"Katrina's Assault on Washington"
Oh yes. Because it gets even worse. It appears as if the disaster preparedness plan for Southeast Louisiana, the plan that so obviously was, to be charitable, inadequate, was outsourced to a company with tight connections to the Department of Homeland Security by, drum roll, FEMA. Yes, the plan that relied on evacuating a city where a significant portion of the population doesn't have a car, to evacuate by car was not done by the locals. So the one thing that I have been blaming on Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans isn't even their fault.
For another mea culpa, I blamed the estimate of the Astrodome holding 25k on our governor and lawn ornament, Rick Perry. It looks as if I was in error, that figure, which was parroted by Dick, actually originated from, drum roll, FEMA. Why, when you follow the threads of the major stupidities of this disaster, do all roads seem to lead to FEMA? Could it be that FEMA is the poster child of what the administration has been trying to do with our government? What the drive to make sure that government only serves the wants of certain special interests and ignores the needs of most Americans?
And while we are on the subject of recanting, I will now officially withdraw my objections to rebuilding New Orleans. We need to rebuild New Orleans. We need to do this, not because it is in a strategic location. Not because it is a unique American city. Not because it is a humanitarian thing to do. Not because as Americans, we rise to the challenge of adversity. But because New Orleans is a symbol. It is a symbol of what happens when a country loses control of their government. A symbol of what happens when the self interest of the few triumphs over the greater good. A symbol of what happens when ideology runs rough shod over pragmatism.
As Americans, as human beings, as members of a sentient species, we are better than this. The way the evacuees are being treated shows this. We can do better. We will do better. But first we must take the criminals to task. And I am not referring to the looters, at least not the looters who are wading through flood waters. |
