Molly Ivins nails it.

Hope this is not a dupe.

New Orleans: It's about us


http://www.workingforchange.com/printitem.cfm?itemid=19557




Edited to change title

This is not "just politics" or blaming for political advantage. This is about the real consequences of what governments do and do not do about their responsibilities. And about who winds up paying the price for those policies.

This is a column for everyone in the path of Hurricane Katrina who ever said, "I'm sorry, I'm just not interested in politics," or, "There's nothing I can do about it," or, "Eh, they're all crooks anyway."

snip
One of the main reasons New Orleans is so vulnerable to hurricanes is the gradual disappearance of the wetlands on the Gulf Coast that once stood as a natural buffer between the city and storms coming in from the water. The disappearance of those wetlands does not have the name of a political party or a particular administration attached to it. No one wants to play, "The Democrats did it," or, "It's all Reagan's fault." Many environmentalists will tell you more than a century's interference with the natural flow of the Mississippi is the root cause of the problem, cutting off the movement of alluvial soil to the river's great delta.

But in addition to long-range consequences of long-term policies like letting the Corps of Engineers try to build a better river than God, there are real short-term consequences, as well. It is a fact that the Clinton administration set some tough policies on wetlands, and it is a fact that the Bush administration repealed those policies -- ordering federal agencies to stop protecting as many as 20 million acres of wetlands.

Last year, four environmental groups cooperated on a joint report showing the Bush administration's policies had allowed developers to drain thousands of acres of wetlands.

Does this mean we should blame Bush for the fact that New Orleans is underwater? No, but it means we can blame Bush when a Class 3 or Class 2 hurricane puts New Orleans under. At this point, it is a matter of making a bad situation worse, of failing to observe the First Rule of Holes (when you're in one, stop digging).

Had a storm the size of Katrina just had the grace to hold off for a while, it's quite likely no one would even remember what the Bush administration did two months ago. The national press corps has the attention span of a gnat, and trying to get anyone in Washington to remember longer than a year ago is like asking them what happened in Iznik, Turkey, in A.D. 325.

Just plain political bad luck that, in June, Bush took his little ax and chopped $71.2 million from the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers, a 44 percent reduction. As was reported in New Orleans CityBusiness at the time, that meant "major hurricane and flood projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now."

The commander of the Corps' New Orleans district also immediately instituted a hiring freeze and cancelled the annual Corps picnic.

Way back in 2000 I bought 10 audio copies of her book "Shrub". I then passed them around to anyone that promised to listen & return. That was my humble contribution to prevent the chimp from ruining our world........ Guess I was just pissin' in the wind, but I tried.

:kick:

"The Louisiana National Guard also notes that dozens of its high-water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators have also been sent abroad. (I hate to be picky, but why do they need high-water vehicles in Iraq?) "

:wtf:

This is total criminal negligent bullshit.
Bush to jail. Zero Tolerance.

I think she meant the tanker trucks that were needed to haul in the fresh water that could have been at the Superdome on stand-by and others that could have started flowing in once the rains and winds let up. Those were sent to Iraq and haven't come back. IIRC, Jessica Lynch drove one of those.

Not to dismiss the points brought up in original post, I kicked, but I also wondered about that. Doesn't make any sense. But then again what does make sense in this moronic monster's empty skull?

I have been a passive member of DU since Nov and couldn't have survived without it. This disaster has been like a slap in the face that has snapped me out of it. This is NO time to be passive! Hopefully, I am not alone.

As I stated in another thread, the time for playing nice and being passive is OVER.

and thanks for the welcoming. It is so nice to feel a part of something so important!

and welcome to DU:)

I often post Molly's column, but I am glad you got a chance to beat me to it this time, since this one is so very important. :hi:

then they don't know who's running the country and we're in deeper shit than I thought.

another great Molly Ivins article!

She definitley gets it always.

Amen, dear lady.

I'm sending the link for this column to the editor of my local fish wrapper.