Thursday, September 01, 2005

 

Just how stupid are they?

Sidney Blumenthal, Bushologist and former Clinton advisor, has written an illuminating article that suggests a connection between the devastation of New Orleans and a known practice of the Bush administration: the trumping of science by ideology, or (as characterized last year by a scientific group including 20 Nobelists) "the distortion of scientific knowledge for partisan political ends."

Acting for "partisan political ends" would include kowtowing to the Christo-Republicans. But overall the scientists were too kind in their characterization. Many decisions of the Bushniks are motivated by simple greed, abetted by meanness and stupidity.

Here's a timeline of hurricane-related decisions that I've extracted from Blumenthal's findings—

Blumenthal's point overall is what I call the "neo-medieval" mindset of this administration. He gives a number of fine examples from the past two weeks—

If the Cheney administration can accomplish all that in just two weeks, imagine what they can do between now and January 2009.

Follow-up post
FEMA. It's time to point the finger (9/2/05)

Footnote

1The announcement of an indefinite postponement of a decision was in the face of an earlier promise to make a decision by September 1. The FDA's action—or lack thereof—brought with it the resignation of one of its top bureaucrats.

According to Kristen Gerencher in Marketwatch,

Susan F. Wood, assistant commissioner for women's health and director of the Office of Women's Health at FDA, stepped down in protest.

"The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health," Wood wrote in an email that was later made public.

"I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled."

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