Minimum Standards, Multiple Betrayals

[BR_Parkway]

What's ironic (but obviously insignificant next to the human suffering) is that just as those people in New Orleans were betrayed, so too were conservatives. Because intellectually honest conservatives---and unfortunately that no longer includes the Grover Norquist drown-government-in-a-bathtub types who have become no more than political and economic nihilists in conservative drag---generally advocate a "government shouldn't do much, but what it does must be done well" philosophy. The response to Katrina should have shown conservatism at its best. Those calling themselves conservatives who disagree with this need to explain exactly what they think the federal government should do and why it should exist at all. I happen to think it should not do much more than field a strong military, defend the borders, collect taxes, maintain national infrastructure, enforce laws that are beyond the purview of the states, and respond to historic disasters such as this. But for God's sake, it must do those things competently and not embrace an almost Soviet type of failing-upwards cronyism. The most senior federal officials learning from television reports about thousands of people trapped and dying for days in a single place is not competence.

Of course, all this has ramifications beyond FEMA, DHS and New Orleans. After the past week, can anyone maintain a shred of confidence that "supporting the troops" in any way entails endorsing this administration's command of them?

http://cunningrealist.blogspot.com/2005/09/minimum-standards-multiple-betrayals.html

I actually feel sorry for every true conservative out there, people like my grandfather, who I disagreed with, but respected. They've been hijacked by the neocons, and I'm glad to finally see them waking up.

I added this blog to my 'must read' list a few weeks ago. Hopefully, this is the mood and spirit of the true conservatives - speaking truth instead of repeating OxyRush and InSannity talking points.

[Ms. Clio]

1. Good to see that intelligent people on the right can see the horror

that these people have wrought on all of us. And for a conservative, he actually sounds compassionate! A good read, thanks for posting it.

A bit more from the piece

One of the more predictable but still outrageous claims circulating about the disaster in New Orleans is that "they were warned" and "they should have listened to the advice to leave." This is part and parcel of the line of reasoning that blames state and local officials for the scope of the disaster. It is ass-covering revisionist nonsense. Besides the tragically obvious fact that many had neither the financial nor the physical ability to evacuate, what if those levees had been destroyed by a terrorist attack? Exactly what type of warning would New Orleans have expected in that scenario? That must be the standard applied here. It must be the same standard that would apply if terrorists detonated a dirty bomb in Manhattan, and simultaneously destroyed the bridges and tunnels connecting the island to the outside world