So what's the Dems' best move in exploiting Bush's catastrophic incompetence and freefall in support? Give him enough rope? Start calling for his impeachment? What do you think the Dems ought to be doing right now?
My answer:
I think the Democrats need to hammer home that the response to Katrina was not a *mistake*, but the natural result of Republican policies:
-cutting funding for improving and "arming" the levees because the money had to go to Iraq instead
-having a significant percentage of the National Guard, which is supposed to respond to this kind of catastrophic event, in Iraq
-the social Darwinism favored by the Republicans - it's literally "sink or swim" when applied to their reaction to LA.
-focusing on pet partisan issues instead of actually working on solving the problems that affect all Americans
-Economic policies that both add more poverty and hurt those who are poor.
The call for impeachment, if it comes, must come from a groundswell of people, and not from our elected officials.
My main point is that, like the Iraq debacle, the disgraceful response to Katrina is not a mistake or an error in judgement - it is exactly what this administration planned for. If only because they didn't plan for anything better. This is the response we can expect from a Republican administration in the event of a catastrophe. And they've learned at least one valuable lesson: next time there is a catastrophe, the press must be controlled immediately. If the press hadn't responded so quickly, we would not know how bad it was/is in New Orleans.
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