NYTimes Blames Bush Policies in Iraq, Tax Cuts, for Slow New Orleans Rebuilding

In its usual over-the-top manner, the New York Times has once again treated the destruction of New Orleans due to ravages of Hurricane Katrina as a product of the Bush administration.

The Times's Sunday lead editorial, "Death of an American City," waits until two-thirds of the way down the article to place blame on something other than the federal government: the local and state government officials who run New Orleans and Louisiana. The Times neglects to mention that it is Democrats who primarily run the government in both New Orleans and the State house.

Regarding the local and state governments, the Times says this: “So far, local and state officials have been derelict at producing anything that comes close to a coherent plan. That is unacceptable." That is it.

Regarding Congress, and specifically President Bush, the Times does not spare the rod, or the ink:

-" We are about to lose New Orleans...President Bush said it wouldn't happen. He stood in Jackson Square and said, 'There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans.' But it has been over three months since Hurricane Katrina struck and the city is in complete shambles."

-"How many people could even name the president's liaison for the reconstruction effort, Donald Powell"?

-"Total allocations for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror have topped $300 billion. All that money has been appropriated as the cost of protecting the nation from terrorist attacks. But what was the worst possible case we fought to prevent? Losing a major American city."

-"If the rest of the nation has decided it is too expensive to give the people of New Orleans a chance at renewal, we have to tell them so. We must tell them we spent our rainy-day fund on a costly stalemate in Iraq, that we gave it away in tax cuts for wealthy families and shareholders. We must tell them America is too broke and too weak to rebuild one of its great cities.

If one did not know better, one would believe that New Orleans has indeed been forgotten and sentenced to death, if one lived by the word of the New York Times alone. Thankfully, we do not. Over 62 billion dollars has so far been given to the Gulf coast region, which includes New Orleans.

As a side note, it is interesting how The Times and all of the mainstream media in general have completely ignored the death and destruction that was attributed to Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, and to a lesser extent, Alabama and Florida. It's possible, however outlandish, that these cities and/or states are "too white" for the media to care about. Where is the mighty press, the keepers of America’s "right to know," regarding that possible issue?

It is no more foolish than saying race has anything at all to do with the response then, and now, to Hurricane Katrina.

Maybe things would go a bit smoother for New Orleans if mayor Nagin, Governor Blanco, and Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter had not decided to virtually demand some 250 billion dollars from the taxpayers, when it has now become common knowledge that New Orleans is one of the most corruptly-run cities in America today.

Like much of what the New York Times prints, it appears every word is predicated around how it will hurt President Bush and the Republican majority in general.