Now we know. Total chaos, lack of resources, lack of planning, and most of all:
LACK OF LEADERSHIP.
From the top down, it's:
Apathy:
See you at the 'freedom walk,' you prick.
Impotence:
Governor Kathleen Blanco said on ABC's "Good Morning America.": "The National Guard has been dropping sandbags into it, but it's like dropping it into a black hole.".
and Frustration:
"There is way too many fricking ... cooks in the kitchen" said Mayor Ray Nagin. He said the sandbagging was scheduled for midday, but the Blackhawk helicopters needed to help did not show up. He said the sandbags were ready and all the helicopter had to do was "show up." He said after his afternoon helicopter tour of the city, he was assured that officials had a plan and a timeline to drop the sandbags on the levee breach.
It doesn't have to be like this.
My friends in the Netherlands ask me how in the hell the richest country on earth can't protect its major citys against a natural disaster like this,
in an area where they happen, predictably, every fucking year. It sure as hell can't be because of a lack of resources.
25% of the Netherlands is below sea level, including much of the area known as the Randstad, home to the four major cities of the Netherlands. They live with the constant threat of floods. So what do they do? They spend their money where it's needed: on 1,500 miles of dikes, a deltaworks including an enormous retractable seawall, and a host of other innovative--and yes, expensive--technologies.
Of course, it is human nature to procrastinate, to leave problems unsolved until it's too late and the lesson has been learned the hard way. Locking the cockpit door now seems an obvious precaution...if only somebody had thought of it sooner.
The Netherlands didn't launch this major public works initiative until three weeks after a disastrous flood in 1953; it was more than thirty years before it was totally complete, and requires billions every year to maintain. But the people of the Netherlands, and therefore the government, have decided that it is necessary.
Every time you hear some anti-government terrorist prick from somewhere like Utah talking about the guvmint stealing their money, every time you hear some shit head republican hack talking about guvmint being the problem and not the solution, next time your next door neighbor bitches about his taxes as he's sitting in front of his suburban castle, ask him who's going to take care of New Orleans the next time another hurricane comes roaring through. Ask him who's going to rescue 30000 people from a flooded stadium.
Better yet, ask him who the hell is going to save the millions of people who are going to be inhabiting the chaos of New York after a nuclear attack. Ask him if "the market" is equipped to deal with it. Ask him what's more important than having firm plans in place to save lives after a natural or man made disaster.
And ask him if President Bush has any plans to deal with it apart from attending another fund raiser.