Almost all of us know the famous story of King Canute, who placed his throne at the shore and commanded the tide to not come in. Actually, it appears that Canute was fairly modest--he did so to show his overly solicitous courtiers that there were limits to his power. If only W similarly understood his limitations.
Seeing W insist that relief will be provided to a city that is dying before our eyes shows, even more than ever, how totally out of touch the man is. The relief effort that is required here is beyond anything ever previously attempted in American history. Over a million people are going to have to be housed, fed, and kept economically viable for months. A city will likely have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
We've already seen BushCo try to rebuild a society from the ground up, and the effort has not been entirely successful. The incompetence, the greed, the arrogance, the blindness, and the dishonesty that have pervaded the occupation of Iraq are frightening in the extreme. It is difficult to see why things should be expected to be different in N.O.
A govt that can't get enough vests and enough armored Humvees to Iraq 2 1/2 years post-invasion can't realistically be expected to construct refugee camps that will provide halfway tolerable living conditions. A govt that awards no-bid contracts in Iraq to politically connected companies that really don't give a damn about providing needed goods and services can't be realistically expected to do a better job here. A govt that can't rebuild infrastructure in Iraq can't be realistically expected to do so here.
We don't face a 6 day, a 6 week, or even a 6 month crisis. We face something more like a 6 year crisis. We are governed by a president who has never successfully coped w/ a crisis of this magnitude. All his life, when something went sour, there was his father or a friend of his father's or a friendly SCOTUS to pull his chestnuts from the fire for him. Neither Poppy nor any of Poppy's friends can do anything for him here.
In a rational world, W would name Bill Clinton to spearhead relief efforts here. While I still don't really care for Clinton, I recognize that he'd be a perfect fit here. He'd bring boundless energy and determination to the effort. He'd be able to bring problem-solvers together and come up w/ solutions. He'd be able to personally connect w/ the people. Like Churchill in 1940, he could be a rallying figure. He could cement his place in history.
We all know that the foregoing paragraph is a pipe dream. W would replace Rummy w/ Cindy Sheehan before he gave Clinton such a prominent position. Poppy can make nice to the man, but he knows better. Who gives a damn about the "reality-based community," he'll find a "faith-based" way to get the job done.
A truly great city deserves a hell of a lot better than it's going to get in the coming months--and years.
