Is Bush a Racist?

Aljazeera, the Middle Eastern bureau of the American mainstream media, has jumped all over the criticism that the Bush administration has received in the past week.

Race question hangs over disaster

Sunday 04 September 2005, 2:34 Makka Time, 23:34 GMT

The ever-sensitive question of race in the United States has exploded into the furious debate over the government's handling of the disaster unfolding in New Orleans.

Critics have accused President George Bush's administration of abandoning the overwhelmingly black and poor people to death and anarchy in the fetid floodwaters of America's fabled jazz city.

Charges of racism have added to a litany of complaints that the federal government has done too little, too late to save New Orleans from the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina this past week.

"You want to know why all those black people are stuck down there dying?" said Yvette Brown, a black refugee from the city.

"If they were white, they'd be gone. They'd be sending in an army of helicopters, jets and boats," she said.

...Rapper Kanye West...was in no doubt that racism was a factor.

"George Bush doesn't care about black people!" he said, breaking from the script at a television fundraiser for victims of the deadly storm late Friday.

..."Black people are mad because they feel the reason for the slow response is because those people are black and they didn't support George Bush," said Ron Walters, professor of government at the University of Maryland.

"And I don't expect that feeling to go away anytime soon."

...Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore, one of Bush's most visceral opponents, issued a scornful open letter to the president.

"C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport," he said in reference to the wealthy seaside resort in Maine where the Bush family has a holiday home.

"Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh!" the Fahrenheit 9/11 director said.

Thank you, Aljazeera, for gathering up a sampling of complaints from Bush's critics into one neat pile.

There is no question that the aftermath of Katrina was a disaster of epic proportions.

Breakdowns occurred on the local, state, and federal levels that culminated in lawlessness, tremendous suffering, and death. I'm sure that in the weeks, months, years ahead, we will undoubtedly learn more about how things went so terribly wrong.

I'm not addressing that now. I want to talk about the charges of racism being a factor in how things played out after Katrina.

Does Bush hate black people? That is the question.

For the sake of argument, let's assume that he is a racist. Bush is a card-carrying member of the KKK.

He hates black people. He can't stand them. He could not care less about them.

A natural disaster strikes the United States while this racist president is in office. Monster Hurricane Katrina causes catastrophic damage to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Who cares? Not Bush.

Why not? A lot of black people live where the hurricane hit and he hates them.

We know Bush is a smart politician. OK, he's not smart. He's a dunce; but he's surrounded by politically astute minds, like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.

Of course, Bush's handlers, the ones that got this racist idiot elected, probably hate blacks, too.

Anyway, all the President's men know that the entire world is watching how the United States, the sole superpower, responds to the disaster.

In spite of the fact that Bush's pals hate black people, they wouldn't want to do anything that might jeopardize their power.

It's possible that they hate blacks more than they love power, but I doubt it. Power means money and you know they live for money. They worship money.

All that "God" talk is just a ploy to win over the Christian right. Bush and his cronies really don't care about values. Faith doesn't have a place in their lives. Money rules. All that they do is done in the name of making sure the rich get richer.

Bush may be too stupid to understand this, but certainly his people realize that if they lose power, they won't be able to start wars for their personal profit. Therefore, it's absolutely critical that they stay in charge.

Given that the media were obsessed with the hurricane and its aftermath, especially the cable channels with their wall-to-wall coverage, the President's men had to know that Americans were watching and watching closely. Certainly, they had to know that the appearance that the federal government was indifferent to the incredible human suffering on the Gulf Coast would damage them politically.

Scenes of the mayhem, images of people in desperate need of food, water, medicine, and shelter, were not what they would want Americans and the rest of the world to see.

Sure, Bush and his buddies hate blacks. Nonetheless, it would be a major problem for them politically if their hatred was verified. They simply could not afford to give the impression that they weren't willing to help the hurricane victims just because the majority of those stranded in New Orleans were black.

After all, such political damage could result in a loss of power. A loss of power means a loss of money.

Thus, it was not in Bush's self-interest to have relief efforts in the hurricane ravaged areas go so horribly.

Even though he hates blacks, I doubt Bush would have wanted to risk the disastrous political fall-out that would be heaped on him for ignoring the cries for help from the storm victims.

Therefore, assuming that Bush is a racist, the argument that FEDERAL relief didn't arrive quickly to aid Hurricane Katrina's victims because many are black doesn't fly.