PZ Myers. 2005 Sep 03. Republican failure, Republican blame. <http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/republican_failure_republican_blame/>. Accessed 2008 Aug 29.
Posted on M00o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr on Saturday, September 03, 2005
Republican failure, Republican blame
I agree in part with Mike Dunford, who thinks there is plenty of blame to go around. It's true that the catastrophe in New Orleans is due to many factors—uncontrollable ones, like the probability of a large hurricane striking the city; passive ones, like Democrats and scientists not fighting stupidity hard enough; active ones, like the dedicated work of Republicans to gut government effectiveness. In a sense, yes, we can say that the disaster is the fault of all Americans.
Unfortunately, that attitude also encourages a kind of passivity, and also enables politicians who say things like this:
"I hope people don't play politics during this period of time," Mr. Bush told Diane Sawyer of ABC's "Good Morning America" in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. "This is a natural disaster, the likes of which our country may have never seen before."
Wrong. This is the time to play politics. We are supposed to be a democracy, and that requires the active engagement of the citizenry in assessing matters of policy. It is our responsibility to listen and observe the decisions of our leaders, and toss out the rascals who do badly and promote the ones who do well. It is exactly in these situations of crisis where policies are tested and we are in the best position to judge. And contrary to Mike, while we clearly have failures at all levels of the process, this is the time where it is our job to stand up and point to specific points of error. It is also obvious that there is one huge, dominant factor that has been operating over decades to culminate now, in this problem and many others: the Republican party. The party of know-nothings, incompetence, greed, bigotry, religious intolerance, and irresponsibility. We now have the government they wanted, and that we allowed them to have.
Robert Farley summarizes our situation. That Bush quote above is a perfect example of the denial of responsibility going on here.
The Republicans have managed a nifty trick over the last twenty-five years. They have worked ceaselessly to make government less effective, while at the same time deriving political benefit from inadequate government. The Republican attack on good governance involves the cutting of necessary funding, the wholesale transfer of critical government capabilities to the private sector, the stocking of government agencies with inept, corrupt, and obstructionist appointees, and the sellout of regulatory agencies to the industries they're supposed to observe.
In a fair world, all of this would result in the Republican party taking some degree of blame for bad governance. In this world, the exact opposite seems to happen. Government fails by design. Government failure feeds into an anti-statist narrative that allows the Republicans to further slash funding, to further gut federal agencies, and to further cripple the capacity of the government to do anything useful.
So where are we at now? Paul Krugman knows.
So America, once famous for its can-do attitude, now has a can't-do government that makes excuses instead of doing its job. And while it makes those excuses, Americans are dying.
In fact, there is now a governmentwide movement away from basing policy on science, expertise and professionalism, and in favor of choices based on ideology. If you're wondering what the ideological position on flood management might be, look at the pictures of New Orleans—it seems to consist of gutting the programs that do anything.
We have to wake up. Mike is right to blame scientists and Democrats and all American citizens for allowing this leadership disaster to happen, but we have to look to the source of the decisions that led us to this place. We have to recognize what the goals of the Republican party are.
The Republican agenda is to turn the United States into a third-world shithole.
Not by explicit intent, of course, but by neglect, the promotion of incompetence, and short-sightedness. By treating government as a kleptocracy. By governing badly. By pandering to the stupid, by advocating superstition (let's pray and send bibles to New Orleans!), by poisoning our educational system with nonsense, by haring off on destructive wars that enrich corporate cronies, by belittling expertise and favoring ideology, by ignoring freaking reality.
We're at one of those critical points in history. We can either destroy the Republican party by kicking every one of the bastards out of office*, or we can watch them destroy our country. This is the time for partisanship. I pick the side of America.
*Now, if only there were an actual opposition party to make this effort easier…
Posted by PZ Myers on 09/03 at 10:38 AM
Politics • Rethuglicans • 4 Trackbacks • Other weblogs • Permalink
Politics • Rethuglicans • 4 Trackbacks • Other weblogs • Permalink
- Well said. But, apart from the House Black Caucus, where are the Democrats?
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I believe it was P.J. O'Rourke, no leftist apologist, who called the Republicans the party that says, 'Government just doesn't work. Elect us and we'll prove it.'
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 11:01 AM
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this comment was posted on the original Free Republic thread re: sending bibles:
This is awesome. Talk about the fields being ripe unto harvest!
I'm speechless...#: Posted by on 09/03 at 11:04 AM -
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 - On Thursday night, Michael D. Brown, the federal government's point man for managing the response to Hurricane Katrina, made a remarkable confession on live television.
Speaking of the thousands stranded at the convention center in New Orleans without food or water, Mr. Brown said that his agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, had just learned of their plight.
CNN's Paula Zahn was incredulous. "Sir," she said, "you aren't just telling me you just learned that the folks at the convention center didn't have food and water until today, are you? You had no idea they were completely cut off?"
"Paula," Mr. Brown replied unequivocally, "the federal government did not even know about the convention center people until today."
This is why George W. Bush is directly to blame for this tragedy. Because he appoints bone-headed morons like this guy to top positions in government.
Did you see Geraldo last night reporting live from New Orleans. He was losing His f***ing mind! So was Shepard Smith. And that idiot Hannity was politely trying to shut them up.#: Posted by charlie wagner on 09/03 at 11:13 AM -
This is terrific news for the Bush administration. It's kept Karl Rove's treason off the front page for a whole week so far.
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 11:59 AM
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I keep expecting somebody like pat robertson to proclaim that god destroyed new orleans for it's wickedness, just liked he destroyed sodom and gomorrah.
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 12:19 PM
- I think most Americans would consider 10,000 dead civilians to be much worse than one exposed CIA agent. Since it's impossible to hate the weather, the people are directing their anger at the most responsible hatable agency, i.e. the government. If this had taken place a year ago, it's likely that right now Kerry would have been President.
- jwunder: Pat did not say it, but several other members of the AmTaliban have already said exactly that. Look around the blog coverage of Katrina (I have assembled a bunch of links as a starting point) and you will bump into reports of those low-life morons issuing such statments.
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i like PZ's footnote:
Now, if only there were an actual opposition party to make this effort easier…
wonder what hope we have of getting the Christie Whitman end of the Republicans to spin off and join up with Bernie Sanders? -
the Republicans may get another chance:
[H]urricane expert Professor William Gray of Colorado State University noted ... this particularly active hurricane season is only at the halfway point.
He predicted five named storms — four of which will grow into hurricanes, including two major hurricanes with winds exceeding 110 mph — during this month alone. -
jwunder,
sadly, you're behind the curve - it already happened:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/22005b.asp
this is Agape Press, the organ of the American Family Association. A brief excerpt:
“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again."
didn't take long.#: Posted by on 09/03 at 12:57 PM -
God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again.
well, this so-called God must have been inebrieted. he caught heavily Baptist Mississippi and a par t of Alabama, too. can hear Him say to Himself, "How drunk was I last night?"
yeah, i know, i know, all those evil-ridden casinos along with coast ... . - Great thing about the third world -- rich people's money goes even further! What a deal. And if they get tired of the scene outside their gates, in front of their armed guards, they can just take a vacation to somewhere else. The vacation is even eaiser and more comfy because it's so much cheaper to live in the third world when you're rich.
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Let's not forget that by "playing politics," Bush means "saying mean things about me!!!"
Did you hear about this "Katrina is the revenge of an aborted fetus" thing?#: Posted by on 09/03 at 02:38 PM -
I don't like the Repugnicans, but I really don't think the Democrats are much better. They both have their faults. It's time to get rid of government altogether and start fresh, none of this two-party crap.
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 02:39 PM
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Republican evacuation
At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses pulled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line — much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday.
"How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?" exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 02:53 PM -
PZ, when you write about science you're so clear. But when you descend into politics, you're not clear at all. Like this post, you could have saved a lot of typing by just writing "WHAAAH". What is it that you want? Should we just let the government do EVERYTHING for us? Where are our responsibilities? Or the democratic Mayor of New Orleans? What would you have done differently? Let's hear that. It would be a lot more interesting then just whining.
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 03:00 PM
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Nature should have culled you instead of selecting you, ijit.
What I would have done differently, just for starters, is NOT turn FEMA back (after its Clinton-era reform)into a patronage dumping ground staffed and "led" by incompetents. You have a problem with that? (Just imagine how well this crew would "respond" to a major terrorist attack. Republicans are making us safer every day, you betcha.)#: Posted by on 09/03 at 04:01 PM -
Hey, NatureSelectedMe--
Your name and screed makes me think of the sort of individual drawn to discussion of evolution for the purpose of bolstering arguments for eugenicist viewpoints with more scientesque rationalizations.
You appear to call "whining" anybody who believes that there are better survival strategies than "every man for himself." It isn't whining to point out the fact that the deaths of thousands of Americans this week was preventable.
It wasn't an act of Nature to blame for their deaths; it was cynical incompetence on a grand scale. Should those in the path of Katrina have looked no farther than to their own individual resources to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare? If there is any role for local, county, state and federal government, working together, it was to evacuate the aged, the sick, the young, the thirty per cent below the poverty line who were not capable of doing EVERYTHING for themselves.
If this is the best these anti-science, theo-klepto-pluto...cratic murdering fucks can do for a city that's in better shape than it would be in the face of a dirty suitcase nuke or bioweapons attack, then perhaps we should re-examine that bargain made when civil liberties were sacrificed for "homeland security." Ben Franklin was right to warn that those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither.
NOLA was the debut of that investment made in the wake of 911. The miserable failure that is Lake George is the evidence of a pooch well and thoroughly screwed.
NatureSelectedMe, when the anarchy you advocate descends, it won't be Nature that wins you a Darwin award: it'll be your mouth, and good riddance. -
So Steve the first thing that should have been done is to "NOT turn FEMA back into a patronage dumping ground". People are stuck in their houses and the first thing that should have been done is staffed FEMA with democrats. OK. Whats the second thing?
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 04:25 PM
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To the freak of nature 2 comments up.
No, we don't expect government to do everything for us, JUST THE THINGS THEY FUCKING PROMISED TO DO.#: Posted by No More Mr. Nice Guy! on 09/03 at 04:29 PM -
#38603: ekzept — 09/03 at 12:40 PM
the Republicans may get another chance:
The sequel: Mad Max: Beyond Superdome
FEMA head Michael Brown doesn't seem to be performing well. How long before Bush gives him a medal and a promotion?#: Posted by on 09/03 at 04:41 PM -
#38624: NatureSelectedMe — 09/03 at 04:25 PM
So Steve the first thing that should have been done is to "NOT turn FEMA back into a patronage dumping ground". People are stuck in their houses and the first thing that should have been done is staffed FEMA with democrats. OK. Whats the second thing?
If there's anything more annoying than trying to communicate with someone who is thick as a brick, it's trying to communicate with someone who is <italic>deliberately</italic> thick as a brick. Find yourself a "dictionary" (if you don't know what that is, ask an adult) and look up meritocracy.#: Posted by on 09/03 at 04:46 PM -
Hey Ken, you can sure read a lot into a few lines of a comment. I don’t want anarchy, its just I don’t like all this whining. And you know it’s whining. Really. PZ only wants to blame the republicans. I thought it was amusing when he said that he agreed with part of Mike Dunfords post. It reminds me of the far side cartoon, the one about what we say to dogs and what they hear. Mike wrote:
I am certain I know enough to list some of the groups that are at least partly to blame for this.
The Democrats are to blame for this.
The Republicans are to blame for this.
Politicians are to blame.
Policymakers are to blame.
And, not least, scientists are to blame for this.
PZ read:
Blah blah blah blah… the republicans are to blame for this … blah blah blah.#: Posted by on 09/03 at 04:53 PM -
I sense such hostility here. Look, Baseyian, I can use blockquotes!
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 05:03 PM
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Assessing the consequences and causes of catastrophic failure is the responsibility of those who participate in a democracy-- at least that's how anybody with reading comprehension would parse PZ's post.
By Nature Boy's reckoning, when Richard Feynman dropped an O-ring into a glass of ice water he was whining and blaming Republicans. -
People are stuck in their houses and the first thing that should have been done is staffed FEMA with democrats. OK.
Good. So you agree there are no competent republicans.#: Posted by on 09/03 at 05:26 PM -
How the Free Market Killed New Orleans.
(I have collected a lot of good blog posts about Katrina here) -
The lack of response from FEMA and other Federal Government agencies should give pause to all of us in the United States. We have spent bucketfuls of money since 2001 for response to a terrorist attack - and the government can't even help evacuate a major city, one that is not at all the largest metropolitan area in the country, in a timely fashion. What if this had been a biological attack or dirty bomb? What does this say about the effectiveness of the Federal Government to respond? My opinion is that the money spent so far is just a way to take from the public sector and put into the private sector, regardless of what we receive for the money spent.
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 05:45 PM
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Ken, I'm just asking for a fair assessment of the causes of the catastrophic failure in New Orleans. I just don't think it's helpful to place all the blame on one political party. The government is made up of both parties. No, I don't think that republicans can do no wrong. It would seem more balanced to follow Mike Dunfords lead. What does that reference to Richard Feynman mean? Is it an analogy? Is the O-ring New Orleans and the glass of Ice water the flooding?
#: Posted by on 09/03 at 05:47 PM
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To "Me", regarding:
What would you have done differently? Let's hear that. It would be a lot more interesting then just whining.
won't need to let PZ answer that. people like me have been saying there has been a huge disconnect between reality as documented by science and how the government has been behaving for years. you want to know what should have been done starting in 1985?
first, this government -- and perhaps all governments based upon democracy -- need to learn how to do long term planning. there is no incentive in the political system we call the Constitution and its various state copies for doing that. that's because, if the purpose of politicians is to get elected, why do they have an incentive to take on a project whose benefits are 15 years away, and even then tenuous and statistical? the United States cannot survive the future on many fronts if such a long term perspective is not incorporated. the private sector does it because they have to pay insurance premiums, and these reflect the cost of future risks.
second, recognize that global warming is real. a part of it is natural and inevitable, but it is made much worse by anthropogenic warming. at this point, there is no reversing it, simply shortening the time it will seriously affect the planet. it's too late for reversal.
third, afford the building of infrastructure and adapting the United States to the consequences of global warming, including storms, higher sea level rises, disruptions of agriculture, and changes to our overseas markets, make that a higher priority than national defense, which presently consumes a large portion of the budget. if it is necessary to reduce defense to do that, then we must, because this defense is direct homeland defense, and you cannot "take it to the enemy" to protect yourself.
four, reengage in a rich and powerful program of investment in scientific research in all the fundamental sciences, the physical ones and biology using federal funds.
five, reinstitute the priority in science and maths education done after the time of Sputnik, using federal funds.
you wanted a program and plan? there it is. - oh, and if you think i'm saying that the Constitution is messed up, i am.
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natural diasasters have no moral significance
as nature itself lacks, many here would agree. this is from a nice article by Harvard Professor of History Niall Ferguson at the UK Telegraph. -
My opinion is that the money spent so far is just a way to take from the public sector and put into the private sector, regardless of what we receive for the money spent.
That's an interesting opinion. I've never heard that before. I've always thought that public sectors money comes from the private sector. We must always expect that when someone else spends our money, we are not going receive full value. Isn't that right?#: Posted by on 09/03 at 06:07 PM -
you wanted a program and plan? there it is.
Yea, that's what I wanted. It looks well thought out. I agree that it's going to be hard to implement in a democracy. First one person is elected, then another with different priorities. And different friends, we can't forget that.#: Posted by on 09/03 at 06:21 PM - The difference between slow and bloated bureacracy of the government and the slow and bloated bureacracy of big business is that big business has an added incentive to give the leats amount of least-quality of servie for the greatest amount of money.
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I agree that it's going to be hard to implement in a democracy. First one person is elected, then another with different priorities. And different friends, we can't forget that.
so you are saying democracies aren't up to doing what we agree is necessary? that's a true condemnation of a democracy. not even i am willing to do that. so you are anti-democratic. that's a long way from being a supporter of the Republican party.
i think we need to figure out some way of working long term planning into our government and our private sector. alas, people have a tendency to call that socialism, even if it isn't. i think we just need to be true to economics and capitalism. what Bush does is not capitalism. he does not allow the market to judge. he just drops barriers and taxes for corporate friends and cronies, and throws funds at them by pursuing policies where they can get rich. like Halburton. like the oil and gas folks. in any case, capitalism by itself is not enough to deal with this planning crisis.
and i'm no slam-dunk Democrat. look at the Democratic loonies opposing the Cape Wind project. but i am very, very far from being a Republican as it is defined today. i am sure it isn't a new sentiment, but politics is trashing the United States. maybe that is our fate. if it is, it's sure not something i can do anything about. and, y'know what? if global warming trashes this country, we've noone but ourselves to blame. -
so you are saying democracies aren't up to doing what we agree is necessary? that's a true condemnation of a democracy. not even i am willing to do that. so you are anti-democratic. That’s a long way from being a supporter of the Republican party.
I said it would be hard to implement in a democracy. I was referring to:first, this government -- and perhaps all governments based upon democracy -- need to learn how to do long term planning.
I never said I was a Republican supporter, just that I didn't like all the whining.#: Posted by on 09/03 at 07:11 PM - define specifically "whining". give examples.
- the Science Friday program from this past Friday is really good, and essential for understanding this problem. part 1 MP3, and part 2 MP3.
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interesting, a knowledgeable caller on the Science Friday show claims you cannot take public officials from either party to take infrastructure improvement to protect against natural disasters seriously. they view reports that this might happen as alarmist.
that's what i mean by the Constitution being broken. -
there's an awful lot of good stuff in this Science Friday show, including observations on the political system, and how, in addition to the pain and misery of the poor in New Orleans, business and the private sector took a tremendous hit.
the question is, what are the American people willing to give up in order to pay for flood protection, for protection against natural disasters? -
incidently, Harry Eagar, one of Ira Flatow's guests mentioned that in the 18th century, law in New Orleans was that each farmer was supposed to build his own dikes and levees on the seaward boundary of his property. (Lake Pontchatrain was not considered a factor in those days.) this created the compartments Harry was arguing for.
also, to inform that discussion a bit, the major problem is that because NO is built on marshland, the levees and floodwalls sink over time, diminishing their effectiveness. -
Actually, here's a much shorter term plan that would have made sense starting about Saturday, when it was known that this was going to be a Category 5:
(1) Build up supply depot in East Texas. (It doesn't take incredible foresight to realize that folks will need food, water, clothing, and medical supplies after a hurricane. You don't even need to have anticipated a massive hurricane--you'd need the same supplies for an earthquake, a terrorist strike, or nearly any other massive disaster.)
(2) Move army and marine helicopter assets to airfields in East Texas, well clear of the projected storm track.
(3) Just after the hurricane, launch AWACS to serve as airborne control towers over the stricken area.
(4) Just after the hurricane, land FEMA employees at the Superdome, as soon as it was clear that local officials had entirely lost control of the situation there. Supply them with satellite phones or battlefield communications gear so that they can keep the refugees aware of current plans.
(5) Begin airlifts of supplies to the Superdome, as soon as it was clear that local officials had disastrously underplanned there.
(6) Repeat (4) and (5) for the Convention Center, as news reports made it clear that there was a problem there as well.
(7) Have the President break off previous engagements and return to Washington no later than Tuesday, when the full scale of the disaster was clear. Have him give the nearly formulaic "our prayers are with the folks in the stricken area" speach, then focus on disentangling the chains of command so that the rescue workers weren't working at cross purposes.
You can't tell me that that would have been too much for a democracy to handle. You can't tell me that disaster relief isn't possible if the interstate highway system is damaged--we do have aircraft as well.#: Posted by Llelldorin on 09/03 at 09:13 PM -
The ritual of blaming everybody evenhandedly for every failure of government doesn't cut it in an era when one party controls pretty much everything, especially since the Republicans are proving themselves to be more a criminal enterprise than a political movement. I'm not aware of any ideology right or left that justifies the kind of massive corruption, subversion of justice, international lawlessness, and progamatic sadism of this bunch. Bush no longer has supporters; they're accomplices.
#: Posted by Jim Harrison on 09/03 at 09:27 PM
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yes, Llelldorin, that would have been a much better plan. the military is wedded to their "Air-Land Battle 2000" concept which involves projecting all kinds of forces by air, so that would have been a far more sensible way of dealing with the problem than what was done.
the only disconnect i see is relying upon NGOs like the Red Cross so much, then not providing a means of getting them in to help, securely and such.
on another matter, i wish the consensus we see around here could be realized nationally. party discipline and the two-party hegemony on politics being what it is, it is really hard to break out even with intelligent, inspired leadership.
meanwhile, i've been spending time this weekend trying to catch up on the international reaction to all this. i am limited to primarily English language texts (well, some German and Norwegian), but overwhelmingly the reaction in the press is one of sheer shock and dismay that the government wasn't there in force on Tuesday last. the interpretation is that the once great United States has sunk so low under BushCo's leadership. i don't buy it's all BushCo's fault, but he sure is fiddlin' good. as mentioned before, the sources here are not just commonplace. there is a substantial representation of reporters from the international financial community included in my sample. that can't be good for us. -
you know BushCo is in trouble when Newt Gingrich begins to criticize:
Newt Gingrich, the Republican former speaker of the house, said that the administration's response to the hurricane raised questions about the nation's ability to cope with a terrorist attack.
this was reported in the Financial Times.
"I think it puts into question all of the homeland security [planning] . . . because if we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" Mr Gingrich said. -
(let's pray and send bibles to New Orleans!)
Correction: the article quoted at Free Republic says,
The Gideons International are sending 40,000 Personal Witnessing Testaments (New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs) to be distributed at the Astrodome and other relief centers in Houston...
Houston, not New Orleans. So it's not quite as brain-damaged. - A few Jewish fundamentalists are arguing that Katrina was punishment for the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip...
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to balance things out a bit, NO Mayor Nagin <a href="http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Local_response_to_Katrina_a_'Local_Disgrace'">apparently didn't follow a preplanned script</a> when dealing with the oncoming hurricane Katrina. there may have been complications, and the decision to order evacuation might have weighed heavily, considering the cost of false alarm. but it looks wrong.
given the big picture and the resources which a federal administration has compared to a mayor, you'd think, even if Nagin messed up, somebody from the White House would call him and advise him otherwise. -
A few Jewish fundamentalists are arguing that Katrina was punishment for the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip...
might as well blame it on the mezzuzot in synagogues in New Orleans not being "up to code". -
Whining? This isn't whining -this is outrage.
OK, you want to know what should have been different. How about:
Bush not vacation two more days before taking action
FEMA taking responsibilty to do its job
Bush calling out the National Guard immediately, if not prearing them BEFORE the hurricane hit
Not telling Amtrak they didn't need their help getting people out
Giving people of NOLA $$$, buses and funding to get out the path of the flooding
etc, etc, etc.
We can come up with all kinds of ways it should have been better, if that makes you happy. Or, you can realize we've been saying this would happen for years now. You want to wait until disaster happens to you, or wake up and get these people out of office, already? Because I guarantee you - they won't be there for you when it's your turn. -
I'm not sure this is funny, but if it is, this is the place to post it:
If we don't rebuild New Orleans, then God will have won.#: Posted by on 09/04 at 01:52 AM - About voting the Republicans out of office, I'm still not convinced that it will help. Yes, Bush's ability to lead isn't in doubt - it's clear it's nonexistent. But it doesn't mean the alternative is much better. Dean or Clinton might have done good work here, with emphasis on "might." Kerry would definitely not have been any better. Edwards seems like someone who's good for passionate rhetoric but not for decisive action. It's like California's governors - Gray Davis was immensely corrupt and incompetent, but Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't much better.
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New Orleans was becoming Lake New Orleans, and President Bush was doing what Roman Emperor Nero allegedly did.
As Nero allegedly strummed his lyre, Rome burned.
As Bush seemingly strummed his guitar, New Orleans drowned.#: Posted by on 09/04 at 02:48 AM -
And I wonder what all the ultra-individualist "I don't want the government to help me" people think of one response to the Katrina disaster:
Looting.
After all, the looters are showing individual initiative, rather than waiting for the government to help them.#: Posted by on 09/04 at 02:52 AM - Well, didn't Nero burn Rome himself in order to scapegoat the Christians? I don't know that the United States has developed the ability to control the weather - in light of recent events, I doubt that even if there were such a device the US government would be able to use it (or maybe it tried to hit New York but hit New Orleans instead?).
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There is, and should be, plenty of blame to go around in this mess. The blame starts at the city level and works its way up the chain all the way to Dubya.
In his interview with Diane Sawyer, Dubya said that now was not the time to play politics. WRONG! It is exactly the time to play politics. We elect these fools to serve the people in times of national crisis and to run the city, state and nation in normal times. Now is the time to judge the performance of these idiots.
Since 9/11 the nation has spent a fortune supposedly ramping up the ability to respond to a national crisis. This is the first real test of that increased ability. How is it working so far?
They send 20,000 people to the Superdome but forget to put anyone in charge or supply and protect the facility. The government (city, state and federal) wrings its hands when it turns into the worlds largest and most dangerous toilet. How is it working so far?
To paraphrase someone smarter than I am: The GOP has distinguished itself by: governing badly; declaring war on science; pandering to the stupid; openly advocating superstition as educational policy and poisoning our educational system with nonsense; creating and supporting destructive wars that enrich corporate cronies; by consistently belittling expertise and favoring ideology and, at every opportunity, ignoring reality.
And still working class America supports them. How is it working so far?
An old Soviet leader was quoted as saying that they would hang America and a corrupt capitalist system would sell them the rope. Well, we know that isn’t so. A corrupt and inefficient Soviet system imploded. It is more likely that we will hang ourselves and an apathetic public will buy the rope, tie the knot and toss the line over the branch of “family values.” How is it working so far?#: Posted by on 09/04 at 09:44 AM -
The latest local news is that the swedish help offer has today been refused into US air space due to lackings in US logistics. So it is stuck here, in standby.
The paper cites the Rescue Services international manager as surprised. It continues to say that his personal judgement, after talking with several collegues in Europe and US, is that US wants to avoid a situation where it can not handle the relief offered. He speculates that the problem is that the relief will be stuck in the airport for several days, thus creating (comparatively more) criticism.
*** Note! Serious hindsight comment will follow. Do not read if such is upsetting for you. ***
It is of course hard to be prepared for disasters. But setting up disaster organisations beforehand and do training helps.
This spring asian tsunami with 500+ travelling swedes killed showed realted structural problems in our (national and international) disaster organisation. These problems were thought to be handled since the last time. (A Baltic Sea ship catastrophy with 900+ individuals killed.)
It turned out our (social democrat) government, which currently has a Bush type strong leader, formed disaster organisations to rely on that leaders directions. (Earlier dissection of events had concluded that they should be highly autonomous.) He had also refused several national training events for the government itself as 'unnecessary'.
Now I am curious. Will there be a US declaration of 'war on catastrophes' to focus resources on organisation and training?#: Posted by on 09/04 at 10:35 AM -
Oh. On the tsunami I also seem to remember that US help was mentioned here as a good example on swiftness and expertise. But of course it is easier when the organisation is shipped in wholesale instead of having partly been subjected to the mess.
#: Posted by on 09/04 at 10:47 AM
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From the NY Times
But in Houston, there were hot showers, crates of Bibles and stacks of pizzas, while in New Orleans, many refugees scrounged for diapers, water and basic survival.
Providing Bibles was thoughtful, as toilet paper has got to be in short supply. -
OK, I think the hurricane disaster is terrible, and i know I haven't grasped the situation being on the outside peering in.
But if we have to do jokes as a relief effort I must say that printing bibles is ruining perfectly good toilet paper - you will end up with your ass black as sin. As usual it looks like the devil is in the fine print.#: Posted by on 09/04 at 11:06 AM - Sin, devils, details... They had nothing else to resort to for toilet paper, as the usual gang of idiots has by now flushed the last recognizable shreds of the Constitution.
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There's no evidence that Nero burned Rome to blame the Christians. It seems unlikely that an Emperor would pay such a price and endanger himself to attack an insignificant religious sect that made up a fraction of a percent of the Empire's population. Nero was self-absorbed, not insane.
#: Posted by on 09/04 at 11:38 AM
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Is a soaked Constitution a 'pulp fiction'?
Seriously, if the horribly termed 'War on Terror' ('wot' is that, anyway?) already somehow:
- established a de facto permanent state of war
- started an illegal, or at least an outside UN agreed procedure, aggressive overseas war
- allowed indefinite prisoning without court procedure
- abrogates the Geneva convention on said 'war' prisoners
... what will another catastrophe do to a challenged society?#: Posted by on 09/04 at 11:54 AM -
Um, I confess to be confused here - it is 'War On Terrorism' according to the DoD web pages. But it is still a misnomer.
#: Posted by on 09/04 at 12:07 PM
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Torbjörn,
... established a de facto permanent state of war ...
the history of the United States since World War I suggests it has been in a permanent state of war since that time, aggravated by World War II, then cemented by the Cold War. Woodrow Wilson was concerned about this but, then, had his stroke and could do no more about it. indeed, there were opponents of intervention in World War II who argued that entering the war, however needed and worthwhile, would result in granting the President powers they would never give back to Congress where they belong, and would therefore be an important step along the road to dictatorship.
i think the "War on Terror" is as much a statement that this government and country no longer knows how to function without being "at war". neocons say the United States beat the Soviets (variously) by "spending them into the ground", but i believe it cost us dearly, too, in liberty, self-reliance, and excessive entanglement in foreign affairs. -
this just in from Downing Street:
The UK today began sending aid to the United States for relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
500,000 military ration packs will be airlifted to the US over the next few days. The first contributions will set off tomorrow morning.
Though the delivery of rations is a key priority, the Government is also looking urgently at providing other relief items sought by the US. These items may be sent from the UK or be purchased closer to the affected region
Aid from UK is being provided in response to a first request for assistance from the US Government received this morning, and essential relief items being pursued include blankets, tarpaulins, camp beds and military tentage. UK experts have been sent to work alongside US staff co-ordinating the provision of assistance from contributing countries.
Given the UK currently holds the European Union Presidency, we are also co-ordinating the response of other EU states to the US Government's request. EU states have offered items such as medical teams, water purification units, camp beds, blankets and specialist personnel. - DHS Secretary Chertoff admits "mistakes were made" and that, in addition the US would have to confront the “greatest environmental mess we have seen in this country.”
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"the history of the United States since World War I suggests it has been in a permanent state of war since that time,"
As I understand it, usually a nation has a constitution for peace. When it goes to war (attacking or defending against another nation) it puts it aside and institutes a 'state of war' and appropriate measures. I guess it does so also for massive civilian unrest or civil war.
My feeling is that the term 'war' was improperly used. (How do you make 'war' against small groups of crazies hidden inside large populations?) And I think that US has lately instituted indefinite (de facto permanent) special measures that are analogous to 'state of war' measures. Perhaps the Constitution will be amended?
I am glad that foreign relief from is finally accepted.#: Posted by on 09/04 at 02:33 PM -
as horrid as the loss of life is, another Republican failure and failure of the republic i just learned about is how the federalist formula and weakening of government contributed directly to the lovely $3.50/gallon gas we're experiencing. this is more than what's laughingly called United States energy policy. the reason refineries are in Louisiana and oil wells bunched in the western Gulf of Mexico is because they can't be where commercially they want to be. specifically, the domes having oil are off the Florida coast, with more being on its east.
Florida, as a tourist mecca, doesn't want to risk having its beaches despoiled and, so, has long banned drilling off its shores, or close to them. oil companies can drill to domes sideways.
i don't know the policies in Alabama or Mississippi, but apparently refineries are in Louisiana because Louisiana welcomes them. what would make greater economic sense is to move the rigs closer to where the oil is, and bring the refineries along.
while this would not get them out of hurricanes' paths, it would distribute them more uniformly.
naturally, there is no grand federal plan to manage these energy resources as there is in many other countries. in fact, when oil companies go bankrupt, the knowledge of energy sources and exploration is most often lost with them, as it is part of their property. in other countries, the energy resources belong to the country and, in case of financial failure, get auctioned off to anyone interested. similarly, in other countries, it's feasible to knock local heads together to get a result and energy practice which is better for the good of the country as a whole. here such authority is delegated to individual states.
the double-whammy here is primarily that, even if the refineries get back online, they're short-staffed, with labor having to live at a distance, the local conditions being uninhabitable.
this is in part from an editorial in the Financial Times and in part from the Science Friday program on the subject cited elsewhere. -
On a personal note, this is the third (!) time in that an interesting place that I intended to visit again has been more or less destroyed.
First time in US I passed New York, chosed Empire State as lookout point and thought 'next time WTC'.
First time in Thailand/Chambodia had 1 day in Phuket (I couldn't miss Angkor Wat or Bangkok) and thought 'next time more days'.
Last time in US I passed New Orleans on route to Miami, had 1 day and thought 'next time more days'.
I guess the Earth is finite in more senses than the spatial...#: Posted by on 09/04 at 02:56 PM -
Fourth time, dammit. There was some places in former Yugoslavia I had pegged as 'must return', too. They bombed them all. So it is 2-2 between war and natural catastrophes.
#: Posted by on 09/04 at 03:02 PM
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As I understand it, usually a nation has a constitution for peace. When it goes to war (attacking or defending against another nation) it puts it aside and institutes a 'state of war' and appropriate measures.
don't work that way here, Torbjörn. we have a recipe for conducting war.
the central problem of the history i was citing is that for extended periods while there is no "declared war", a Constitutional concept, for various reasons tagged with the all-encompassing phrase "national security", the President retains wartime-like powers.
these include incredible powers to conduct operations in secret and, what would be especially troubling to the framers of the Constitution, to keep the budgets for these operations from most of Congress, never mind the general public. -
there's an article at the UK Telegraph which is an example of why some international analysis of American politics is better than what we get here. American media often like to pretend there's no overt manipulation of media and public whereas overseas outlets put it right out there.
the UK Telegraph can hardly be criticized as being "liberal", as it's viewpoint tends to the conservative and anti-Blair. -
if you pay attention, it doesn't look at all the case that everything is fine now. we're being fed spin. consider this report from CNN interviewing the Coast Guard:
Officials say they do not have the manpower, the resources or enough time to save everyone.
where are they? they're all trying to figure out how to protect the President? why are Brown and Chertoff so opposed to tent cities? because if they're built, they'll be on the news week after week. using their current strategry, BushCo can sprinkle and dilute the evacuees from the Gulf so finely around the country, it won't be possible to tell it happened. and they'll be putting up barriers to people returning to New Orleans, making the problem and threshold of cleanup lower.
"My guys are coming back and telling me, 'Sir, I went into a house, and there are three elderly people in their beds, and they're gasping, and they're dying,' " Coast Guard Capt. Bruce Jones said.
"And we got calls today, 'We need you ... to go to a place in St. Bernard Parish. It's a hospice, ... and there are 10 dead and there are 10 dying.' But those people were probably alive yesterday or the day before."
Though pilots, rescue crew members and maintenance workers are red-eyed and exhausted, they're refusing to rest, CNN's Karl Penhaul reported.
For every person plucked from the flood, there are hundreds still waiting, rescuers say.
"There's simply not enough resources," Jones said.
in fact, while i understand why they might want to evacuate all remaining people so cleanup measures can proceed unhindered, i have this vision of New Orleans becoming little more than a factory town to serve the oil, gas, and chemical industries nearby.
and, what's more, with only soldiers in New Orleans, BushCo can order them to shut up about what's actually going on, so the media and the public won't know. heck, BushCo may initially order the military to operate the refineries and things. -
Torbjorn, please don't ever pass through my city and think that you need to revisit.
#: Posted by on 09/04 at 10:59 PM
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the UK Telegraph can hardly be criticized as being "liberal", as it's viewpoint tends to the conservative and anti-Blair.
Well, its nickname is the Torygraph, so the word "tends" in your post may be somewhat of an understatement. -
New Orleans's disaster plan : (1) build levees for a cat. 3 storm, (2) in the event of a cat. 4 or 5 storm, panic and order evacuation, (3) fail to mobilize the hundreds of NO school buses and municipal buses to evacuate the disabled or poor people, and (4) blame the feds.
I think President Bush deserves some criticism for not sending the air cavalry or patroopers with orders to shoot looters on sight.#: Posted by on 09/05 at 07:20 AM -
Or, alternatively:
1) Tell people to evacuate
2) ????
3) Weather the disaster with no loss of life and minimal destruction of property -
send bibles to New Orleans!
I would imagine they burn them for heat and fuel. Atleast I would#: Posted by on 09/05 at 05:15 PM -
From the (*snortle*) Business Reporting section of the Boston Herald:
Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief had to be `asked to resign'
By Brett Arends
Saturday, September 3, 2005 - Updated: 02:01 PM EST
The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.
And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position.
The Oklahoman got the job through an old college friend who at the time was heading up FEMA.
...
Full story here:
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=100857 - yeah, now Bush himself wants to lead the inquiry as to what went wrong in Katrina's aftermath. like that makes a lot of sense. it's like asking NASA to investigate what happened on Columbia or Challenger.
- litany of failures of government to help the people of the Gulf Coast is available at The Agitator.
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exzept:
"the central problem of the history i was citing is that for extended periods while there is no "declared war", a Constitutional concept, for various reasons tagged with the all-encompassing phrase "national security", the President retains wartime-like powers."
I think your comments are interesting. So the constitution of the most important nation is easily put aside and not followed anymore? That would be scary!
Dave:
I am sorry for your city that is so uninteresting and for you that has chosen to live there. On the other hand what is interesting for one person can not be divined by another so I feel free to visit.#: Posted by on 09/07 at 05:34 PM -
Ooohhh! Dave, I think I have been unnecessarily rude. Your comment should of course be interpreted as a joke. My apologies; it is way past bed time and I was just too tired to engage all parts of my brain synchronously.
Yes, perhaps I bring bad luck. But I have also visited 100's of cities without any citywide problems. So it is not a regular thing with me.
#: Posted by on 09/07 at 05:50 PM -
I think your comments are interesting. So the constitution of the most important nation is easily put aside and not followed anymore? That would be scary!
yes, it is scary. it has long been blamed upon nuclear standoff with the Soviets and the need to go to war at a moment's notice, but i don't believe that. i don't believe that because Woodrow Wilson and other Presidents were worried about it, and that was before there was a nuclear bomb.
i believe it even less now. i think the United States Congress, the President, and the people of the United States are all getting lazy, and are unwilling to do the extra work needed to keep a representative democracy vibrant. that means doing extra work to pick out good candidates, demand that they have substantive election campaigns and debates, and demand that Congress take back the power it ceded to the Presidency when this extended emergency began. it's just so much easier to delegate it all to one guy, the President, and their administration. that's sure what happened in ancient Athens, in France lots of times, and that's how dictators are started.
so, yeah, scary, but i don't know what we can do about it. -
from Salon:
After a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Bush warned against the "blame game" as he pointed his finger: "Bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people." His aides briefed reporters on background that "bureaucracy" of course referred to state and local officials. That night, at the White House, Bush met with congressional leaders of both parties, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urged Bush to fire Brown. "Why would I do that?" the president replied. "Because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week," she explained. To which he answered, "What didn't go right?"
Bush's denigration of "bureaucracy" raises the question of the principals responsible in his own bureaucracy. Within hours of the president's statement, the Associated Press reported that FEMA director Michael Brown had waited five hours after the hurricane struck to request 1,000 workers from Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff. Part of their mission, he wrote, would be to "convey a positive image" of the administration's response.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune disclosed that Max Mayfield, head of the National Hurricane Center, briefed Brown and Chertoff before the hurricane made landfall of its potential disastrous consequences. "We were briefing them way before landfall," Mayfield said. "It's not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped." The day after Bush's Cabinet room attack on bureaucracy, the St. Petersburg Times revealed that Mayfield had also briefed President Bush in a video conference call. "I just wanted to be able to go to sleep that night knowing that I did all I could do," Mayfield said. -
another comment on what Torbjörn Larsson asked about above: the Constitution also allows each representatives house to make up its own rules about what's permitted or not and how legislative business is to be conducted. in the case of a majority party, this allows a good deal of abuse. i cannot say if it has happened before or not, but with the embarrassment of hurricane Katrina splatting all over them, IMO the Republicans are resorting to grossly undemocratic means and measures to (essentially) buy themselves out of a deep political hole. the latest is the report that with $52 billion of emergency aid requested from BushCo, the bill was presented to the House of Representatives for a vote without anyone being able to see the text of its contents.
i don't know if there is or is not, but the entire principle of having "hidden legislation" is hugely dangerous. i mean, they could slide the entire Patriot Act II in there without anyone knowing and, at the same time, accuse anyone in opposition voting against it on procedural grounds, that they were keeping aid from the suffering people of the Gulf Coast.
in other words, emergencies are a venue for those in power to grab more power. the damn thing about it is, i don't hear any uproar on the part of the American public about this. i hear them grumbling about the price of petrol.
i fear we are sliding into not only a permanent state of war, but a permanent state of emergency, possibly martial law. and Tony Blair was worried about lack of a free political process in China: hah !