My Thoughts On Katrina

I haven't yet spent much time blogging on Hurricane Katrina.

I think blogging about the tragedy is difficult, much like blogging about the tsunami. To me, there shouldn't be a political dimension to human tragedy. Of course, there always is -- but that's not an issue that bears discussing, at least in my mind. As the Kansas Redhead noted, the Dems are already trying to make use of the tragedy, but that's not surprising. People in both parties are willing political opportunists in any case, but this does strike one as macabre.

Was the federal government's response woefully inadequate? Hell yes -- and Michael Brown's departure was overdue. Were the state and local governments at best feckless and at worst criminally negligent? Well, the Governor's actions stand out as pathetic, and any mayor who spends his time on the air screaming and complaining doesn't strike me as particularly effective, and you have to question the decision to send personnel to Las Vegas as a reward (hat tip: The Lord of Truth), especially when you're soon thereafter commenting about the city's inability to meet payroll. Brendan Loy, who actually wrote about the likelihood of a catastrophe before anyone else did, put it perfectly when he noted that every level of government "f---ed up."

But let's face it -- as Bobby Jindal noted, one of the biggest problems was government red tape...

• A mayor in my district tried to get supplies for his constituents, who were hit directly by the hurricane. He called for help and was put on hold for 45 minutes. Eventually, a bureaucrat promised to write a memo to his supervisor.

• Evacuees on a boat from St. Bernard Parish could not find anyone to give them permission to dock along the Mississippi River. Security forces, they say, were prepared to turn them away at one port.

• A sheriff in my district office reported being told that he would not get the resources his office needed to do its job unless he emailed a request. The parish was flooded and without electricity!

• Unbelievably, first responders were hindered by a lack of interoperable communications. Do you recall how New York police and fire departments on 9/11 could not talk with each other? Four years later, despite billions spent on homeland security, state, federal, and local officials in Louisiana had the same problem.

My office became so frustrated with the bureaucracy that we often turned to private companies. They responded more quickly and flexibly.

After our staff visited communities to assess local needs, Budweiser delivered truckloads of water and ice. Ford provided vehicles for search and rescue. Every company we contacted provided goods and services without compensation.

I don't doubt that the federal government can do a better job than it did, but a failure of this type should indicate that maybe we need to rethink how we respond to such tragedies. Of course, instead of doing this, the blame game will take place this fall, with Congressional hearings focused on trying to point fingers rather than craft solutions.

So what will we accomplish with the finger-pointing? Well, it would be useful if it wasn't cloaked in partisan stupidity. The President deserves to get ripped. But so does Congress -- it wasn't just by Presidential fiat that FEMA ended up as part of Homeland Security. And while FEMA certainly looked terrible, one has to wonder why other states in other cases (I'm looking at you, Florida) have handled hurricane disasters with far less pain and suffering than New Orleans or Louisiana. Maybe the folks in New Orleans need to also look in the mirror a bit -- my impression of New Orleans government is that it's a cesspool of corruption and inefficiency, and people just accepted it. Hey, I'm from Philly, so I know the feeling, but if you don't demand better governance... something bad can happen.

Bottom line, plenty of people failed the people of New Orleans, but it's a group failure. The list of stupid things people have said will only grow. But the list of intelligent ideas to fix the problem may not get enough coverage. It's up to us to make sure the intelligent ideas do get implemented, in the midst of the usual rampant idiocy.

In the meantime, what can we do?

Well, we can give money to help the relief effort -- if you haven't already, it's worth your money.
We can ask questions as to where the federal dollars for the relief effort will go, because it's our money, and we need to be wise about how it gets spent.

Somewhere along the line, a serious discussion should be had about how they should rebuild the city and its protection from another similar disaster.

We can thank the good folks who are working to help the people in New Orleans and elsewhere in the Gulf region recover. I know my good friend the Minster of War is there, along with several other members of our nation's Armed Forces. Be thankful that men and women like this exist in our country, and be thankful for the other souls who have given their time to help.

Finally, we can pray. Take some time and do so -- it won't hurt anything, and it certainly might help.