Bush's Perfect Storm

[I've had some technical difficulties with the blog the past week, so this is the first chance I've had to post anything. These are some thoughts I jotted down over the weekend, watching the Katrina disaster unfold.]

Imagine if a few weeks ago someone had polled all of the Bush critics in the country, and asked them to list the primary faults that they see in this administration. I suspect, give or take a few entries, the results would have looked something like this:

Obsession with Iraq at the cost of all other national priorities
Unwillingness to admit mistakes
Hostility to science
Embarrassing juvenile attitude
Indifference to the fates of the poorest members of society
Cronyism and unwillingness to fire anyone for incompetence
Tendency to spend way too much time on vacation
Inability to plan and execute large-scale operations effectively

If Hurricane Katrina ends up being the turning point when it becomes clear to a solid majority of the country that Bush has been a fundamentally incompetent leader, I suspect it will be because the Katrina crisis turned out expose all eight of these flaws. The hurricane itself may have swerved east and dropped down to a category 3 before it hit land, but where Bush's political reputation was concerned, it was the perfect storm.

Just a few quotes to illustrate my point:

Obsession with Iraq at the cost of all other national priorities

"...the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane-protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.)." -- the Chicago Tribune

Unwillingness to admit mistakes

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." -- President Bush, on Good Morning America

Hostility to science

"A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city." -- Scientific American, 2001

Embarrassing juvenile attitude

"'The good news is - and it's hard for some to see it now - that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house - there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch.' (Laughter)." - George W. Bush

Indifference to the fates of the poorest members of society

Andrew Sullivan on the Lott quote: "Just think of that quote for a minute; and the laughter that followed. The poor and the black are dying, dead, drowned and desperate in New Orleans and elsewhere. But the president manages to talk about the future 'fantastic' porch of a rich, powerful white man who only recently resigned his position because he regretted the failure of Strom Thurmond to hold back the tide of racial desegregation."

Cronyism and unwillingness to fire anyone for incompetence

From Josh Marshall: "So, just to recap, Brown had no experience whatsoever in emergency management. He was fired from his last job for incompetence. He was hired because he was the new director's college roommate. And after the director -- who himself got the job because he was a political fixer for the president -- left, he became top dog. And President Bush said yesterday that he thinks Brown is "doing a helluva job'."

Tendency to spend way too much time on vacation

Bush is being criticized for not ending his vacation the second it became clear that the "near-miss" of first reports wasn't in fact, a near-miss at all. But just think about this for a second: we're talking about a scenario (Category 4-5 storm hits New Orleans) that experts have long predicted would result in a massive disaster that could easily produce ten times 9/11's loss of life. And by Saturday, all the forecasters were saying that this was the most likely path the storm was going to take. But somehow that wasn't enough to get Bush off the ranch. (Not to mention the rest of this slacker administration.)

Inability to plan and execute large-scale operations effectively

See all the above.

Comments

[Mason]

I like your space. I think there are a few blog entries and links on my page that you would enjoy. If you visit, please sign my guest book so I can visit your space again from time to time. Peace.

[Brett]

Well said.

The importance of leadership can not be overstated, and this is an unfortunate example of what happens when leadership is not present where needed.

[Artie]

If only Bush and the citizens of N.O. had played more video games! Surely then they would have had the cognitive skills to avoid this catastrophe. Maybe we should start a "Video Games for Refugees" charity. Maybe have a telethon and a big rock show.

And yes, Bush and his bungling administration deserves a lot of the blame for this incredible mess. This is one more reminder that sometimes everything that's bad for you, really is bad for you.

[Rob]

This disaster will likely expose the folly of Republican environmental positions, too. I've been hearing that flood controls led to the shrinking of Delta marshlands and left New Orleans with less protection from the hurricane than it would once have had. There was also some buzz about global warming causing the increasingly severe natural disasters, though that seems harder to prove, and I suspect that the rising cost of gas will reinforce the need for alternative fuel research.

[michael]

Right on target on the endemic failure points of this Administration. Katrina threaded the needle perfectly, striking the Administration at every point of vulnerability. They are gasping for air and fighting for time to recover to avoid a complete collapse of their credibility.

Oddly, I don't think they even recognize that this failure is qualitatively any different than the many failures the Administration has weathered. This failure goes to the very heart of the basic trust we have in government to keep us safe when the worst happens. When photos of the carnage and the ever mounting death toll hit a tipping point, the whole house of cards could come down.

[Peony]

There was a time when I had great respect for the former President Bush's wife Barbara. Recently I heard her quote regarding the situation in New Orleans I knew why her son has the attitude he does: "...so they were underprivileged anyway, this is working well for them." That is an attitude of someone who has never had to work for their food and shelter. Coming from that background how can he be anything but arrogant, selfish, incompetent and uncaring.

[jay]

"...so they were underprivileged anyway, this is working well for them." That is an attitude of someone who has never had to work for their food and shelter.

do you think the actions of the people of NO indicate the proper atitude of someone who has. This is a liberal problem caused by a liberal welfare state ideology where people were so used to being treated like children they didn't even have enough sense or will to leave. This is the liberals-iraq. The same people who criticize bush for iraq now want bush to sent federal troops to "occupy" New Orleans and when the first looter/thug/rioter gets shot, you all can then criticize bush for that too. Its the local and state govt thats primarily to blame, which are too afraid to act to stop crime because most of the criminals are black. Do you think the people who left sit around saying "This failure goes to the very heart of the basic trust we have in government to keep us safe when the worst happens." No they did a very american thing- they got off their but and acted. Compare the preparedness of NO to Houston. Does anyone on this board have the decency to thank a city in bush's home state which actually gives real help to people insted criticism and pleas for more govt.

Here's a great article no one here will read
http://tiadaily.com/php-bin/news/showArticle.php?id=1026

[Pi.]

The blame for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina lies at all levels of government, as well as - before and during the events - to some extent with those people capable of leaving who refused to. Seeing the aerial photograph of school buses neatly lined up and fully tanked, but unused for the evacuation of the masses, one appreciates how sorely lacking the local administration was in forethought and care for the occupants.

When the changes to the levees and the lack of funding for their repair and care are taken into account - I have heard that two days of military activitiy in Iraq is the equivalent of what the repairs would have cost - and the changes to the wet lands through the protection of the city plus, to a lesser extent, weather changes thanks to global warming one bvegins to see the elvel of the problem as FEMA originally saw it, without adequate reaction, back in January 2001.

The conflicting reports as to who said the occupants of New Orleans should leave or stay, should go to the stadium or not, should receive aid or not, merely add to the overall impression of an administration - at all levels - lacking in a plan. This is not some liberal thing; it is not merely one person; it is not merely the fact that money was re-directed elsewhere. It is a basic fault in the entire system.

That President Bush and his administration have come out of this affair in the worst possible light could also have been foreseen. Problems in Louisiana go back, with this administration, to the very first week he was elected. Who has forgotten the accusation that many poorer Americans from Louisiana (one of the four poorest states in the richest land on this planet) weren't allowed to vote, but no Senator would sign so that an investigation might be followed through?

Who can forget the massive and famously expensive parties that this administration - and previous ones of all colours - allows its members, when the poorest Americans are struggling just to find the wherewithall to eat for one day?

The catastrophe that is Hurricane Katrina is merely one single example of a failure of the administration, of the government of the USA at all levels to care for the needs of their own people. It is sad that such an event was needed to make this fact so obvious; that so many people have had to die needlessly.

Sadly, I suspect that the administration of President Bush will not lave learned from these experiences; Americans should pray that a similar catastrophe doesn't occur and drive home with more deaths the failure to cope, to plan, to care at home.

Pi.

[Brian1625]

For the record, I've read all your books and I'm a huge fun. However.

That Bush quote was intended for a sense of optimism. A precept of reality is that when something is knocked down, something can grow. Yellowstone park is what it is because of forest fires. A Sim City precept, you may feel bad for tearing down those homes to replace them with high tech indurstry, but your city will not grow if you don't.

Bush isn't going to say "wah wah we're doomed" The media has takin' care of that already.

Although I'm highly dissapointed in the adminstration. I'm more dissapointed in the despicable human ecologies that were in place BEFORE the Katrina. The city was a mess.

I don't want the Federal Government feeling like they have to hold everybodies hand.

[Michael Canfield]

I think your assessment of Bush's weaknesses is logical and reasoned (not the mention accurate.)
However, precisely because it is logical and reasoned, it is not going to make a bit of difference. Nothing about this President was revealed this week that wasn't known last November. Katrina will be ascribed to God's retribution for Terry Schiavo being taken off life-support, or perhaps just general moral decadence. The disasterous response to Katrina will be put off on whoever Bush and Fox News say it should be put off on. The well-documented evidence that this disaster could have be avoided by proper reinforcement of the levees that was cut from the budget? Well, George says "No one could have predicted this." Hey it must be true, 'cause God wouldn't have made him President of he didn't know what was right, would He?

[Alex]

I read the article. What a load of crap. "It's all those negroes fault for being on welfare. If only they had the sense to leave town." Hey dumas, the majority of them didn't have cars. And as for the chaos, I saw a whole lot of elderly and children just sitting around in the summer heat waiting for some help. It's amazing to me that in the face of such damming evidence of incompetence, people still support this administration. I guess when you make the mistake of pulling the wrong lever at the voting booth TWICE, you'll say anything to cover up your ignorance.

[williamP]

Culpability for the Katrina failures is found at *all* levels of government.

It's not only ghoulish to exploit Katrina as a political bludgeon against Bush; it's also a way to insure that the endemic problems remain unsolved.

[Kenneth]

So, Brian1625, why didn't Bush say something similar on 9/11? Yunno, for a sense of optimism. When something is knocked down, something can grow. Why DID he say "wah wah we're doomed"? Didn't the media take care of that?
And yes New Orleans is something completely different from 9/11 but trying to cheer people up when their loved ones have passed away is NOT the first thing to do, that has to wait. Cheering people up in a situation like that is a signal that you're afraid of dealing with emotions that hurt, like when your kid sister dies and your parents won't let you mourn. It's a signal that you're afraid of dealing with reality.

[Guillermo Araya]

Mr. Johnson

Are you the author of Everything Bad Is Good For You?

I read on the book in an article of the newspaper El Mercurio and I was interested in it very much.

Would you like to visit Chile, to dictate a magisterial class in the University that I work?

Thank you in your time.

Excuse me for my english.

Goodbye

Guillermo Araya

[brian1625]

I don't know why Bush didn't respond like 9/11. Maybe because the local government made it seem as if everything was hunky-dory before hand. (Nagin press conference Sunday 8/28)

[BOB]

Very nice site, be sure, I`ll visit again! Thank you!

[eeyore220376]

The man is extremely incompetent and clearly doesn't care for his citizens. As a leader he's a disgrace. As a human, he's inexcusable.