More on Nawlins

posted on the soon-to-be-defunct NY Times Readers' Forum, in response to a column by Thomas Friedman (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/opinion/07friedman.html):

chinshihtang - 4:01 PM ET September 8, 2005 (#33993 of 34004)

Different when the Bushite hits homeBest column I've seen from Friedman since the early days in the Middle East.

I grieve for the city of New Orleans; fear it may never regain the grace and joy it was so famous for, and mourn the so-far uncounted casualties.

There is a delicious irony, though, that the combination of the high gas prices and the federal government's failures to properly anticipate, plan for, or react to Katrina have finally combined to break the public's confidence in the Bushites. Not the disastrous Iraq invasion/occupation, nor the myopic management of the economy and the environment, nor even their ridiculous Social Security proposals did it. It's different when the effects of bad policy are felt right here, right now.
The irony, of course, is that the gas price hikes and Katrina were disasters caused by something other than our federal government policy.

Saying this, though, the Katrina episode has all the hallmarks of Bushite administration: lack of foresight, incompetence, cronyism, neglect of the underprivileged, dallying at the crucial moment, furious politicization and spinning of the blame, arrogance, and, above all, refusal to admit error.



talon57a - 4:07 PM ET September 8, 2005 (#33994 of 34004)

Actually polls indicate the public does NOT feel Bush was responsible.
chinshihtang - 4:56 PM ET September 8, 2005 (#34005 of 34005)

George W. Bush? What, me responsible?


talon57a - 4:07 PM ET September 8, 2005 (#33994)
"Actually polls indicate the public does NOT feel Bush was responsible."

Which polls? Worded exactly how?

Actually, my reading of the polls is that the public feels Bush would not accept responsibility if his DNA were two-inches deep covering the entire flood-damaged area.

Of course, he's not responsible for the hurricane. Check out the no confidence ratings; guarantee they will be worse next time around. Nah, probably just a coincidence.


And now, a slightly more serious posting:

Rebuilding, and if so, how?
That is the question--since we're stuck with Dubya and the Bushites for 3 1/2 more years no matter what.

Congress will no doubt pass generous bills to encourage rebuilding of the damaged areas, emphasizing infrastructure and relief and jobs for the evacuees. I would suggest two key aspects for their consideration:
1) We should not be rebuilding beachfront properties on the Gulf Coast. There will be more, probably even larger, hurricanes there and we can't keep the sea out everywhere. Provide reasonable compensation to those homeowners and rebuild them back from the coast a mile or two. This is almost a no-brainer, but in our compassion and determination to overcome this disaster, we may overlook this obvious lesson.

2) We have to put our engineering genius to work in a big way to make a secure New Orleans/lower bayou area. The Dutch have shown the way how to build extensively below sea level near the sea. Louisiana has the added challenge of hurricane-intensity storms. I believe we can and should put our best minds to work on this challenge--it can be done, and it should be done.