Thoughts on N.O.

To date, most of the op-eds and blogger entries I've read about the situation have been pretty much useless. Filled with overwrought emotions and devoid of any constructive content, it hasn't been a very good week for the Fourth Estate, at least as far as the talking heads are concerned. Of course, the Bush-hating loonies have been barking with considerably more volume this month than they did last month during Cindy Sheehan's publicity stunt. Not too deep below the surface, they're rejoicing over the tragedy of New Orleans, for it gives them the ultimate cudgel with which to beat Bush over the head with. That is no surprise, but it is stunning the speed and veracity with which their multi-pronged attacks have arrived at Bush's head. The vast majority of these attacks are merely attributable to the left-wing psychosis that the loony left has been in the grips of since Gore lost the election in 2000, though the roots of this ever-elevating psychosis probably date back to Reagan's election in 1980, and in all likelihood, intensified with the implosion of the Soviet Union. We're talking twenty five years of anger, frustration, and thwarted ambition that the left must contend with. However, New Orleans has provided them with what they feel to be is the ultimate poker hand. It gives them a race card, a poverty card, a "global warming" card, and ultimately, a card which shows Bush's lack of caring and compassion for all of the above, as well as a card they feel shows Bush's ineptitude regarding the crisis at hand. The loons on the left blame this debacle 100% on Bush, discounting the lack of proper plan follow-through on the part of the colossally inept mayor Ray Nagin, not to mention a wholly absent and panic-striken governor Kathleen Blanco. (Not terribly surprising, they're both Democrats. Shocker.) Neither one of them have shown any semblance of leaderhip since the hurricane, and though many may say that there's no comparing this to 9/11 (which is true, the magnitude of this catastrophe is much worse), it is more than right to compare and contrast the leadership styles and the grace under pressure that George Pataki and specifically, Rudy Giuliani displayed, versus the complete bumbling, panic-striken behavior of Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. Blanco. It wasn't Bush who failed to provide transportation out of New Orleans for the black folks who had no other means of escaping, it was Nagin. It wasn't Bush who failed to carry out an already pre-determined plan for the evacuation of New Orleans; it was Nagin. It wasn't Bush who failed to activate the Louisiana National Guard PRIOR to the Hurricane; it was Gov. Blanco who failed to do that. That said, I don't exonerate Bush of responsibility for this debacle. His initial response was flaccid and hardly instilled confidence. FEMA's response has essentially been crappy in the early going, but more than anything else, Bush's initial response was not forceful enough, and it demanded some kind of Churchillian, dare I say, Giuliani-like commanding response. Times like we've just had this past week demand rhetorical boldness, and Bush did not show that. They demand bold initial acts, which might be less than truly effective, yet send the message, "I'm in control here." That did not happen. Bush might or might not recover from his initial flat-footedness this past week. That remains to be seen. Thus far, Nagin and Blanco have gotten a pass from the mainstream media (though not the blogosphere) for their complete and utter failure to lead. But their day of reckoning will come. Hopefully someone will get the news to Nagin, decamped as he is in Baton Rouge.