Still There But Forgotten

The anticipation was palpable. Journalists and bloggers rubbed their hands with glee. Here's an example of a headline touting the event to be:

"ROAD TRIP
Take one FEMA trailer, add an impassioned man: Washington is about to get shaken up
Saturday, August 19, 2006
By Bob WarrenSt. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau"
Welllllllll....not shaken, not even stirred, just a nice warm kiss to the butt (I think a little tongue even) Read on:
Remember hurricane Katrina? About a year ago in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast??....The devastation.....slow government response???....yeah, that's the one! Well one man named Rockey Vaccarella who lost everything (including a son) to the storm has garnered a lot of attention of late for schlepping all the way to Washington in a FEMA style trailer with hopes of meeting with the president and reminding him of his obligation to help those thousands who still suffer. I figured there was no way Bush or his people would let this guy in the front gate. If you want to talk about bad PR seeing some unshaven prole reprimanding the commander-in-chief with elections on the horizon is a classic non-starter......then again.....not seeing him could have looked even worse so a meeting was hastily arranged. I've got to hand it to the presidential staff. They sized up this guy in a second and realized that he'd make Bush look like a magnanimous genius rather than a buffoonish slacker and that he did. The two men ambled out (amiably) after their tete-a-tete to address the nation and Bush let fly with a few platitudes along the lines of "We understand your desperation but it's only been a year....this will take a long time." (Ground zero was all tidied up after a year. Why are there still shrimp boats on peoples balconies ?)
Up next was Rockey...his moment in the sun...the hopes and prayers of the multitudes riding along with him in that trailer. He thanked the president profusely for the "millions of trailers" (many are still without) with color TV and toilets and such and then wished publicly that Bush could have another 4 years to continue the job that only he can do so well. I saw this on CNN I swear!! Oh yeah...he also asked Bush to not forget about all the good and long suffering people of the Gulf Coast region.
What the hell happened in the oval office? Did an aide slip something into Rockey's drink? Was the grandeur of the White House so overwhelming that he crumbled like a paper thin slice of Greek feta? We'll never know for sure but I bet the powers that be wish they had a Rockey type shill to trot out for all their other problems... Irockey perhaps:
"We wish to thank and praise President Bush for bringing to us the democracy and urge him to stay to course! I speak to survivors in what's left of market and they all agree!! Four more years!!"