Unfit to Lead

[Liberty Belle]

My editorial from the 9-2-05 edition of the Liberty Belle Log:

September 2, 2005

UNFIT TO LEAD

How many disasters will it take before the American people rise up and demand that George W. Bush and his inept administration be held accountable for the deaths and misery that they have caused?

More Americans have been likely killed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans than on the battlefields of Iraq or in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Most if not all of those deaths were entirely preventable – if our president had only bothered to listen to scientists, Louisiana political leaders, and experts within his own administration. All warned that urgent actions were needed to protect New Orleans from a major hurricane. But instead of taking action to save Louisiana’s largely poor, black citizens, Bush slashed funds earmarked for hurricane protection projects in New Orleans – including money to rebuild the very levy that broke. Now the city has become a sea of toxic water that some clean-up workers have dubbed “Lake George.”

In 2001, before 9/11, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) advised that the three worst catastrophes which could strike the U.S. would be a terrorist attack, a hurricane hitting New Orleans, and a major earthquake in San Francisco. The Houston Chronicle, in Bush’s home state, called the New Orleans scenario potentially “the most deadly of all.”
National Geographic, in an eerily prescient article, described in detail the impact of a major hurricane striking New Orleans – including Lake Ponchartrain spilling over a breached levy to flood the city with waters contaminated by toxic chemicals. Such an event could result in 50,000 deaths, National Geographic predicted. The President’s statement, “I don’t think anybody anticipated that the levees would be breached,” rings false.

Scientists have repeatedly warned that global warming is heating up waters in the Gulf of Mexico, giving rise to bigger and more frequent hurricanes. After four hurricanes struck Florida last year, Louisiana politicians pleaded with Bush administration officials and the Republican-controlled Congress for adequate funds to shore up sinking levees and study how to best protect the Big Easy from a major hurricane strike. But Bush approved only 20% of the funds needed for vital engineering projects to save New Orleans. Funds that might have saved the city were spent instead on the War in Iraq, where many of Louisiana’s National Guardsmen are also deployed.

After news broke that a powerful hurricane was bearing down on New Orleans, President Bush remained in San Diego, where he relaxed at the Hotel del Coronado luxury resort, attended a fundraising party and was photographed playing a guitar and smiling, seemingly oblivious to the impending devastation. He didn’t cut short his vacation to return to Washington until two days after Katrina struck.

Despite a mandatory evacuation order for New Orleans, nothing was done to help people escape who were too poor, sick or disabled to drive. The destitute were told to go to the Superdome – but no food or water was stockpiled. Days after the hurricane, with 80% of the city underwater and threat of disease looming, people were dying of dehydration because no drinking water was provided. One woman, desperate to save her child, gave her baby to a stranger boarding a full bus bound for Texas. But there was no food or water on the bus, either.

It took days to deploy the National Guard and other military to help – but their numbers were inadequate to prevent widespread looting, shootings, murders and rapes of flood victims – including some in shelters. As I write this, hospitals have run out of supplies but no rescue workers have arrived. Chemical plants have exploded and burst into flames.
Babies are dying of dehydration. Thousands are reported dead and corpses have contaminated both land and waterways; rats are feasting on the bloated bodies.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin blasted the Bush administration’s woefully inadequate response. “They don’t have a clue what’s going on down there,” he said, adding that he personally spoke with the President to implore that more help be sent.

Republican Congressman Charles W. Boustany Jr. of Louisiana also urged the Bush administration to send help. "I started making calls and trying to impress upon the White House and others that something needed to be done," he said. "The State resources were being overwhelmed, and we needed direct federal assistance, command and control, and security -- all three of which are lacking."

This isn’t the first disaster to be botched by the Bush administration. Prior to 9/11, a security briefing given to President Bush warned that terrorists planned to use airplanes to strike buildings within the U.S. Astoundingly, no added airport security measures were taken to protect Americans from this dire threat. Even after learning that a plane had struck the World Trade Center, the President continued reading “My Pet Goat” to schoolchildren instead of taking charge.

In 2003, the Bush administration dragged its feet on responding to urgent pleas from California’s Senators, who asked the President to allocation funds for clearing dead, bark beetle-infested trees from federal forests. The Senators warned of severe wildfire danger posed by the trees. Ultimately, the Bush administration refused their request – just days before the worst wildfires in California history were ignited. In San Diego County alone, more than 2,500 homes were destroyed. Yet two years later, amid dry conditions as bad or worse than in 2003, the Bush administration has proposed deep cuts in federal firefighting budgets for protecting Southern Californians from future wildfires.

Most Americans don’t realize that the President has shifted FEMA to the Department of Homeland Security and slashed FEMA funds, dramatically reducing the agency’s ability to respond to future catastrophes, either natural disasters or terrorism attacks. Further, his appointment to head FEMA has been implicated in mismanagement of funds following the Florida hurricanes – hardly a comforting thought to survivors of other disasters.

George W. Bush promised to keep Americans safe, but no one in America is safe as long as he remains President. He has repeatedly failed to protect Americans from even the most predictable of disasters. Clearly, he is incapable of protecting Americans here at home-- and therefore unfit to lead.

It is time for all Americans to join together and demand the resignation or impeachment of President George W. Bush, the destroyer of New Orleans, and his top administration officials. It doesn’t matter if you support the war or oppose it, if you are Republican or Democrat, if you are pro-life or pro-choice.

This administration’s arrogant indifference and utter incompetence has created a culture of death. As President, Bush is responsible for the drowning of New Orleans, the deaths of thousands of its inhabitants, and the unimaginable horrors suffered by its survivors.

For that alone, President Bush and his administration must to be held accountable.

-- Liberty Belle