Saturday, December 31, 2005

Looking Back in Anger The always-reliable Steve Gilliard has a great New Year's wrapup for you hardcore political types. While you're ringing in the New Year, don't let go of reality. This was a tough year politically and emotionally, both for the boob-in-chief and for the rest of us. Hundreds more soldiers have died or been permanently scarred in Iraq. The leak investigation and the wiretapping scandal have only shown us how craven our president can be and how little respect he has for the Constitution he swore to uphold and protect. Worst of all, we saw what happens when you fill a cabinet with toadies and bootlickers. Hurricane Katrina demolished an American city, leaving New Orleanians stranded in their homes, screaming to tv cameras on their rooftops for help. And FEMA left them there. If you need a reminder of how callously New Orleans was abandoned, read this gut-wrenching tale posted on DailyKos. (Warning: this is not an easy story to read.) I heard someone say recently that Katrina was like September 11th for black people. Except that when it all went down, Bush was noodling with a guitar instead of shouting into a bullhorn, and instead of having Giuliani standing with them, they had Brownie worrying about which tie to go with his suit. So many things are easy to forget in blizzards of confetti and geysers of champagne. Don't forget to celebrate, but while you're celebrating, don't forget what we all learned this year. 8:43:50 AM     Speak up!  []