Disaster Politics
It seems that partisans will stoop to any depths in their ever-present obsession with scoring political points. While the disaster of Katrina remains far from over, everywhere you turn are those who choose to point fingers of blame rather than roll up their sleeves.
Who is to blame? Probably lots of people. But this isn't the time for debate and finger-pointing. This is the time for helping the victims in the deep south of Louisiana and Mississippi who are trapped without food and water and increasingly threatened by armed gangs.
It's pretty clear that relief forces have mobilized much too slowly. That despite a nationwide outpouring of support, somehow the relief workers are not reaching huge populations of sick and hungry people. Only now is the National Guard beginning to move in and try to take control of the security.
There are plenty of questions to be answered when this is all over:
Why were the dikes not shored up in New Orleans long ago, given that they have known for years that an event such as Katrina would be likely to devastate the city as it did?
Where's the Mayor of New Orleans? In all of the news coverage, I have yet to hear his name or see him interviewed. Why aren't we seeing him all over his city coordinating relief efforts while asking the State and Federal Goverments for assistance where it's most badly needed?
Even the Governor of Mississippi seems to be missing in action. Again, I haven't seen him interviewed, I haven't seen pictures of him walking through New Orleans coordinating aid.
The state and local officials seem to have run away and hid, relying on the Feds to step in. Local police were stretched to the limit, seemingly without any leadership helping to set their priorities.
The nuts throwing stones at the president have put their partisan idiocy and lack of concern for victims on display. Suggesting that Katrina wouldn't have happened if Bush hadn't signed onto Kyoto is outrageous. Saying that Bush's failed energy policies and cozy relationship with the oil industry are responsible for the current gasoline crisis is terribly hypocritical, given the fact that the same people block drilling for new domestic oil sources and the building of new refineries for reasons more political than environmental.
At the same time, if the American oil companies really want to foster goodwill among the citizens, they will step out front in the energy crisis to reassure Americans that they will keep supplies available and pledge against profiteering during these times. If for no other reasons, the public relations benefit can give smart oil executives benefits far beyond the short-term profits they can realize over the next few months.
It looks like the president is stepping up, maybe a day or two late, but he needs to take command and make sure the victims of Katrina get the help they need immediately. He's really just getting started, so we'll see what he is able to do.
Who is to blame? Probably lots of people. But this isn't the time for debate and finger-pointing. This is the time for helping the victims in the deep south of Louisiana and Mississippi who are trapped without food and water and increasingly threatened by armed gangs.
It's pretty clear that relief forces have mobilized much too slowly. That despite a nationwide outpouring of support, somehow the relief workers are not reaching huge populations of sick and hungry people. Only now is the National Guard beginning to move in and try to take control of the security.
There are plenty of questions to be answered when this is all over:
Why were the dikes not shored up in New Orleans long ago, given that they have known for years that an event such as Katrina would be likely to devastate the city as it did?
Where's the Mayor of New Orleans? In all of the news coverage, I have yet to hear his name or see him interviewed. Why aren't we seeing him all over his city coordinating relief efforts while asking the State and Federal Goverments for assistance where it's most badly needed?
Even the Governor of Mississippi seems to be missing in action. Again, I haven't seen him interviewed, I haven't seen pictures of him walking through New Orleans coordinating aid.
The state and local officials seem to have run away and hid, relying on the Feds to step in. Local police were stretched to the limit, seemingly without any leadership helping to set their priorities.
The nuts throwing stones at the president have put their partisan idiocy and lack of concern for victims on display. Suggesting that Katrina wouldn't have happened if Bush hadn't signed onto Kyoto is outrageous. Saying that Bush's failed energy policies and cozy relationship with the oil industry are responsible for the current gasoline crisis is terribly hypocritical, given the fact that the same people block drilling for new domestic oil sources and the building of new refineries for reasons more political than environmental.
At the same time, if the American oil companies really want to foster goodwill among the citizens, they will step out front in the energy crisis to reassure Americans that they will keep supplies available and pledge against profiteering during these times. If for no other reasons, the public relations benefit can give smart oil executives benefits far beyond the short-term profits they can realize over the next few months.
It looks like the president is stepping up, maybe a day or two late, but he needs to take command and make sure the victims of Katrina get the help they need immediately. He's really just getting started, so we'll see what he is able to do.
posted by Dan S. at 8:02 AM
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