Wow. Irvine, you actually ARE part of the "liberal media"? LOL.
Guys, I didn't know we had a journo here!
And this time, I think the gag order on showing body bags won't mean jack s**t. The main diff between this and the whole Iraqi fiasco that, unlike Iraq, we've SEEN the destruction and death in graphic detail on the nightly news. All people have to do is look at the statistics and fill in the mental images from the week of the storm. They're fixed in our minds forever. We have no graphic footage from Iraq, period, except from Micheal Moore. But the Right can't pin this one down on him. These are "uncontroversial" images...everyone showed them. Citizen Rupert actually had his hands bound for a glorious 6 days last week, the top was blown off the whole
Bush Lie Machine and we saw a WHOLE lot of things they'd never have allowed us to see. And no matter how successful they may be in putitng it back in place, ( at least on the surface,) the genie is out of the bottle now. Abu Gharib is one thing--the why and how can be squashed as it doesn't directly concern us, except in an intellectual way. Really. But this hurricane aftermath is going to affect us and is already affecting us in MULTIPLE way..economic, politcal, social, you name it. For example, I think that even if Bush's second Supreme Court judge to replace O' Conner is like Roberts , they'd be very reluctant to bring an affirmative action case up right now, because even if Bush wants it, he wants those black votes too for the Congressional elections, and giving his blessing to a conservative court possibly overturning key civil rights legislation would be politcal suicide for the Legislative branch.
REally, excpet for perhaps the Estate Tax, I think Bush's domestic agenda for the 2nd term is toast. Even if he wants to, he wants to protect the Congress from becoming Democrat, and his own Senators etc will be giving him messages not to promote this or that legislation. His own party will hold him back .
IN addition, while we've been focused on the hurricane, Iraq is coming aprt at the seasm. Just in the past 8 days, we've had the stampede on the bridge killing 1000 people, insurgents raiding the Interior Ministry Buiodijng and Queda coming "out of the closet" in Iraq and taking over a whole small town. The
group actually has a flag now, which it raised over the town. A year from now, even 6 months, people will turen their attention back to Iraq....if the place slides into Civil war.
I REALLY feel sorry for the troops now. Before, America was ignoring them and the war and not scrificing. Now, they must serve in TOTAL silence--the folksa thime are more heartsick over this. PLus, how many of them may have family here and want to come back and be with them? Not all can be transferred here. And how many will sign up for 2nd runs? How will this affect miltary recuitment in the South (from which most of the troops now currently come--ironically prob from some of tjhe same imporvershe dfamilies we're all talking albut?)
In a irnoc way, this storm might turn the public against the war like nothing les ehas. However, I'm not going to think any more on that. That's politics....I'll shut up. Eventually we can think on that..but not now. Bush will have to, though.
Irvine..did you see the story on Drudge about the "heartsick" poll on Katrina?