disaster and politics

Reading the news these past few days has been an exercise in compassionate helplessness, and the crisis in New Orleans only seems to be getting worse. I was visiting my Mom and step-dad Barry yesterday, and watching the emotionally wrought anchorwoman on CNN, I found myself saying, "This is almost worse than 9/11." Maybe that will seem like ridiculous exaggeration in another few weeks, but right now the scale of this tragedy is difficult to fathom.

I hate to indulge in what has become a sort of knee-jerk response, and blame this all on the Bush administration - disasters like this inevitably happen, Iraq didn't cause Katrina - still, the vast majority of deaths and suffering come in the aftermath of the storm, and depend critically on the federal government's response. There seems to be a pattern in the Bush approach to problem-solving - wishful thinking, ignored warnings, lack of preparation, followed by a lot of rhetorical posturing and very few substantive solutions. The news coverage of chaos on the streets of New Orleans, juxtaposed against similar horrors in Baghdad, suggests a common lack of sensible policies, and a pressing need for more effective leadership.