(09/11/05)
Local officials in New Orleans dropped the ball. They failed to evacuate the households with no personal transportation. They failed to even TRY to evacuate these guys. Meanwhile, ruined buses sit, flooded in neat little rows in parking lots. After the storm, they failed to manage order. They failed to assist those who followed instructions and went to the convention center and the Superdome. To top it all off, the corrupt police department participated in looting. Also, now officials (this could be a state or federal decision; I don't know) are seizing legally owned firearms without warrants. I'm pretty sure this is a violation of the 2nd and 4th Amendment, as well as relevant state constitutional rights, but I'm not a lawyer.
State officials in Louisana have a history of sucking, but their performance in this catastrophe. You have a governor who doesn't know how to formally request federal aid, instead crying on TV. You have someone who does not know how to properly use the National Guard troops under her command, who does not give up control to the feds. Now the greatest crime of all, one which should result in a multi-BILLION dollar lawsuit, is the decision by someone in the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security (state, not federal agency) to FORBID THE RED CROSS FROM ENTERING NEW ORLEANS AT ANY TIME DURING THE WHOLE FIASCO. Unfreakingbelievable.
I don't even know where to begin with the feds. Michael Brown, you suck as a person. You are a textbook example of cronyism gone awry. May you never have a job again, since you are a fake lawyer and a worthless leader. Plus the decision to integrate FEMA into the Department of Homeland Security (the federal one) and to strip its budget and its ability to handle non-terrorist emergencies for the relatively low risk of terrorism is unforgivable. We know that Al-Qaeda and friends aren't capable of causing nearly as much damage as a hurricane or earthquake or blizzard or even tornadoes and hailstorms. Not to mention the low risk of a volcano eruption somewhere. Also, none of the feds decided to step up and take control when it became clear that state and local officials were too weary/busy/incompetent to assert control over the situation.
It became pretty clear that everyone in a position of power was sitting around just wishing that they had a different job, wishing that someone would step up and show leadership, or wishing that the whole situation would just go away without any effort on their part. This is an utter failure of government on every level.
The Red Cross has done a lot. The Salvation Army has done a lot. Smaller nonprofits have managed to provide food, clothing, and sheer manpower to the relief effort. Even corporate America has stepped up to the plate. Huge profit-oriented corporations are housing people in stadiums, convention centers, and buildings, donating loads of cash, supplies, and even employee labor. For example, Home Depot offered to donate 20,000 generators when the feds were ready to donate only 400. Reliant Energy allowed its employees to take off days from work to volunteer at the Astrodome. Kenny Smith and the NBA raised millions with their benefit game, in addition to the huge boost in morale it provided to the Katrina victims who met NBA stars. I hate corporate America, but they've really come through.
What does all this mean? In this disaster, the private for-profit and non-profit sectors came through, while the public sector utterly failed to do the bare minimum. There are various theories floating out there, from the ridiculously unsophisticated to the more convincing. Ridiculously unsophisticated - "George Bush does not care about black people." Nuanced - "the focus on continuous political campaigning has led to the rise of politicians like George W. Bush, who has a natural talent for campaigning and fundraising but rarely shows interest or competence in setting policy." Regardless, it's clear that the political game has created inefficient bureaucracies led by friends of public officials, as well as politicians who care more about looking good than doing good.
I'm seriously wondering whether I want to join this game. On the one hand, it's impossible to change the political system from the outside. On the other, trying to change the system may take effort, money, and time better spent doing good outside the political game. Of course, I know the nonprofits and corporations have a large political component as well - it's still all about who you know when it comes to making money or climbing the ladder. So I'm totally at a loss at whether I want to go into politics or government work (post-Army commitment, that is). What I do know is that I am unspeakably angry at many government officials right now.
Links:
Mark
Graber at Balkinization on the negative effects of the permanent campaign.
Stephen
Bainbridge argues for privatization of relief efforts and cites many
noble corporate actions.
Belle
Waring asks for the heads of specific government officials and describes
their gross negligence.
I know you've read a fairly long rambling from me, but read all 3 links, please.
UPDATE (09/14/05): To clarify, my criticism lies mainly with the fact that state, local, and federal authorities are spending more time deflecting blame and shielding reputations than actually helping with evacuation/relief/reconstruction efforts. That is, self-interest takes priority with these guys over community interest. For an extreme example, check out this ABC News article.
