The Blame Game
I received a disturbing email from a friend of mine over the weekend - one of those Republican-minded friends I talked about in an earlier post - that went off about how people are so wrong to be blaming George Bush and the federal government for what has happened in LA and MS. Most of the email talked about how George Bush didn't create any of the problems, nor was he responsible for cleaning it all up. Some of the major points included: George Bush did not invent hurricanes, nor did he make Hurricane Katrina as severe as it was, nor did he steer it into New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. Agreed on all points, and I haven't heard anyone accuse him of any of the above.
But the email then goes on to deny responsibility on the part of the federal government for contingency planning and disaster relief, blames the sick and elderly for staying in New Orleans (as if they had a choice) and assigns any remaining blame to local officials. I'm sure none of the politically-minded out there are too surprised - typical Republican response is "not my problem" and typical Bush adminstration response is to blame someone else. But let's be clear on who exactly should be held responsible and WHAT they should be held responsible for. (And for those of you who aren't politically-minded, you should still be concerned. This is the worst natural disaster to ever hit the U.S. - what happened in New Orleans could have just as easily been a terrorist attack and there is no evidence that the government's response would have been any different/better. This is truly an example of where your vote counts, and why it does matter who holds office)....
George Bush IS responsible for FEMA, which he bore down to a shell of an agency through budget cuts and forced resignations because it posed political competition to the Department of Homeland Security. And he IS responsible for appointing, or approving appointment of, under-qualified people to take the place of those qualified professionals who resigned. Some argue that FEMA was not designed for, nor is assigned with, response to natural disasters. And since its primary concern, nuclear fallout, has been minimized in the 21st century, budget cuts are appropriate. Incorrect. The prospect of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans was a FEMA priority in as early as 2002, when numerous drills and studies were undertaken to prepare a response. The then Director of FEMA, Joe M. Allbaugh, said: "Catastrophic disasters are best defined in that they totally outstrip local and state resources, which is why the federal government needs to play a role. There are a half-dozen or so contingencies around the nation that cause me great concern, and one of them is right there in your backyard." One of the jobs of FEMA is to respond to situations like these, regardless of why the agency was initially formed or what their published mission statement says. They clearly dropped the ball in the days following Hurricane Katrina, most likely because they were weakened by the Bush administration.
George Bush IS responsible for cuts to the Army Corps of Engineers' budget, disabling them from continuing to build and strengthen the levies around the city despite repeated warnings about the likelihood of this kind of storm and the vulnerabilty of the city from as early as 2001. Again, a direct link can be made between administration budget cuts and consequential weaknesses. In this case, however, the weakness came in prevention rather than response. No, Bush did not cause the hurricane or determine its strength, but perhaps he caused a breakdown in the systems used to protect people from it?
George Bush IS responsible for federal Homeland Secuity strategy and emergency response, which clearly failed in this case, exposing all the flaws that would have still existed had this been a terrorist attack rather than a natural disaster. Consider - if this were a terrorist attack, what would have been different about the federal government's response? Would the Director of FEMA have suddenly been more qualified to manage emergency response? Would the government suddenly have been better equipped to mobilize emergency relief? Would they have taken a different approach to delivery of food, water, and medicine? Would they have been able to better evacuate the sick and elderly that were trapped? If the answer to any of these is yes, then I ask - what made this emergency different that it didn't force the government to respond to the best of its ability? I'd venture to say that there was no difference, and that the same problems would have existed. What scares Republicans most about this scenario is that they won office on this very issue, and when it came time to walk the walk, they tripped and fell on their faces.
The overriding point is, nobody caused the hurricane - the problem is the manner and urgency with which federal authorities responded in the aftermath. That was in the government's, and Bush's, control and it is ASTONISHINGLY clear that the government was not prepared. For me, the bigger problem is their lack of accountability. Rather than admit that there were mistakes, find out what they were and who was responsible for them, and fix them so that we are prepared for the next time, we've been told not to buy into the partisan accusations and "blame games" . Will such sound-byte rhetoric protect us from the next major catastrophe on U.S. soil, whether it be man-made or not?
But the email then goes on to deny responsibility on the part of the federal government for contingency planning and disaster relief, blames the sick and elderly for staying in New Orleans (as if they had a choice) and assigns any remaining blame to local officials. I'm sure none of the politically-minded out there are too surprised - typical Republican response is "not my problem" and typical Bush adminstration response is to blame someone else. But let's be clear on who exactly should be held responsible and WHAT they should be held responsible for. (And for those of you who aren't politically-minded, you should still be concerned. This is the worst natural disaster to ever hit the U.S. - what happened in New Orleans could have just as easily been a terrorist attack and there is no evidence that the government's response would have been any different/better. This is truly an example of where your vote counts, and why it does matter who holds office)....
George Bush IS responsible for FEMA, which he bore down to a shell of an agency through budget cuts and forced resignations because it posed political competition to the Department of Homeland Security. And he IS responsible for appointing, or approving appointment of, under-qualified people to take the place of those qualified professionals who resigned. Some argue that FEMA was not designed for, nor is assigned with, response to natural disasters. And since its primary concern, nuclear fallout, has been minimized in the 21st century, budget cuts are appropriate. Incorrect. The prospect of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans was a FEMA priority in as early as 2002, when numerous drills and studies were undertaken to prepare a response. The then Director of FEMA, Joe M. Allbaugh, said: "Catastrophic disasters are best defined in that they totally outstrip local and state resources, which is why the federal government needs to play a role. There are a half-dozen or so contingencies around the nation that cause me great concern, and one of them is right there in your backyard." One of the jobs of FEMA is to respond to situations like these, regardless of why the agency was initially formed or what their published mission statement says. They clearly dropped the ball in the days following Hurricane Katrina, most likely because they were weakened by the Bush administration.
George Bush IS responsible for cuts to the Army Corps of Engineers' budget, disabling them from continuing to build and strengthen the levies around the city despite repeated warnings about the likelihood of this kind of storm and the vulnerabilty of the city from as early as 2001. Again, a direct link can be made between administration budget cuts and consequential weaknesses. In this case, however, the weakness came in prevention rather than response. No, Bush did not cause the hurricane or determine its strength, but perhaps he caused a breakdown in the systems used to protect people from it?
George Bush IS responsible for federal Homeland Secuity strategy and emergency response, which clearly failed in this case, exposing all the flaws that would have still existed had this been a terrorist attack rather than a natural disaster. Consider - if this were a terrorist attack, what would have been different about the federal government's response? Would the Director of FEMA have suddenly been more qualified to manage emergency response? Would the government suddenly have been better equipped to mobilize emergency relief? Would they have taken a different approach to delivery of food, water, and medicine? Would they have been able to better evacuate the sick and elderly that were trapped? If the answer to any of these is yes, then I ask - what made this emergency different that it didn't force the government to respond to the best of its ability? I'd venture to say that there was no difference, and that the same problems would have existed. What scares Republicans most about this scenario is that they won office on this very issue, and when it came time to walk the walk, they tripped and fell on their faces.
The overriding point is, nobody caused the hurricane - the problem is the manner and urgency with which federal authorities responded in the aftermath. That was in the government's, and Bush's, control and it is ASTONISHINGLY clear that the government was not prepared. For me, the bigger problem is their lack of accountability. Rather than admit that there were mistakes, find out what they were and who was responsible for them, and fix them so that we are prepared for the next time, we've been told not to buy into the partisan accusations and "blame games" . Will such sound-byte rhetoric protect us from the next major catastrophe on U.S. soil, whether it be man-made or not?
posted by bdonin at
1:07 PM
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