OK, there are a lot of reasons one can “blame Bush” for how bad things are in the New Orleans flood. Levee funds were specifically slashed, specifically to free up funds for Iraq and “Homeland Security.” Mike Parker, former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, was forced to retire for questioning the reduction of flood control funding, etc, etc.
But you know, I don’t think anything that amounts to “this proves Bush is a horrible president and the people who voted for him are stupid” is not going to help anyone. It will put Republicans on the defensive (understandably enough) and it will be a battle of spin.
I’d like it if this sort of thing was taken as a reason to concentrate our funds on planning to take care of people in the event of trouble, and taking the long view and preventing future problems, and helping the poorest of America to the point where we don’t have a city full of people living paycheck to paycheck and therefore unable to evacuate. Or modifying the American infrastructure to a point where it provides for people without respect for their economic status — good public transportation on a national scale, which is pressed into service in emergencies for evacuations and the like.
That’s what I’d like to see.
I know you’re not a big fan of Drudge, but he had an interesting quote from the Louisiana disaster plan which stated that municipal and school buses would be used as a means of evacuation for those without a private vehicle. I imagine it will be interesting to see what decisions where made following this disaster and I’m sure much will be learned. It may turn out that disaster response is much like a battle: no plan survives contact with the enemy.
I’ll check that out. Apparently that plan never happened. :(
Rove must be tittering with glee right now. Between the supreme court and Katrina… no one is even thinking about the Plame case.
Well, honestly, the Plame case is pretty trivial shit next to the loss of a city and the deaths of thousands. I’d be more worried if people couldn’t be bothered to think about New Orleans because they were preoccupied with the Plame case.
I think the thing that saddens me is something brought up on other blogs and another bbs I’m on. This was Vaterland .. urr … Homeland Security’s big thing. If a terrorist attack comes, something big, something huge, they won’t even have the 24 hours or so warning backed by ten years or so of people predicting it eventually. It will just happen, poof!, you know what I mean?
So this was it. It was a big huge disaster, terrorist or no, it is a great big emergency, and it takes them what … three-five days to get food and water to people? I’m not even angry, though I should be. I’m just really saddened, depressed to think about what might happen if a big attack ever comes, because this was, in essence, what Homeland was teling us they were all about, preparing and planning for this shit. And they botched it, bigtime. I mean, your best plan is to shuffle people between sports arenas? Your best plans involve dicking around with doctors, in specially designed mobile hospital vehicles, who want to come help, but can’t because when they actually get near, they’re tied up in bureaucratic bullshit and can’t actually get to help people? And by near I mean like fifty miles away, at most.
This is what people aren’t getting. Sure, it was huge, maybe even bigger than anything any terrorist could dream up, in terms of numbers of people affected. But there are things that could be done right now, that no, won’t magically help everybody, but they’d start helping. And that’s not happening, why? Damn. I need to go read that story about the violinist again.
my government seems to be disappointing me a hell of a lot lately. Maybe it’s stupid, maybe it’s naive, but I honestly believe in that mythology we get in school, the ideals of the Constitution and all that. Even if we had to mess with them regarding slavery and women, and it took us a hell of a long time, I’d like to think those are the ideals we’re supposed to be shooting for, that we really can be that great country, or something close to it, if we try. But then, I’m reminded of what my very cynical friend said right after 9/11. It was great, he said, to see everybody coming together. Hell, it moved even him, and we’re talking about a guy who half-jokingly says that he thinks the collapse of civilization would be a great thing to see. Then he got depressed again, because it almost immediately degenerated into targetting foreign-looking people, attacks on mosques, and the like. Heh, I’m just a bundle of joy, ain’t?