September 6, 2005 - "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this --this is working very well for them."

It was only a matter of time until someone on the Bush team said it. It was the President’s mother who let the real deal slip and she did it on National Public Radio. It was the ultimate rationalization of the massive failure of her son’s administration in the face of a long predicted national disaster. The folks crammed into cots on the floor of the Astrodome should thank their lucky stars for Bush & Company’s incompetence. If the funds had not been cut; if that levee had been improved as it was supposed to have been, then the people in the Astrodome would still be underprivileged and living in New Orleans.

Katrina and Michael D. Brown’s failure worked out very well for the underprivileged New Orleans masses. Now they can count their blessings. No longer do they have to go to work in a go-nowhere minimum wage job. No longer do they have to go home after a hard day to a shotgun house hovel on New Orleans west side. No longer do they have to worry about making ends meet. Thanks to President Bush they have a ready supply of Dasini Water and a MRE just when they need it. Thanks to President Bush and his administration they have a cot and 24 square feet of living space all paid for by the taxpayers. They never had it so good.

In this time of National Crisis we have to avoid negativism and rally to support our President and his mother had given us the rallying cry. “This is working out very well for them!” We have to look at the bright side. We have to cross over to the sunny side of the street and look for the silver lining. Those bodies floating in the flood waters should not be seen as tragic – rather they should be seen as an economic shot in the arm for a hard pressed funeral industry. Think of the cultural significance of providing work for thousands of New Orleans jazz musicians marching in traditional funeral processions. This is working out very well for them.

And Katrina has cut the welfare rolls by thousands. That is good news for the Louisiana taxpayers. Houston can exploit new supply of desperate people looking for menial jobs. That is good news for Texas employers. This is working out very well for them too.

Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary has already started drawing federal dollars. With all the good progress being made in Iraq that business is winding down. Katrina has provided a safety net and Halliburton no longer has to worry about where their next Billion is coming from. The Vice-President doesn’t need to worry if the funding for his severance package will be there. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good and this is working out very well for them.

So walk on the sunny side of life. Smile and the world smiles with you. Support the President and things will work out very well for you too!