Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Whose ineptitude?

I have noticed that whenever certain folks began to realize that maybe they went off the deep end concerning some nefarious act on the part of George Bush, they always explain it away with some remark about Bush administration ineptitude. Bad PR.

There might be some truth to that from time to time, however, I think that often as not it is not Bush's ineptitude that is at the heart of the confusion.

It seems that now many pundits on the right have begun to rethink the Dubai deal and it has dawned on them that the whole knee jerk Facts, I don't need no Stinkin facts raving about the issue is beginning to seem a tad overdone. Who do they blame? Well Bush of course. He should have seen this coming and done a better job of preparing them. Maybe it was all the Thank You notes they were getting from Hillary Clinton that made them pause to wonder.

Well this Dubai deal was no big secret, the pertinent facts were there for anyone who cared to find them and yet it seems the media and the pundits on both the left and right must be lead and directed like small children toward the facts. Like the fact that the UAE are in fact allies and Dubai Ports is in fact a world class company with an excellent reputation and the initial reports of port takeovers and security threats were based mostly on knee jerk prejudice and just plain ignorance.

When Cheney had the shooting accident {doesn't that seem ages ago?}, the initial reaction was once again, unbridled hysteria and paranoia. And of course pundits and bloggers complaining that the Bushies should have anticipated the reaction.

When Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast I do not remember any serious reporting on disaster preparedness in cities like New Orleans before landfall. No, they did not download the New Orleans evacuation plan and then go about [like real reporters] reporting whether or not the city officials were doing their job. Instead they treated the whole thing like a Hollywood disaster film complete with melodramatic performances in front of the camera. When it was over and it turned out maybe there had been some hysteria and down right pathetic coverage...the response was to criticize the Bush administration's poor PR skills, once again they should have known how people would react. I think the Bush administration should have invaded LA before Katrina made landfall, but then again imagine how folks would have reacted.

I have no idea if some terrorist is going to sneak wmd in through our ports or over the border, or if they are already here. The only thing I am sure of is that if something bad happens, or even something certain folks deem unexpected or suspicious occurs the reaction will be over the top.

And when the Bush administration fails to fully anticipate the event or hissy fit or pseudo scandal they will be accused of ineptitude. Because after all if Bush was on his toes he would just know how people were going to react and he would fix things.

After all people are not responsible for their actions or reactions, the Bushies are.

When Bush is back at his ranch who will get the blame?

8 comments:

Unknown said...

david:

Well maybe they did not micromanage it because once the Cinese [Cosco] got some contracts and companies with Saudi investors {National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia] got contracts and the Emirates were flying jets in and out every day and nobody slit their wrists, they were under the impression that this was just one more deal like a lot of other deals.

It seems they overestimated the loyalty of Republicans, the ethics of Democrats and the intelligence of both pundits and journalists where this was concerned.

Now whether it goes through or not the country has been made to look stupid.

Syl said...

Terrye!!

You go girl!!!!!!

I loved every word!!

Luther said...

I will admit to not being entirely free of islam-phobia, and, quite honestly, I don't feel a lot of guilt about it. Nothing wrong with being logically wary is the way I see it. But I also remember reading about this deal some months ago and not thinking much about it. Just business.

For some, BDS overcomes all. Reason, logic, considered thought mean nothing when placed next to the need, nay, necessity to blame GWB for everything.

I apologize in advance if I offend, but after 28 years of marriage to an RN, I have to say in regards to B. Frist, well, he is a doctor after all.

And, besides, I can't miss an opportunity to second a Condi/whomever ticket in 08.

Charlie Martin said...

I apologize in advance if I offend, but after 28 years of marriage to an RN, I have to say in regards to B. Frist, well, he is a doctor after all.


Doctor, hell, he's a surgeon.

Luther said...

Damn, I overlooked the nuances. Shame on me.

Unknown said...

We all feel wary of Muslims, face it, we are like Pavlov's dog.

But then again there are a billion Muslims in the world and the only ones we tend to see are the people blowing things up and burning things down.

And the people who themselves get in the way of the people blowing things up. It seems to me that the present clash of civilizations has not been a picnic for them either.

Eric said...

Excellent thoughts, Terrye. Good thinking there.

Charlie Martin said...

You know, this stuck in my mind last night. I was watching Fox, and my remote control is busted so I stayed on one channel much more than usual (remember the days when you had to walk to the TV to change the channel?). Over and over, you'd hear a conservative pundit saying, essentially, that it wasn't their fault that they got sucked in by Schumer.

Comes down to it, mostly they still think Bush ought to be the Good Daddy who knows everything.