Pounded by the hurricane but finished off by the government
Trapped in Katrina's aftermath by George's emergency management
Stranded on the rooftops are the people left for dead
Waving franticly to their leader, who's flying safely overhead
He's been too busy raising money for his own political gain
To throw the city a lifeline when it's sinking down the drain
So the supplies supposedly on route meet another inexplicable delay
The rising tide of bureaucracy has washed all hope away
Flooded with bureaucracy
Flooded with the lies
Flooded with excuses as the political damage starts to rise
Wading through the politics
Wading through the culpable
Wading through the talking points that defend those most responsible
Submerged under the failure
Submerged under inaction
Submerged under the photo-ops staged as a distraction
Drowned by the incompetence
Drowned by the indifference
Drowned by the government's undisputable negligence
The backdrop is erected and the cameras relay the determination
Of a battered incompetent president looking to stop the devastation
Not for the victims but for his own declining ratings
So he parades his presence in front of the nation to initiate the rebuilding
Not of New Orleans but solely for his image
It's only his agenda that he really wants to salvage
Empty promises of endless resources, his absence rationalized
He flies in for his photo-op and afterwards his commitment subsides
Flooded with bureaucracy
Flooded with the lies
Flooded with excuses as the political damage starts to rise
Wading through the politics
Wading through the culpable
Wading through the talking points that defend those most responsible
Submerged under the failure
Submerged under inaction
Submerged under the photo-ops staged as a distraction
Drowned by the incompetence
Drowned by the indifference
Drowned by the government's undisputable negligence
If you are poor
It's time to sink or swim
If you are black
It's time to sink or swim
Those people were forgotten
Those people were stranded
Those people were betrayed
Those people were abandoned
He promised to protect the people but he's abandoned them instead
In terms of Bush's legacy what's another thousand dead?
He rounded up the National Guard to defend American interests in Iraq
When he can't even defend this country against a hurricane's attack
He embraces cronyism and surrounds himself with friends
The unqualified allies that he installed are the only people he defends
A pat on the back for Chertoff and words of praise for Brown
As they all stood idly by and watched an entire city drown
Flooded with bureaucracy
Flooded with the lies
Flooded with excuses as the political damage starts to rise
Wading through the politics
Wading through the culpable
Wading through the talking points that defend those most responsible
Submerged under the failure
Submerged under inaction
Submerged under the photo-ops staged as a distraction
Drowned by the incompetence
Drowned by the indifference
Drowned by the government's undisputable negligence