In their ongoing quest to paint all things ‘big government’ as the root of all evil, the Republicans have made some curious analogies and stooped to some pretty low lows. But this surely takes the cake. In his response to President Obama’s speech tonight, Bobby Jindal actually had the nerve to use Hurricane Katrina as an example of how hands off government works. Here’s an excerpt:
Let me tell you a story.
During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I’d never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: ‘Well, I’m the Sheriff and if you don’t like it you can come and arrest me!’ I asked him: ‘Sheriff, what’s got you so mad?’ He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters.
The boats were all lined up ready to go — when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn’t go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, ‘Sheriff, that’s ridiculous.’ And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: ‘Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!’ Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and start rescuing people.
There is a lesson in this experience: The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens.
Yes, America, leave it to Bobby Jindal and the Republican Party and your lives too can be an unregulated disaster area where those with SUVs and highwater zip codes get to safe ground and those with no means are flooded and die with no government assistance in sight. And really, isn’t that what the Republican party has always been about?
Posted by schreiwire 
Posted by schreiwire 
Posted by schreiwire 
