While I do view my self as a liberal, or as time goes by more accurately, a progressive, I try to understand the points of view of those who call themselves conservatives. In fact I have some very close friends who are conservative whose opinions I deeply respect, and often they serve as compass so I don’t get caught too deep in the left’s own rhetoric. And I hope that sometimes I serve as their compass when the similar is true.

But no matter how sure and steady the compass, nothing could steer us around the comments made today by former first lady Barbara Bush when touring the hurricane relief centers in Houston. And no amount of sugar coating and cries of pulling quotes out of context can diminish their impact.

Barbara Bush said and I quote:

“And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckles) — this is working very well for them.”

An MP3 of the quote can be heard here.

Her words speak volumes, matched only by the deafening silence of our elected officials (on both sides of the aisle) where outrage is replaced with self-congratulation and gratuitous backslapping. The under current that runs beneath her words reflects a broader view I am both simultaneously reluctant and angered to acknowledge, and I refuse to allow her words to be easily excused by either age or station.

But this is only the latest in a string of embarrassing comments made by both sides over the last several days. And I am certain it won’t be the last. It is no way to honor those who have died and those who struggle even now. Only the great citizens of our country who are opening, the hearts, homes and pocketbooks honor them, with or without trotting out George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton in the relief effort. Perhaps if our government had been better prepared it wouldn’t have been necessary to bring former presidents out of retirement.

—

With regards to my previous post….

I admit that my previous comments about the aftermath of Katrina may have been posted too soon, the disaster and the sense of loss more than most could cope with. But I posted it in the idea of those of us who could not directly contribute to the relief effort, could at least begin to analyze and perhaps question how it was handled. We owe nothing less to those who have passed on.