I recently was forwarded a Michael Reagan article which can be found here:

http://www.caglecartoons.com/previewColumn.asp?columnID={50CC027C-8670-473A-BC0B-77277387F06E}


And I decided to write him an open letter. Forward this around if you feel the need. It is very long though, so be warned.

-- DECONSTRUCTING MICHAEL REAGAN --

Dear Mr. Michael Reagan;

Forget the war in Iraq. Forget gay marriage. Forget Michael Moore. Forget abortion, stem cells, and tax cuts. We've all read blogs, articles, and political cartoons bashing the President in every move he makes, justified or not. I'll admit, I'm one of those. I have my reasons. But recently, I read your article entitled "Will Somebody Say Thank You?" bashing liberals for their criticism of the President during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This article was awfully critical of liberals, and awfully optimistic of how the President is handling this disaster. So, with that as my inspiration, I am going to tell you exactly why George W. Bush screwed up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and it has absolutely nothing to do with anything he's done in the past. When Fox News, Tucker Carlson, and Newt Gingrich all have some bad things to say about you - something went wrong.

First and foremost, "Will Somebody Say Thank You?" is a fallacious argument. The other day, I found an old, dusty book I used in my second or third semester of college in a philosophy class. According to this book (The Elements of Reasoning by David A. Conway, if you're actually interested) - your article is actually full of logical fallacies! One of them is the False Dilemma fallacy, in which "we are faced with choosing between two alternatives - both of which are exhaustive and exclusive...nothing exists outside of the alternatives of these alternatives". Take, for example, a quote from your article:

"These liberal scoundrels don't have it in them to thank those police, firemen, National Guardsmen, regular army soldiers, relief workers from FEMA and the Red Cross and all the others and the people in the Bush administration whose efforts are above and far beyond the call of duty.

They are too busy looking for the motes in the administration's eyes to see the huge planks in their own.

All together now, let's hear it: "Thank you President Bush, thank you Harry Connick Jr., thank you police and firemen and National Guardsmen and members of the Red Cross and Salvation Army and all you other heroes."

I understand this is an opinion piece - but has it ever occurred to you that these two things aren't exactly exclusive? Can't one be looking for the holes in what happened with this administration and also thank the police, firemen, Harry Connick Jr., etc.? Or, can one thank all those OTHER people without having to thank President Bush? Mr. Reagan, you seem to be saying you either thank the President, or are a "liberal scoundrel" who only looks for someone to blame. In addition to this being an obvious example of the False Dilemma fallacy, it is also an example of "slippery slope" logic. I'm sure you're aware of what a slippery slope is, but if not - in short - it is when one might say that a practice should not be initiated because it would lead to or encourage a more extreme practice. Again, I realize this is your opinion - but logic does come into opinions, and you seemed to disregard that.

Another one of your points is that liberals look to blame someone rather than try to lend a helping hand themselves. Celebrities, you argue, will use their status in society as a soapbox and will bash the President at any given time. The crown jewel in your argument is Sean Penn, an Academy Award winning actor who spent an entire day literally waist deep in the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina. You said, and I quote:

"Hollywood celebrity Sean Penn raced to New Orleans with his leaky boat in what became a Keystone Kops effort to rescue flood-stranded victims. He failed, but the cameras were there to record for posterity his gallantry in coming to their aid. Having lost that photo op, he launched into his usual leftist rhetoric to castigate the president, accusing the administration of criminal negligence, while his boat's engine sputtered to a stop."

Well, that's interesting Mr. Reagan...because according to the New York Daily News and presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, Penn did anything BUT fail. According to Brinkley, he personally "witnessed rescue up to 40 people" and that he "wasn't going to comment on Penn's trips to Iraq and Iran, but in this case, he is an American hero". Fascinating! Looks like Brinkley, a well respected author, separated the politics from the person. Brinkley also dismissed the "leaky boat" comment - but hey, who can believe that guy, right? I mean, he only accompanied Penn on his heroic quest to rescue the people of New Orleans. Some say that celebrities are using Hurricane Katrina as a soapbox; to talk about their political beliefs. Short of Kanye West, there hasn't been much press of celebrities doing anything of the sort. I'm not saying it hasn't happened - I'm sure it has - but there isn't much press time for it right now. Regardless, it is in poor taste to bash a guy like Sean Penn for doing something heroic. Plenty of celebrities have pitched in, had photo ops, etc. - but haven't received half of the criticism Sean Penn has because he is outspoken in his politics. It just makes me wonder about the multitudes you must have done for these victims in order to criticize a guy like Sean Penn for doing so little.

In the latest Time magazine, there is an article on how Bush will recover from this whole thing. I know you're a big Bush supporter, but this is going to be a tremendous black eye on Bush's political legacy. A man who reinvented himself in the aftermath of 9/11 is re-reinventing himself in the aftermath of another human tragedy. First and foremost, Bush said in his Wednesday addressing of the crisis that he didn't "think anybody expected" the New Orleans levees to give way. I won't bore you with the fact that scientists have been warning about what a category five hurricane could do to the Gulf Coast since at least the year 2000, but Bush and/or his advisers dropped the ball on that speech. Even former Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "I think there have been a lot of failures at a lot of levels --- local, state and federal" and went on to say "There was more than enough warning over time about the dangers to New Orleans. Not enough was done. I don't think advantage was taken of the time that was available to us, and I just don't know why". What a liberal scoundrel, that Colin Powell.

Another point you bring to the table, Mr. Reagan, is that, while "these bozos" were criticizing the President, huge caravans of trucks with food and other vital supplies were on their way to the Gulf Coast - and that we should thank the President for doing such a great job in getting them there. It's funny you should say that, Mr. Reagan. For a minute, I'm just going to ignore the throngs of people I saw begging for food on television and just go with the facts: those people didn't get food for days. DAYS! This might be tough for you to empathize with, Mr. Reagan, but I'm pretty sure those displaced weren't going to thank Bush for eventually getting food to them, and so I certainly won't either. I mean, former FEMA director Michael D. Brown acknowledged that the government "didn't know" about all those poor people in the Superdome didn't have anything in terms of supplies for days. I guess Mr. Brown didn't have a television - because I certainly knew. But hey, Bush said "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." - so I guess I should just go with it, but a few days after that, Brown was fired! I guess the crowning achievement on his resume (commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association) didn't exactly qualify him for such a job as he used to have. I can't fault him though - he's friends with the President, and I'm sure that FEMA job is pretty laid back more often than now. Now, I can hear you and your conservative friends ready to scream, "Every President appoints his friends to high positions!" or their favorite mantra, "Clinton did it!" - and you know what? They'd be right. But that doesn't mean it's okay, and it certainly doesn't take away from anyone's ability or duty to call them out on it.

Mr. Reagan, your article was one that, quite honestly, was in poor taste. Actually, I think only you, Dick Cheney, and Bush himself are the only ones publicly saying that Bush did a fine job in leading this country post-Katrina. I mean, hey - Bush's approval rating just dropped below 40% as I write this. People are angry. People are upset. People are living under a guy who is not providing leadership qualities in a time where this country desperately needs some. This is the single largest natural disaster in the history of the United States, and I suppose we are to thank the President for cutting his vacation short to fly over the damage in the Gulf Coast (only visiting after four days and lots of public outcry). This is not a partisan issue, Mr. Reagan - this is about people. You like to title your pieces "Making Sense" - but you did nothing of the sort in your latest article.

Sincerely,

Ryan Moran