George W. Bush to the Rescue

Bush intended to punish and to discipline the poor of New Orleans—who had in his eyes refused to evacuate the city-- by withholding assistance. He did, apparently, intend to assist at some point, with a combination of aid and repression, but only when the populace had “learned its lesson.” This, my friends is a policy which Bush has adopted from the Testament of Cardinal Richelieu, Prime Minister to Louis XIII.

The President was forced by public opinion to yield but now the risk is that the temporary shelters arranged by the Administration will become the Poor Houses of the 21st century. The uninsured, homeless evacuees will be left destitute, unless they “vote with their feet” and migrate to communities which will have them.

As expressed by the 41st Dowager, Barbara Bush, the sea of indigent Louisianians, abandoned to the Astrodomes and conference centers of Texas and Utah, are fortunate to have become the wards of the affluent, who, through the Grace of God, used their abundance to rescue them and who now provide for their survival.

A friend of mine remarked that the only difference between a Republican and a Democrat is that the Republican aims to enslave us and the Democrat means to indenture us. Both have forgotten the belief, born with the Enlightenment, that all men are created equal. Embedded in this notion is the idea that helping the poor is a national responsibility. I would even go so far as to say that a state which has a social safety net is one in which democracy has been perfected.