You’re Doing a Heck of a Job, Barry: Louisiana Republicans Blame Obama For Bungled Katrina Response

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

In yet another sign of the apocalypse by ignorance, a recently released poll by Public Policy shows that 29 percent of Louisiana Republicans believe Barack Obama was more responsible than George W. Bush for the inept federal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The poll asked:  “Who do you think was more responsible for the poor response to Hurricane Katrina: George W. Bush or Barack Obama?” The results were startling. Only 28 percent picked the right answer and 44 percent answered “Not sure.” Never mind that at the time of the great storm Barack Obama could only get into the White House by invitation or that he had barely a year under his belt in the U.S. Senate, the state with a quarter of its population being deemed functionally illiterate blames the current President.

Propaganda is the likely culprit.  For years, Louisiana schools taught that the Great Depression was a “socialist myth” created by author John Steinbeck; that the Loch Ness monster is real; the KKK were actually social reformers bent on restoring morality; and that African-Americans can’t read because of communists. Bruce Wilson of Talk To Action has documented that three of the textbook companies — Accelerated Christian Education, A Beka Book, and Bob Jones University Press — have infiltrated Louisiana’s school voucher system with books advancing a conservative, religion-based public school agenda.  This teaching of ignorance seems to have taken hold even among Republicans whose brain-washing is now complete.

Here’s  a preview of the new documentary detailing how taught ignorance is the new weapon in the culture wars:

http://vimeo.com/25670381

And how is the coiner of that epic phrase — “The Party of Stupid” — doing in his own state?  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindral’s popularity is sinking like a rock. In the latest scorecard for shot messengers, Jindral is polling at  28% favorable ratings compared to 59% unfavorable ones. That puts him at the dead bottom in popularity among Republican governors, and second only to Democrat Pat Quinn in Illinois.

Proof, I suppose, that no good deed goes unpunished and that the karma of ignorance is a B-word indeed.

Source: The National Memo

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger