A retired comedian knows what Bush does not: "We must help them."

Opening his annual telethon for the MDA, Jerry Lewis spoke of how we must help those stricken by hurricane Katrina and will be setting aside one million dollars to that end.

This is how BushCo wants us to exclusively handle such national disasters.

The Bush administration has let us know by their actions that they're intent upon removing the government from assisting its own citizens when disaster strikes. They plan on privatizing the operations of the government, despite the fact that the government is the only organization large enough to be on the ready and to efficiently handle operations.

This will create--if Americans allow it-- yet another corporate lobby that contributes millions to "re-election" campaigns.

They taught us the lesson by ignoring the warnings and delaying the response in the Gulf Coast States.

As assistance pours in I'm sure there are many who will "think" as the Bush administration does, that Americans can handle these things on their own, as though we were fictional characters created by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They will point to this as "proof". It's what you'd expect from idiots of morality, folks whose mercenary priorities are obvious despite being cloaked in almost reasonable arguments.

Business does not handle everything better and more efficiently than the government.

Business will always be a day late and a dollar short, and we will never be able to vote one out of office when it is a failure. Will we "shop around" for the kind of disaster relief which provides the "best value"?

I won't even get into the implications for fascism inherent in private corporations handling government operations.

The Bush administration must step down, must be impeached, must be made accountable. If you haven't written or called your representatives, put it on your to-do list. And let's all keep it there until our government once again is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

As a postscript: I don't mean to disparage Mr. Lewis by comparing him to George Bush. Lewis made me laugh as a child, and the telethon was watched every year in our household. My father, to the very day he died, was a supporter of various children's charities. And I'm well aware of the controversy that sometimes surrounds the event, so there is no need to enlighten me. :-)

That doesn't sound very "for the people, by the people" to me.

for the shareholders"?