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Friday, September 16, 2005More Federal Authority in Disasters?Just to throw in my two cents on Reynolds' comments on the matter: What's called for in the wake of the New Orleans mess is not more federal authority. It's a more alert citizenry. A long time ago, Dennis Miller critiqued the states' rights argument, asserting that a state senator is a wannabe pol with two many skeletons in his closet to run for a real office. That is, at least in part, our own damn fault. The lower the level of the office holder, the more likely you are to be able to meet with him or her in person, pitch in your thoughts, etc. We don't, though. We assume that because a senator represents the whole state, that's more impressive than meeting your local rep. True enough, but unless you want a one-size fits all solution to all the governmental problems that pop up in life, you'd be better off taking an interest in and giving feedback to the local pols. In New Orleans, the pols were quite close to home. Some of them were ward commissioners. Think of it: Senator Mary Landrieu brought home the bacon to NO, but she couldn't see to it that it got spent doing little things like preventing the city from flooding due to poorly maintained levies. The people in charge who diverted the cash appear to have been local goodtime Charlies. And the citizens of NO snatched up the goodies, including an apparently amazing fireworks show, instead of asking where the money was coming from. They have since taken it in the shorts in a big way. But ask yourself: Is the answer to this to try to catch Bush on a day when he's not more preoccupied with Iraq? Is the answer to see if Landrieu has more to offer than nasty remarks about big city public employees? Or is the answer to grab the nearest levee commissioner by the short hairs and explain that above ground houses are even better than fireworks shows? Bush is in a rough spot here. He can't exactly take to the airwaves and say, "Gee, the Republican governor next door doesn't seem to have had all these issues..." He has to care, care and care some more and vow never to let happen again what isn't really his responsibility. His successor will surely thank him for the added hassles. But, again, that's our fault. The citizens of this fine nation, especially those of them with newspaper columns, are of the opinion that Bush can do no right, can't talk his way out of a paper bag and can't be entrusted with the money for the ice cream man. But they somehow still insist he ought to be big daddy to us all, looking over us and providing for our every need. The truth is, the whole country spent a ton of dough to maintain levees that weren't. Now we're slated to pay to clean up the mess because NO frittered away the money. The only reason to be looking to the federal government now is for indictments for those who diverted federal funds from the projects for which they were intended. Otherwise, the citizens of NO and LA should be suggesting that their leaders top to bottom not count on being in office much longer. The rest of the country, in the meantime, should be looking to see whether LA is getting its act together or whether we need to take added measures to protect ourselves from the consequences of sharing our country with a state where the city workers don't show up on sunny days, never mind stormy ones, and the elected officials are only seen at parties, fundraisers and in irons, but never when it's time to step up to the plate and do what they were elected to do. 
posted by gbarto at 10:49 PM |
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