Ceterum Censeo New Orleans Esse Restauro


Well, I don't know Latin, so the conjugation is probably way off, but I suppose it's no less incomprehensible than the standard wingnut drivel--on the one hand, there's a preznit literally in la-la land, steadfastly refusing to see, much less admit, that his pet project in Iraq has devolved into the creature from Alien (bonus: yer media will waste countless hours of air time, ink, paper, and pixels focusing on "steadfast")...Afghanistan is limping along like a car with bad tires and leaks in both the oil pan and radiator...and to ice this particular slice of shit cake, the administration is spinning a recovery project...for Lebanon, in a desperate attempt to salvage their tattered reputation in the Middle East, as if a scoop of ice cream will salve the festering sore they've created over there...

And they continue to IGNORE the festering sore RIGHT HERE in the United States. Unbelievable...and genuinely pathetic.

I posted this last week, and I'll repeat it: if this administration can't--or won't--restore the American Gulf Coast, how can they POSSIBLY clean the mess they've made in Iraq?

Restoring the Gulf Coast would be far less costly, in terms of lives and money, and the return on the investment would be far greater. There's no civil war, there's no language barrier...it's also a vital part of the United States, and, at least in New Orleans, the government is as liable for the destruction as an at-fault driver in a car wreck.

Not to mitigate for a second the damage this administration has done in the Middle East, both in literal terms and to the international reputation of our nation, but the fact that they continue to push an ever more delusional hallucination "vision" for the Middle East, while ignoring an area in their own country--an area that would actually appreciate the kind of effort they once proposed for the Middle East/Mesopotamia--is not merely ignorance to the power of ten...it's dumb-so-off-the-scale as to require thought experiments to comprehend.

Restoring the American Gulf Coast is, to put it bluntly, not only the right thing to do...but FAR, FAR easier to accomplish than their sugar plum visions for the Middle East (sugar plum visions that raise naivete to a level commensurate with, well, dumb-off-the-scale). Americans could easily witness the progress--unlike in Iraq, which might as well be officially off-limits for pretty much any Westerner not "embedded" with the military. Gulf Coast restoration could be a showcase of what this administration is capable of accomplishing.

Or, it could further underscore this administration's incompetence--that is, if they continue to stall, ignore, or otherwise do nothing. Which also sets an example--and don't think the world doesn't notice.