Kings

[poliphilo]

George Bush reminds me of those useless late-18th century kings, George III and Louis XVI. He has no instinct for leadership; he has to be told what to do. "Say, Mr President, don't you think it would be a good idea if you flew down to the Delta and put in an appearance?" "Awww...do I have to?"

A natural-born leader would have been down there, mingling with the refugees, just as soon as it was safe to fly.

Sooner or later every dynasty throws up a man unsuited to the job.

George III was a successful farmer and Louis XVI had a talent for watchmaking and George Bush- if left to his own devices- would have cut the mustard (just)in the lower levels of middle management.

Did they tip the tea into Boston harbour for this? I think not.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The charge against Government is that the defences of New Orleans have been steadily eroded over the past two or three decades. The Wetlands, which act as a buffer zone between the city and the sea, were sold off for draining and development under Reagan and Clinton- and the Bush administration (though officially warned of the hurricane danger) has compounded matters by axing the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers and posting much of the Louisiana National Guard (plus vehicles and equipment) to Iraq.

The article I'm mainly drawing on can be read in full here- http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105Q.shtml

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

That's Molly Ivins, whose loathing for Bush is monumental. It's my opinion that she may tell the truth but not always the whole truth, if you get my drift. Like the folks who looked at Hastert's remark about "should we rebuild" without including the context that made it clear he was musing on the way we will rebuild on locations that, on the face of it, don't necessarily make a lot of sense because we're stubborn.

I think that a broad cross-section of Americans can shoulder blame for what happened in New Orleans. I also think that at this point finger-pointing is less important than drawing a variety of lessons so that something like this doesn't happen again.

What might those lessons be? One -- when New Orleans is rebuilt, how about a change in the building codes so that everything built has to be able to withstand a Category 5 hurricane? Two, when doing distater planning for a community where so many folks are in appalling poverty, we have to recognize the fact that at the end of the month they have no money left and cannot go out and purchase a five-day food and water supply to sustain their families in a place like the Superdome. That kind of food is expensive -- and the reality of the end of the month stretch just hit me this morning. I could go on and on, but it could be summed up by this: we need to have national conversations about two issues in relationship to each other, and those two issues are social justice and individual responsibility.

The National Guard was there and could have maintained order if it hadn't been fully occupied with search and rescue.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I like what you're saying here. The past is a whole lot less important than the future.

I have the feeling that this disaster, as others have suggested, will bring about a paradigm shift at least as important as the one caused by 9/11

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

There's a state rep on WWL-TV right now. She's got a three word message, and she sounds like an evangelist:

"Buses and gas.

"You want to save lives in New Orleans? Get us buses and gas.

"The people need food and water and medicine, but get us buses and gas. If we can put these people on buses and get them out of here, we can get them to a place that we can give them the help they need.

"Buses and gas. That's what we need."

[stupid question from reporter]

"Buses and gas."

[inane question from reporter]

"BUSES. AND. GAS."

[and another question]

"BUSES! AND! GAS!"

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Buses and Gas- magnificent!

But have you seen the report from the Convention Centre that Jackie has posted below?

The fact that a state rep is having to make that appeal, three days in, is in itself an indictment of the unpreparedness of the authorities-

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

The reports from the Convention Center are heartbreaking. The desperation of those poor people is making them very frightening to their would-be rescuers. Wouldn't it be nice if a crop-duster could just spray them all with some kind of tranquilizer that would calm them down long enough for the National Guard to help them with food and water, or better yet BUSES AND GAS.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

But how come they've been left there to become so desperate?

A hideous catastrophe has been made worse because corners have been cut and resources mismanaged.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

This was a disaster that was just waiting to happen. This is what I mean in regards to taking care of ourselves first. You can not cross your fingers and hope for the best and call that leadership.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's an article this morning by Paul Krugman- where he says that the Bush administration isn't interested in much of the business of Government. They like playing about with the military, but they can't be doing with things like protecting their own people and the environment. I had exactly the same thought and would probably have written it up, only now it would look like plagiarism.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

I saw some of the stories on the BBC internet site but I am not sure about how much coverage you are receiving. This has turned into a national nightmare and so much of it could have been avoided. The mood here is turning from shock, horror and disbelief into rage. Pure rage for letting this happen in our own home.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We're getting a lot of coverage. It's been the lead story for several days. Our news programmes are giving weight both to the disaster itself and to the political fallout.