Belief Is Not Proof

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As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I am having trouble settling into a routine here in Topeka that allows me to write my nightly blog.

I had thought I would work my usual 10-hour day, then stay on an hour or so to answer my e-mails and write my blog. Unfortunately, this week I have been working 11- and 12-hour days with little or no chance to write at the end of them.

So I’m going to start a new schedule and try to write my blog during the half hour that I am in the office before the Senator. It didn’t really work this morning, because I was late getting in after over-sleeping from being here ‘til 8:30 last night, but we’ll see.

There has been so much political news this week that I almost don’t know where to start.

I guess the main thing is the President. These “Legacy Project” appearance have, in my humble opinion, done more to hurt his legacy than help it. Because he has made claims that are 90% off from the truth, we are all being reminded of everything he did wrong.

Does he really think the government’s response to Katrina can be judged only by the swiftness with which the Coast Guard and other first responders got people off their roofs? Can he really have forgotten the mess at the Superdome, where people were told each day that busses were coming to rescue them, so they’d better stick around in order not to miss their ride? Can he really have forgotten that no effort was made to get the elderly, infirm, and just plain poor people out of the 9th Ward before the storm? Can he have forgotten the trucks full of ice that were shunted off to other cities to wait to be told where the ice should be delivered? And finally, can he really justify the fact that Mississippi, which had far less devastation, received the lion’s share of what little help the federal government did supply?

Can he have forgotten all that?

Does he really think that he has promoted democracy in the world by devastating two countries and installing “democratic” governments that are nearly as violent and just as corrupt as the ones they replaced? Can he really ignore the fact that the Taliban are once again a force to be reckoned with in Afghanistan? Can he really ignore the cash – cold, hard cash strapped into bundles on pallets – that has gone missing in Iraq? Can he really ignore the utter failure of the reconstruction effort, which has only returned Iraq to what it was before the American bombing in some places, has provided substandard construction and infrastructure repair in other places, and is totally lacking in too many places?

Can he really ignore all that?

Does he really think that America is safer now than it was before 9/11? Can he really believe that our ports are safer or would have been safer if he had had his way and turned the security measures over to that company from Dubai? Can he really believe that the Traffic Security Administration minions are doing a good job of examining our luggage (and our persons) at airports? Can he really believe that the completely open borders between us and Mexico and Canada aren't open invitations to terrorists with a dirty nuclear bomb?

Can he really believe all that?

Of course, he can. He views the world through a prism of partisanship that highlights only the good parts of his record and blocks the bad parts. He thinks that history will vindicate him, that he will be seen as another Harry Truman.

Well, Mr. President, Harry Truman had a famous plaque on his desk: “The buck stops here.”
You, sir, have not and do not live by that code. You blame everyone and everything but yourself. You promised us that you would surround yourself with experts who would guide your policies, but you refused to heed the warnings of people who knew better.

The bitter comeback to this situation is “Live with it!” Unfortunately, it is we, the American people, whose spirit you invoke every time you speak, who will have to live with it. And I don’t think we’re going to be giving you the benefit of any doubt while we do.

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Have a nice weekend, everyone! I will be journeying into the wilds of Missouri to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday tomorrow, and there will be no more blogs until I return.
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