Paul Krugman unloads on the Government in general, and His Exalted Royal Imperious Shrubliness by extension, in the Op-Ed page of the NYT on Friday.
I don't think this is a simple tale of incompetence. The reason the military wasn't rushed in to help along the Gulf Coast is, I believe, the same reason nothing was done to stop looting after the fall of Baghdad. Flood control was neglected for the same reason our troops in Iraq didn't get adequate armor.
At a fundamental level, I'd argue, our current leaders just aren't serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don't like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on preventive measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice.
He gives them both barrels here (free registration required).
Look, I know the most important thing is to get help to the people who need it. I'm giving to the Red Cross at the beginning of my next workday (the company where I have temp employment is matching donations, so I figure the little I can spare will be twice as effective that way), and I'm proud that so many are chipping in. (Major League Baseball, for example, is planning to match any donations made at ballgames next Wednesday, Roberto Clemente Day; the Yankees have already kicked in $1 million to the Red Cross.
Link here.)
But that doesn't mean we can give a free pass to the people at the top whose criminal incompetence - whose LETHAL incompetence - has compounded the tragedy.
They couldn't have stopped Hurricane Katrina, or deflected its path.
But they were warned - we all were warned - about the risks. And between the cut funding, the fools placed in charge as political favors, and the Guardsmen who are scrounging for makeshift armor in Iraq instead of helping sandbag the levees and sweep the city for those calling for rescue...
...the disaster is probably an order of magnitude worse than it should have been.
If not more.
If nothing else, the old sign Harry Truman had on his desk should be unearthed. That, or have someone tattoo it on the President's head in mirror-writing, so he'll see it every time he shaves.