Friday, September 09, 2005

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Morality vs. Immorality

Lately when I have been talking with people about Katrina and the failure of the federal government to protect the citizens of New Orleans eventually they will bring up President Bush; I won’t, having lived out here long enough I now know better. The one thing that they universally say about him is that they believe him to be a good, upright, moral man. He may not be the brightest bulb in the pack but he always tries to do the right thing is the point they attempt to get across. As a point of comparison many of these well-meaning people like to point to President Clinton as President Bush’s polar opposite; a brilliant man and president, who has grave moral failings.



Yesterday, I had heard this one too many times, from one too many people. I asked the woman I was talking with “Because of the blowjob?” She responded “Yes, he misused his power over that girl and he was unfaithful to his wife. He is a moral failure” I agreed that yes this was absolutely correct, but by that standard 50 percent of married men and 40 percent of married women are equally flawed, someone who she knows and cares about is probably in that percentage. Are they moral failures? She could not answer. I then suggested that we as a country were forced to watch over a very private matter, when Ken Starr spoon fed us President Clinton’s infidelity, which has very, very little to do with big picture morality. President Clinton’s blowjob did not change foreign or domestic policy. It didn’t cause a war. It did not change my life or yours for the better or worse. It matters not in the big picture.



Yet, when it comes to big picture morality this is where President Bush has grave failings. I asked her how many American soldiers have died in Iraq, over 1800. Why did we go to Iraq? Weapons of Mass Destruction, weapons that have never been found; this is a big picture lie, a lie that has cost over 1800 lives. So what about Saddam’s ties to terrorists? What ties to terrorists? There isn’t a tie to the WTC bombings or Osama, another big picture lie. And now New Orleans, and the death toll there; the vacation that continued and the lies in an attempt to deflect blame. As President he has slashed the levee budget and dismantled FEMA. He has put nothing more than figureheads in charge of FEMA with no thought to the lives it could and would eventually cost. The information was there, but like most unpleasant things in his life, the President decided to ignore it. This is the epitome of immorality, of unadulterated evil. It may put on a kind and caring face and speak kind if mangled words but the blood on its hands is the blood of thousands, both from lies and indifference.