If there is one thing I abhor more than anything else in politics it is the politicizing of events, especially that of natural disasters. Generally the party that is not at the helm of the executive branch submits to politicizing events in order to garner votes for their party in the next general election. Today that is the Democratic Party.
Most would agree that the California wildfires should not and cannot be politicized. That is with the exception of a photo op or two of Governor Schwarzenegger lending a helping hand. However, this thought-to-be-accepted protocol of focusing on disaster relief rather than disaster imputation did not seem to stop many Democratic leaders from making brash associations regarding California wildfires and President Bush. While watching the news on the wildfires last week, I did not see any leaders from the Democratic Party; all I saw was a bunch of juveniles on Hardball with Chris Matthews hitting a couple softballs in the direction of our president.
Lieutenant Governor of California John Garamendi (D) was asked by Matthews if he thinks public relations drove President Bush to visit California. He confidently replied, “Of course it’s public relations.” Mr. Garamendi must have had what some would call a brain fart, forgetting that California wildfires have nothing to do with Iraq, when he continued, “I know – OK, President Bush comes out, we’ll be polite. But frankly, that’s not the solution. How about sending our National Guard back from Iraq? So that we have those people available here to help us?” What does bringing our troops home from a war concerning Middle-East stability have to do with a fire in Southern California?
At this very moment California has thousands of National Guard troops prepared to be called upon at the governor’s discretion. This did not stop Matthews from playing “Hardball.” He went on to ardently ask, “Do you think the president’s arrival will distract from the efforts to fight the fire?” Garamendi answered as if he were reading from a script: “No doubt about it… We need frankly – we need our troops back from Iraq. We’ll get on here, whether he comes or not, that’s not really the issue. I just hope that if he does come, he brings more than he brought to New Orleans.”
Ahhh yes, New Orleans, the Superdome, and the French Quarter. All of those places conjure up images of government failure, particularly on the state and local level. It is interesting that Garamendi brings up New Orleans seeing as how President Bush was heavily criticized for having not visited the disaster areas immediately following Hurricane Katrina. The President had made it clear that he did not want to be a distraction, and so visited the scene at a later date. It is almost as if President Bush can see into the future, as today he is being criticized for traveling to Southern California. President Bush should know by now that he will be damned by the media and opposing party members no matter what he does.
Garamendi was not the only politician to step into the ring, not by a long shot. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) also threw in her two cents. When asked how she thought the firefighting efforts were progressing she animatedly answered, “Right now we are down 50 percent in terms of our National Guard equipment because they’re all in Iraq, the equipment, half of the equipment. So we really will need help. I think all of our states are down in terms of equipment.” I have heard of meetings that the Democratic leadership holds in which they brainstorm strategies to associate Iraq with any issue; I never believed it until now. Will somebody tell me how Senator Barbara Boxer and Lt. Governor John Garamendi, supposedly intelligent people, employ their intellect to connect wildfires in Southern California with a war? Better yet, will somebody please challenge these civil servants?
It wasn’t just the war in Iraq that Democrats were worried about. As we all know, global warming will end mankind in a short time period if we do not immediately cease conventional economic growth. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was quick to remind us that, “One reason why we have the fires in California is global warming.” He then went on to stress the need for congress to pass the Democrats’ comprehensive energy package. Mr. Reid must have a short-term memory. Wildfires have lit up California throughout its entire history, and on average there is a major one every three to five years due to the accumulation of high brush and dead trees. But this sort of historical information does not stop Harry Reid from politicizing his energy bill, which he calls “comprehensive.” very Orwellian of you, Mr. Reid.
In the end, all of these politicians were terribly mistaken. The fires were not started or prolonged by President Bush, the Iraq war, or global warming. Today there is a $50,000 reward for the capture of the arsonist who started at least one of the fires; it is thought the others were started by gale force winds that carried embers for miles and subsequently landed on dry brush, igniting more fires. Upon reflection I think that I have made a connection of my own: Arsonist = President Bush…
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