(Ring....Ring...) ..."Hello! This is the White House. I'm sorry that no one is here to answer the phone right now but with THIS administration IS THAT REALLY A BIG surprise? ... Anyway... Should someone show-up next week, I'd be happy to pass along your distress for having no one here to respond to your distress in your hour of need! ... I PERSONALLY can't respond, myself because WHAT DO YOU REALLY EXPECT out of an empty building ANYWAY!!! HAPPY apocalypse and don’t forget duct tape & painter’s cloth!!!"
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WHEN THE GOING GETS TUFF... That "Tuff War-time president" of ours goes on VACATION!
George W. Bush is currently poised to add yet another distinction to his presidency:
- He will soon be the most vacationed president in history.
Roughly translating into an adjusted workday equivalent to taking 1.7 of the 6.5 years he's actually BEEN in office, as an ALL EXPENSE PAID (courtesy of the US Taxpayer) "Holiday"!!!
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Have you EVER REALLY WONDERED why it is that the Bush Administration has ALWAYS seemed to be so very DREADFULLY UNDER PREPARED for the "Unexpected"???
Well.... If you recall from some of the news items you may have followed in late 2003 threw late 2004, you will recall that there was a BIG PUSH by GWB and the Neo-Cons to CENTRALIZE and STREAMLINE the so-called "Chain of Command" and to ACCOMPLISH this objective threw the creation of the
"Department of Homeland Security (DHS)".
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BY DOING THIS and thereby creating an entirely NEW LEVEL of Washington & National Bureaucracy, the CENTRALIZATION of CONTROL AND AUTHORITY was to be achieved!
What their TRUE OBJECTIVES succeeded in accomplishing (in short) was to END the diversification of on-the-spot "Decision Making" &
"PYRAMIDING" that process with the
"Director of the DHS" reporting DIRECTLY TO the "Oval Office". Effectively REMOVING lower level authority and
GIVING that to the PRESIDENT whereas the handpicked
"DHS DIRECTOR" would act as the
INSTRUMENT of that unparalleled new "Empowerment" .
As for the Neo-Cons and their supporters, this succeeded in accomplishing MANY "Good Things"...
1.) It handed a "Placebo Pill" to the American Public, in that it "Promised" to deliver a solution to those so-called preparedness issues that were being identified by the 9-11 Commission.
2.) It SUPPOSEDLY "Streamlined" the chain-of-command-&-authority into a NEW structure that relieved the individual federal agencies of their individual responsibilities to interpret the importance of, then report "Events of Significance"... GIVING that responsibility to the DHS with the DIRECTOR of that agency then reporting these to the Office of the President for "Action".
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..and last but DEFINITELY NOT the LEAST... 3.) It EMPOWERED the "Office of the President" with ALMOST a SINGULAR AUTHORITY to determine "Which" items were worthy of actionable and MORE IMPORTANTLY "What" actions will be taken!!!
"IN IDEALISTIC THEORY" &
"ON PAPER" this new creation of the Bush Administration appeared to have MET THE "PROBLEMS" uncovered by the 9-11 Commission HEAD-ON, establishing a NEW & BETTER "Emergency Response Community" as a direct result!!! It was ESPECIALLY LOVED by those that support the "New Conservative Agenda": In that it represented America writing them a virtual "BLANK CHECK" to take powers AWAY from those who had previously been entrusted with it and giving them ALL to the OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (and incidentally, also to the Neo-Conservative Leadership)!
And those who CHEERLEAD and OFFER VIRGINAL HUMAN SACRIFICES to the EXTREME RIGHT WING lived
"Happily Ever After".... Except for that ONE thing that brought the entire
"House of Cards" tumbling down on their heads.
And THAT WOULD BE: When you centralize ALL of your authority and power at the very TOP LEVEL of Government" (IE: Dictatorial micro-management by a TOP DOG), that means that the TOP DOG has to be RIGHT THERE to make key emergency decisions!!! ...Not AWOL... Not on vacation... Not stinking drunk... Not "Out-of-Touch", or incommunicado.
This style of "CENTRALIZATION of AUTHORITY" works ONLY when the "Key-CAP-Stone" of the pyramid -of-power is OPERATING as "Commander & Chief". Ultimate responsibilities CAN NO LONGER be "Delegated" (ESPECIALLY in a "Federal" or "Government" organizational context) , BECAUSE to DO SO stands in the direct VIOLATION of that very BUREAUCRACY established by LAW!!!
For those readers that are not necessarily overly familiar with the way that federal agencies work, GOVERNMENT employees can’t go the RESTROOM without first having a 75 page procedure drafted FIRST on the proper accepted method for whipping one’s back-side!
IE: In the interpretation of a "Federal Employee", they will NEVER be caught DEAD assuming a responsibility or accept the authority to do SQUAT unless of course, it’s FULLY DESCRIBED in the form of a WRITTEN DOCUMENT (and even better, drafted as the LAW-OF-THE-LAND first!).
Hence... We come to this point to address "Why does GORGE W. BUSH "Fail"? ... (ALL the time)"
IT ALL BOILS DOWN to one KEY "Point" or "Consistently Fatal Achilles Heal"... GEORGE W. BUSH has a management style that DICTATES the "Delegation" or responsibility to "Handle the DETAILS" to OTHERS!!!
He simply DOESN’T UNDERSTAND that you can’t have your CAKE (Ultimate power & authority) ...AND eat it TOO ("Verbally Dictate" the handling of a crisis & it’s details of leadership, to "Others").
SORRY TO HAVE TO BREAK THE NEWS to you George, but "Bright Folks" don’t do business that way BECAUSE they KNOW that if they act without PROVABLE WRITTEN AUTHORITY that it EXPOSES their A$$E$ to become the "Scapegoat" when or IF anything "Goes WRONG"... (For the same reasoning that you want to DELEGATE everything "Important", the people that you want do "DELEGATE TO" quietly refuse to accept that assignment!!! THEY KNOW that YOU would NEVER back them when the CHIPS ARE IN FACT "Down" and the cards have been all played!!!) .... Your "Federal Agency Drowns" KNOW of your reputation for bailing-out & finger pointing and silently but repeatedly say "No thank you GW!".
...SO SAD when your "Reputation" precedes you, huh?
Unreliable communications systems... Lack of centralized command and logistical control and infrastructure, Cell Phone Interference with emergency response frequencies, etc.... etc... etc....
At it's conclusion, the 9-11 COMMISSION published it's FINAL REPORT => America is in some cases WORSE-OFF then we were prior to 9-11-2001! SECURITY AND COMMUNICATIONS ISSUES have NOT been addressed nearly AT ALL by the BUSH Administration!!! (In their OWN WORDS => Bush Administration gets an "F" Grade on 4 of the top 5 most IMPORTANT CATEGORIES!!!)
<link>
"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." ... President Bush, ABC's "Good Morning America" Thursday September 1, 2005
On Saturday September 3, 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called the disaster "breathtaking in its surprise. ... That 'perfect storm' of a combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight... "
BUT WAS THAT TRUE?
18 months before Katrina =>
EMERGENCY READINESS EXERCISE: (Hurricane PAM scenario)... A full blown "Emergency Response Exercise" and BIBLICAL PROPHECY as far as being an UNCANNY PREDICTION of what WAS TO COME!!!
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GUESS there’s no one *IN* the "Bush Administration" that feels they need to be aware of such *TRIVIAL* matters, hmmm?
Hardcore NEO-Con BUSH-Bots REFUSE to admit that if we CAN'T STOP "FIVE Ton BUNDLES" of COCAINE as well as THOUSANDS of UNDOCUMENTED/Illegal Aliens from entering the USA almost DAILY, that "BUSH WINDOW DRESSINGS" & Hardcore NEO-Cons efforts at "Mach-Posturing" actually mean NOTHING AT ALL!!!WE have had sense 9-11-2001 to BUILD an EFFECTIVE DEFENSE and NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY against Terror Organizations like Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda BUT the BUSH ADMINISTRATION has chosen INSTEAD to pore HUNDREDS of BILLIONS (Rapidly approaching TRILLIONS in the near future) down a Neo-Con SINK-HOLE that had NOTHING AT ALL to do with 9-11 OR "Terrorists Threats" against AMERICA or AMERICANS (That is until "George-Co" decided to UN-ZIP and give the BAD-GUYS a BRAND-NEW PLAY ground in Iraq) !
The VERY SAME problems that PERSIST today.... PROBLEMS, that ALTHOUGH well identified and WELL KNOWN (even BEFORE 9-11) have NOT been effectively addressed by the DHS, FEMA, or the FCC. WHY???
On the ONE HAND we have George-Co taking the "Bow" for the media cameras saying "LOOK at how GREAT WE are because we are giving out ALL these BILLIONS of DOLLARS to SOLVE this problem"...
...On the OTHER hand (And something that George-Co LOVES to avoid talking about) is that MOST ALL of these "Emergency Response Organizations" (ESPECIALLY sense the "Bush Administration" came to power) have been spending "Billions" that they NO LONGER HAVE in their established "Budgets" JUST IN ORDER TO KEEP PACE with the DETERIORATION of older equipment and NEW DEMANDS being placed upon them BY the "Public". [JUST ONE EXAMPLE would be the US Coast Guard and it’s difficulties in just keeping-up with their PRE-9-11 operational levels... WHY? NO BUDGETS to replace or repair WORN-OUT EQUIPMENT!!!]
George-Co has on the "Darker Side" of the equation, attacked and ROBBED the "Post-9-11 OPERATING BUDGETS" of these agencies.... THEN he stands-up in front of AMERICA and say how GREAT they are for allocating them 9-11 FUNDS!!! MOST of that money (Unceremoniously & unfortunately) DISAPPEARS IMMEDIATELY to pay the PAST-DUE-BILLS of these same organizations!!!
WILL AMERICANS EVER CATCH ON TO GEORGE & the Neo-Cons??? DOUBTFUL (That is, until Osama "Spanks" them AGAIN and they discover that the SAME problems that we have always known were there, STILL ARE!
GEORGE??? WHY DIDN’T YOU PROTECT US BETTER???
George: "It’s the liberals fault" ("Hey Dick! These folks are so DUMB they believe ANYTHING WE SAY! By the way... We need more money for my Iraq Project... Who’s budget can we rob this week?")
