Dubya's Second Line

A good speech, I thought, and I say that through clenched teeth. I certainly would have liked it a whole lot better if he would have said something like, "You know that Transporktation Bill, and everything like it? I'm going to time-travel back and veto (v-e-t-o, I think) that sumbitch, so that we spend tax money on stuff that actually matters, and maybe not spend so much tax money, period. Also, that whole biggest-new-bureaucracy-in-three-decades thing, maybe that wasn't such a good idea." Short of that, we're reduced to finding comfort in a president demonstrating that he cares, and that he actually claims to take responsibility for a mistake.

Here's that Executive Power-drunk moment:

It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.

I also find it enduringly interesting that Kanye West really did seem to get under Dubya's skin. Anyhoo, what did y'all think?

Comments

The Zero Boss | September 15, 2005, 10:24pm | #

It was a decent speech for W. Heavy on rhetoric and light on details (as usual), but I thought he did an admirable job of connecting to the American people while avoiding any obvious gaffes.

(Of course, I didn't actually watch the damned thing. I've come to regard that as superfluous.)

Shannon Love | September 15, 2005, 10:32pm | #

"I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to undertake an immediate review, in cooperation with local counterparts, of emergency plans in every major city in America."

That is definitely one area that the Feds fell down on. They should have been riding Louisiana for months or years about their evacuation plans and making sure their communication systems had backup power. The Feds complaints to Louisiana were all softballed and done behind closed doors.

I think we need a highly public ratings system for localities. The Feds can come in rate your locality and then it is your responsibility to get it up to par. If you need Federal money (or think you do) call your congressman.

Stan | September 15, 2005, 10:39pm | #

Someone should tell Bush that we paid for Louisiana once already.

Rich Ard | September 15, 2005, 10:47pm | #

ha!

The Wine Commonsewer | September 15, 2005, 10:51pm | #

Stan, that gets a nomination for best sentence of the day.

I'm gonna quote you mice elf. Might even plagerize it.

John | September 15, 2005, 11:06pm | #

I agree with you Shannon. The problem is that I am not sure anyone would pay any attention to the ratings.

Ken Layne | September 15, 2005, 11:24pm | #

A good speech? Sounded like the same old power-mad clueless bullshit to me. It's a good thing that sonofabitch had all of Jackson Square cleared of any human life before he landed to further debase New Orleans ... I imagine there are a few people in those parts who don't take kindly to such propaganda stunts in a city still filled with poison water and corpses.

Oh, and how exactly are the people without phones or electricity or Internet service supposed to call his stupid toll-free number or visit whatever web site they were pushing tonight?

SP | September 15, 2005, 11:28pm | #

I liked the part where he said:

"The United States doesn't own any cities. See, sometimes individual citizens voluntarily gather on a specific geographic site. They'll build things there, make up a name for the site, stuff like that.

"Now, that's cool and everything. But the rest of us don't really have anything to do with it. We're just individual citizens, too, with our own lives. Some of us have gathered on other sites, where we've built things and assigned them names, et cetera et cetera. Some of us don't gather with other individuals at all, just doing our thang on our own little sites.

"So what I'm trying to say is that I am not going to force individuals to support other individuals. Don't get me wrong -- it's really neat that many individuals have chosen to assist the individuals who'd been gathered on the site known by the name 'New Orleans.' I think it's -- what? -- like, $700 million that they've voluntarily dished up? That really is awesome.

"But good God, I can't just take money from my fellow citizens to arbitrarily give to some other citizens. Are you kidding? I mean, I'm merely a citizen myself. I'm not a thief -- I can't just go around stealing people's money. I realize we've come to think of the United States as a single entity, but it's actually just a bunch of individuals.

"Y'all see what I'm getting at, right? Please, give to your heart's content. I encourage you to donate whatever you can. But I'm not going to steal money from you to rebuild stuff on this one arbitrary site where some individuals just happened to voluntarily gather.

"And let me tell you, even if it were proper for me to steal money to rebuild arbitrary sites, I sure wouldn't mess with this one. The place is a valley right next to a sea! Dig that loony idea -- spending your money to reconstruct a place that is essentially guaranteed to be wiped out again! I mean, what the hell?!"

That part was awesome.

Neb Okla | September 15, 2005, 11:32pm | #

It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.

Sorry, that should have read:
It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater personal authority and a broader role for Wal-Mart -- the institution of our industry most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.

Ted Price | September 15, 2005, 11:46pm | #

Dubya stole so many plays out of the Libertarian Handbook and then fucked it all up with that military shit --- besides that: He sounded like a desciple of Mrs. Rand

Hakluyt | September 15, 2005, 11:52pm | #

Boring speech.

The Wine Commonsewer | September 15, 2005, 11:56pm | #

In 50 billion years the sun will burn out, the earth will become a giant ball of ice, and none of this will matter.

Kahn | September 15, 2005, 11:58pm | #

I'm going to time-travel back and veto (v-e-t-o, I think) that sumbitch... Short of that,we're reduced to finding comfort in a president demonstrating that he cares

What the hell do you expect? This is a democracy. Or so they seem to be saying in all the public schools now days.

This, friends and neighbors, is the ultimate problem with democracy. You say and do whatever gets you more votes, and all else be damned.

How many waves of suicidal congressmen do you suppose it would take to turn things back towards a rational direction? I think many one-termers, in the House. The MSM would merrily see them crucified, for it would sell.

We have far better ideas about how to make the world work economically than we do politically.

The Kid | September 16, 2005, 12:04am | #

Ted -

The Wall Street Journal has done a great job documenting the priceless contributions private enterprise -- Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and others -- made (more below). But the DOD has the heavy lift capability -- land, sea, and air -- for immediate rescue operations and to clear the way for everyone else. They also have lots of guns just in case.

Here?s an excerpt from one WSJ report:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, through its non-profit Center for Corporate Citizenship, became a clearinghouse, fielding calls from many of its 3,000 state and local organizations and compiling lists of needed supplies.

By the weekend the Chamber's CCC was turbo-charging a new computer program, designed by tech firm i2, which served as a kind of bridal registry for needed relief supplies. Each donor company indicated what order it would fill, avoiding duplication or delay. IBM got to work on a computerized job bank to help place those who'd lost work. The American Trucking Association set up a Web site to update everyone on road conditions.

Companies then focused on doing what each did best. In some cases it was simply ramping up operations, as with Black & Decker, whose employees worked Labor Day weekend to churn out extra generators. In other cases, it was firms using their modern logistical skills to get into hard hit areas. FedEx and other delivery companies used computer systems with designed-in flexibility to reroute vehicles and adjust flights to get in aid. FedEx has already moved more than 100 tons of relief supplies.

Wal-Mart mined its vast databases of past purchases to compile lists of goods most desired after a hurricane. (Among the top items? Strawberry pop tarts.) Because of its advance logistics planning, the big retail chain was able to quickly move in to devastated areas with mini Wal-Marts to hand out goods. Other firms leveraged similar supply-chain capabilities; Pfizer dispensed pharmaceuticals via Wal-Mart and other retailers. "What companies do is solve problems," says Johanna Schneider, an executive director at the Business Roundtable.

T Bone | September 16, 2005, 12:18am | #

TWC:

Sorry to say, we've only got 5 billion left.

The Kid | September 16, 2005, 12:28am | #

Wow, 5 billion years?

Thanks, I was worried for a bit. I thought it was only 5 million years.

AST | September 16, 2005, 12:48am | #

I think that the feds should help secure the port of New Orleans and its petroleum and gas industry because they are essential to the country's economy. As for the rest of the city, I wouldn't rebuild it. It would make more sense to built a city on stilts in Lake Ponchartrain than to rebuild in a sump. If people want to live there, they should pay for it themselves, but the attitude that was displayed by the city and state governments in this catastrophe was irresponsible.
Why reward it?

I've been a big supporter of George Bush, but I really don't like the idea of going further into debt just to rebuild a place that shouldn't have been inhabited in the first place. Netherlands lives below sea level, but it doesn't get Category 5 hurricanes, and when it got flooded in the 1950s it didn't ask the rest of Europe fo foot the bill. It built a sea wall to prevent such disasters in future.

To the extent rebuilding makes sense, the city's port and industries can pay for it themselves. For the rest, they could rebuild the whole French Quarter in Las Vegas and never have to worry about levees or hurricanes again. It's not good planning or good economics to build in a place where you have to pump your sewage uphill, especially when the whole vicinity is continuing to sink. The rest of the nation has shown its willingness to help the stranded and to help the displaced reestablish themselves, but to ask it to put the city back the way it was is an insult.

Kahn | September 16, 2005, 1:11am | #

Correction. In principle we know what to do about government (limit it) just as we know what to do about economics (basically stay out of it).

The problem I'm getting at is, how do we implement a system that doesn't spontaneously self destruct with age?


The Common Wino says don't sweat it, the sun is burning out anyway.

Stevo Darkly | September 16, 2005, 1:14am | #

I also find it enduringly interesting that Kanye West really did seem to get under Dubya's skin.

This is how those rapper feuds get started. I heard that when Dubya releases his next CD around Christmas, he will devote the first track to a severe smackdown of West.

mediageek | September 16, 2005, 1:19am | #

I caught the last half or so of it on the radio on my way home. W seems to be at his public-speaking best when speaking after some horrendous disaster.

Bush has always struck me as being honestly sincere in what he says, even if it is devoid of the awwwwshucks charisma of Clinton.

I have to disagree with Zero Boss about the speech being light on details. He touched on a number of plans and programs that would be instituted as a result of the Katrina disaster. Of course, he didn't go into details* but such speeches aren't meant to get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of making sure you have Form 3452-A filled out in triplicate with blue ink only.

-{shrugs shoulders}-

Ultimately it was more of the same. Soothing tones from the leader of the free world, wrapped in a promise to take care of the problems.

In the end, I couldn't help but suppress a bit of a snicker. A US President making a speech from a lawless city run by heavily armed criminals and gangs, and I was just hoping somewhere off-camera Snake Pliskin was walking away in disgust while hurridly pulling apart a cassette tape.

*After all, did you really think you weren't footing the bill for it?

Dell | September 16, 2005, 1:22am | #

Ted Price, you said "He sounded like a desciple of Mrs. Rand." Please explain.

Dubyemdubya | September 16, 2005, 1:30am | #

I don't care 'bout black people? You the one spreadin' hate
Bitch, I made a sistah my Sec'atary o' State!
YOU made a video callin' sistahs "gold diggas"
YOU made a video that used the word "n-----s"
Hatin', it just ain't a part of my strategery
But you leave me no choice but to hurt your feelin's, G
Just got a blow job from Katrina, doin' the best I can
So y'all can go to hell, West, young man!

(folds arms, looks defiant)

jake | September 16, 2005, 1:31am | #

Shannon Love,
You've got it backwards. The people of Louisiana and New Orleans have been screaming for years for help from the Feds to improve the levees and have been denied again and again. Just last year the Corps of Engineers requested 100 million for improvements and only recieved 42. They'd rather spend 250 million for Alaskan "Highways to Nowhere".

Ammonium | September 16, 2005, 1:38am | #

The result of this disaster is that New Orleans' streets are going to be paved in hundred dollar bills courtesy of the federal government.

Most of the poor probably won't go back to live in a below sea level toxic waste pit. The middle class certainly won't go back. Therefore, all this money is going to go to the politicians and the elites of New Orleans and Louisiana. They'll have their money, their tourist traps, and be rid of all the blacks.

Who needs emergency prevention and mitigation when disaster pays so well?

Jim Walsh | September 16, 2005, 1:55am | #

Barbara Bush: Relocatin' be woikin' so well fo' the homeys...

George W: Woid to yuh muthah...

Greg | September 16, 2005, 1:57am | #

WMW:

Brilliant!

Ammonium | September 16, 2005, 2:10am | #

I've been screaming for years for help from the Feds to buy me a new heating system and have been denied again and again. If I freeze to death, I'm blaming the small government philosophy that has formed in this country during the last 25 years.

At least I've got a $128 million arena in my backyard to keep me happy. I even have a basketball team that I pay millions of dollars a year to play in the empty arena. And you should see my football team! They only cost $186 million to rent for ten years!

big dirigible | September 16, 2005, 2:10am | #

"The people of Louisiana and New Orleans have been screaming for years for help from the Feds to improve the levees and have been denied again and again."

Same problem, just "before" rather than "after."

There's some question as to whether the feds should be the ones to fix NO's problems after the flooding. The same questions apply to the idea of the feds fixing NO's problems before the flooding. Why can't Louisiana build its own damn levees? It failed to do so. This is NOT the fault of the federal government.

Fostering this entitlement mentality among state and city pols - that's another matter.

JB | September 16, 2005, 2:11am | #

" I also find it enduringly interesting that Kanye West really did seem to get under Dubya's skin. "

Oh yeah, I'm sure Dubya bases his policy decisions on taunts from rappers. Snicker guffaw chortle.

Matt, when in a hole the idea isn't to keep digging. Reality really isn't as painful as it seems.

Douglas Fletcher | September 16, 2005, 2:57am | #

Wow, 5 billion years? Thanks, I was worried for a bit. I thought it was only 5 million years.

That's because you're using that free Intelligent Design wristwatch you got at church. I've heard they're having problems getting the decimals straight in those things.

BAI | September 16, 2005, 6:53am | #

Am I the only one who seemed to think that W snuck in his support for scrapping the "Posse Comitatus" principle after he read off the Santa List for all the Welfare State goodie grubbers, rich and poor? Something about the military being the best part of the federal government to deal with disasters like Katrina?

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people on the right have this Tom Clancy phantasm of the U.S. military being a lean, mean, efficiency machine, just like lefties think the military is some great "in loco parentis" socializing force that can make "Boys To Men" through "national service".

Doc | September 16, 2005, 6:58am | #

There must be written on every white board on K-street:

$200 Billion + Karl Rove as Director of Operations for the rebuilding = Profit!

Good thing they're cutting the wages of poor schlubs who will be doing the work. Wouldn't want to minimize profits on this gig.

*sigh*

Gary | September 16, 2005, 7:34am | #

Conservatives Balk As Spending Soars, which is kind of a misleading title from the Wall Street Journal when you have Newt Gingrich proposing a government sponsored enterprise (GSE) to rebuild the Gulf Coast:

Gingrich proposes a Gulf States Redevelopment Corp., backed by the federal government but controlled and regulated by officials in the region, to issue bonds, make loans and grants, provide natural-disaster insurance, raise taxes and finance public works, including levee reconstruction.

"If we do not have a bold set of solutions to propose in the next week or two, the left will propose a huge government run bureaucratic rebuilding program with maximum welfare and minimum progress," Mr. Gingrich wrote in an email to conservative Republican senators.

Yet no less and eminence than Alan Greenspan just panned the GSE model, citing the undue (moral hazard) risks they take, underwritten by implicit government guarantees. The 'too big to fail' systemic risks they impose, while not technically speaking "huge government run bureaucratic" programmes, should still be abhorred by libertarians and small-government conservatives, who would loth seeing the creation of yet another pernicious special-interest lobbying group that would inevitably arise to keep alive a 'GSRC'well beyond what is was made for -- zombies, they're an invasive species, hard to kill.

Gary | September 16, 2005, 7:52am | #

Although you could also argue that the Federal Reserve itself is a GSE than can print its own money -- no less -- and that Greenspan is a hypocrite (or Randian turncoat, if you will).

James | September 16, 2005, 8:17am | #

New Orleans is going to become a huge battleground in the eminent domian wars. Maxine Waters isn't going to allow wetland buffers to be made out of black neighborhoods, even if the public benefit is obvious. Expect congressional movement on an amendment to restrict ED in the very near future.

Matt | September 16, 2005, 8:48am | #

Oh yeah, I'm sure Dubya bases his policy decisions on taunts from rappers. Snicker guffaw chortle.

JB, did you read the Larry King Transcript, G.H.W. Bush mentions it specfically.

BAI | September 16, 2005, 9:31am | #

JB, did you read the Larry King Transcript, G.H.W. Bush mentions it specfically.

Okay, we'll get Jay-Z to do the Eazy E thing and give $10,000 to the president, and then wait for Kanye's mix of "No Vaseline" ....

bushwhacked | September 16, 2005, 9:36am | #

It's so pathetic to hear Poppy Bush come out crying about how the media is not treating his son fairly. Cry me a river George.

Aren't you the guy who slandered a competitor with Willie Horton and the pledge of allegiance?

mitch | September 16, 2005, 9:48am | #

If you ever doubt how powerful advertising is, just consider that people remember the name "Willie Horton" more easily than they do "Michael Dukakis."

Timothy | September 16, 2005, 9:56am | #

Thanks, I was worried for a bit. I thought it was only 5 million years.

Nice Carl Sagan reference, there.

FDR | September 16, 2005, 10:00am | #

Guns or Butter?

Rick Barton | September 16, 2005, 10:01am | #

What a disaster! Spend Spend Spend, Control Control Control, "a broader role for the armed forces". Inside our borders??! Bush is no conservative-Not even close. He's a big spending liberal with fascistic leanings.

Jason Ligon | September 16, 2005, 10:01am | #

I'm going to be bitter and cynical here. Disasters that disproportionately affect the poor are the left's version of the terrorist attack on an American city. Just as the environment after 9/11 made it difficult for civil libertarians who were all too easily dismissed as anti American, we will now be facing charges of being racist and hating poor people for the next two years because we don't believe the welfare reform act had anything to do with Katrina's impact.

Every Democrat was a hawk through the end of 2002 and every Republican will be a welfare pimp through the end of 2006 at a minimum. There will be no rational discussion about this at all. We will throw bazillions into reconstruction that makes no sense. We will subsidize more and nicer housing below the flood plain. We will give HUD a ton of money for no good reason. I heard Barney Frank talk about repealing the Welfare Reform Act. The next election will be the nastiest since, well, the last one.

Question: What sort of disaster would help libertarians in this way?

John | September 16, 2005, 10:02am | #

When you run the numbers, that $200 billion is enough to cut a check for over $180,000 to every man, woman, and child counted in the 1.1 million evacuees.

I say just cut them a check for half that, end the operation, and be done with it.

Because you just KNOW that, after paying the payroll of through the dozens of levels of red-tape bureaucrats, the evacuees won't get a TENTH that amount.

Jason Ligon | September 16, 2005, 10:05am | #

Also, contra Rick Barton's general gist, there is no conservative willing to get the boot because he votes against black people stranded on their roofs. Statism feeds on this kind of crisis, and all we can hope for is that attempts to make an FDR style revolution out of it will be hamstrung by political incompetence and opposing interests.

Cliff | September 16, 2005, 10:05am | #

I think trillion is the new billion.

Rick Barton | September 16, 2005, 10:07am | #

The only good part was the urban homesteading act proposal. But bush might put some big government control spin into it. Like his education programs-more control from DC.

Rick Barton | September 16, 2005, 10:16am | #

Jason,

The political considerations not withstanding, I don't consider that contra my sentiments. I agree that statism feeds on this kind of crisis.

ralphus | September 16, 2005, 10:20am | #

Snake Pliskin? I thought he was dead?

Dave W. | September 16, 2005, 11:13am | #

If you ever doubt how powerful advertising is, just consider that people remember the name "Willie Horton" more easily than they do "Michael Dukakis."

Maybe people just remember interesting people more than non-interesting ones.

Jon H | September 16, 2005, 11:34am | #

Bush missed his opportunity to make New Orleans the first 21st century city: Put a dome on it!

Come on, this is the future, we need to have big honkin' transparent-domed cities.

Now, granted, eventually, the whole damn dome will sink into the muck, taking the city with it, but still, it'd be awesome.

Jon H | September 16, 2005, 11:35am | #

"The only good part was the urban homesteading act proposal. But bush might put some big government control spin into it. Like his education programs-more control from DC."

Or, worse, maybe it'll be done through religious organizations, who'll make sure only the right kind of people can participate.

The Wine Commonsewer | September 16, 2005, 12:06pm | #

What sort of disaster would help libertarians in this way?

We've had a whole series of disasters. None of them helped.

thoreau | September 16, 2005, 12:13pm | #

What sort of disaster would help libertarians in this way?

If enough people at all levels of power were simultaneously caught with their hands in enough cookie jars then that would prompt big changes.

But dramatic things like that don't happen in real life.

Will Allen | September 16, 2005, 12:14pm | #

John has the best idea, although I'd just round it up to an even 100k for each person, and be done with it. Think of what a great, short, speech that would make; it'd make the Gettysburg Address seem drawn-out...

"A huge storm rolled in two weeks ago, and a lot of stuff was wrecked. Everybody in the region will get a hundred grand. Good night!

...you could even work with it a little and turn it into haiku! Just think what the Geroge W. Bush Memorial on The Mall would look like!

Xellos | September 16, 2005, 12:15pm | #

--"A US President making a speech from a lawless city run by heavily armed criminals and gangs"

You mean, just like all the ones he makes in DC?

Stevo Darkly | September 16, 2005, 12:53pm | #

Wow, this thread is hot!

"A huge storm rolled in two weeks ago, and a lot of stuff was wrecked. Everybody in the region will get a hundred grand. Good night!

...you could even work with it a little and turn it into haiku!

A bad storm blew in
New Orleans was wrecked, but good
Hundred grand for all

Dave W. | September 16, 2005, 1:34pm | #

Doesn't sound like Bush is ceding control of the levees to me.

Pro Libertate | September 16, 2005, 1:41pm | #

Actually, it turns out that France did not disclose the inherent defect in New Orleans when it sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States. As a result, we plan to use our legal might to wring justice--and $200 billion--from the French.

The good news is that if we win and are able to force France to pay our attorneys' fees, well, there's no way the French will be able to pay. Then we can convert France into one big theme park: Franceland or, perhaps, Gaulliworld.

Douglas Fletcher | September 16, 2005, 1:44pm | #

If you ever doubt how powerful advertising is, just consider that people remember the name "Willie Horton" more easily than they do "Michael Dukakis."

Dukakis was a pretty bland politician, whereas who can ever forget da boogie man. I don't know how much that has to do with advertising.

Pro Libertate | September 16, 2005, 1:47pm | #

In related news, China--inspired by Kuwait's $500 million in-kind donation of oil to the U.S.--has pledged a $1 billion donation of beads to the Big Easy. In a message thanking the Chinese for their generious donation, Reason commenter Gaius Marius reportedly said, Monstra mihi tuum mammis.

JAG | September 16, 2005, 1:48pm | #

"Aren't you the guy who slandered a competitor with Willie Horton and the pledge of allegiance?"

Willie Horton originated with Al Gore in the primaries....look it up.

Pro Libertate | September 16, 2005, 1:49pm | #

"Generious" meaning, really, really, generous :)

Pig Mannix | September 16, 2005, 2:05pm | #

...and now this

stubby | September 16, 2005, 2:11pm | #

Just to stick up for Babs Bush a little bit...the way she said it was typically rich-white-clueless-grandma-clumsy, but her point is basically true. If you're poor and black, Houston is better than New Orleans. Better housing, better transit, better chance at finding a job, better public schools (sad but true), less violent crime, less naked, institutionalized racism...better all the way around. New Orleans was not a nice place to be poor, and especially not a nice place to be poor and black.

And yes, I have actually talked to some of the Super Dome/Convention Center evacuees about this.

Larry A | September 16, 2005, 2:47pm | #

It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.

Actually, I agree. <shock>
Note the limiting phrase, "the institution of our government most capable..." Given recent evidence, that's undeniable, even if the Army and Marines have to respond from the other side of the world.OTOH logistical operations aren't that mysterious. The real question here should be why FEMA can't get its act together to the point where it can provide assistance within--say--a week after the insurance companies have adjustors on the ground settling claims.

joe | September 16, 2005, 3:37pm | #

Pro Libertade -

I fomehow doubt that thif home infpection will ftand up in court.

joe | September 16, 2005, 3:42pm | #

JAG,

"Willie Horton originated with Al Gore in the primaries....look it up."

And when you look it up, you will discover that Al Gore never mentioned Willie Horton's name or showed picture, or that of any other criminal, when criticizing The Duke's prison furlough program. Not. A. Single. Time.

That is the difference between discussing an issue, and exploiting to frighten people with pictures of a scary black man.

Pro Libertate | September 16, 2005, 4:11pm | #

Alaf, joe :)

Of course, it all depends just what court we bring suit in, doesn't it? A creative lawyer might point out, too, that we actually already own France. See World Wars I and II; also see Johnson v. McIntosh, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 543, 5 L. Ed. 681 (1823). I think you'll like this case, joe, where John Marshall expounds on the right of conquest:

Conquest gives a title which the Courts of the conqueror cannot deny, whatever the private and speculative opinions of individuals may be, respecting the original justice of the claim which has been successfully asserted. The British government, which was then our government, and whose rights have passed to the United States, asserted title to all the lands occupied by Indians, within the chartered limits of the British colonies. It asserted also a limited sovereignty over them, and the exclusive right of extinguishing the title which occupancy gave to them. These claims have been maintained and established as far west as the river Mississippi, by the sword. The title *589 to a vast portion of the lands we now hold, originates in them. It is not for the Courts of this country to question the validity of this title, or to sustain one which is incompatible with it.

Obviously, since we conquered France (then held in fee simple by Germany) during the Second World War, U.S. legal precedent clearly indicates that we own it. Ain't law fun? If I get appointed to the Supreme Court, perhaps I will say that the official language of the U.S. is Swedish.

jc | September 16, 2005, 4:51pm | #

If you think that was a good speech, then you'll love this new 5-blade razor!

Johnny | September 16, 2005, 4:51pm | #

When Matt posted "Lay down your farms" over how he was inspired by a Bush speech, I instead wondered where the palmed card was, now we know.

Bush's answer to sending in the fireman several days late? Armed Super-Fireman of the New Homeland Republic.

See how neatly he palmed that card.

[e-mail] | September 16, 2005, 9:51pm | #

When is Reason going to fire Welch? This is ridiculous. Yes, the Transportation Bill should be veto? But why does Welch think dumping $200 billion into the Gulf region to "rebuild" it is the proper function of government?

tony | September 17, 2005, 3:04am | #

123,

wtf are you talking about?

"yes, the transportation bill should be veto?"

pick one or the other: crack smoking on friday night, or commenting on the web.

The Other Willie Horton | September 17, 2005, 12:18pm | #

What about me? 4 time all-star, key contributor to the Tiger's '68 Series win, on the Wall of Fame at Comerica Park. This really sucks!

JAG | September 17, 2005, 2:26pm | #

joe,

Apparently you believe the fiction that, after using the example of Willie Horton in a debate, no newspaper was going to look it up and give the details.

Dukakis pardon tons of people, no doubt a number of white guys went on to do similarly egregious crimes. Why didn't Gore find one like that? You really believe that Gore's people didn't know EXACTLY what they were doing?

How naive are you?

Were the Bush people being just as cynical as Gore? I don't doubt it. But Gore did whatever "dirty" work was needed, FIRST.
He opened a racist door and only someone hopelessly blind can't see where Gore HOPED it would lead.

joe | September 18, 2005, 9:45pm | #

I guess some of us grasp the obvious difference between discussing a criminal justice policy in a debate, and having an ad full of pictures of dark skinned "criminal types" running in front of people's eyes, and some of us don't.