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Katrina: A time to blame
Friday - September 09, 2005
Let me
preface this entry by saying that I don't like the
Bushadministration. I don't like how they've manipulated
the media, infused religion into policy, their "for us or
against us" mantra, their trashing of sound scientific studies
in favor of those that match their own ideas and policies, or
their use of fear and the war on terror to justify myriad
policies here and abroad. Aside from these distinctively
Bushian issues, my views just don't fit the Republican party
line; I'm a Democrat. Fair enough.
But no matter where one
stands politically, I just can't believe the irrational fervor
that has become of our national political discourse. Much of it
may be attributable to the behavior of the current
administration, but that is a debate for later and one that
will never be satisfied by any one widely-accepted answer. I
can say that much of it has to do with the left "refusing to be
fooled again", feel that this administration wormed its way out
of pre and post 9-11 responsibilities and that they see signs
that the same is happening again. The right sees the left as
perpetual whiners - snobby elitists who believe everything is
the administration's fault. Between those two extremes lies the
rest of us - those who believe that intelligent political
discourse can be had; those who recognize that there is a time
for criticizing the administration and the failings of our
government at all levels. This is not that time.
Let me preface the rest
of this by writing that we all should all recognize that, first
and most importantly, this was a natural disaster. Bush didn't
bring this, nor did
Moveon.org. Thousands of lives were going to
be lost regardless of how soon rescue workers with food and
assistance were deployed. Does that mean there weren't
failures? No. Does that mean that individuals weren't
responsible for failing to respond adequately? No.
There are questions
swirling around this disaster as rancid as the dank waters that
now cover the birthplace of Jazz. To neglect to answer those questions would be as
reprehensible as failing to rescue the people from those New
Orleans waters. The fact is, the questions arising should never
be forgotten and should be answered with all due speed and
rigor... once the human disaster is stabilized. This is the
worst thing that has happened to this country. I'm not mincing
words by stating that - thousands displaced, thousands dead, an
area the size of Great Britain decimated, businesses large and small -
whole industries gone. This tragedy will not soon be forgotten. There
will be investigations; by both governmental and private firms.
There will be sociological, psychological, environmental, and
economic studies for years. There will be pundits and blogs
spewing forth valid and invalid theories on how this happened.
There will be a time for all of this. To aggressively question
everything is essential. To demand answers now, is
unreasonable.
Why did the levies
break? Why wasn't the evacuation order heeded? Why was everyone
told to go to the Superdome when studies showed it was
inadequate? Was race a factor and how? Why all the red tape
once resources arrived in New Orleans? How and why did FEMA
fail? At what levels did government, from city councilmen up to
the President, fail their people and how? Were military
resources spread too thin? How safe is our country against
disaster of any kind? These major questions and the smaller
questions they spin off must not be swept under the carpet.
They must be answered soon, but not today or tomorrow. Right
now is the time to reunite loved ones, house people, cloth
people, get kids back to school, rescue pets, and drain out the
city.
Americans won't forget
about this human and environmental disaster in a month or in
six months. I have to wonder if the political screamers of the
world think we will and that the time to argue and politicize
is now. To all of them on the left and the right; I say don't
worry, in a month, New Orleans will still be destroyed, the
total picture will become clearer, and there will be plenty of
blame to go around and heads to roll.
Posted at 10:48 PM < Just Another Brick in the Blog
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