You ever have one of those days where something just sets you off? Today’s one of those days.

My anti-blogger, responding to one of my many Katrina-related posts, had this to say:

Now that you’ve resolved whose to blame, I guess that’s that. No need for any investigations, as we’ve already made up our mind. Wait, we need a commission to grandstand.

Yeah, leaving 13,000 additional immobile people in New Orleans made things slightly worse, just a tad problematic. It makes sense to blame the President mostly for the rescue effort not going well, because at the end of the day, doesn’t the saying go, “A pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure.”

Indeed, under Presidnet Clinton cut FEMA funding for New Orlenas:

…and then proceeded to post the latest talking points designed to deflect, obfuscate, and deny Bush’s utter failure as a leader. Then, the part that really set me off:

The American people don’t blame the President, you do. Russ, be honest, if Hurricane Katrina hadn’t happened, you’d still be attacking the President. It’d just be a different topic.

Oh goodie! I was waiting for the first person to tell me this was Bill Clinton’s fault! Hooray! My powers of wingnut prediction are batting 1.000!

13,000 immobile people made things slightly worse. Yeah, it’s just a little bit of drowning. Oh well, as Mama Bush said, they were underprivileged anyway, so they’re much better off on a cot in the Astrodome.

Here’s a very simple question:

True or false: Staying on vacation for three days, playing guitar, playing golf, giving speeches on Medicare, sharing birthday cake photo-ops, buying thousand-dollar shoes, attending “Spamalot!” or a Padres game, or fly-fishing in Wyoming while New Orleans is being swept off the map is a fine example of steadfast, responsible, caring leadership.

Now, yes, every president from John F. Kennedy on should have done more to shore up the levees surrounding New Orleans. But as each administration passes by, not doing anything, the responsibility grows. Unless you want to jump in a time machine and have Bill Clinton fix the levees in the 90’s, then the problem is George W. Bush’s, period. I’m just flabbergasted by the party of “personal responsibilty” that seems so adverse to taking personal responsibility. Personal responsibility – ha! – that’s for the little people without the money and power to pin it on someone lower… ask Lynndie England.

And yes, perhaps state and local officials could have done more in advance, but the very reason we have federal emergency management agencies is because some disasters are too big for state and local government. But if state and local measures fail — whether they did all they could or not — we have a federal government with much greater resources and powers to ameliorate the damage. No one can deny that the federal government dropped the ball on this one; I even see Faux News commentators who agree with me. No one, that is, except the ever-loyal sycophants of Karl’s Kool-Aid Krew.

Would I be attacking Bush if not for Katrina? You’re damn right I would, because the man gives me so so SO much to attack! In five years, a surplus has turned to the biggest deficit ever. The World Trade center ceases to exist. Almost 2,000 American soldiers are dead and thousands of innocent Iraqis. Our standing in the world has plummeted from “loved” to “loathed” (Clinton still get standing-room-only crowds round the world). Our government has sanctioned torture. There is serious movement in teaching creationism in science classes, backed by a president who thinks it is legitimate science. Our president thinks “the jury is still out” on global warming (guess what causes killer hurricanes?) Gas prices have more than tripled since his first inauguration. This president of “limited government” and “states rights” was appointed by a Supreme Court overstepping state authority in Bush v. Gore and couldn’t wait to convene Congress to write and for him to cancel vacation and fly in to sign legislation to feed and water one Florida woman contravening state authority, but 10,000 hungry thirsty black folks had to wait three days. $8.8 BILLION just goes missing — MISSING! — *POOF!* — from the “adults” in charge of Iraq (the “accountability” administration some how can’t handle basic accounting). The press is censored from photographing soldiers’ caskets or New Orleans’ dead. The man is on vacation 20% of the time. The most pressing legislative issues are keeping homos in second-class status, turning grandma’s Social Security over to Wall Street, and making sure Paris Hilton doesn’t have to pay taxes. A CIA agent is outed, a president promises to fire anyone involved, and then renegs. People whose incompetance leads to the biggest intelligence failure in American history and the debacle of postwar Iraq are given medals. A national security advisor who failed to keep America secure in the face of “Bin Laden determined to attack inside the United States” is promoted. He can’t think of a single mistake he’s made. I could go on and on.

I don’t attack Bush because I hate Bush or Republicans. I attack Bush because I love America. This Constitutional Republic is being attacked from within by domestic enemies far more dangerous than al Qaeda could ever hope to be. As Olbermann said, “This is the administration that ran on the premise that the other guy couldn’t protect you from nuclear, chemical, or biological attack. They’ve just shown they can’t protect you from a biological hazard from standing water“

The fact that you and so many others are blind to this truly boggles the mind. Somehow, it’s all Clinton’s fault. Somehow, li’l George just ends up in these terrible messes that are in no way his responsibility, and we can’t go about “pointing fingers” or playing the “blame game” because we’ve got to keep doing the “hard work” of getting out of the terrible mess li’l George got us into. 9/11 happens and the only guy who loses his job because of it is Bill Maher. 10,000 black people chanting “help, help, help” on the TV as they cling to life in the shit, sniping, raping, and looting of the Superdome while li’l George yuks it up over birthday cake with McCain and somehow it’s everyone else’s fault but him and his Arabian Horse qualified FEMA director.

If George W. Bush sped through California on a meth binge in a white Ford Bronco loaded with the severed heads of sixteen girl scouts, waving a flaming torch in one hand and a bloody machete in the other as the live news helicopters filmed him burning down the Redwood forests and running over disabled Iraq war veterans in a Wal-Mart parking lot, you and probably at least 25% of the country would say the New York Times planted the meth, the girl scouts were terrorists, Northern California’s environment will be healthier now that all those big useless trees are gone, the war vets should’ve made better decisions not to recklessly wheel around in parking lots, and it’s all Bill Clinton’s fault because Clinton once owned a Ford Bronco. Besides, li’l George couldn’t have done all that — he’s a good Born-Again Christian!

I have truly had it up to here with about half the people in this country. Is this how Northerners felt about Southerners in the 1850’s? Have we been divided by this “uniter, not a divider” past the point of reconciliation?