Tony Pierce is correct: Bush deserves the blame he's getting for strumming his guitar while a catastrophe got worse and worse:when the President of a country is 500 miles away from the epicenter of the biggest natural disaster in the history of his nation and decides to remain on vacation you shouldnt be so stunned at some finger pointing being sent his way.
when that President has a history of making the wrong choices when unprecidented tragedy befalls his people, you shouldnt be so stunned to to see some criticism when his behavoir doesnt change.
we do know part of the story in relation to the Bush administration. we know that up to four years ago FEMA warned about the dangers to New Orleans and last year Bush cut the $27 mil budget requested by the US Army Corps of Engineers for improving the levees in 2005 by more than 80% to a paltry $3.9 million,
we also know that the $100 million 2005 budget requested by the Southeast Louisiana Flood control project was slashed to $16.5 million by Bush.
but mostly we know where the president's priorities are: in Iraq. not in Afghanistan, not in Saudi Arabia and certainly not in the USA. even when he was one state away it took him 5 days to get his ass to New Orleans.
you can run away from this blog all you want Robert if you "cant bring" yourself to read my writing anymore. but what youre doing is judging me on what bloggers are meant to do: provide an opinion to current events.
not only have i done that but i gave constructive criticism to the president as to what would best serve this country and his public opinoin.
Furthermore, he signed up for the job. In fact, he finagled half the court into abandoning their interpretive schools of thought to get him into the office. I'm sorry but Bush can't have his cake and eat it too.
He's the leader of this great nation and the blame ultimately falls to him, fair or not, for the handling of catastrophes. The CEO of a company gets blamed when a manager below royally screws things up. Any peon who can't figure that simple axiom out needs to stop speaking so much, because at least quiet people appear more intelligent. And in this situation, it's pretty clear that the blame fairly falls on the President.Then, of course, some of the libertarian argument comes bounding our way that the government should never have been in charge of the levee.
Pray tell libertarians, what business person could you convince that a levee would make any money? What private sector fool would want to pay their good money to keep a levee in shape? Perhaps a local business conglomeration that wants to protect their businesses in the area? Fat chance, a simple finance course in any business school would tell you that you're living in a dream world if you think you could convince business association to invest their resources in that. Maybe insurance companies that want to protect their assets? Ha.So, as Tony Pierce points out, it was insanity to cut the federal budget so much. But did we really expect much critical thought out of this administration concerning possible catastrophes?
This is the administration doesn't know a damn thing about science. They believe their personal belief system is all that they need to get themselves and this nation by. So, I am not surprised that they didn't listen to the warning signs about what could happen if they slashed budgets in critical areas like the gulf shores. Instead of listening to scientists who have shown that global warming is happening, they snort and chuckle about how the science isn't "proven."I'm guessing that it's a little more difficult to chuckle now that thousands of people are dying and suffering.
Hurricanes occur because of warm and hot water. The reason we don't see hurricanes in the winter and spring is because the water isn't as warm. With hot water comes hurricanes. The hotter that water gets the more nasty the hurricane is probably going to be. We know for a fact (don't bring your Bible into the science class for this) that the water was 2 to 4 degrees warmer than usual right before Hurricane Katrina hit.
And then we get the people who blame those who stayed behind for remaining? To you, I just have a simple proposition for you: in this country people aren't on equal footing. Perhaps you've had the luxury of having money your entire life. Perhaps you don't know what it's like to use public transportation because you have to use it. Perhaps you don't know what it's like to have to walk four miles to the grocery store because it's quicker than waiting for a bus. Then waiting an hour for the bus to take you home because you can't carry the sacks that far home.I'm glad you haven't had to live pay check to pay check. I'm pleased that you didn't have to wear hand me down clothing because your parents couldn't afford to buy new outfits that month. It's nice that you didn't have to have your jeans patched up because a new pair of jeans were out of the question.
But get this for one second, not everyone has money in America. Not everyone has the same ability as you do to be mobile. I think that Anne Rice said it best when answering the chilling question: "Why didn't they just leave?"
Well, here's an answer. Thousands didn't leave New Orleans because they couldn't leave. They didn't have the money. They didn't have the vehicles. They didn't have any place to go. They are the poor, black and white, who dwell in any city in great numbers; and they did what they felt they could do - they huddled together in the strongest houses they could find. There was no way to up and leave and check into the nearest Ramada Inn.
What's more, thousands more who could have left stayed behind to help others. They went out in the helicopters and pulled the survivors off rooftops; they went through the flooded streets in their boats trying to gather those they could find. Meanwhile, city officials tried desperately to alleviate the worsening conditions in the Superdome, while makeshift shelters and hotels and hospitals struggled.
I believe in a changing world, I believe that people can grow and learn from this, and I believe in science and technology, and I believe that prayer can help. All of these things can happen together without this country tearing itself apart. This should never ever happen again.
