My LTTE in response to David Brooks' column

[ljm2002]

David Brooks wrote a column in today's NYT entitled "The Best-Laid Plan: Too Bad It Flopped". Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/opinion/11brooks.html

He outlines the planning for the disaster, and states that the planning and the actual response were wildly different. He closes with this statement: "...liberals who think this disaster is going to set off a progressive revival need to explain how a comprehensive governmental failure is going to restore America's faith in big government."

Here is my LTTE in response to his column:

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David Brooks' opinion piece begins by acknowledging that this disaster was foreseen and that the much-maligned "bureaucrats" had accurately outlined the potential disaster, and laid out a comprehensive response plan that, had it been followed, would have made a huge difference in the suffering and loss of life from Hurrican Katrina. He then closes by stating that "liberals who think this disaster is going to set off a progressive revival need to explain how a comprehensive governmental failure is going to restore America's faith in big government."

I feel compelled to point out that the "big government" that failed is currently owned and operated by the Republican party: they have the Presidency, both houses of Congress and most of the Supreme Court. Most of them claim to believe in small, limited government. We see the result.

In that vein, the gutting of FEMA, including replacing trained and committed professionals with political hacks who are neither, has contributed greatly to the outrageous lack of response that we, and the world, saw.

In other words, Mr. Brooks' analysis of the situation is deeply flawed.

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[cynatnite]

1. Very good and to the point!

I like! :patriot:

[longship]

2. Concise, to the point, and holds no punches.

That's a near perfect LTTE. They should run it just as you wrote it.

on edit: The only thing I would have added is the title of Brooks' opinion piece and the date it was published in the first sentence.

This is an exemplar of how to write a letter to the editor.

[I Have A Dream]

3. Good response, ljm2002. Basically, the system failed BECAUSE...

they made it to be what they felt it should be. Their ideal failed, which shows that their changes were wrong. This is a horrible, real-life experiment that proved it.

What bullsh*t! They changed these aspects of government to be less effective, government failed with these changes in place, and then that's used against us to attack us in our argument that their changes were wrong? He thinks that we're stupid and don't have the ability to understand cause and effect, and he hopes that we're unable to think logically. Another example of convoluted logic that the right uses ALL the time.

What happened should actually be used to show that what we've been saying all along was correct.

[wurzel]

4. If you don't believe in government its' size is irrelevant.

[MissWaverly]

5. maybe he needs a refresher course

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/U.S._Assistance_to_Israel1.html

For the year 2004 49 million of our US tax dollars has been earmarked to resettle Jewish settlers, and for 2005 an estimated 50 million has been set aside to resettle Jewish settlers, in just 2 years that is close to 100 million to resettle Jewish settlers. The Republicans believe in paying for homes to Jewish settlers and not U.S. citizens in New Orleans, Spin this David. How did that saying go, something catchy like: No taxation without representation.

[MissWaverly]

7. More info on the Bush help to homeless in Israel

Critical Information for all Katrina victims, refugees, survivors
Monday September 5th 2005


Israeli citizens that made their homes in the illegal (under international law) settlements in Gaza, are to receive between $200,000 - $300,000 each to relocate- paid for by US taxpayer dollars.

"Settlers, who were encouraged by the Israeli government to move to settlements, are entitled to compensation," says Sarit Michaeli, spokesman for B’Tselem, the independent Israeli information centre for human rights in the occupied territories. Israel has negotiated a $2.2 billion dollar gift from the Bush administration to pay the Israeli settlers.

http://bellaciao.org/en/

[I Have A Dream]

6. Kick

:kick: