BCT Editorial – 8/31/06

This page was last updated on August 31, 2006.

Bad sign; Editorial; Beaver County Times; August 31, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Post-Katrina ineptitude does little to inspire confidence

“One year after Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and Mississippi, huge swaths of that area look as bleak as they did in the days immediately following the storm.

“Debris is piled in massive mounds everywhere; block after block of homes are boarded up; signs of rebuilding are few and far between; thousands of residents are still displaced.

“In a way, that’s to be expected. Katrina was a storm of such immense proportions and the geographic area it hit was so widespread and populated, especially in regard to New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., that the resulting damage was on a scale that is and was unimaginable.

“As more than one person who has been there has said, television coverage cannot begin to give people an idea as to the scope of the damage. You literally have to see it to believe it - and be overwhelmed.

“But even given the depth and breadth of the destruction, the response of government at the local, state and federal levels has been pathetically inadequate.

“This isn’t just about the rip-offs and scams, the squabbling over how to proceed, the blame-gaming and the power plays. These things are going to happen when dealing with an unprecedented event like Katrina.

“However, it’s the paralysis that continues to grip government that is long-term scary. For a nation and a people who pride themselves on problem solving, post-Katrina muddling stands as a rebuke to that can-do attitude.

“In the days, weeks, months and, sad to say, year that followed Katrina, government hasn’t responded with the celerity that gives people the assurance that those who are in charge know what they are doing and are acting in the best interests of the people.

“In a way, the failure of government, especially at the federal level, to respond to what Katrina wrought on Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast communities is a haunting reminder of the Soviet Union’s failure to respond quickly and efficiently to the 1988 earthquake and aftershocks that devastated Armenia, killing 45,000 people and leaving 500,000 people homeless.

“The failure of the communist government gave the world a very visible sign of its internal inadequacies and weaknesses. Within a few years, the U.S.S.R. was no more.”

[RWC] If you’ve been keeping count, this is at least the third time within the last year the Times has compared the U.S. to the USSR with respect to Katrina. The first two editorials were entitled “After the shock” and “Bitter memory”.

Please read the Popular Mechanics article “Now what? The Lessons of Katrina” for more on this topic. Consider the following excerpt from that article: “Bumbling by top disaster-management officials fueled a perception of general inaction, one that was compounded by impassioned news anchors. In fact, the response to Hurricane Katrina was by far the largest -- and fastest-rescue effort in U.S. history, with nearly 100,000 emergency personnel arriving on the scene within three days of the storm’s landfall.” So much for comparisons to the USSR.

One final point. If “the world” didn’t see the “internal inadequacies and weaknesses” of “the communist government” until 1988, the world hadn’t been paying attention for the better part of 50 years. On the other hand, perhaps the folks at the Times believed the NY Times reports from the 1930s stating famine wasn’t killing millions of Russians.

“That’s not necessarily going to happen in the United States.

“However, the failure of government post-Katrina to do what it is supposed to do - look out for the common good - is a bad sign.”

[RWC] Though the editorial mentioned local and state governments, it places the blame “especially at the federal level.” You’ll note the editorial failed to mention Congress approved approximately $110 billion for the recovery effort and more than $44 billion has already been released to the state and local governments.

Here’s an example of what the editorial is complaining about.

A tree falls on your house during a storm and does extensive damage. In an act of good will, your neighbors give you the money to fix your house. You complain, however, because your neighbors didn’t also arrange for the repairs to be made. In your mind, your “bungling neighbors” are the reason your house isn’t fixed.