Blaming Bush For Hurricane Katrina
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Environment, Hurricane Katrina, The War On TerrorismSidney Blumenthal has just about lost all credibility in my book.
He suggests that the devasatation was caused by the Administration’s avarice. Sure, they cut flood relief funding, but to use this disaster to write a screed against Bush is nearly indefensible.
From Der Spiegel:
In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.Biblical in its uncontrolled rage and scope, Hurricane Katrina has left millions of Americans to scavenge for food and shelter and hundreds to thousands reportedly dead. With its main levee broken, the evacuated city of New Orleans has become part of the Gulf of Mexico. But the damage wrought by the hurricane may not entirely be the result of an act of nature.
Now, the points in the article are mostly valid, but the timing is so hideous it makes me want to throw things. Sidney, you’re really going to blame our leaders for cutting funds when they never could imagine that a tragedy like this could happen? Sure, anybody can play 20/20, but hindsight doesn’t fix anything. It merely points fingers in a way that can only be seen as politically motivated.
To be clear, I didn’t agree with our invasion of Iraq, but I truly feel that most who did felt it was necessary and vital to our survival against the terrorist’s threat. Given that, pulling funds from different places can be seen as completely understandable.
In any event, my thoughts and prayers go out to the people in the Deep South. Regardless of politics and rhetoric, the readers of Donklephant are with you wherever you are.
UPDATE: September 1st 3:47 pm
So this is what happens when I let anger and passion govern my decision to write a post.
The line in question is this:
Sidney, you’re really going to blame our leaders for cutting funds when they never could imagine that a tragedy like this could happen?
Simply put, this is an incorrect statement, and reader Jim Jones points it out.
Sorry you’re way off base. I don’t think this was a case where it couldn’t be imagined. There are many documented instances where people knew that something just like this WOULD happen. If they couldn’t imagine it happening, it was because they were derelict of duty and simply had their heads in the sand. If you really want me to point out that this was forseen, I can dig up the articles for you but a simple Google search would have told you that before you decided to post this article.
Sometimes we slip up. Thanks for keeping me in line Jim.
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September 1st, 2005 at 3:12 pm
Sidney, you’re really going to blame our leaders for cutting funds when they never could imagine that a tragedy like this could happen?
Justin,
Sorry you’re way off base. I don’t think this was a case where it couldn’t be imagined. There are many documented instances where people knew that something just like this WOULD happen. If they couldn’t imagine it happening, it was because they were derelict of duty and simply had their heads in the sand. If you really want me to point out that this was forseen, I can dig up the articles for you but a simple Google search would have told you that before you decided to post this article.
September 1st, 2005 at 3:46 pm
Jim, you’re right. That particular part of the post I wish I could have back, and I’ll amend it.
However, what I meant to highlight was the whole “Bush should have seen this coming” meme about every bad thing that happens in the US nowadays. We can’t blame him for everything. And at a certain point, it’s up to the Louisiana to tend to its own garden.
It’s also up to Louisiana now to make sure this doesn’t happen again. If they want to restore everything exactly as it was (as has been suggested about the French Quarter) I think that’s a bad move. And it will be nobody’s fault but their own if this same thing happens again.