Katrina and the “Compassionate Conservative”
Thomas Dawson
September 19, 2005
Katrina has devastated New Orleans and also the sensibilities of citizens all over this country. We watched it approach for days on the news and weather programs. There was much talk about the warm waters and their propensity to empower the approaching storm. Most of us were not aware of the potential dangers to the city, but the people who should have known… did! Yet no coordinated preparations were made. At the last moment, citizens were told to flee the city. It was every man for him self. Has this has become the American way?
People in the developed nations around the world were astounded and surprised. This great pillar of democracy and military power could not help its own people for days after a storm! People in less developed countries were mostly just bewildered. They had never imagined that the richest country on earth could not support its citizens in time of need. The military might of the United States is greater than all of the other militaries on the earth put together. Yet they could not get to New Orleans for days. Perhaps this was due to this years’ shortage of lily pads.
However, most Americans were not surprised. Disappointed and outraged, but not surprised. We have come to know “Young George” and although he looks great in a flight uniform, we now wish we had waited until he was a little older and more responsible. We have gotten used to the lack of government coordination and its lackadaisical concern for public issues over the last few years, and not just in Iraq. Our government agencies have been consolidated at “great savings” in money and efficiency, even as government spending has increased astronomically. Professional department heads were much too bureaucratic for this administration and have been replaced with responsive political hacks and good ole boys. Their idea of planning is figuring out ways to arrange a few more public “no bid contracts” for their friends.
So, what happens now? Some say, that for Compassionate George, this has been an epiphany. If you listened to him on Thursday night, he sounded humbled and contrite. He sounded almost like a progressive as he talked about rebuilding, job placement, training and child-care. He talked about rebuilding various parts of the city and its infrastructure and said we will do it no matter what it costs.
But talk is cheap - a penny a truckload. Still one might hope that he will take command of this disaster and use it as an opportunity to bring people together in a common purpose. There is no doubt that the Gulf Coast will be refurbished and New Orleans will be rebuilt. The question is whether this will be a turning point and bring the country together in a new direction with some domestic purpose or if it will become only a temporary deflection away from our growing international quest for economic dominance.
The Republican Party, as a whole, should be elated if the President follows through. Mid-term elections are only a year away. Republicans, because they are in complete control will have to accept full responsibility for the country’s problems. They have handled a wide range of issues very poorly under this administration. Although the Democrats have been able to put together neither a positive plan nor an alternative one on practically any of the issues, the American public is about fed up with the way things have been going. Say what you will, at least the Democrats can make things work. There seems to be little doubt that if the republicans cannot improve their image, the voters will “throw the bums out” and take their chances with the Democrats. The Clinton years of just a peaceful world with prosperity at home are looking better all the time.
With all of the destruction that Katrina brought to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, we can hope that it has shaken some of our government officials enough to bring their attention back to their own people. It is all well and good to convince yourself that you are helping your neighbors, but that does not mean sticking your nose into other peoples business, especially when they don’t want you there in the first place. There is some truth to the old saying that “Charity begins at home”. If we are going to continue to spend money, especially money we don’t have, lets spend it on creating jobs for the American poor, the American infrastructure, and protecting the American environment. Remember us? Or would that be Protectionism or Isolationist?
People in the developed nations around the world were astounded and surprised. This great pillar of democracy and military power could not help its own people for days after a storm! People in less developed countries were mostly just bewildered. They had never imagined that the richest country on earth could not support its citizens in time of need. The military might of the United States is greater than all of the other militaries on the earth put together. Yet they could not get to New Orleans for days. Perhaps this was due to this years’ shortage of lily pads.
However, most Americans were not surprised. Disappointed and outraged, but not surprised. We have come to know “Young George” and although he looks great in a flight uniform, we now wish we had waited until he was a little older and more responsible. We have gotten used to the lack of government coordination and its lackadaisical concern for public issues over the last few years, and not just in Iraq. Our government agencies have been consolidated at “great savings” in money and efficiency, even as government spending has increased astronomically. Professional department heads were much too bureaucratic for this administration and have been replaced with responsive political hacks and good ole boys. Their idea of planning is figuring out ways to arrange a few more public “no bid contracts” for their friends.
So, what happens now? Some say, that for Compassionate George, this has been an epiphany. If you listened to him on Thursday night, he sounded humbled and contrite. He sounded almost like a progressive as he talked about rebuilding, job placement, training and child-care. He talked about rebuilding various parts of the city and its infrastructure and said we will do it no matter what it costs.
But talk is cheap - a penny a truckload. Still one might hope that he will take command of this disaster and use it as an opportunity to bring people together in a common purpose. There is no doubt that the Gulf Coast will be refurbished and New Orleans will be rebuilt. The question is whether this will be a turning point and bring the country together in a new direction with some domestic purpose or if it will become only a temporary deflection away from our growing international quest for economic dominance.
The Republican Party, as a whole, should be elated if the President follows through. Mid-term elections are only a year away. Republicans, because they are in complete control will have to accept full responsibility for the country’s problems. They have handled a wide range of issues very poorly under this administration. Although the Democrats have been able to put together neither a positive plan nor an alternative one on practically any of the issues, the American public is about fed up with the way things have been going. Say what you will, at least the Democrats can make things work. There seems to be little doubt that if the republicans cannot improve their image, the voters will “throw the bums out” and take their chances with the Democrats. The Clinton years of just a peaceful world with prosperity at home are looking better all the time.
With all of the destruction that Katrina brought to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, we can hope that it has shaken some of our government officials enough to bring their attention back to their own people. It is all well and good to convince yourself that you are helping your neighbors, but that does not mean sticking your nose into other peoples business, especially when they don’t want you there in the first place. There is some truth to the old saying that “Charity begins at home”. If we are going to continue to spend money, especially money we don’t have, lets spend it on creating jobs for the American poor, the American infrastructure, and protecting the American environment. Remember us? Or would that be Protectionism or Isolationist?
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