Countdown to disaster
This nicely-done synopsis from Kevin Drum details the devolution of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the underfunding of Louisiana's projects to protect the city. Complete with links. Note that the group angling for more federal funds to bolster the levees wasn't whining pork-barrel politicians, but the US Army Corps of Engineers. This is a must-read.
The piece reads like bad political satire and shows the tragic consequences of this administration's leadership style. There's no way to spin this. The federal government, under the GOP, is responsible for failing to prevent the flooding that followed Katrina. Excerpt:
June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay."
As I mentioned on Monday, I've been hearing about the perilous state of New Orleans since 2001. It was no secret. But the government chose to reduce aid to the state's efforts. Conservative efforts to spin this are unlikely to succeed, and there's not even an identifiable bogeyman to blame, a la Cindy Sheehan. The tactics I outlined earlier today are the only ploys I've seen from the right, and they only manage to waver between indefensible and deplorable.
Now if only Democrats can avoid coming out and saying "This isn't anyone's fault." It's demonstrably the fault of this administration, and there's nothing wrong with saying so. To do otherwise is to be complicit in their failures.
The piece reads like bad political satire and shows the tragic consequences of this administration's leadership style. There's no way to spin this. The federal government, under the GOP, is responsible for failing to prevent the flooding that followed Katrina. Excerpt:
June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay."
As I mentioned on Monday, I've been hearing about the perilous state of New Orleans since 2001. It was no secret. But the government chose to reduce aid to the state's efforts. Conservative efforts to spin this are unlikely to succeed, and there's not even an identifiable bogeyman to blame, a la Cindy Sheehan. The tactics I outlined earlier today are the only ploys I've seen from the right, and they only manage to waver between indefensible and deplorable.
Now if only Democrats can avoid coming out and saying "This isn't anyone's fault." It's demonstrably the fault of this administration, and there's nothing wrong with saying so. To do otherwise is to be complicit in their failures.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 1:33 PM
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