Wacky Wednesday With Howard Meyerson
My daughter, who is four years old, has a Dr. Seuss book called Wacky Wednesday.
Wacky Wednesday
Well, thanks to Howard Meyerson, agent provocateur of the Washington Post, Wacky Wednesday has a totally new meaning. I’ve taken Howard to task here before. Meyerson is a hack that writes every Wednesday for the Post. To call Meyerson’s columns dyspeptic is an insult to GERD sufferers everywhere.
Today’s column, called Bush’s Final Fiasco, has Meyerson taking Bush to task
The Bush administration’s approach to today’s meltdown is to direct all its energies and largess to lending institutions. There is, as yet, no program to help floundering homeowners renegotiate the terms of their mortgages. The president is opposed to further stimulus programs, even though private-sector investment in the United States has all but ceased.
Meyerson cites the 1930’s as an obvious source for lessons on how to deal with today’s meltdown. And because Bush does not seem to be in a rush to implement policy based on those lessons, Meyerson animadverts
So where’s the outrage? Why aren’t demonstrators besieging the White House? Where are the “Welcome to Bushville” signs in those neighborhoods where abandoned homes outnumber the occupied ones?
I suppose it never occurred to Meyerson that Bush is letting his economic team of experts do their thing. According to reports, this team effectively includes incoming Treasury Secretary Geithner. I suppose it never occurred to Meyerson that Congress - a co-equal branch of government, Howard - could take action. After all, it is quite clear that Congress shares in the culpability of the mess. But when one is firmly in the grips of Bush Derangement Syndrome - like Howard is - lucid thought is not your strong suit.
Meyerson speaks of a “mega-strike” and states
Bush … has had three. He misled us into a nearly endless war of choice to disarm a threat that never really existed. He let a great American city drown. And now he stands by while the economic security of tens of millions of Americans is vanishing.
It’s all Bush’s fault, you see? My favorite mega-strike is #2: He let a great American city drown. Listen to what Meyerson is saying. Never mind that the National Hurricane Center had expressed grave concern regarding the levees days before Katrina hit. Never mind that local news, the Weather Channel, and national news like CNN and Fox were full of doom and gloom days before Katrina hit. Never mind that Bush declared a state of emergency for selected regions of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi two days before Katrina hit. Never mind that school buses that could have been used to evacuate residents remained parked in their watery graves days afterward and that Ray Naggin and Kathleen Blanco - two poster children for the incompetent - could have ordered their use. Never mind that the National Weather Service issued this bulletin for New Orleans and surrounding areas
000
WWUS74 KLIX 281550
NPWLIXURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005…DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED…
HURRICANE KATRINA…A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH …RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.
MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL…LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.
THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE…INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.
HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY…A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.
AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD…AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS…PETS…AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS…AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING…BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.
AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE…OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE…ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.
ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET…DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!
You really have to read between the lines to figure out what the NWS is trying to say, don’t you, Howard? Yes indeed, Bush sure drowned that city.
Howard Meyerson is a disgrace, but thanks to his dyspepsia, I can now look forward to a Wacky Wednesday every week. Hey Howard, put down the Gaviscon and stick with the GERD; you’re wackier that way.
Have a Wacky Wednesday, Howard