A HEARTLESS AND BANKRUPT WHITE HOUSE

Is there not a single person in the Bush White House or Cabinet who has a clue, a heart, the sense, the honesty, integrity or courage to say "Enough is enough"? To break ranks? To quit in protest? Are they a cult? Brainwashed all, with no will of their own, marching in lock step? Is there not a single compassionate human being among them? What kind of person, whose sworn duty it is to defend the Constitution and to serve the American people, could observe the disastrous national and international results of four years of Bush policy and remain silent and committed? Does Karl Rove have them under some hypnotic spell? What explains this lemming-like, headlong rush to crash and burn?
How can Condoleeza Rice say with, a straight face, that she could not believe for a minute the inept Federal response to the victims of Katrina had anything to do with racism? She is an African-American woman with a Ph.D. She certainly knows the score. What possesses her to put loyalty to an exposed George Bush ahead of that to her brothers and sisters, for whom she could be a very valuable asset? What a betrayal! Something tells me the people she abandoned will remember this come next election.
And Chertoff, claiming not to know about the victims and their situation at the New Orleans Convention Center! Is that disinterest or simple incompetence? What is he saying to himself? Do these people sleep at night?
And Bush, responding to Paula Zahn's question about the delayed and chaotic Federal response, with "What went wrong"?
In my lifetime there has not been a more arrogant, bankrupt, dangerous and dishonest Administration in Washington than that of George Bush. He and his henchmen and women have brought shame on our country and promoted the perception throughout the world of America as an outlaw nation as a result of his aggression and occupation in Iraq.
We deserve much better than this bunch of unprincipled lowlifes. Since Congress is in Bush's pocket, impeachment, though deserved, is unlikely. The Democrats are still nowhere to be found. So it falls to the American people to put up and elect independent and progressive candidates in the mid-term congressional elections in 2006.

PUBLIC WORKS: REBUILDING NEW ORLEANS

Bush can kill two birds with one stone if he put the New Orleans' unemployed, poor and homeless to work in a massive public works project rebuilding that city. Such projects were used during the Depression to sustain many families who suddenly lost everything and to build vital infrastructure and National Parks. Since the President has promised to rebuild the city and address the poverty conditions that existed prior to Katrina, using this approach seems like a no-brainer. Rather than lining the pockets of the already wealthy major contractors who would ordinarily get the job, pursuing the task as a Federal public works project would save us taxpayers considerable money, minimize the inevitable corruption and rebuild lives as well as the city. It is a unique and awesome opportunity to do something that has great meaning as well as value. Those New Orleanians would have a special interest in the work since they would be making a tremendous contribution to their town and may even have valuable insights and ideas to add. It would provide lifelong skills to the participants and make them more employable once the project was completed. It would also eliminate the need to expand the existing welfare bureacracy or create a new one to service the displaced New Orleans poor.