The terrible flooding of New Orleans is giving the world a harsh lesson in the nature of American leadership incompetence. The revelations of this concealed anatomy of incompentence, while predictable, remain very disturbing:
- Incompetent leadership works very s-l-o-w-l-y, because every time a decision must be made, it has to be checked for political correctness and clarification of ambiguous zones of "authority." (No clear lines of authority and responsibility among NO relief agencies)
- Incompetent leadership skews decision-making toward the management of appearances, as against the objective management of the problem. (Lifting hundreds of people off rooftops rather than dropping water and food to keep thousands of people alive)
- Incompetent leadership grasps at excuses (nobody expected the levees to break).
- Incompetent leadership misallocates resources, moving them from flood control projects to adventures in Iraq.
- Incompetent leadership underestimates the importance of detailed planning. (No refugee evacuation provisions for NO flood)
- Incompetent leadership appoints politicians to positions requiring substantial subject matter expertise (Bush FEMA head).
- Incompetent leadership relies on propaganda outlets to conceal deficiencies in performance. (Major media will not challenge Bush or his subordinates on erroneous statements)
- Incompetent leadership uses superstition to deflect criticism. (The President is praying for the survivors)
- Incompetent leadership becomes progressively more destructive, as failures compound. (NO disaster affecting energy supplies and financial markets)
How much more leadership incompetence can America withstand? Perhaps the mid-term Congressional elections will give us the answer.