For years we have scoured the deserts of Iraq for WMD’s to no avail. Then from out of nowhere a WMD is unleashed on American soil. Since 9⁄11 the government has told us that they had a plan. If we just trust in them and let them spend money to fund this plan, they would keep the WMD’s off our shores. They also said that a WMD being loosed on a major American city was inevitable, so they created the Department of Homeland Security with the mandate of preventing the WMD in the first place and minimizing the damage when it finally happened. As we can now see, they have failed.
On August 29, New Orleans was the target of a WMD. This Water of Mass Destruction was not on any government watch list. It was not stopped by our military or police forces. It did not even register as important enough for President Bush to end his vacation early and demonstrate the war time leadership he has bragged about for so many tears, um years. Four days after more than 500,000 people were displaced from their homes, President Bush decided to finally return to his command post in the White House. It was there that photo ops and the rallying around the president began. It is unthinkable that this president, who has limited freedom more than almost any other president, could possibly be wrong.
On September 3, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as “probably the worst catastrophe, or set of catastrophes” in the country’s history. I wonder why it took nearly a week to come to that conclusion. Did we have that many comparable disasters to compare it against? Or did it just take that long to sink in that the government really did fail the people of the United States.
I think that’s enough ranting. I would add one more thing. I am a republican. I am one of the duped. I am a fool. I believed in defending this country by taking the fight to other shores. I believed my government when they said there would be WMD’s in Iraq. I believed all of this and voted for George W. Bush. I am now paying for my mistakes with shame.