A monumental shift?

I was thinking about what happened in New Orleans and the repercussions it has had and is still having on this administration and the Republicans in Congress.

I started to think that maybe we are witnessing a monumental shift that will, once again, swing the political pendulum toward us.

The Democrats have been smeared and blasted by the Republicans ever since the Vietnam War fiasco as weak on defense, military-haters, spineless cowards who can't keep the public safe because they don't know how to do it. The Republicans, on the other hand, have always portrayed themselves as the party of the Army, strong and hawkish on defense, the only ones who could protect us from all of America's enemies out there.

That's all a bunch of bull, but a large majority of the population did fall for it and vote Republican every time there was some kind of political crisis that might have required the use of the American military might (like last year.)

Now, however, everybody can see how the Republicans have been feeding the public lettuce selling it as beef and are starting to see and smell the rotten lies. I don't know how effective the GOP can still be in portraying the Democrats as weak on defense and themselves as strong, when we all see the disaster of their response in the face of emergency.

What if this had been a terrorist attack? What if there is a terrorist attack tomorrow? Next week? Next month? I mean, after all, that's what they have been telling us for four years, hammering us with messages like "We will keep you safe; they will let you die!" They are the ones who keep telling us they could (and will) attack us anytime, without warning, and there might be no stopping them (as we have witnessed in London, England, just recently.)

Will the Democrats be smart and quick enough to see and capitalize on this development? Will they be able to take advantage of the crack in the Republican facade? We'll see.

This is what Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, had to say:

This could be a transitional moment for his party. "The Democratic Party needs a new direction," he said. "And I think it's become clear what the direction is: restore a moral purpose to America. Rebuild America's psyche."

"This is deeply disturbing to a lot of Americans, because it's more than thousands of people who get killed; it's about the destruction of the American community," Mr. Dean said. "The idea that somehow government didn't care until it had to for political reasons. It's appalling."

And this is from Senator Evan Bayh:

Their response may have allowed the Democrats to seize the issue that Republicans had hammered them with in the past two elections: national security. "Our government failed at one of the most basic functions it has - providing for the physical safety of our citizens," Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat who is considering a run for president in 2008, declared in a speech on the Senate floor.