Katrina problems were NOT incompetence. It was Conservatism.

[Armstead]

The problems associated wsith Katrina have been characterized as incompetance by the Bush aministration.

While that certainly played a role, it is only part of the answer.

What happened -- and didn't happen -- in the aftermath of Katrina is simply the logical extension of the Conservative Philosophy in Action.

Reducing government to nothing more than a Super Military and Super Law Enforcement entity, while all social services and public infrastructure are gutted and abandoned...(See the thread on the new Bush budget.)

"You're on your own folks. Don't expect us to help you."

That's the conservartive message. Katrina mertely p;ut that into stark view for all to see.

[MrModerate]

1. Thus proving Bush is anything but a conservative . . .

Because he immediately followed up by tossing billions at the problem and getting the federal government into everybody in the region's undershorts.

I think we have a combination here: conservative ideology and Bushian incompetence, which came together in a "Perfect Storm."

[opihimoimoi]

2. YUP...TOP GOP Answer...throw money at prob and it will go away

[SmokingJacket]

6. Or at least some big donors will profit from the rebuilding cash! nt

[MrModerate]

8. But . . . But . . . But . . . that's what the . . .

Demoncrat$ always do! How dare the GOP steal the DemocRat play book!

(They guy who said, post 9/11, that "irony was dead" was a tad premature, in my opinion.)

[Armstead]

5. The incompetance was tne result of conservatism

Competant conservatism would have at least been focused on the immediate disaster.

But that would have required an effective government, with the reasources at the ready.

Thus competant conservativism is a contradiction in terms. Add to that Bush's incompetance and you do get the perfect storm.

[Cosmocat]

15. eh ...

I would tweak the theme a bit ...

Conservative ideology ... Yeah, to the extent that you have that faction that wants to drown goverment in a tub, and part of the formula for doing that is to infest goverment agencies with as many cronies as possible, to make them dysfunctional and use the dysfunction as a means of being able to say "I told you that you could not count on government" ...

Incompetence ... I don't think that is the case at all ... I think that at best it is indifference ... However, again, I think the underlying agenda is purposeful ... As for the money ... It isn't incompetence ... They saw Katrina the same way they saw Iraq ... A chance to graft huge money ... THE moment it hit, they were on the phones with their buds working out the details to graft government money ... The rest of it is just total indifference ... They could give a rats tail about people, the country ...

[MrModerate]

17. Like everything else in life, the actual situation is . . .

Both more complicated and somewhat unknowable. Some themes emerge, however:

• To effect change, first make the situation worse. This would support the idea that small-government ideologues would eagerly salt the government with goofballs to prove that "government is the problem, not the solution." This has the added benefit of rewarding the large coterie of goofballs who contributed to/worked on campaigns but are otherwise useless.

• When spanked by the public or the media, throw money. Sure, a lot of the initial contracts were steered to reliable buds of the 'Lican establishment, but really only a fraction of the 100 billion or so. The rest was an hysterical reaction by Congress and the administration to appear to be doing the right thing. A lot of that money is being steered through sticky hands who are politically connected, but a lot is just being airdropped into parking lots where it can be burned with other debris, by which I mean incompetently distributed. Let's remember we're talking Louisiana and Mississippi here (as well as other states), where graft and corruption are both fine arts and distributed through the entire population.

• The professionals give cover to the amateurs, who give cover to the puppetmasters. FEMA is lousy with professionals who get up each day determined to make people's lives better. Heck, the whole federal government is overrun by the capable and sincere. Many thumb-up-the-butt political appointees probably think (like Michael Brown) that they're "doing a heckuva job." The puppetmasters sit on their thrones and view the hoi polloi with an icy, malign disdain.

• Pols may not give a rat's ass about the people but they'll do anything to retain power. And to the extent they're sincere, they're sincere about holding onto the reins. Bush is a bit of a sociopath in the way he's divorced from real people's concerns, but he's more of a psychopath with regard to the levers of power. I don't think "indifference" comes into it.

[Cosmocat]

22. Yeah ...

No doubt throwing money out to say they threw money out is all they really know to appease the masses for situations that braindead talking points can't wash away ... All these freaks know is money ... Money is their god, it is their existence ... In their limited world scope, they go to what they know ...

I agree that the goverment is overwhelmingly manned, at the lower and even midlevels by mostly well intentioned and dedicated individuals ...

I still think that indifference is closer to the point than "incompetence" ... They may or may not be "competent" at running the goverment ... But, before that comes a complete indifference to even trying ...

Bush and the levers of power ... Again, eh ... That is giving him too much credit ... He has been foisted to the presidency and allowed to think he is in charge ... He can stomp and strut around all day long, but that doesn't make him in charge ... He is a swarmy little charmer (to those who are rich enough to be charmed by that kind of swarm) who has just bullied his way around life, until the right ideologically deranged psychophants got ahold of him, and have managed him since ...

[SmokingJacket]

3. I've always said that the photo-ops of him eating cake and playing

guitar were 100% intentional -- they wanted to send the message "We don't give a good goddamn."

Since when else have we ever seen such "cute" pics of Bush doing stuff like that? Never!

[B Calm]

4. Republicans = Corporate Freedom & Individual Responsibility

Democrats = Corporate Responsibility & Individual Freedom

[Armstead]

7. Great Summation

[hpot]

9. Bush knew and lied to cover up.

=9/11 could have been prevented.=

Able Danger program and government foreknowledge
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6757267008400743688

=Katrina failures could have been prevented.=

"Video shows Bush Katrina warning"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/03/01/VI2006030101864.html

[Cobalt Violet]

10. So, so true. They've been working on this for decades.

And now people are dying in the streets, something they always denied would ever happen. Liberals have warned that it would happen and we were made fun of and told not to be so emotional.

[TechBear_Seattle]

11. There is a difference?

As you yourself stated: ... the aftermath of Katrina is simply the logical extension of the Conservative Philosophy in Action.

[Armstead]

13. Not really

But thjose who oppose conservatism have to make sure that there is a difference in goals. Katrina was merely the end-result of conservatism shown in fast motion.

[Hubert Flottz]

12. The "Expert" had a past!

Wexler Calls for FEMA Director's Resignation

Letter to President Requests Brown's Dismissal for Fraudulent Payments Made by FEMA After Hurricane

January 24, 2005

President George W. Bush

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Bush:

I respectfully request that you immediately remove Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response from his current position at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) given his failure to address agency fraud including a massive misallocation of recovery aid funds in Florida. As you are aware, there are several ongoing Federal investigations into disturbing reports of fraudulent reimbursements given to residents in Miami-Dade County, Florida following hurricane Frances. The reported fraud has cost the government over $30 million and can be described only as a debacle for an agency that was primarily responsible for helping the citizens of Florida rebuild their lives from one of the most destructive hurricane seasons in history.

As the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Under Secretary Brown coordinates federal disaster response and recovery operations and coordinates disaster activities and oversees the agency that has refused to accept responsibility for its glaring mistakes. While Mr. Brown and FEMA admit to $12 million in overpayments, they continue to refuse to own up to serious mistakes, blaming instead a "computer glitch" or un-attributable weather reports. Rather than leading the charge to correct the problems and help clear his agency's name, Under Secretary Brown has stymied investigations and inquiries into the fraud allegations. I am sure you agree that such a gross waste of taxpayer monies can not be taken lightly. This debacle has detracted from the invaluable work FEMA has carried out in areas that were actually affected by the hurricanes. Since he has been unwilling to take responsibility for the actions of his agency, I hope you will hold Under Secretary Brown responsible yourself.

I thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration of my request.

Sincerely,

Robert Wexler

Member of Congress

http://wexler.house.gov/news.php?ID=26

Edit...Notice a pattern? FEMA...Missing cash?

[Lerkfish]

14. george bush doesn't like black people. especially poor black people.

and he viewed this as a perfect opportunity to test run martial law. Unfortunately, the news media got there before FEMA and thwarted the attempt.
the poor black people were all going to be shot or rounded up as looters.

[acmejack]

16. Bush doesn't like POOR people.

He doesn't care what color they are! If you are rich he likes you and again, he doesn't care what color you are, if your bank book is fat he likes you just fine!

[Lerkfish]

20. nah, I disagree. I think its possible to be BOTH classist and racist

at the same time.

[Buzz Clik]

18. Interesting. But, of course, simplistic and basically wrong.

If Conservatism is to blame for the lack of response to Katrina, then why were the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana unable to use their political philosophies to respond? Keep in mind that the year before, Florida had been blasted by three huge hurricanes but dealt with them with great precision.

The failing in response to Katrina was a huge team effort of incompetence at the local, state, and national levels.

[Armstead]

26. Sure it's simplistic

Obviously local and state factors hindered an effective response.

However, the deliberate gutting of FEMA and the obsession with terrorism that overshadowed its role in domestic disasters led to the ineffective federal response.

[kentuck]

19. "Drown it in a bathtub"...?

New Orleans was the bathtub.

[moc]

21. Does anyone have a link to that picture that was put on a billboard truck

and paraded by Grover Norquist's offices? The one with his "drown govt in a bathtub" on one side and a picture of NOLA under water on the other?

I'd really love to trot out that picture again. That's the message that needs to be driven home.

[Hidden Stillness]

23. This is the Consequence of the Opinion that Government "Should Not Help"

One of the panels about the Katrina anniversary on C-SPAN had a group of authors, and one of them was the greta Douglas Brinkley, who just wrote "The Great Deluge," who got in a boat a year ago and helped with the rescues, and who has been beeter and better with criticism ever since, made a great point. Referring to the kind of bafflement people have about the Bush Administration, Why aren't they doing anything?, Why aren't they helping?, etc., Brinkley answered that that WAS the plan--the Bush Administration, all along, INTENDED to do nothing. They did not fail for some odd reason; they never, never intended to do anything to help anyone ever, no matter how bad everything got. They actually succeeded with what they wanted to do--which was to ignore all the victims, and let them die.

[applegrove]

24. I agree. The talking points the first few days were " you were told to

leave in the mandatory evacuation - be responsible". Conservatives never considered what it means to be poor or otherwise helpless. Or to love your home cause it is just all you have...

[sandnsea]

25. That's exactly right

That graphic of a flooded New Orlans and Grover Norquist's "drown it in a bathtub" quote should be made into huge posters and plastered all over the country. They told us that's what they want to do, they did it, and this is the result. Any federal money expended goes straight to their corporate cronies who divvy it up between CEO's and shareholders. The sucking sound is the 2% sucking every last penny out of the pockets of the other 98%.