Miserable Failure

"I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life ... I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy. And part of my being is to be outside exercising. So I'm mindful of what goes on around me. On the other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live and will do so."

George W Bush Aug 11 2005






















A victim of executive branch incompetence.

It appears obvious now that the Bush administration has woefully mishandled the preparation and response to the devastation caused in New Orleans by hurricane Katrina. NO is in the midst of a total collapse of law and order. Relief efforts are hampered by breaucratic wrangling and a lack of resources, partly as a result of so many national guardsmen being deployed in Iraq. Days after Katrina killed hundreds if not thousands, people are still living in misery and squalor, armed gangs roam the streets and no one appears to know where help is coming from. Tens of thousands of refugees are being bounced around between neighbouring states and of course they are largely poor and black.

"If we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Republican.

Republican Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts called the government's response "an embarrassment."

Rep. Mark Foley Republican-Florida, called upon Bush to recall National Guardsmen stationed in Iraq whose homes and families were in the path of Katrina's destruction. The president said there were enough Guard troops for Iraq and recovery efforts.
















New Orleans today

Americans have just had a small taste of life for the average Iraqi. Mercifully most of Katrina's victims have already died, that may not be the case for Iraq. I can only hope that Americans can make the connection and see that the people of New Orleans, like Iraqis, means absolutely nothing to George W Bush. Nothing, not even the deaths of thousands of his countrymen, moved him to cut short his five week vacation. He took days to actually visit New Orleans. Once he got there his first act was to start buck passing. In any other country this would bring down a government.

Steve Gilliard's News Blog is performing an admirable job covering and interpreting unfolding events in the disaster affected areas. I suggest the three people who actually read this blog head over there if you want a fuller picture of what's going on.