many Outrages, So Little Time

Bob Harris.com, Sept. 8, 2005

 

Big Oil's Bigtime Looting

Boston Globe, Sept. 2, 2005

 

The Corpse on Union Street

New York Times, Sept. 8, 2005

 

Bush Team Tries to Pin Blame on Local Officials

Guardian, Sept. 5, 2005

 

What Didn't Go Right?

Salon.com, Sept. 8, 2005

 

Would-Be Rescuers Cool Their Heels While FEMA Delays

Dallas Morning News, Sept. 5, 2005

 

Haunted by Hesitation

New York Times, Sept. 7, 2005

 

World Gone Wrong

Empire Burlesque, Sept. 2, 2005

 

Food Drop Photo-Op: Aid Removed After Bush Press Appearance

War and Piece, Sept. 3, 2005

 

Halliburton Tapped for Hurricane Repairs

Washington Post, Sept. 5, 2004

 

Bush Associates to Profit From Hurricane Rebuild

Talking Points Memo, Sept. 4, 2005

 

Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' For Poor Evacuees

Editor & Publisher, Sept. 5, 2005

 

Navy Ship Nearby Underused

Chicago Tribune, Sept. 4, 2005

 

One of the Worst Abandonments of Americans on American Soil Ever

Think Progress, Sept. 4, 2005

 

'My Pet Goat' -- The Sequel

Editor & Publisher, Sept. 3, 2005

 

Murder and Rape v Fact or Fiction?

The Guardian, Sept. 6, 2005