Oh Katrina
About a solid week has passed since Katrina wrecked her devastation upon the Gulf Coast, drowning New Orleans and Mississippi under a flood of water and wind. Then another man made flood, that of incompetence, washed over the area and turned a catastrophe into a catastrophic debacle. And through it all, thousands upon thousands suffered and survived, or suffered and died, many in the most preventable of ways.
This devastation has shown us many things. It has shown us the power of nature, which is still has the ability to dwarf mans greatest works. It has shown us the failure of the government to prepare our nation for emergencies of any sort. It demonstrated that the wall between first world and third countries is largely economic in nature -- and can be torn down in a matter of days. And finally, it has demonstrated the fact that poverty and race are still huge issues that this country needs to deal with.
When the looting started, and national guardsman rolled down the streets in their high water vehicles, pointing guns at desperate men in torn t-shirts, I could not tell the difference between this scene and one I had witnessed on the same news channel a few days ago from Sudan. How does a thing like this happen in the richest country on earth? Possibly because many of our leaders often forget that there are those who are not partaking of this wealth, and that cannot afford the gas to get out of town, even if they did own a car. And sadly, poverty is often accompanied by certain racial characteristics, particularly being black or hispanic.
There have been some really bitter recriminations against local, state, and federal administrators regarding the incompetence with which this situation was handled. The fact that it was incompetently handled should not be up for debate. When we can drop MRE's to places in Baghdad within hours notice, but cannot get them to our own citizens in days, there is incompetence. When the head of FEMA, days after the disaster, does not know there are people starving in the convention center, there is incompetence. When there are Coast Guard ships sitting off the coast with food, water, first aid, that are barred from helping for days, there is incompetence. In fact, the level of incompetence here is astounding. But where exactly does the blame lie?
I know the administrations line: "Don't play the blame game". Bullshit. People died, and we need to hold the people responsible accountable for this. That's what a democracy is all about.
(what a democracy is not about, by the way, is having National Guardsman prohibit the media from photgraphing the dead on the streets of New Orleans so that the public won't know what's going on. And yes, they are doing this). So who is accountable? The mayor ordered the mandatory evacuation of the city, but did so with only 24 hours notice, and did not provide enough buses and transit for the poor to escape. The Governor has prepared the necessary funds, but somehow failed to secure the Louisiana national guard to help the rescue efforts until Day 4. FEMA? I won't even go there. They were utterly useless. And then of course the President, who was still on vacation three days into the disaster, and the vice president who was still on vacation five days into the disaster. Oops.
The mayor, while shouldering some of the blame, does not shoulder much of it. True his orders to evacuate the city came late, but it's actually still unclear that he has the authority to do that. The fact that he took matters in his own hands and ordered the mandatory evacuation is commendable. The fact that he did not provide adequate transportation for everyone to get out is his fault however, and he needs to stand up and be responsible for that. The Governor has done a good job -- she has been one of the most reasonable voices I've heard throughout this whole affair. My only criticism of hers is that she was so preoccupied with evacuations and then with the state budget that she did not spend nearly enough time on getting search and rescue on the ground as quickly as humanly possible. And because of this lives were lost, so don't think that I'm letting her off easily. It was a serious mistake.
However, the majority of the blame lies with the federal government, and with the President. This is for two main reasons: (1) He appointed someone unqualified to head FEMA, and then allowed that organization to fall into disarray. (2) He did not react quickly enough. Now, I know that the President cannot do everything, and of course the majority of the blame here goes to the people heading up the national organization that is specifically charged with making sure that shit like this does not happen. The people in charge of FEMA had no information, no contigency plans, no logistical needs analysis, and no clue. The president also did not react quickly enough -- if he was watching CNN, he would have seen the devastation. In fact he was probably watching it, from his ranch in Texas, in between workout sessions.
As Harry Truman noted when he was president: "The buck stops here". Bush allowed this to happen on his watch, and that will not be forgotten. He is due to visit New Orleans again on the anniversary of 9/11. I think it is the first time when is evocation of that memory will not be enough to hide the truth of his domestic failures in homeland preparedness.
About a solid week has passed since Katrina wrecked her devastation upon the Gulf Coast, drowning New Orleans and Mississippi under a flood of water and wind. Then another man made flood, that of incompetence, washed over the area and turned a catastrophe into a catastrophic debacle. And through it all, thousands upon thousands suffered and survived, or suffered and died, many in the most preventable of ways.
This devastation has shown us many things. It has shown us the power of nature, which is still has the ability to dwarf mans greatest works. It has shown us the failure of the government to prepare our nation for emergencies of any sort. It demonstrated that the wall between first world and third countries is largely economic in nature -- and can be torn down in a matter of days. And finally, it has demonstrated the fact that poverty and race are still huge issues that this country needs to deal with.
When the looting started, and national guardsman rolled down the streets in their high water vehicles, pointing guns at desperate men in torn t-shirts, I could not tell the difference between this scene and one I had witnessed on the same news channel a few days ago from Sudan. How does a thing like this happen in the richest country on earth? Possibly because many of our leaders often forget that there are those who are not partaking of this wealth, and that cannot afford the gas to get out of town, even if they did own a car. And sadly, poverty is often accompanied by certain racial characteristics, particularly being black or hispanic.
There have been some really bitter recriminations against local, state, and federal administrators regarding the incompetence with which this situation was handled. The fact that it was incompetently handled should not be up for debate. When we can drop MRE's to places in Baghdad within hours notice, but cannot get them to our own citizens in days, there is incompetence. When the head of FEMA, days after the disaster, does not know there are people starving in the convention center, there is incompetence. When there are Coast Guard ships sitting off the coast with food, water, first aid, that are barred from helping for days, there is incompetence. In fact, the level of incompetence here is astounding. But where exactly does the blame lie?
I know the administrations line: "Don't play the blame game". Bullshit. People died, and we need to hold the people responsible accountable for this. That's what a democracy is all about.
(what a democracy is not about, by the way, is having National Guardsman prohibit the media from photgraphing the dead on the streets of New Orleans so that the public won't know what's going on. And yes, they are doing this). So who is accountable? The mayor ordered the mandatory evacuation of the city, but did so with only 24 hours notice, and did not provide enough buses and transit for the poor to escape. The Governor has prepared the necessary funds, but somehow failed to secure the Louisiana national guard to help the rescue efforts until Day 4. FEMA? I won't even go there. They were utterly useless. And then of course the President, who was still on vacation three days into the disaster, and the vice president who was still on vacation five days into the disaster. Oops.
The mayor, while shouldering some of the blame, does not shoulder much of it. True his orders to evacuate the city came late, but it's actually still unclear that he has the authority to do that. The fact that he took matters in his own hands and ordered the mandatory evacuation is commendable. The fact that he did not provide adequate transportation for everyone to get out is his fault however, and he needs to stand up and be responsible for that. The Governor has done a good job -- she has been one of the most reasonable voices I've heard throughout this whole affair. My only criticism of hers is that she was so preoccupied with evacuations and then with the state budget that she did not spend nearly enough time on getting search and rescue on the ground as quickly as humanly possible. And because of this lives were lost, so don't think that I'm letting her off easily. It was a serious mistake.
However, the majority of the blame lies with the federal government, and with the President. This is for two main reasons: (1) He appointed someone unqualified to head FEMA, and then allowed that organization to fall into disarray. (2) He did not react quickly enough. Now, I know that the President cannot do everything, and of course the majority of the blame here goes to the people heading up the national organization that is specifically charged with making sure that shit like this does not happen. The people in charge of FEMA had no information, no contigency plans, no logistical needs analysis, and no clue. The president also did not react quickly enough -- if he was watching CNN, he would have seen the devastation. In fact he was probably watching it, from his ranch in Texas, in between workout sessions.
As Harry Truman noted when he was president: "The buck stops here". Bush allowed this to happen on his watch, and that will not be forgotten. He is due to visit New Orleans again on the anniversary of 9/11. I think it is the first time when is evocation of that memory will not be enough to hide the truth of his domestic failures in homeland preparedness.
posted by slithytoves at 2:39 AM
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