Playing the Blame Game
It seems that almost everyone, everywhere, who is anyone of note, wants to point the finger and assign blame for some part of what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Oprah Winfrey thinks that an apology is owed to all of the victims. Goodness knows how many people want to blame President Bush and the list of things they want to blame him for may reach back to being the cause of the hurricane itself. Don't laugh. Some are blaming Hurricane Katrina on global warming and his (President Bush's) failure to sign the Kyoto Accords. This makes no sense, but it is being argued anyway.
So the blame game is afoot. Let's play. We should start by reminding everyone that those who fail to learn the lessons of history, in this case known as Hurricanes Betsy and Camille, are doomed to repeat them. Unlike earthquakes, which give no warnings, hurricanes give advance notice of their coming. There is time to evacuate in advance of the arrival of a hurricane. Many residents of New Orleans and other cities that were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina chose not to evacuate in spite of the warnings that a major hurricane was en route. I blame each and every one of those individuals who had the means to evacuate and chose not to, for worsening the burden and workload of rescue personnel in the aftermath of the storm. Every person who could have left and did not do so made that much extra work for rescuers to have to do once the storm had passed.
I blame the Mayor of New Orleans for failing to use the plan to evacuate the residents of the city who had no way to get themselves out of the city, by using city busses. If this was the written, advance plan for such a disaster, then it should have been exercised, tested and had that been done, it would have probably worked. I also blame said Mayor for failing to exercise proper leadership in the aftermath of the storm. Screaming on talkradio may have raised his national profile, but it accomplished little else and did nothing to aid his constituents. He should have been more visible in the city, helping people in need, working the food lines, solving glitches in the rescue and relief efforts, and on the phone to the Governor to demand more assistance.
I blame the Governor of Louisiana for failing to respond more quickly, and for not having a better response planned as soon as it was apparent that the storm was going to hit. I further blame said Governor for failing to take a proactive position on repairing the levee system that was overwhelmed by the storm and failed, causing the flooding that has made New Orleans uninhabitable.
I blame President George H. W. Bush Jr. for failing to appoint a director of FEMA with the training and experience to properly manage a disaster of this magnitude. I further blame our president for failing to step in and declare martial law in the most heavily damaged areas right away so that those areas could be cleared without any problems, or further looting and the recovery could eventually begin. I also fault the president for his clear inability to manage a crisis or his public image during a crisis, causing a complete loss of confidence in him by the bulk of the American people, even among his Republican supporters.
The blame game. The problem with this game, no one wins. No one ever wins the blame game.
Oprah Winfrey thinks that an apology is owed to all of the victims. Goodness knows how many people want to blame President Bush and the list of things they want to blame him for may reach back to being the cause of the hurricane itself. Don't laugh. Some are blaming Hurricane Katrina on global warming and his (President Bush's) failure to sign the Kyoto Accords. This makes no sense, but it is being argued anyway.
So the blame game is afoot. Let's play. We should start by reminding everyone that those who fail to learn the lessons of history, in this case known as Hurricanes Betsy and Camille, are doomed to repeat them. Unlike earthquakes, which give no warnings, hurricanes give advance notice of their coming. There is time to evacuate in advance of the arrival of a hurricane. Many residents of New Orleans and other cities that were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina chose not to evacuate in spite of the warnings that a major hurricane was en route. I blame each and every one of those individuals who had the means to evacuate and chose not to, for worsening the burden and workload of rescue personnel in the aftermath of the storm. Every person who could have left and did not do so made that much extra work for rescuers to have to do once the storm had passed.
I blame the Mayor of New Orleans for failing to use the plan to evacuate the residents of the city who had no way to get themselves out of the city, by using city busses. If this was the written, advance plan for such a disaster, then it should have been exercised, tested and had that been done, it would have probably worked. I also blame said Mayor for failing to exercise proper leadership in the aftermath of the storm. Screaming on talkradio may have raised his national profile, but it accomplished little else and did nothing to aid his constituents. He should have been more visible in the city, helping people in need, working the food lines, solving glitches in the rescue and relief efforts, and on the phone to the Governor to demand more assistance.
I blame the Governor of Louisiana for failing to respond more quickly, and for not having a better response planned as soon as it was apparent that the storm was going to hit. I further blame said Governor for failing to take a proactive position on repairing the levee system that was overwhelmed by the storm and failed, causing the flooding that has made New Orleans uninhabitable.
I blame President George H. W. Bush Jr. for failing to appoint a director of FEMA with the training and experience to properly manage a disaster of this magnitude. I further blame our president for failing to step in and declare martial law in the most heavily damaged areas right away so that those areas could be cleared without any problems, or further looting and the recovery could eventually begin. I also fault the president for his clear inability to manage a crisis or his public image during a crisis, causing a complete loss of confidence in him by the bulk of the American people, even among his Republican supporters.
The blame game. The problem with this game, no one wins. No one ever wins the blame game.
posted by me at 2:51 PM
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