I’d like to respond to the letter by Don Gilligan of Rossmoyne, “Hurricane Survivors Show the Worst Side of America” (issue of Sept. 21-27), in which he condemned the looters in New Orleans and at the same time praised those who have offered assistance and prayers to the city and its victims. Initially, his observations appear to be something that we can all agree with. However, Gilligan just couldn’t help letting his conservative politics out of the bag. Like a number of others from both the right and the left, he shamelessly exploited the tragedy for political advantage.
Gilligan’s version of the tragic events in New Orleans constitutes a carefully structured paean to conservatism and a vicious, ignorant generalization of those who support liberal values. He attempts to make the claim that there are two Americas. One is represented by looters, rapists and murderers who failed to prepare for the hurricane and now rely on the federal government to bail them out. The other America is represented by good-hearted, benevolent, praying individuals who have checking accounts and charitably share their hard-earned income with the needy and dispossessed.
Of course, it’s not too difficult to decipher what he means with this ludicrous polarization. Particularly when he absconds President Bush and the feds for their bungling and ineptitude.
And when, like a slick politician running for office, he asks us, “Which America do you want to be a part of?”
First off, Gilligan’s looters, rapists and murderers are a fraction of those who were victimized by Hurricane Katrina. Many of the others were relocated to Houston, where the president’s mother observed that they are all happy to be there and “they were all underprivileged anyway.” Those of us with fat checking accounts certainly would agree.
Many of the victims are scared, hungry, now-homeless children, for whom the First Lady feels the biggest priority is not food, clothing or shelter but a return to school. Of course, those of us opposed to “federal funds” for the hungry and homeless would agree, and Gilligan evidently feels this assistance would be “squandered” anyway. Sorry kids, you’re on your own.
All of the victims of the hurricane are more than a little disturbed that the president himself took so long before visiting the disaster area. But we can’t blame him, can we? Poor President Bush, with his Republican Congress, conservative Supreme Court and private news network on FOX, well, he’s just a target of “useless investigations” and “professional complainers” and New Orleans citizens should have prepared for the disaster.
I don’t recall hearing “capitolism (sic), the tax cuts, global warming, SUVs, Christianity” being blamed by the hurricane victims, as Gilligan attests. But since those victims are part of the other America, they must have made this claim somewhere.
The same old tune: Angelicize your team, and demonize the opposition. I’m tempted to suggest that Gilligan find a spot as propaganda minister for one of the city’s conservative groups, but after thinking it over, he probably pulled his ideas from Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly.
— Pete Kurtz, Maineville
Republicans Broke Their Contract with America
In the wake of the disastrous effects of Katrina and Rita, Americans have a clearer understanding of the Republican agenda that systemically benefits the privileged at the expense of the people. Even in the wake of these disastrous storms — where thousands of our fellow citizens were left behind — Republicans continue to push an agenda that doles out billions in handouts to companies like Halliburton and Bechtel.
But the Republicans’ misplaced priorities did not begin or end with the Bush administration or these disasters. Eleven years ago, Congressional Republicans signed the so-called “Contract with America,” pledging to “restore accountability to Congress” and “to end its cycle of scandal and disgrace.” Instead of reforming government, however, these so-called Republican “revolutionaries” created a racket — a lobbyist feeding frenzy that’s showered billions on corporations and left the American people behind.
More than 100 Republicans who signed the Contract still serve today and are nothing more than accomplices to the scandals and misguided priorities of people like Majority Leader Tom DeLay. They’ve crafted law after law — from the pharmaceutical companies’ prescription drug bill to the creditors’ bankruptcy bill to the big oil energy bill — designed to benefit the bottom lines of their big campaign contributors.
As we’ve all watched the destruction and suffering along the Gulf Coast — the under-funded levee system, the utter lack of disaster preparedness, the crushing poverty and now reconstruction efforts that strip wage protections for reconstruction workers and provide no-bid contracts to Halliburton — we’ve seen the real face of the Republican revolution. It’s not pretty, and it’s not what most people want our great country to look like.
While the so-called “Republican revolution” might have been a success for elite corporate interests, it has been a failure for the American people.
— Rod Heilman, Clifton
This article appears in Oct 12-18, 2005.