archived: 9 - 15 Oct, 2005 Back Next
FIDDLING WHILE ROME BURNS
[Authored by Frank Smith]
“Four years after the frightening experience of Sept. 11, Americans have every
right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency,” George Bush
said on 9/15, in a rare moment of truthfulness. When the federal government
fails to deliver,” he conceded, “I as president am responsible for the problem,
and for the solution.” If only.
On 8/26 Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency. Gulf States began requesting assistance from additional military forces. The White House responded, authorizing FEMA “at its discretion” to provide assistance. On 8/27 Mississippi Governor Barbour declared a state of emergency. 8/28 saw forecasts that New Orleans levees would be breached. Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an evacuation. National Hurricane Warning Center director Dr. Max Mayfield, said he’d alerted Bush, FEMA Director Michael Brown and Homeland Security Director Mike Chertoff. “We were briefing them way before landfall. It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.” The National Weather Service predicted widespread devastation.
Nagin reported water overflowing levees on 8/29. In Arizona Bush shared a birthday cake with John McCain. Michael Brown requested 1,000 Homeland Security employees be dispatched to the disaster area, giving them two days to report for duty. Bush talked to Arizona seniors about his trillion-dollar pharmaceutical boondoggle. Governor Blanco begged Bush, “We need your help…everything you’ve got.” Bush ignored her, instead discussing illegal immigration with Chertoff.
On 8/30 the Pentagon claimed there were “…adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs. Almost half of Louisiana’s National Guard troops and most of its equipment were in Iraq. In California Bush accepted a country singer’s guitar, returning to Crawford to continue vacationing. On the 31st, Chertoff contended, “We are extremely pleased with the response that every element of the federal government, all of our federal partners, have made to this terrible tragedy.” FEMA ignored 3,000 evacuees stranded without food and water at the Convention Center. 30,000 more were herded into the hurricane-damaged Superdome. Bush finally addressed the nation, joking about his New Orleans drinking days. Rumors abound he’s drinking heavily again. The New York Times commented: “George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. Nothing about the president's demeanor - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.”
On September 1st Bush claimed, “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” Michael Brown, previously unaware of the Convention Center’s evacuees, finally orders provisions be provided to them. Condi Rice eventually returns from her “Imelda Marcos” shopping trip, after spending thousands on Ferragamo shoes, watching “Spamalot” and playing tennis with Monica Seles.
Fifty firefighters plus Coast Guard helicopters fly in on 9/2/05 as stage props when Bush does New Orleans photo-ops. Injured but still-living evacuees nearby are deprived of water and sent to the morgue. Finally Karl Rove “swings into action,” per the Times: “The White House rolled out a plan …to contain the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. It orchestrated visits by cabinet members and sought to move the blame…away from the White House toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana who, as it happens, are Democrats.” Hack writer Op-Eds from allies devoid of scientific expertise soon sprout everywhere, from the Wall St. Journal to the ultra-right FrontPage.com
As of 9/25, Louisiana’s body count is over 800; Mississippi’s 219 more; Iraq, since its own “Mission Accomplished,” 1,777.
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Junkie: Smith originally wrote this piece for and it appeared in the Prairie Populist.
Last Update: 03/23/2006