Short for "GeologicalScienceBlog", subjects will include Geology, Climatology, Environmental Science, NASCAR, Beer, Property Rights, Politics from a Christian Conservative/Libertarian viewpoint, and random thoughts. My background is two degrees in Geology (BS, MS), 8 years of geology/environmental employment and almost 8 years of teaching Geology and Environmental Science on a Junior College level. <68>

Friday, September 16, 2005

Gleeful Media Damage

Brent Bozell's Townhall.com column relates the glee with which some members of the MSM reported the President's approval ratings. Do they really think we are surprised when folks with that reaction are generally the ones that watch the MSM?

Bozell also relates recent-past disasters where President Clinton was not blamed for every glitch. There is an apparent reason for that, besides the de facto MSM/Democratic Party alliance. Bozell offers several natural occurrences where President Clinton was apparently quick to designate an area as a "disaster area" and then FEMA would begin handing out "free money".

From the column: ..."No one in the media really objects when FEMA gives out taxpayers' money out like free candy, either. Reporter James Bovard found that after the 1994 earthquake in Northridge, Calif., FEMA began mailing checks out to homeowners even before they'd claimed a dime's worth of damage. All it took to get an average grant of $3,450 was an address in the proper ZIP code. And $142 million in "fast-track assistance" went out to people whose homes required no inspection whatsoever to collect."

You have to wonder if President Bush is just taking the path of least resistance with the Gulf-related spending. That mass quantities of taxpayer money will be needed for rebuilding is accepted, as that has become the norm. And because the problem looms large enough that many are afraid to let the free-market system "do its thing". But we do have to ask about each new precedent, each new expectation.

It is well known that sometimes drug dealers will give out free samples (or perhaps offer "loss leaders") in order to generate future dependency. Is the government doing this? As the MSM continually blast out the Big Lie of sole Federal responsibility for New Orleans damage (or so it seems), the President and FEMA may feel forced to further assume the role of First Responders, which they cannot logically do.

But they will gleefully spend billions to try to give that appearance. And if Hillary or some other Dem is our next president, and FEMA is unable to serve as an adequate First Responder, you can bet the farm that Hillary/other Dem will not accept responsibility as President Bush has, rather they will blame it on budget cuts of the previous administration and the press will eat it up.

However, if the Lib/Leftists & MSM get their way with McCain-Feingold and the "Fairness Doctrine", will there be any blogosphere or talk radio to remind you of this?

JunkYardBlog has some info as the the "proper role" of FEMA and other aspects of the Federal government, especially in the last few paragraphs of JYB's post. Right Wing News also has more useful info and opinion on the role of FEMA vs. state and local government. Both of these posts relate to Michael Brown's New York Times interview and the Times' spin on his statements.

Michelle Malkin and Rick Moran of RightWing Nuthouse offer more analysis of FEMA breakdowns, further illustrating reasons why more Federal involvement provides no guarantee of success.

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Posted by: on-the-rocks / 7:58 AM
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